{"id":502632,"date":"2026-01-02T12:53:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T12:53:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/502632\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T12:53:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T12:53:15","slug":"chicago-cubs-history-unpacked-january-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/502632\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Cubs history unpacked \u2014 January 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays,\u00a0Bleed Cubbie Blue<\/a>\u00a0is pleased to present a\u00a0Cubs<\/a>-centric look at baseball\u2019s colorful past.\u00a0Here\u2019s a handy Cubs timeline<\/a>, to help you follow the various narrative paths.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe I called it wrong, but it\u2019s official.\u201d \u2014\u00a0Tom Connolly<\/a>, HoF Umpire.<\/p>\n

RIP Bill Veeck*, and other stories.<\/p>\n

Today in baseball history:<\/p>\n

1879 \u2013\u00a0The Northwestern League<\/a>\u00a0is organized in Rockford, Illinois. The minor league circuit, which includes teams from Davenport, Omaha, Dubuque, and Rockford, will be defunct before the season ends. (2)<\/p>\n

1912\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Brooklyn Superbas<\/a>\u00a0president\u00a0Charles Ebbets<\/a>\u00a0announces the purchase of 4.5 acres to build a 23,000-seat concrete and steel stadium in the Pigtown section of\u00a0Brooklyn<\/a>. Construction on the ballpark will start on\u00a0March 14th<\/a>. Ebbets decides to name the ballpark after himself, thus it is called\u00a0Ebbets Field<\/a>. Completed in just over a year, opening day will be on\u00a0April 9<\/a>,\u00a01913<\/a>. (1,2)<\/p>\n

1986\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Bill Veeck<\/a>*\u00a0dies in\u00a0Chicago, IL<\/a>\u00a0at age 71. Veeck was known for his flamboyant publicity stunts and the innovations he brought to the major leagues during his ownership of the\u00a0Cleveland Indians<\/a>,\u00a0St. Louis Browns<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Chicago White Sox<\/a>. He was the last owner to purchase a baseball franchise without an independent fortune, and is responsible for many significant contributions to baseball. (2)<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Cubs Birthdays: Ray Jacobs<\/a>,\u00a0Nick Dumovich<\/a>, Dave Sappelt<\/a>. Also notable:\u00a0Jos\u00e9 M\u00e9ndez<\/a>\u00a0HOF,\u00a0Edgar Martinez<\/a>\u00a0HOF.<\/p>\n

Today in History:<\/p>\n

366\u00a0\u2013 The\u00a0Alamanni<\/a>\u00a0cross the frozen Rhine River in large numbers, invading the Roman Empire.<\/p>\n

1570\u00a0\u2013 Tsar Ivan the Terrible\u2019s march to Novgorod begins.<\/p>\n

1839\u00a0\u2013 First photo of the Moon (French photographer\u00a0Louis Daguerre<\/a>).<\/p>\n

1893\u00a0\u2013 World\u2019s Columbian Exposition opens in Chicago.<\/p>\n

1906\u00a0\u2013 Willis Carrier receives a US patent for the world\u2019s first air conditioner.<\/p>\n

1999\u00a0\u2013 A brutal snowstorm smashes into the Midwestern United States, causing 14 inches (359 mm) of snow in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and 19 inches (487 mm) in Chicago, where temperatures plunge to -13\u00b0F (-25\u00b0C); 68 deaths are reported.<\/p>\n

Common sources:<\/p>\n

*pictured.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays,\u00a0Bleed Cubbie Blue\u00a0is pleased to present a\u00a0Cubs-centric look at baseball\u2019s colorful past.\u00a0Here\u2019s a handy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":502633,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2379],"tags":[46,5,12224,1910,66624,138,12937,49,2561,7328,161,4,673,46656,46654,396,2562],"class_list":["post-502632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago-white-sox","tag-atlanta-braves","tag-baseball","tag-bill-veeck","tag-blues","tag-charles-ebbets","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-blackhawks","tag-chicago-white-sox","tag-chicagowhitesox","tag-cleveland-indians","tag-cubs","tag-mlb","tag-st-louis","tag-today-in-baseball-history","tag-tom-connolly","tag-white-sox","tag-whitesox"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115825606932349131","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=502632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502632\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/502633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}