Musings, observations, and written works from the publisher of Eckhartz Press, the media critic for the Illinois Entertainer, co-host of Minutia Men, Minutia Men Celebrity Interview and Free Kicks, and the author of "The Loop Files", "Back in the D.D.R", "EveryCubEver", "The Living Wills", "$everance," "Father Knows Nothing," "The Radio Producer's Handbook," "Records Truly Is My Middle Name", and "Gruen Weiss Vor".
Yes, it's true, I'm not doing an update of EveryCubEver this season. On the other hand, I do plan on featuring every Hall of Fame Cub this year right here on this blog. And those entries will be from EveryCub Ever.
Two Hall of Famers were born this week. Bruce Sutter (1/8/53) and Dizzy Dean (1/16/1910).
Bruce Sutter 1953–2022 (Cubs 1976-1980)
The man who perfected and popularized the split fingered fastball. One of the greatest closers of all-time. How good was he? He won the Cy Young Award in 1979, closing for a 5th place Cubs team. Heard he played for some other teams too and is wearing one of their hats in the HOF, but Bruce Sutter had his best years as Cub. He appeared in six All Star games (4 as a Cub), and either won or saved the All-Star game for the NL every year between 1978-1981. Bruce passed away in 2022.
Dizzy Dean 1910-1974 (Cubs 1938-1941)
He was colorful, exciting, cocky, and the best pitcher in baseball. Unfortunately, that last description only applied to his years before he joined the Cubs in 1938. His best years were with the Cardinals, where he led the league in strikeouts four times, wins twice (including 30 wins one year), innings pitched three times, complete games three times, and even saves once. In 1934, he won the Most Valuable Player award when he led the Cardinals to the World Championship. During those years he was undoubtedly the cockiest player in the game. He suffered an arm injury, however, and by the time Cubs owner P.K. Wrigley ordered his scouts to acquire Dean at any cost, he was just an ordinary pitcher. They signed him for $185,000 in 1938, which was a huge contract for the time. Dean helped the Cubs win the 1938 National League pennant, and pitched pretty well in Game 2 of the World Series before losing to the New York Yankees in what became known as “Ol’ Diz’s Last Stand.” After that, he was done. He tried to pitch for the Cubs until 1941, but he just couldn’t do it anymore. He retired after that season. That’s when he started his second popular career: radio broadcaster. Dizzy’s malapropisms were legendary, and fans loved it. In 1950 he began doing baseball’s Game of the Week on national television. He remained in sportscasting for more than 20 years.
This year marks my 20th year as a professional writer. Over the course of 2024, I'll be sharing a few of those offerings you may have missed along the way.
In 2019, I released the first edition of my book EveryCubEver. The 6th edition came out earlier this year, and I'm currently working on the 7th edition to be released next year on Opening Day.
I don't often post those mini bios on the blog here, but this week I will. Two legendary Cubs are celebrating birthdays this week, Gabby Hartnett (December 20) and Dave Kingman (December 21). Here are their writeups from the book...
~Gabby Hartnett 1900-1972 (Cubs 1922-1940) Gabby was one of the greatest Cubs of all-time. His real name was Charles Leo Hartnett. No surprise where that nickname came from, he was known as someone who was “constantly talking” when he was catching. Gabby is known as one of the all-time greats, probably the best catcher of the first half of the 20th century. Gabby was the National League’s catcher in the first six all-star games. He played in four World Series for the Cubs, as a backup catcher/pinch hitter in 1929, the starting catcher in ’32 and ’35 (he won the MVP that year), and in 1938, his “homer in the gloamin” won the pennant for the Cubs. He was also the manager of that team. As a player he was beloved. As a manager, he was hated. His nickname as the manager was “Drizzlepuss” or “Old Tomato Face”. He left the Cubs after 1940 and his last year was spent as a player/manager for the New York Giants. Gabby died on his 72nd birthday, and is buried in All Saints Cemetery in Des Plaines, the same cemetery as Harry Caray.
