I've obviously written about the Cubs too many times to mention, between my website justonebadcentury.com and my six editions of EveryCubEver. Thought I would share a few of them from this week in history, from 1927, 1971 and 1982.
August 19, 1927
The radio show “The Amos & Andy Show” debuts on the NBC Network. Charles Correll and Freeman Gosden are white men who make a career out of playing caricatures of black men, Amos & Andy. In it’s day it is the biggest radio show in the country.
The show began in 1926 as “Sam and Henry” on WGN radio, which described it as a “colored comedy serial.” Blackface Minstrel shows were the biggest Vaudeville draws, and this was simply a radio version of that already popular comedy form.
By 1927 the radio program had become so popular (inspiring candy bars, short recordings, books and toys) that there was a huge demand well beyond WGN’s listening reach. Chicago’s NBC station, WMAQ, saw the possibility of distributing the show nationwide and Correll & Gosden leaped at their lucrative offer.
The only problem was that WGN refused to let them take the name Sam & Henry along with them. This was solved pretty easily. The show was renamed Amos & Andy, and within a year it was a nationwide six-night a week hit, airing at 7PM Eastern time. It was rebroadcast on the West Coast in the same time slot; the first show to ever rate that kind of importance.
Chicago was suddenly the center of the American media universe–and became the home to dozens of national hit radio shows. None of them, however, were as popular as the number one show in the country; Amos & Andy.
When you hear it now, it’s shocking. But in 1928, radio certainly wasn’t the only part of American society that treated African-Americans as second class citizens. It would be another 19 years before Jackie Robinson would break the color barrier in baseball, and 25 years before the Chicago Cubs allowed a black man to play for them.
While Amos and Andy were building a powerhouse radio show in Chicago, the Cubs were building a powerhouse lineup. New acquisition KiKi Cuyler, centerfielder Hack Wilson, and Riggs Stephenson formed what is considered by many to be one of the best outfields of all-time. It’s certainly the best the Cubs ever fielded. Stephenson was on-base machine and a great hitter for average. Cuyler was a speedster who stole a league-leading 37 bases in 1928 while leading the team in runs scored. Hack Wilson was pure power. He hit a league-leading 31 homers, knocked in 120, and hit for average too (.313)
Despite the great hitting, fielding, pitching, and the best manager in baseball (Joe McCarthy—who would go on to win eight titles with the Yanks), the Cubs just couldn’t put it all together. They ended the year four games behind the even more impressive St. Louis Cardinals.
The Cubs kept getting better, making the World Series in 1929, but Amos & Andy became a record-breaking phenomenon. At its peak, cities literally came to a halt while the show was being broadcast. Everyone wanted to hear their favorite two characters and their daily misfortunes. While the peak of their popularity came during the thirties, the series remained on the air for nearly 30 years. No other series ever came close to being as popular.
Surprisingly, despite what is highly controversial content to modern day ears, Amos & Andy wasn’t particularly controversial for many years. (Photo: Correll & Gosdin with African-American fans) Defenders claimed it was no different than other ethnic humor, while only a handful of African-American newspapers demanded it be pulled from the network. It wasn’t until the show moved to television in the early 50s, that the controversy became too much for Amos & Andy to continue.
August 23, 1971
Cubs manager Leo Durocher completely loses his composure in the clubhouse, and in so doing, may have lost his team forever.
It happens before a game against the Cincinnati Reds. The Cubs are 11 games over .500 and only 4 1/2 games behind the first place Pittsburgh Pirates. But Leo is still upset with pitcher Milt Pappas. The previous game he had allowed the winning run in a 4-3 loss when Doug Rader hit an 0-2 pitch for a double. Leo calls a club meeting and rips Pappas for his stupidity. After his little speech he opens the floor for comments.
Joe Pepitone is the first one to defend Milt. He says: “He didn’t want to do it. Why are you always blaming people?” Ken Holtzman and Pappas also speak out, ripping Durocher.
That’s when Leo loses it. He tears into every player on the team in a legendary expletive filled tirade. Among those he rips is team captain Ron Santo. He says that Santo is a malingerer who plays politics with the front office. Among his charges: Santo is pouting and demanding a Ron Santo day. That’s when Santo loses it. He calls Durocher a liar and has to be physically restrained by his teammates.
The Cubs somehow go out and win the game, but afterwards they spiraled into a deep losing streak. They lose 16 of their next 21 games. Cubs owner Phillip Wrigley doesn’t speak up about the dispute until a few weeks later, but when he does, he leaves no doubt where his loyalties lie. He takes out a full page newspaper ad praising Durocher.
He writes: “Leo’s is the manager and the ‘Dump Durocher Clique’ might as well give up. He is running the team, and if some of the players do not like it and lie down on the job, during the off-season we will see what we can do to find them happier homes.” He adds a P.S. “If we could only find more team players like Ernie Banks.”
Ernie retires a few weeks later. Leo is gone by the middle of the next year. And the Cubs don’t register back-to-back winning seasons again for more than 30 years.
August 22, 1982
The Cubs retire the first number in franchise history: #14 in honor of Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks. No-one had worn #14 since Ernie retired as a coach in 1973, but by raising the #14 flag the Cubs make it official. In the lineup for the Cubs that day is a rookie third baseman named Ryne Sandberg, who would have his own number #23 retired by the Cubs almost exactly 23 years later.
While Ernie was the last Cub to wear #14, he obviously wasn’t the first. Some big names in Cubs history also wore it, including pitchers Guy Bush (1932), Charlie Root (1934) and Larry French (1935-1941), and the eccentric Lou “the Mad Russian” Novikoff (in 1942). The last person to wear #14 before Ernie was a little known player named Paul Schramka. He appeared in exactly two big league games in April of 1953. On Opening Day he came in as a pinch runner, replacing catcher Clyde McCoulough. He didn’t score. Two days later he came in to replace outfielder Gene Hermanski in left field. The ball was never hit to him. A few days later he was sent to the minors. Ernie took over the number that September. Over the next two decades while Ernie Banks made a name for himself in Chicago, Schramka lived in the Milwaukee area, and worked in a slightly different field.
He was a mortician.
