On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Bleed Cubbie Blue is pleased to present a Cubs-centric look at baseball’s colorful past. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline, to help you follow the various narrative paths.
“Maybe I called it wrong, but it’s official.” — Tom Connolly, HoF Umpire.
Steve Trout* and others are traded for, plus the expanded strike zone and more! Where were you when it really snowed in Chicago?
Today in baseball history:
- 1931 – The International League accepts the open draft imposed by the major leagues. Until this time, the top minor leagues could control their players and refuse to sell them. (2)
- 1932 – Chicago Cubs owner William Wrigley dies at the age of 70 in Phoenix, Arizona. Wrigley had owned the team since 1919. Wrigley’s son Philip inherits controlling interest in both the Cubs and the minor league Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League, but will leave most of the daily operations to Cubs president William Veeck. (1,2)
- 1963 – Major League Baseball’s Rules Committee increases the size of the strike zone. The zone will stretch from the top of the batter’s shoulders to the bottom of the knees. The committee hopes the return to the 1950s strike zone will result in a decrease in runs scored. The results will exceed the committee’s expectations, and after the “Year of the Pitcher” in 1968, the strike zone will be tweaked again to give the hitters a break. (2)
- 1983 – The Chicago White Sox trade pitchers Steve Trout* and Warren Brusstar to their cross-town rivals Cubs for pitchers Dick Tidrow and Randy Martz, and infielders Pat Tabler and Scott Fletcher. (2)
- 1989 – The tougher balk rules initiated last season are rescinded and are replaced by the pre-1988 rules. (2)
Cubs Birthdays: Rip Russell, Kevin Blankenship.
Today in History:
- 1531 – Lisbon hit by Earthquake; about 30,000 die.
- 1784 – Benjamin Franklin expresses unhappiness over eagle as America’s symbol.
- 1788 – Captain Arthur Phillip and British colonists hoist the Union Flag at Sydney Cove, New South Wales, now celebrated as Australia Day. Referred to as Invasion Day by some First Nations people.
- 1887 – Ground is broken and construction begins on the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.
- 1967 – Chicago “Big Snow” strikes with a record 23 inches of snow fall causing 800 buses and 50,000 automobiles to be abandoned.
Common sources:
- (1) — Today in Baseball History.
- (2) — Baseball Reference.
- (3) — Society for American Baseball Research.
- (4) — Baseball Hall of Fame.
- (5) — This Day in Chicago Cubs history.
- (6) — Wikipedia.
- (7) — The British Museum
- (8) — For world history.
*pictured.
Some of these items spread from site to site without being fact-checked, and that is why we ask for verifiable sources, in order to help correct the record.
