{"id":542231,"date":"2026-01-28T13:14:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T13:14:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/542231\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T13:14:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T13:14:16","slug":"chicago-cubs-history-unpacked-january-28","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/542231\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Cubs history unpacked, January 28"},"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

Kiki Cuyler* makes the Hall, and other stories.<\/p>\n

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

1888\u00a0\u2013 In\u00a0Chicago, IL<\/a>, 350 fans brave the weather to watch a baseball game on ice at Lincoln Park. Second baseman\u00a0Fred Pfeffer<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0Chicago White Stockings<\/a>\u00a0plays wearing a top hat. After two hours and five innings of play, the game is called. The \u201cSpaldings\u201d defeat the \u201cNorth-Siders,\u201d 7-6. (2)<\/p>\n

1890\u00a0\u2013 In the first of many lawsuits filed against\u00a0Players League<\/a>\u00a0members by their former teams, a judge refuses to grant an injunction against\u00a0John Ward<\/a>, president of the\u00a0Brotherhood<\/a>. His decision, echoed frequently by other judges, states that the \u201cwant of fairness and mutuality\u201d in the standard\u00a0National League<\/a>\u00a0contract, specifically the clauses relating to the\u00a0reserve rule<\/a>, \u201c[is] apparent.\u201d (2)<\/p>\n

1953 \u2013\u00a0Fred Saigh<\/a>\u00a0is found guilty of income tax evasion and is sentenced to a fifteen-month jail term, but will serve only five months at the federal prison in Terre Haute before being given parole for good behavior. The embattled Cardinal owner, under pressure of his franchise being taken away by MLB, puts in place a lucrative deal with a consortium that plans to move the team to Houston, but is persuaded to sell the team for less ($3.5 million) to\u00a0Gussie Busch<\/a>, when the Anheuser-Busch president persuades him that civic pride was more important than financial gain. (2)<\/p>\n

1958 \u2013\u00a0Roy Campanella<\/a>, driving home from his liquor store in Harlem, breaks his neck when his rented 1957 Chevrolet sedan hit a telephone pole in an early morning auto accident on Long Island. The 36-year-old Dodger catcher, who has won three MVP awards (1951, \u201853, \u201855) will remain paralyzed for the rest of his life. (2)<\/p>\n

1968 \u2013\u00a0Goose Goslin<\/a>, a former Senator and Tiger outfielder who retired with a career .316 batting average after playing in five\u00a0World Series<\/a>, and\u00a0Kiki Cuyler<\/a>*, a .321 career hitter who won four stolen base crowns for the\u00a0Pirates<\/a>\u00a0and Cubs, are elected into the Hall of Fame by a unanimous vote of the Veterans Committee. Goslin believed his enshrinement in Cooperstown was helped by his interview that was shared in Lawrence Ritter\u2019s 1966 book,\u00a0The Glory of Their Times: The Story Of The Early Days Of Baseball Told By The Men Who Played It. (I recommend this book) (1,2)<\/p>\n

1980\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Hank Aaron<\/a>\u00a0refuses an award from\u00a0Commissioner<\/a>\u00a0Bowie Kuhn<\/a>\u00a0honoring him for hitting his 715th\u00a0home run<\/a>. Aaron charges that baseball\u2019s treatment of retired black ballplayers falls far short of what is needed. (1,2)<\/p>\n

2009 \u2013\u00a0Aaron Heilman<\/a>\u00a0is traded for the second time this offseason when the\u00a0Mariners<\/a>\u00a0swap the 30-year-old right-hander to the Cubs for utility infielder\u00a0Ronny Cedeno<\/a>\u00a0and southpaw\u00a0Garrett Olson<\/a>. Seven weeks ago, the\u00a0Mets<\/a>\u00a0dealt the much-maligned reliever to Seattle as part of a three-team trade that included the\u00a0Indians<\/a>. (2)<\/p>\n

2013\u00a0\u2013 The\u00a0Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a>\u00a0announce the launch of SportsNet LA, their own regional sports network on Time Warner Cable. The deal is a prelude to a long-rumored $7 billion deal that will award Time Warner broadcast rights for Dodger games for the next 25 years. However, the\u00a0Commissioner<\/a>\u2019s office is concerned about the proposed deal, as its annual value is well above that used for\u00a0revenue sharing<\/a>\u00a0purposes, which will result in the Dodgers pocketing a huge financial windfall if no adjustments are made. (2)<\/p>\n

Cubs Birthdays: Bob Muncrief<\/a>,\u00a0Wesley Wright<\/a>. Also notable:\u00a0George Wright<\/a>\u00a0HoF.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Today in History:<\/p>\n

1521\u00a0\u2013 Emperor Charles V opens the Diet of Worms in Worms, Germany which lasts until May 25th; Produced the \u201cEdict of Worms\u201d which denounced Martin Luther<\/p>\n

1807\u00a0\u2013 London\u2019s Pall Mall is the first street lit by gaslight<\/p>\n

1813\u00a0\u2013 Jane Austen\u2019s \u201cPride and Prejudice\u201d is published by Thomas Egerton in the United Kingdom<\/p>\n

1985\u00a0\u2013 The charity single \u201cWe Are the World\u201d is recorded by supergroup USA for Africa (Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Quincy Jones, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, and other pop stars)<\/p>\n

2017\u00a0\u2013 Australian Open Women\u2019s Tennis: Serena Williams defeats older sister Venus Williams 6\u20134, 6\u20134 for her 7th Australian title and record 23rd Grand Slam event singles victory.<\/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":542232,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2399],"tags":[152,5,138,24,71699,4245,161,7880,71698,64675,139,5344,21395,38520,620,101,4,505,51693,71038,14466,619,46654,71700],"class_list":["post-542231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago-cubs","tag-american-league","tag-baseball","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-chicago-white-stockings","tag-chicagocubs","tag-cubs","tag-dodger","tag-goose-goslin","tag-gussie-busch","tag-houston","tag-il","tag-kiki-cuyler","tag-lincoln-park","tag-mariners","tag-mets","tag-mlb","tag-national-league","tag-players-league","tag-ronny-cedeno","tag-roy-campanella","tag-seattle","tag-tom-connolly","tag-wesley-wright"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115972909698196156","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542231","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=542231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/542232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=542231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=542231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=542231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}