{"id":538941,"date":"2026-01-26T15:10:26","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T15:10:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/538941\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T15:10:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T15:10:26","slug":"chicago-cubs-history-unpacked-january-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/538941\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Cubs history unpacked, January 26"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"\">On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bleedcubbieblue.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Bleed Cubbie Blue;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Bleed Cubbie Blue<\/a>\u00a0is pleased to present a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bleedcubbieblue.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Cubs;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Cubs<\/a>-centric look at baseball\u2019s colorful past.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/chicago.cubs.mlb.com\/chc\/history\/timeline01.jsp\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Here\u2019s a handy Cubs timeline;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Here\u2019s a handy Cubs timeline<\/a>, to help you follow the various narrative paths.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cMaybe I called it wrong, but it\u2019s official.\u201d \u2014\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/sabr.org\/bioproj\/person\/tommy-connolly\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Tom Connolly;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Tom Connolly<\/a>, HoF Umpire.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Steve Trout* and others are traded for, plus the expanded strike zone and more! Where were you when it really snowed in Chicago?<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Today in baseball history:<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">1931 \u2013\u00a0The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/bullpen\/International_League\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:International League;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">International League<\/a>\u00a0accepts the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/bullpen\/Rule_V_draft\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:open draft;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">open draft<\/a>\u00a0imposed by the major leagues. Until this time, the top minor leagues could control their players and refuse to sell them. (2)<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">1963\u00a0\u2013\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/bullpen\/Major_League_Baseball\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Major League Baseball;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Major League Baseball<\/a>\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/bullpen\/Rules\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Rules;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Rules<\/a>\u00a0Committee increases the size of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/bullpen\/Strike_zone\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:strike zone;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">strike zone<\/a>. The zone will stretch from the top of the batter\u2019s shoulders to the bottom of the knees. The committee hopes the return to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/bullpen\/1950s\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:1950s;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">1950s<\/a>\u00a0strike zone will result in a decrease in runs scored. The results will exceed the committee\u2019s expectations, and after the \u201cYear of the Pitcher\u201d in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/bullpen\/1968\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:1968;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">1968<\/a>, the strike zone will be tweaked again to give the hitters a break. (2)<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">1989\u00a0\u2013 The tougher\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/bullpen\/Balk\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:balk;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">balk<\/a>\u00a0rules initiated last season are rescinded and are replaced by the pre-1988 rules. (2)<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Cubs Birthdays: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/r\/russeri01.shtml\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Rip Russell;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Rip Russell<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/blankke01.shtml\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Kevin Blankenship;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Kevin Blankenship<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Today in History:<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">1531\u00a0\u2013 Lisbon hit by Earthquake; about 30,000 die.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">1784\u00a0\u2013 Benjamin Franklin expresses unhappiness over eagle as America\u2019s symbol.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">1788\u00a0\u2013 Captain Arthur Phillip and British colonists hoist the Union Flag at Sydney Cove, New South Wales, now celebrated as Australia Day. Referred to as Invasion Day by some First Nations people.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">1887\u00a0\u2013 Ground is broken and construction begins on the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">1967\u00a0\u2013 Chicago \u201cBig Snow\u201d strikes with a record 23 inches of snow fall causing 800 buses and 50,000 automobiles to be abandoned.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Common sources:<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">*pictured.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">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&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":538942,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2399],"tags":[5,138,24,49,4245,161,5432,56,1784,3967,4,45022,2512,46654,71258],"class_list":["post-538941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago-cubs","tag-baseball","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-chicago-white-sox","tag-chicagocubs","tag-cubs","tag-international-league","tag-los-angeles-angels","tag-major-leagues","tag-minor-leagues","tag-mlb","tag-steve-trout","tag-strike-zone","tag-tom-connolly","tag-william-wrigley"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115962041277416519","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538941","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=538941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538941\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/538942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=538941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=538941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=538941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}