Category: March

MARCH 28 – SIDD FINCH: TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE

MARCH 28, 1985 | The April 1, 1985 issue of Sports Illustrated hit the newsstands and mailboxes on this date (the issues always come out a few days early) with the story of Sidd Finch, a New York Mets pitching prospect scouts said could throw 168 MPH with pinpoint accuracy. The article also said Finch never played ball before mastering the art of pitching in a Tibetan monastery. As the story written by George Plimpton unfolded at the Mets spring training camp, anticipation was building as to whether Finch would decide between a baseball career and a career playing the French horn. Was Sidd Finch too good to be true? Yes!

April Fools!

There was no Sidd Finch. There was no French horn. There was no monastery doubling as a pitching school. It was entirely the imagination of writer George Plimpton. The pictures of Sidd were actually those of a junior high school science teacher from Oak Park, Illinois named Joe Berton who was a friend of Plimpton’s.

Sports Illustrated finally admitted it was a hoax on April 15, 1985. Was Sidd Finch too good to be true? Yes he was.

Contributing sources:
More on Sidd Finch

March 27: How Cubs got name

MARCH 27, 1902 | CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. The identity of Chicago‘s National League team is so ingrained it’s hard to imagine the franchise not being called the Cubs. But for the first quarter century of the team’s existence it wasn’t. They were known at various times as White Stockings, Colts, even Orphans – more on that in a moment. Here’s how the Cubs got their name;

The Cubs moniker can be traced to the Chicago Daily News newspaper of this date in 1902. The term for young bears was used by a sportswriter at spring training to describe a team with a bunch of young but promising players. The story’s headline read:

Manager of the Cubs is in Doubt Only on Two Positions

A search of newspaper archives at Chicago’s Newberry Library shows that that March 27, 1902 story is the earliest known use of the term “Cubs” to describe the team. The article mentioned it once more in describing the intentions of the manager:

"Frank Selee will devote his strongest efforts on the team work of the new Cubs this year."

The name caught on, which wasn’t surprising considering the club was known as Orphans at the time.

Here’s how that came about, as a charter member of the National League in 1876 the team was known as the Chicago White Stockings. A few years later star Cap Anson became player/manager. Sportswriters began referring to the team as Anson’s Colts, and eventually just Colts.

Anson was also known as “Pop.” When he left the team in 1897 the team became known as Orphans. Get it? You knew “Cubs” would stick when rival papers such as the Chicago Tribune (which later owned the team) began to use it.

Interestingly, when the Cubs relinquished the name White Stockings, the new American League franchise grabbed it, shortened it, and have been known as the White Sox ever since.

When the National Football League came to town in the 1920’s, the team chose Bears because they played in the home of Cubs.

More info:
The Chicago Daily News, Thursday, March 27, 1902 (Thanks to Newberry Library, Chicago)
The New York Times, “Nicknames of Baseball Clubs,” by Joseph Curtin Gephart,
Retrosheet has a treasure of information
MLB team histories
More info on team names, wikipedia

MARCH 25: NO TO LIGHTS

MARCH 25, 1985 | COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS. A Cook County, Illinois Judge said no to lights at Wrigley Field on this date in 1985. The judge felt, the Chicago Cubs had gone without lights their entire history, there was no need to change now.

The Cubs had held out decades longer than any other team playing all their games during the day. But they made it to the postseason in 1984, something they hadn’t done since 1945. Major League Baseball had been scheduling night games in the post-season for years. Since Wrigley Field didn’t have lights the Cubs had to give up a home game in the National League Championship Series in ‘84.

The shoe was now on the other foot. The Cubs wanted lights. Former general manager Dallas Green first proposed them in 1982. The neighborhood and the city (the mayor at the time, Richard J. Daley, was lifelong White Sox fan) didn’t, so the Cubs sued which led to today’s ruling that the ban on lights at Wrigley was constitutional – no night games at Wrigley.

It took a few more years of political cajoling and maneuvering for an ordinance to finally be passed allowing night games at Wrigley, but no more than 18 per season. The first night game at Wrigley was played on August 8, 1988 – 8/8/88, but it was called due to rain before it became official (maybe they shouldn’t have put lights in Wrigley).

Contributing sources:
MLB.com: 20 years of night baseball at Wrigley Field
Chicago Tribune, “The Cubs get lights at Wrigley,” August 8, 1988

MARCH 24: BIRD BEANED

TODAY IN BASEBALL TAKES US BACK TO TUCSON, ARIZONA, MARCH 24, 2001. Many hitters thought Randy Johnson‘s fastballs were deadly. On this date in 2001 one of them truly was. It was the day Randy Johnson beaned a bird. The dove never knew what hit it.

During an exhibition game against the San Francisco Giants, the Arizona Diamondbacks’ pitcher wound up and threw a fastball to a Giants hitter at precisely the moment a dove flew in front of home plate.

The ball hit the bird. The result was a cloud of feathers and an ex-bird

According to the Associated Press (AP), Diamondbacks catcher Rod Barajas said, “I’m sitting there waiting for it, and I’m expecting to catch the thing and all you see is an explosion.” The home plate umpire called it a “no pitch.”

Sportswriters and columnists had a field day with the unfortunate demise of the bird, which ended up in “fowl” territory. Johnson said he didn’t think it was all that funny.

When wildlife wasn’t getting in the way of Randy Johnson pitches he was pretty good. In a 22-year career he won 303 games and lost 166. He won five Cy Young awards. He’s been on 10 all-star teams, and was a member of the 2001 World Series Champion Diamondbacks. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015. But in the spring of 2001 Randy Johnson beaned a bird.

Contributing sources:
The Associated Press (AP), Tucson, Arizona, March 25, 2001
More on Randy Johnson

MARCH 23: STEINBRENNER, WINFIELD & SPIRA

TODAY IN BASEBALL TAKES US BACK TO THE BRONX, NEW YORK MARCH 23, 1990. The Steinbrenner – Winfield – Spira soap opera hit the headlines again today. Howard Spira, a small-time gambler and former sports radio station stringer, was arrested and charged with extortion.

Spira was convicted a year later for trying to extort $110,000 from New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. The mess ended up getting the Yankee owner banned from baseball when it was revealed that he had given Spira $40,000 to find some dirt on Dave Winfield, one of his former players.

Steinbrenner insisted the money was to help “Howie” get back on his feet.

Steinbrenner and Winfield had been feuding for a number of reasons since Winfield signed a 10-year, $23 million contract with the Yankees that Steinbrenner didn’t feel he quite lived up to. Winfield was upset with Steinbrenner, claiming he reneged on a promise to donate $300,000 to Winfield’s foundation. That’s where Howard Spira came in. Spira once worked as a publicist for the Foundation. Steinbrenner paid Spira to find stuff on Winfield that Steinbrenner could use against him.

Steinbrenner was reinstated as Yankees owner in 1993. Howard Spira served 26 months in a federal prison for extortion. What’s never been clear is why someone with the resources of George Steinbrenner would seek out someone like Howie Spira rather than, say, an ex-FBI agent. It was all part of the Steinbrenner Winfield Spira soap opera.

Contributing sources:
ESPN.com
DeadSpin