Chicago Cubs history unpacked, December 1 — Wilson, Grimes, Banks

Mr. Cub becomes Coach Cub, and other stories. RIP Dave McNally, Tommy Heinrich.

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.

Today in baseball history:

• 1928 – National League President John Heydler becomes the first person to propose a baseball rule change calling for a tenth man, or a designated hitter, to bat in place of the pitcher. The NL will vote in favor of the proposal, but the American League will turn it down. (2)

• 1931 – The Chicago Cubs trade future Hall of Famer Hack Wilson and pitcher Bud Teachout to the St. Louis Cardinals for pitcher Burleigh Grimes. Wilson slumped to .261 and 13 home runs after hitting .356 with 56 HR and setting a major league record with 191 RBI in 1930. (2)

• 1942 – At major league meetings in Chicago, World War II travel restrictions are the order of the day. Owners decide to restrict travel to a three-trip schedule rather than the customary four. Spring training in 1943 will be limited to locations north of the Potomac or Ohio rivers and east of the Mississippi. (1,2)

• 1962 – A complete overhaul of the classifications in the minor leagues is made. The Eastern and South Atlantic leagues are promoted from Class A to Class AA. Meanwhile, classes B, C and D are abolished with those leagues being promoted to Class A. The Class B leagues were the Carolina and Northwest leagues; the Class C leagues were the California, Mexican Center, Northern and Pioneer leagues. The Class D leagues were the Florida State, Georgia-Florida, Midwest, New York-Pennsylvania and Western Carolinas leagues. The Appalachian League moves from Class D to Rookie classification. (2)

• 1963 – Major league owners agree to allow the expansion clubs four protected first-year players who can be optioned to the minors without being subject to a draft. (2)

• 1971 – The Chicago Cubs release longtime star and future Hall of Famer Ernie Banks*, ending his 19-year major league career. The Cubs also announce that Banks will serve as a coach on manager Leo Durocher’s staff next season. Mr. Cub finishes his playing career with 512 home runs and 1,636 RBI.

• 1992 – The Chicago Cubs sign free agent pitcher Juan Guzman to a four-year contract. Guzman is coming off his best major league season, winning 16 games for the Texas Rangers. (2)

• 2002 – Former major league starting pitcher Dave McNally dies from lung cancer at the age of 60. A four-time 20-game winner over the span of four consecutive seasons, McNally helped anchor a Baltimore Orioles pitching staff that featured Hall of Famer Jim Palmer and standout left-hander Mike Cuellar. McNally won Game 4 of the 1966 World Series, cementing Baltimore’s sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He also won Game 3 of the 1970 World Series, as the Orioles defeated the Cincinnati Reds in five games. At the end of his career, McNally helped change baseball’s basic financial structure. After playing the 1975 season without a signed contract, McNally, along with pitcher Andy Messersmith was declared a free agent by arbitrator Peter Seitz. The decision paved the way for the advent of the free agent system.

• 2009 – “Old Reliable” Tommy Henrich, who played on seven World Champion New York Yankees teams in the 1930s and 1940s dies in Dayton, OH at age 96. (2)

• 2012 – The Cubs sign veteran Japanese reliever Kyuji Fujikawa to a two-year contract. (2)

• 2021 – At 11:59 p.m., Major League Baseball owners decree a lockout when their self-imposed deadline for concluding a new Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Players Association expires without a deal. At stake is the contention by the players that they are receiving an ever-shrinking share of revenues and that practices such as revenue sharing, tanking and manipulation of service time all conspire to hold down salaries, especially for younger players in their prime, while many veterans can no longer find jobs because many teams are more interested in the bottom line than in giving fans a quality product. Before the lockout imposes a freeze on transactions, there is a huge flurry of deals, whose total value surpasses $1.4 billion, an irony not lost on observers. This figure largely consists of deals reported over the previous three days but not made official yet, but a few more are added, including the Cubs signing P Marcus Stroman for $71 million over three years, OF/IF Chris Taylor re-signing with the Dodgers for $60 million over four years, and P Raisel Iglesias returning to the Angels for $58 million, also over four years. But a number of prominent names are still in free agency limbo, including Freddie Freeman, Nick Castellanos and Carlos Correa, and will remain so until the two sides come to an agreement, which will not come until March 10th. (2)

Cubs Birthdays: Tommy Raub, Ed Reulbach, Charley Moore, Johnny O’Connor, Dwain Sloat, Cal McLish, Dan Straily, Javier Báez, Brandon Hughes. Also notable: Walter Alston HOF, Larry Walker HOF.

Today in History:

• 1640 – Portugal regains independence after 60 years of Spanish rule following a revolution by Portuguese nobility; the Portuguese Restoration War begins and lasts until 1668 with recognition by Spain of the country’s independence.

• 1783 – Jacques Charles and Nicolas Roberts make first untethered ascension with gas hydrogen balloon in Paris

• 1831 – Erie Canal closes for entire month due to cold weather.

• 1887 – Sherlock Holmes first appears in print in “Study in Scarlet” by Arthur Conan Doyle.

• 1913 – Ford Motor Company institutes world’s 1st moving assembly line for the Model T Ford.

• 1936 – Bell Labs tests coaxial cable for TV use.

• 1940 – Four sets of brothers play in one NHL game when Chicago Blackhawks beat NY Rangers, 4-1; Lynn & Muzz Patrick and Neil & Mac Colville (Rangers); Max & Doug Bentley and Bob & Bill Carse (Chicago).

• 1955 – Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to move to the back of a bus and give her seat to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama.

• 1982 – Dentist Barney B Clark gets 1st artificial heart.

• 2019 – Earliest traceable patient, a 55-year-old man, develops symptoms of a novel coronavirus (Covid-19) in Wuhan, China.

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.

• (6) — Wikipedia.

• (7) — The British Museum

• (8) — For world history.

*pictured.

Some of these items spread from site to site without being fact-checked, and that is why we ask for verifiable sources.