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.

“Maybe I called it wrong, but it’s official.” — Tom Connolly.

Today in baseball history:

• 1882 – The case of the Allegheny Club versus Charlie Bennett is won by Bennett. Prior to the 1882 season, Allegheny signed Bennett to a $100 agreement which stated that he would sign an 1883 contract with the club after the season. Instead, Bennett re-signed with the Detroit Wolverines. This case will later have bearing on the fight over the reserve rule during the 1889-1890 Players League war. (2)
• 1887 – The National League adopts a new contract that spells out reserve provisions for the first time. The NL refuses to accept the players’ demand that the salary be written out on all contracts, however. (2)
• 1914 – The Chicago Cubs name future Hall of Famer Roger Bresnahan as their manager. The former St. Louis Cardinals skipper will be in the dugout for just one year during which Chicago will finish fourth with a 73-80 record. (2)
• 1949 – Brooklyn Dodgers infielder Jackie Robinson, who hit 16 home runs with 124 RBI and led the National League with a .342 batting average, becomes the first African-American to win the Most Valuable Player Award. Stan Musial, Ralph Kiner, and teammate Pee Wee Reese are the runner-ups. (1,2)
• 1951 – Former Chicago Cubs first baseman and future star of the TV series The Rifleman Chuck Connors becomes the first player to refuse to participate in the major league draft. Currently the 1B for the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League, Connors wants to stay in California, instead of going to whatever team might draft him for the major leagues. The PCL views his refusal in a positive manner, allowing them to ask for higher prices for minor league players than what the major leagues usually offers. (2)
• 1960 – Charlie Finley, a 42-year-old insurance tycoon from Gary, Indiana, makes a formal bid for the new Los Angeles club of the American League. (1,2)
• 1970 – Cincinnati Reds catcher Johnny Bench wins the National League MVP Award with 326 points, 108 more than Billy Williams of the Chicago Cubs. Bench hit for a .293 average with 45 home runs and 148 RBI, while Williams finished with .322, 42, 109. (1,2)
• 1987 – Chicago Cubs outfielder Andre Dawson* becomes the first player from a last-place club ever to win an Most Valuable Player Award, taking National League honors with a .287 batting average and as the league leader in home runs (49) and RBI (137). (1,2)
• 2005 – The Chicago Cubs sign free agent reliever Scott Eyre to a three-year, $11 million contract. (2)
• 2011 – Major League Baseball owners and the Players Association reach a tentative deal on a new five-year collective bargaining agreement. The agreement signed in Rosemont, IL near Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, includes a ceiling for bonuses paid to picks in the amateur draft and international free agents. It also provides for testing for human growth hormone and a raise in the minimum salary to $480,000. The agreement will be finalized on November 22nd. (2)
• 2015 – In the Cy Young Award vote, Jake Arrieta of the Cubs is the winner in the National League while Dallas Keuchel does the same in the American League. Both pitchers won their respective league’s Wild Card Game with strong performances, in addition to being dominant in the regular season. (2)

Cubs birthdays: Frank Griffith, Les Mann, Gene Mauch, Cal Koonce, Sterling Slaughter, Dan Briggs, Steve Henderson, Jamie Moyer, Ron Coomer, Tom Gordon, Shawn Camp, Jameson Taillon. Also notable: David Ortiz HOF.

Today in History:

• 326 – Old St. Peter’s Basilica consecrated in Rome (it stood from the 4th to the 16th century), later replaced by current Basilica.
• 1307 – William Tell reputedly shoots apple off his son’s head.
• 1477 – First English dated printed book “Dictes & Sayengis of the Phylosophers” by William Caxton is printed at his press in London.
• 1497 – Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama reaches the Cape of Good Hope.
• 1626 – St. Peter’s Basilica is consecrated in Rome, replacing an earlier basilica on the same site and becoming the world’s largest Christian church.
• 1820 – Antarctica sighted by US Navy Captain Nathaniel B. Palmer.
• 1872 – Suffragette Susan B. Anthony is arrested by a U.S. Deputy Marshal and charged with illegally voting.
• 2022 – International Bureau of Weights and Measures votes to abandon the leap second (to take effect 2035). Originally inserted in 1972 to reconcile atomic and astronomical time scales.

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. We are trying to set the record as straight as possible. But it isn’t brain surgery.

Also, the ‘history’ segment is highly edited for space and interest. Of course a great many other things happened on those days. We try to follow up on the interesting or unfamiliar ones.

Thanks for reading.