Hey Hey Holy Mackerel!
A nostalgic look back at watching a lot of Chicago Cubs baseball on WGN.
I was a nine-year-old boy, and an avid Chicago Cubs fan, living in Chicago’s North Shore, in 1969, when the Cubs executed their infamous “September Swoon,” squandering an 8-1/2 game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals (and, 9-1/2 games ahead of the New York Mets) in the National League’s Eastern Division, as of August 19, 1969, with only 40 games remaining in the regular season. The Cubs ended up losing twenty-five of those final games, and the Mets went on a winning tear, leading to the Mets winning the division, a full eight games ahead of the Cubs.
Now, fifty-five years later, I’m still attempting to come to terms with the sense of despair and despondence and dejection (feel free to add to the mix your own suggestions of words beginning with the letter “d” which describe your sense of loss in the comments section below) occasioned by this extremely traumatic event which I experienced at such a young age.
I watched a lot of Cubs games on WGN during the 1969 season, and for several seasons after that, beginning with the “Lead-Off Man” segment at 1:15 p.m., and wrapping up with the “10th Inning” show, after the game (yes, I know, most road games were night games, and I did experience those on WGN as well). As part of my ongoing recovery process, my therapist suggested that I journal my recollections of those TV viewing experiences, in an attempt to reconcile my long-held feelings of loss, and re-orient my journey onto a more positive, success-focused path (yeah, I don’t know what the hell he’s talking about, either). But, contained herein is the result of my introspection:
Voiceover: “The Chicago Cubs are on the air!” (accompanied by patriotic, oom-pah background music)
Jack Brickhouse: “Hello, everybody, and, welcome to today’s Cubs game. It’s a beautiful day here at the ‘Friendly Confines’ - beautiful Wrigley Field. The Cardinals are in town today, and the wind is blowing out, so we expect a high-scoring affair. With me in the booth are: Lou Boudreau and Vince Lloyd. And, manning the controls in the broadcast truck as usual is Arne Harris. We’ll be back after a word from our sponsor, with the Lead-Off Man.”
Jack Brickhouse (on the field, with a microphone): “We’re back, and our guest today on Lead-Off Man is Cubs third-baseman, Ron Santo. Ronnie, it’s great to have you with us - you’re having a terrific season. Tell me, how are the fellas feeling, having just taken two out of three from the Phillies?”
Ron Santo: “Well, Jack, you know it’s a great feeling when you win, and we’ve been doing a lot of that lately. Ernie (Banks) sure came through for us last night with that home run, and Kenny (Holtzman) pitched a great game. And, we’re looking to get after Bob Gibson and the Cardinals today.
Public Address Announcer, Pat Pieper: “Ladies and gentlemen, get your scorecards ready - here are the lineups for today’s game: for the Chicago Cubs: batting leadoff: shortstop, Don Kessinger; batting second: second-baseman, Glenn Beckert; batting third: left-fielder, Billy Williams; next, third-baseman: Ron Santo; playing first base and batting fifth: Ernie Banks; batting sixth: right-fielder, Jim Hickman; catcher, Randy Hundley is batting seventh; the eighth batter is Don Young, the center-fielder; and batting ninth is today’s pitcher: Fergie Jenkins.”
Jack Brickhouse: “Alright, the Cubs have taken the field, and the game will begin very soon. Billy Williams is in left field, Don Young is in center, and Jim Hickman is in right field; the infield, third to first, is: Santo, Kessinger, Beckert and Banks; Randy Hundley is behind the plate, and on the mound today is Ferguson Jenkins, who currently has a 9-5 record this season. Stepping into the batter’s box is Lou Brock, the Cardinals’ speedy centerfielder. Jenkins delivers: ball one.”
Jack Brickhouse: “And, as we head into the bottom of the first inning, shortstop Don Kessinger steps up to the plate, batting lefthanded, of course, with the Cardinals excellent righthander, Bob Gibson, on the mound. In the first-base coach’s box is Joey Amalfitano, and over at third is Pete Reiser. Here’s the first pitch to Kessinger - strike one, right down the middle.”
Jack Brickhouse: “Here we are, tied at three, in the top half of the sixth inning, but the Cardinals have two men on, with no outs; Julian Javier is on second, having led off with a single, and Joe Torre is on first base, with a walk issued by Jenkins. There is action in the bullpen, as Cubs manager Leo Durocher has gotten ace reliever Phil Regan up and throwing down the left-field line. Third-baseman Mike Shannon is at the plate; the count is two and two; here’s the pitch from Jenkins; Shannon swings, it’s a ground ball to short, Kessinger picks it up, makes a quick flip to Beckert at second base, who then throws to Banks at first - it’s a double-play - way to go, fellas! Whew boy! What do you think, Good Kid?”
