May I suggest as a bit of Cubs ignored history: Hiram Bithorn.
No doubt you fans recall just a few years when the Montreal Expos / Washington Nationals were wandering about the Major League cosmos looking for a home they played many games in Puerto Rico at the Puerto Rican National Ballpark: a.k.a.: Hiram Bithorn Stadium. Who or what is Hiram Bithorn ?
Hiram Bithorn is not a "what" but a human being; specifically a young man who pitched for the Chicago Cubs back in the 1940's. A right-hander. Decently good with a dramatic - pre-Juan Marichal - extremely high leg kick. His claim-to-fame is that he was the 1st Puerto Rican (and Latino / Carribean) to play in the American major leagues:
with the Chicago Cubs!! He established history.
I think it could be argued that it was actually Hiram Bithorn, not Jackie Robinson (to take nothing away from Robinson) who broke baseball's "color barrier" (but then there is Jim Thorpe). I recall reading at one time that Bithorn's positive experiences actually inspired Branch Rickey to introduce Robinson into the most American of all institutions - changing history. I wonder if that is true?
A couple of years back, when the Expos / Nats were playing in Puerto Rico I had a part-time job and the manager I worked for was of P.R. heritage. We got to talking about baseball and he informed me that Bithorn was very much a national hero in the P.R. and his family. His grandmother had his picture on her wall in her living room; he never understood why. He thanked me for informing him as to Bithorn's international significance. And, of course, the national ball park is named after him. He is a man of no insignificance in Puerto Rico although (apparently) younger "Ricans" have little knowledge of his relevance to history; especially in America. Neither do the vast majority of baseball fans.
The man Hiram Bithorn should be better known to all Cubs fans and to baseball fans in general,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiram_Bithorn
http://www.hirambithorn.net/
http://ebaseballparks.com/bithorn.html
There is much more to read and learn about Hiram. His is, to my mind a fascinating baseball
and Cubs story and a very real and important part of baseball's, and the Cubs history..
......
Next ..... if I dare: A speculation into, and remembrence about the notorious "Brock for Broglio" fiasco. A look at dishonesty by "Bing" Devine and the St Louis Cardinals in an era when "a man's word was his bond" : lose your honor / credibility / reputation and you have lost everything. [Talk to an "old-timer" (over 50 or so) about that very different era - a much regrettably lost America.] Memories and investigations into the
swindle / trade that prompted the instigation of Major league Baseball's "damaged goods" rules and changed they way baseball teams did business. I speculate a very dis-honorable period for the Cardinals. (Shortly after the trade no less than Branch Rickey suggested to Mr Busch that he needed to "clean house" and everyone except manager Johnny Keane was fired. This after creating the first World Series Championship team for St Louie in 18 years.)
Hint:
" ..... "
I knew I had arm problems. Nowadays, they'd have you go in and get checked out by a doctor before making a trade, [I wonder why] but that wasn't how things were done back then [back then, in a better era, a man's word was his "bond"].
The Cardinals knew. ..... "
" ..... They were keeping it quiet ..... "
" ... They thought they were getting away with something. ... "
That's Ernie Broglio talking.
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