Baseball history unpacked, January 18

Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty ImagesA wildly popular Cubs-centric look at baseball’s past. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline, to help you follow along as wereview select scenes from the rich tapestry of Chicago Cubs and Major League Baseball history. The embedded links often point to articles that I’ve chosen as illustrative of the scenes, from The Society for American Baseball Research, reproductions of period newspapers, images, and other such material.

You might learn something, but mostly, it’s for fun!

Today in baseball history:

1896 - Long before Marvin Miller and Curt Flood attacked the reserve clause, John Montgomery Ward, who has not played or managed for the last two seasons, objects to…