What is the story about?
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.
Happy birthday to Bryan LaHair, one-time Cubs All-Star!
Today in baseball history:
- 1901 – Ban Johnson and Charles Comiskey lease Sportsman’s Park for five years for an American League team. Two weeks later it is announced that the Milwaukee Brewers franchise will become the St. Louis Browns in 1902. (2)
- 1932 – In the Pacific Coast League, Tony Freitas of the Sacramento Solons pitches the first night game no-hitter, stopping the Oakland Oaks, 2-0, in nine innings. (2)
- 1940 – Former pitcher Walter Johnson, who won 416 games for the Washington Senators, goes down in defeat as a Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland. Johnson entered the Hall of Fame in 1936. (1,2)
- 1965 – The Yomiuri Giants begin their run of nine straight Japan Series titles, taking the 1965 Japan Series in five games. Yukinori Miyata wins for the second time this Series, with a 3-2 victory over Tadashi Sugiura of the Nankai Hawks.
- 1970 – Former major league pitcher Charlie Root dies at the age of 71. Root posted a 201-160 record over 17 major league seasons, but was best known for an incident in the 1932 World Series. Root was on the mound for the Chicago Cubs when Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees allegedly “called his shot” before hitting a home run. (2)
- 1976 – The new franchises, the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays, select 30 players apiece from other American League teams in the expansion draft. The Mariners take outfielder Ruppert Jones with their first choice, while the Blue Jays tab infielder Bob Bailor with their initial pick. Among those to be selected are Ernie Whitt, Rico Carty, Jim Clancy and Pete Vuckovich. (2)
Cubs Birthdays: Charlie Newman, Bryan LaHair*.
Today in History:
- 1228 – Wu MeKuan, a collection of 48 Zen koans, is compiled in China.
- 1500 – Astronomer Nicholas Copernicus observes a lunar eclipse while in Rome.
- 1572 – Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe observes a bright new object with the naked eye in the Cassiopeia constellation, which he believes to be a new star but is now known as a supernova, a massive explosion of a dying star.
- 1605 – Catholic conspirator Guy Fawkes attempts to blow up King James I and the British Parliament in the Gunpowder Plot. The plot is discovered, and Guy Fawkes is caught, tortured, and later executed along with seven others. Celebrated ever since as Guy Fawkes Day, his effigy is traditionally burned on a bonfire, accompanied by fireworks.
- 2024 – World’s first wooden satellite, named LignoSat, which will burn up on re-entry, is developed by Kyoto University to address space junk and launched from Kennedy Space Center.
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, so that we can help update the records and have documentation. Also, this is supposed to be fun.
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