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 Bill Madlock*, it’s drafty in here, and other stories for the discerning reader,
Today in baseball history:
1920 – A plan developed by Charles Ebbets many years ago is finally adopted: the annual drafting of players from the minor leagues will be done in inverse order of the final standings. (1,2)
1961 – Charlie Grimm and Verlon Walker are named to the Chicago Cubs College of Coaches. Using this system, a different coach will manage the team each month during the season, and members of the group will move between the major league team and its minor league affiliates. (2)
2018 – The Blue Jays sign 3B Josh Donaldson to one-year deal worth $23 million. It is the largest salary ever given to a player eligible for salary arbitration, besting the $21.6 million given to Bryce Harper by the Nationals last May. Donaldson’s is not the only record-setting deal signed today: the Cubs offer 3B Kris Bryant $10.85 million, the most ever for a player eligible for arbitration for the first time. (2)
Advertisement
Cubs Birthdays: George Browne, Roy Easterwood, Phil Mudrock, Paul Reuschel, Bill Madlock*,
Today in History:
475 – Basiliscus becomes Byzantine Emperor, with a coronation ceremony in the Hebdomon palace in Constantinople.
1554 – Bayinnaung is crowned King of Burma, assembles the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia.
1812 – First cargo arrives in New Orleans by steamboat from Natchez.
1906 – First time Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 100 (100.26).
Common sources:
*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.