Baseball history unpacked, March 24

Mar 24, 2023 - 11:00 AM

On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Bleed Cubbie Blue is pleased to present a light-hearted, Cubs-centric look at baseball’s colorful past, with plenty of the lore and various narratives to follow as they unfold over the course of time. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline, to help you follow along.

Today in baseball history:

• 1911 - Matthew Stanley Robison, president of the St. Louis Cardinals, dies unexpectedly. He leaves the club and the bulk of his estate to his niece, Mrs. Helene Hathaway Britton, who becomes the first female owner of a major league club. (1,2)
• 1947 - In a meeting at the Sarasota Terrace Hotel, in Florida, former Brooklyn Dodgers manager Leo Durocher admits to Commissioner Happy Chandler that he sometimes bets on card games with the team’s pitcher, Kirby Higbe. (2)
• 1961 - The New York State Senate approves $55 million in funding for a new stadium to be built at Flushing Meadows Park in Queens, NY. The park will be called Shea Stadium. After playing their first two seasons in the Polo Grounds, the Mets will move to Shea in 1964, playing there until the end of 2008. (1,2)
• 1970 - Commissioner Bowie Kuhn orders a halt to the use of X-5 balls, which are much too lively for major league play. (2) Indeed, MLB started using Rawlings balls in 1976, eschewing Spalding completely.
• 2017 - Eight Angels pitchers combine to no-hit the Mariners, 4-0, in a Grapefruit League game. They need three diving defensive stops in the ninth to complete the feat, as 1B C.J. Cron, RF Shane Robinson and 3B Sherman Johnson pull out all the stops to help Abel De Los Santos close out the win. The other hurlers who see action are Bud Norris, Jose Alvarez, Cam Bedrosian, Andrew Bailey, Austin Adams, Drew Gagnon and Justin Anderson. (2)

Cubs birthdays: Jim McCauley, Jamie Arnold, Chad Gaudin, Starlin Castro. Also notable: George Sisler HOF.

Today in history:

• 1603 - Tokugawa Ieyasu is granted the title of shogun, officially establishing the Tokugawa Shogunate which would rule Japan until 1867.
• 1882 - German scientist Robert Koch discovers and describes the tubercle bacillus which causes tuberculosis (Mycobacterium tuberculosis), and establishes germ theory.
• 1989 - Exxon tanker Valdez spills 10.8 million gallons of crude oil in Prince William Sound, near Tatitlek, Alaska.

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.
• For world history.

*pictured.

Some of these items spread from site to site without being verified. That is exactly why we ask for reputable sources if you have differences with a posted factoid, so that we can address that to the originators and provide clarity if not ‘truth’. Nothing is posted here without at least one instance of corroboration (this also includes the history bullets). Thanks for reading, and thanks also for your cooperation.