That final contest was played on a Sunday afternoon, October 7, 1984, and the Cubs were one win away from the club’s first pennant in 39 years. Then, as fortune would have it, the Cubs lost the first two games in Padre-land to force a deciding fifth game. He attended the first two games of the NLCS at Wrigley Field and was witness to the victories over the San Diego Padres and leaving the Cubs one win away from the World Series. We remember in 1984 when the Cubs were the best team in the National League as he sorrowfully claimed. In 1983, the White Sox defeat to the Orioles was disappointing and he often claimed how Baltimore eliminated a big White Sox threat when they hit rookie slugger Ron Kittle on the knee with a pitched ball, sidelining him with injury for the last two games of the series. We recall when he would attend postseason games for work and keep score at home when he no longer traveled with the clubs.
A following they would continue through heartbreaking defeats and memories that are recalled with a loving touch of family history with the clubs. He would always claim they never quite had enough to win a pennant.ĭuring these wondrous years, he helped generate a fandom among family members for both the White Sox and Cubs. He reminisced about the good Cubs teams in the late 1960s and early 1970s that featured many outstanding players, including Hall of Famers Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Ron Santo and Fergie Jenkins.
” He recalled every player with little side stories on each one. “That White Sox team had great players with Nellie Fox, Luis Aparicio, Early Wynn, Billy Pierce, Sherm Lollar, Al Smith, Jim Landis. The 1959 pennant-winning White Sox, a club he always claimed was the best team in the majors that season, only to fall short in the Fall Classic against the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games. He cherished his days as a baseball beat writer and magazine editor with exciting days covering some of Chicago’s best teams. When that young boy grew up into a respected writer, husband, father and friend, he would witness many other World Series games, including two other Cubs defeats in 1938 to the New York Yankees and 1945 to the Tigers. that wonderful time when life was simple and baseball its mainspring.” and even Charlie Root who was an ancient 36 then. “Jurges, Billy Herman, Galan, Lon Warneke, Stan Hack, Frank Demaree, a teenager named Phil Cavarretta. And now when baseball comes alive over the prospects of another World Series, I think back fondly to that happy day in 1935 when a skinny, redheaded kid saw his heroes in the flesh for the first time. “The trip back home has been lost in memory, and I don’t recall too much about the many other games we later saw together. The ball landed a few rows in front of us. “I remember Gabby Hartnett hitting a home run. ‘They are usually excellent fielders,’ dad said. “The Tigers scoring the winning run on two errors-one by left fielder Augie Galan and the other by shortstop Billy Jurges. I don’t remember all the details, but I do remember some of them.
‘See,’ he said, ‘there’s Mickey Cochrane and Charlie Gehringer and Billy Rogell and Tommy Bridges.
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