So long, Harry, and other stories.
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.
Today in Baseball History:
- 1891 – American Association owners dismiss league President Allen W. Thurman and replace him with Louis Kramer of Cincinnati. The owners also denounce the National Agreement, launching a new war with the rival National League. The owners are unhappy with Thurman’s decision in the Lou Bierbauer case. In his capacity as Chairman of the National Board of Control which decides disputes under the National Agreement, he ruled that the AA’s Philadelphia Athletics no longer had reserve rights over Bierbauer, who jumped from the Athletics to the Players League in 1890, and then refused to return to his old team after the Players League folded. (2)
- 1922 – Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis resigns his federal judgeship, claiming the two jobs (judge and Commissioner) take up too much time. (2)
- 1943 – New York entrepreneur William D. Cox purchases the bankrupt Phillies from the National League. The 33-year-old new owner will be banned from baseball in November by commissioner Landis when he admits to making some “sentimental” bets on his team during the season. (1)
- 1944 – Fifteen-year-old Joe Nuxhall signs a contract with the Cincinnati Reds just one day after playing in a high school basketball game. The Reds had been scouting his 34-year-old father. (2)
- 1967 – During a special softball exhibition game, pitcher Eddie Feigner strikes out six consecutive major leaguers. The victims are Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Brooks Robinson, Harmon Killebrew, Roberto Clemente and Maury Wills. (2)
- 1998 – Longtime baseball announcer Harry Caray* dies at the age of 84 after suffering a heart attack four days earlier while having Valentine’s Day dinner with his wife, Dutchie. The colorful “Mayor of Rush Street” started his career in 1945 with the Cardinals and also did play-by-play for the A’s, White Sox, and the Cubs during his 52 years in the broadcast booth. (2)
- 2022 – The 2021-2022 lockout claims its first cancellations, as MLB announces that no spring training games will be played before March 5th – at the earliest. (2)
Cubs birthdays:Walter Thornton, Zip Zabel, Cal Neeman, Bob Miller, Jerry Morales, Kevin Tapani, Shawn Estes, Brian Bogusevic, Isaac Paredes. Also notable: Joe Gordon (HoF)
Today in history:
- 1268 – Battle of Wesenberg: Livonian Brothers of the Sword fight the forces of Novgorod and Pskov, led by Dmitry of Pereslavl near Rakvere in modern-day Estonia; both sides claim victory.
- 1478 – Duke of Clarence George Plantagenet is convicted of treason against his older brother Edward IV of England and is privately executed in the Tower of London, allegedly by being drowned in a butt of Malmsey wine.
- 1745 – Bonnie Prince Charlie’s troops occupy Inverness, Scotland.
- 1856 – The American Party (Know-Nothings) convenes in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to nominate its first Presidential candidate, former President Millard Fillmore.
- 1930 – American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovers the dwarf planet Pluto.
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.