Lou Boudreau: “That was nicely done out there, Jack. Now, for all you youngsters watching at home, notice how Kessinger made sure to firmly plant his right foot, before making that quick throw to Beckert. And, he led him perfectly with the throw, allowing Beckert to easily make that throw to Banks to complete the double-play.”
Jack Brickhouse: “That’s right, Lou. We’d like to welcome some special visitors to Wrigley Field today: the sisters from St. Viator in Merrillville, Indiana are here with us today, and Cubs Scout Pack #483 from Arlington Heights is also here. Back to the action, Vada Pinson hits a high fly ball to left - Billy Williams easily makes the catch. That’s the end of the inning for the Cardinals. We’ll head to the bottom of the sixth, after this, from our sponsor.”
Jack Brickhouse: “Here we are, in the bottom of the eighth, two outs, and Billy Williams is stepping into the batter’s box. Williams takes the first pitch, ball one. Gibson is set for the next pitch - here it is - Williams swings - it’s a long fly ball to right - back, back, back, it’s gone! Hey! Hey! A homerun for Billy Williams, and the Cubs are now ahead in the ballgame by a score of four to three. Let’s see the replay now - you can see Williams with a mighty swing - no doubt about it, it was headed for the seats all the way - great camera-work, Arne.”
Jack Brickhouse: “And, Tim McCarver lifts a pop fly, Santo calls for it, and squeezes it for the third out. That’s it, the game is over. We’ll be back in a moment with the happy totals.”
Jack Brickhouse: “For the Cardinals, three runs, eight hits and no errors; for the Cubs, four runs, seven hits and one error. Jenkins the winner for the Cubs, his record now 10-5; Bob Gibson the loser for the Cardinals, slipping to 12-3 on the year.”
Jack Brickhouse: “Welcome to the 10th Inning show. Our guest is today’s hero, Billy Williams, who belted the game-winning homerun in the 8th inning for the Cubs. Billy, congratulations on breaking that tie, and making the Cubs a winner today. That was a critical homer for the Cubs, and against a tough competitor in Bob Gibson, no less.”
Billy Williams: “Thanks, Jack. Yeah, Gibby came back at me with a fastball, after that first curveball he threw, and he left it high in the strike zone, and I was fortunate to connect solidly with it.”
Jack Brickhouse: “Well, folks, that’s all the time we have for today. Thanks for joining us here for Cubs baseball on WGN - we’ll see you back here tomorrow for Lead-Off Man at 1:15.”
So, those are my reflections on a misspent youth (or, at least, misspent summers). I feel compelled to point out that this narrative is not real - the dialogue, hits and storylines are not drawn from a specific baseball game, but, hopefully, if you were watching Cubs games fifty-five years ago, as I was, the re-creation rings true for you.
I didn’t set out to provide an historical perspective on the Cubs collapse in 1969; key events from that season have been exhaustively catalogued, including: Leo Durocher’s aversion to platooning players, inducing exhaustion amongst the regulars; the appearance of the black cat at Shea Stadium in New York on August 9, 1969; Don Young’s dropped fly ball on July 8, 1969, also at Shea Stadium (I can’t help but notice that Don Young is the only player in the graphic atop this column who is wearing eyeglasses - coincidence?); and the curse of the Billy Goat, to name a few.
There were good things in 1969 for the Cubs too: Ron Santo’s heel-clicking on the way to the clubhouse after a Cubs home win; Ernie Banks’ homilies: “The Cubs will shine in ‘69” and “Let’s play two”; the rise of the Bleacher Bums; Ken Holtzman’s no-hitter against the Atlanta Braves on August 19, 1969; and, lest we forget, “Hey Hey Holy Mackerel, from the (less-than) bestselling album, “Cub Power,” which featured background vocals from three actual Cub players, perhaps presaging the 1985 Bears, with their “Superbowl Shuffle.”
Of course, there is no other way to end this column than with the Cubs fan lament in 1969, and for 47 years after that: “Wait ‘til next year.”
(Channeling our best Ernie Banks imitation) "Rule of Three knows the score in '24" - simply click the button below to subscribe now to Rule of Three - it's free, man!
Discogs categorizes the Cubs album as "non-music," but I think that's a little harsh. It's actually a pretty fascinating sociological artifact and the time on the record devoted to the chants and songs from the Bleacher Bums and the sounds of the crowd are a treasure. It is far, far more compelling than the '69 Mets album which I suspect was recorded at gunpoint. You can listen to the whole Cub Power album here:
https://soundcloud.com/user-101238572/cub-power-1969-chicago-cubs-bleacher-bums
For someone who was too late for the '69 party/funeral, thank you, Bill, for keeping its stories alive!
I am with you on all your memories. I would add the following. The moments of silence when Jack Brickhouse had nothing to say and you could here the teletype machines clacking in the background, and then Brickhouse would interject "Ball One," and then fall silent again. The other personal memory is that I would sit on the couch watching the game with my younger brother Andy who would carefully pick off all the ticks on the dog!