Joe Carter

On this day in 1984, the Cubs traded away their top prospect, Joe Carter, along with a few others (like Mel Hall) for Rick Suttcliffe.

I'll never begrudge the Cubs that trade because it brought them their first division title in 39 years and within a few outs of the 1984 World Series.

On the other hand, don't you ever wonder what it would have looked like to see this guy in the same outfield with Andrew Dawson (who arrived in Chicago just a few years later)?

Chicago Radio Spotlight

I'm not going to be doing Chicago Radio Spotlight the rest of this summer. With all three boys at home, it's really difficult to conduct professional interviews.

I'm still going to be doing this blog, Just One Bad Century, and Father Knows Nothing (in addition to working on two book projects), so it's not like I'm just throwing in the towel. But something's gotta give.

Chicago Radio Spotlight will return at the end of August.

Coining a term?

My son Johnny left for school this morning (last day) and didn't realize until he hit the sidewalk that he forgot to put on his shoes.

He came back inside slapping his head.

"Sorry Dad," he said, "I think I just had a junior moment."

Larry French

He was a pitcher for the Cubs, so it only seemed natural that he buy a bear cub as a pet, right? Larry French did it on this day in 1938.

It didn't turn out so well.

Public Enemies

Awesome story in the latest issue of Shore Magazine. It's an insider's account into the making of the Johnny Depp movie "Public Enemies" (about John Dillinger...filmed in and around this area). The writer of the piece, Don Ascher, has a part in the movie. Lots of great behind the scenes pictures too.

Read the whole story here.

Charlie Hollicher

He was born on this day in 1896 and went on to star for the 1918 pennant winning Chicago Cubs as a rookie, but the Charlie Hollicher story doesn't end well.


Read all about his tragic life here.

Mr. Ed & Herman Munster try out for Leo Durocher

Here's Mr. Ed's tryout...Sandy Koufax pitches to him.



Here's Herman Munster's tryout...



Despite their obvious talent, neither of them lasted in the Big Leagues.

Charlie Grimm & Frankie Frisch

On this day in 1949 Charlie Grimm resigned as manager of the Cubs because he couldn't take the losing anymore. He wasn't living up to his nickname Jolly Cholly, he was living up his last name...and inspiring this portrait by Norman Rockwell.

The job was given to Hall of Famer Frankie Frisch. He had no idea what he was getting into.

E-mails, we get e-mails

"JE" writes...



"Rick, I am in Hong Kong, completely jet lagged and up at 4am....so what's a gal to do.....surf the web and catch up on my favorite sites since I was in the air flying for the last 24 hours. So, after pulling up the Loop to listen online, I grab yours and both of them came up in Chinese. The Loop had enough graphics that are still in English that I could navigate it.....yours, on the other hand....a little more problematic. Thought you might like to see what your site looks like over here."

Click on the picture below to enlarge it...

Roy Smalley

Roy Smalley is 83 years old today. He played shortstop for the Cubs during some of their darkest days. His brother-in-law Gene Mauch was one of his teammates. His son Roy also played in the big leagues for the Texas Rangers, Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, and the Chicago White Sox.

Toy Story 3

It's about time. My kids are going to be excited when this comes out next summer. Here's the first trailer...

E-mails, we get e-mails

"RP," a father of three grown boys, responds to my latest Father Knows Nothing column...


"Yes, you will miss it when the boys are gone. Because you've been so involved in their growing up, you'll feel it even more than the average dad. Every now and then, something will remind you of some little incident that happened when the kids were small, and you'll have a wistful little tug at your heart. Remember them well, for these days will never come again."

Wise advice.

Sammy's 2000th

He hit it on this day in 2003. He currently stands at 2408 hits. Has he ever officially retired, by the way? The rumor is that announcement is coming this week.

Dave Benson

My old Loop buddy Dave Benson, recently let go by KFOG in San Francisco, has landed a new gig in Seattle at KMTT. From this morning's Radio Online...

Dave Benson heads to Entercom's AAA KMTT-FM (103.7 The Mountain)/Seattle as Program Director. Most recently, he served as PD of Cumulus' AAA KFOG-FM/San Francisco and nine years with the company. He had also overseen co-owned Classic Rock KSAN-FM (100.7 The Bone). Before joining KFOG in June, 2000, Benson served as PD of KBCO-FM/Denver.

"Every radio format, like every business, has its leaders -- the two or three who are the best at what they do," said Entercom/Seattle OM Dave Richards. "In Triple A radio, Dave Benson is that person."

Dave Richards once worked in Chicago too. John Fisher, another long-time Chicagoan, is the afternoon guy at that station.

I've previously interviewed both Benson & Fisher at Chicago Radio Spotlight.

Father Knows Nothing

I just posted my latest Father Knows Nothing column at NWI Parent. This one is about my loud children. I call it "Loud." You can read it here.