On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Bleed Cubbie Blue brings a you a light-hearted, Cubs-centric look at baseball’s colorful past, with plenty of the lore and deep dives into various narratives that expand over the course of time. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline, to help you follow along. Don’t be afraid to click the links for ‘inside baseball’ on the entries, which change from year to year as we re-examine the subjects.
Today in baseball history:
- 1870 - Young pitcher Fred Goldsmith demonstrates at a public exhibition at the Capitoline Grounds in Brooklyn, NY that the curve ball is a real pitch and not simply an optical illusion, as he manages to make a ball bend around three parallel stakes placed in the ground.