Chicago Cubs history unpacked — March 4

Early rules, Lou Gehrig Day,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:

• 1884 – National League owners agree to provide two separate team benches to minimize fraternizing among opposing players during games. (2)
• 1886 – The National League meets and adopts the stolen base and the four foot by seven foot pitcher’s box. But the NL retains seven balls for a walk and rejects the American Association’s rule giving a batter first base on a hit by pitch. (2)
• 1907 – A judgment of $52,000 is awarded to the Baltimore club from Brooklyn. When Baltimore left the National League in 1900, Brooklyn agreed to pay $40,000 for the franchise but never did. The award includes interest. (1,2)
• 1913 – The New York Yankees become the first major league team to conduct spring training outside of the United States, when they begin the spring in Bermuda, where is projected a series of exhibition games. (1,2)
• 1925 – John Montgomery (Monte) Ward dies in Augusta, Georgia, just a day after his 65th birthday. During his illustrious career in the majors, Ward hit for a .371 batting average twice, won 40-plus games as a pitcher twice, including the second perfect game in history, and was be the captain and manager of the first and original New York Giants. Ward will gain election to the Hall of Fame in 1964. (2)
• 1941 – Grace Comiskey, widow of J. Louis Comiskey, is elected president of the Chicago White Sox. Her husband died on July 18, 1939. (2)
• 1943 – The woeful Philadelphia Phillies announce their new nickname – the Blue Jays. The winning entry in the contest was submitted by a Mrs. Elizabeth Crooks, and was chosen over a number of names ranging from Daisies to Stinkers. Team president Bob Carpenter says he hopes to have the farm system identified by the same blue color, with the Wilmington club called the Blue Rocks and possibly the new Bradford team as the Blue Wings. The Blue Jays will be the official team name in 1943 and 1944, but will be abandoned in 1945, though the team will still occasionally be referred to in newspaper accounts as the Blue Jays through 1949. Ms. Crooks wins a $100 war bond and a season ticket to the Blue Jays. (2)
• 1967 – Bullet Joe Rogan dies in Kansas City, Missouri, at age 77. One of the greatest pitchers in Negro league baseball, Rogan threw a devastating fastball which he complemented with a dizzying array of other pitches. He also played the outfield when he wasn’t pitching, and in 1922 led the Negro National League with 16 home runs. Rogan will receive Hall of Fame honors in 1998. (2)
• 2004 – Commissioner Bud Selig announces that Major League Baseball will celebrate “Jackie Robinson Day” in every ballpark on April 15th, the anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s debut as the first black player in the 20th Century. Robinson’s uniform number ”42” was retired for all time in a ceremony at Shea Stadium in April of 1997 to mark the 50th anniversary of his achievement. (2)
• 2021 – Commissioner Rob Manfred proclaims that June 2nd will now be Lou Gehrig Day, set to commemorate the life and legacy of Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig and to raise funds in the fight against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the disease that claimed Gehrig’s life. (2)

Cubs Birthdays:Jim Korwan, Red Murray, Earl Tyree, Clyde McCullough, Dave Stevens*, Nick Castellanos. Also notable: Dazzy Vance HOF.

Today in history:

• 852 – Croatian Duke Trpimir I issued a statute, a document with the first known written mention of the Croats name in Croatian sources.
• 938 – Translation of the relics of martyr Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia, the patron saint of the Czech state.
• 1215 – King John of England makes an oath to the Pope as a crusader to gain the support of Innocent III.
• 1461 – Edward Plantagenet lays claim to the throne of England as Edward IV in London.
• 1774 – First sighting of Orion nebula by William Herschel.
• 1791 – Vermont admitted as 14th state.
• 1837 – Chicago becomes incorporated as a city.
• 1902 – American Automobile Association (AAA) founded in Chicago.
• 1936 – First flight of the airship Hindenburg at Friedrichshafen, Germany.
• 1978 – Chicago Daily News, founded in 1876, publishes last issue.

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.