***
~Dave Kingman 1948 (Cubs 1978-1980) All the elements were in place for a wonderful long term marriage between the Cubs and Dave Kingman. He was a prodigious slugger; his home runs were already the stuff of legend. The Cubs were having trouble drawing fans, and he was the kind of player that brought people to the ballpark. In addition to that, he was a local boy (Prospect High School) returning to play in front of his home town fans. He even lived up to his billing; slugging home runs onto Waveland Avenue with regularity. Yet, by the time Kingman left Chicago, he might have been one of the most hated players in Cubs history. How did things go so horribly wrong? His first year with the Cubs (1978) he hit 28 homers, and some of them were dramatic, but his personality was already rubbing people the wrong way. His 1979 season was one of the best in Cubs history (he hit 48 homers), so his teammates and fans looked the other way as he said and did things that irritated one and all. It wasn’t 1980 that things really got ugly, and they got ugly in a hurry.
In April Kingman caused a stir when he threw a bucket of ice water on a newspaper reporter for the Daily Herald. This unprovoked attack (the reporter was interviewing someone else–Lenny Randle) led to a reprimand from the league office, but not much else.
In June, Kingman didn’t show up for a game. He had been given the previous day off to fly to San Diego after his home was burglarized, but he didn’t make it back in time for the next day’s game. The Cubs fined him for that. When he finally did show up the next day he showed up with a sore shoulder and had to be put on the disabled list. He was out for two months.
During that time on the DL, the Cubs scheduled “Dave Kingman Day” at the ballpark. They gave away 15,000 Dave Kingman t-shirts, and even though he was in town that day, he didn’t show up at the ballpark. He did a paid gig promoting Jet Skis instead.
By the end of that season people hated him. Mike Royko, who had been a Cubs fan for forty years, publicly switched his allegiance to the White Sox because he despised Kingman so much. (He called him Ding Dong instead of his previous nickname King Kong).
In the off season the Cubs did what they had to do; they traded Kingman back to the Mets. After news of Kingman’s trade became public, his teammates all expressed relief that he was gone. Royko even became a Cubs fan again.And though Dave Kingman continued to slug homers (he hit another 172 in his career), and retired with the most career homers of any player not in the Hall of Fame, he never even got a sniff from Hall of Fame voters. It’s hard to get votes from baseball writers when you’re remembered for throwing ice cold water at one of their colleagues.
This year marks my 20th year as a professional writer. Over the course of 2024, I'll be sharing a few of those offerings you may have missed along the way.
One of the most disturbing things I discovered during my research for EveryCubEver (my 7th book) was that the Cubs actually got first crack at signing one of the all-time greats, Joe DiMaggio.
I wrote about that story for Just One Bad Century...
Joe DiMaggio
He was never a member of the Chicago Cubs, but he could have been. That’s right: The Chicago Cubs passed on Joe DiMaggio. Is there anything that sums up a bad century better than that sentence?
The sad part of the story is that it was even worse than it sounds. In the off-season between the 1934 and 1935 seasons, the Chicago Cubs were offered Joe DiMaggio by his minor league team, the San Francisco Seals. DiMaggio had a minor knee injury at the time (he banged his knee stepping out of a cab), and the Cubs were scared off by that injury. They didn’t want to commit any money to someone who might have been damaged goods.
Understandable, right? It was even understandable to the owner of the Seals. That’s why he upped the offer. He told the Cubs they could have Joe DiMaggio for spring training in 1935, and if he wasn’t 100% recovered, and he wasn’t 100% the player the owner promised he was, the Seals would gladly take him back and refund every dime the Cubs paid for him.
P.K. Wrigley had just finished his third season as the owner of the Cubs and thought he understood the game better than his baseball guys. He looked at his outfield (Chuck Klein, KiKi Cuyler, and Augie Galan) and decided that the Cubs didn’t need another outfielder. He passed on the offer.
The Yankees did not. They signed him in December of 1934 for $25,000.
While it’s true that the Cubs made the World Series in 1935, one of those outfielders Wrigley was counting on (KiKi Cuyler) was released before the season was over. Another one, Augie Galan, was a converted infielder with a weak arm. He made a crucial error in the 1935 World Series that cost the Cubs a game. The third one, Chuck Klein, was traded the following season; 1936.
That was DiMaggio’s rookie year with the Yankees. All he did that season was lead the Yankees to a World Series championship. The following year he did it again. In 1938, he not only led the Yankees to the another championship, he beat the Cubs with a ninth inning home run at Wrigley Field to seal Game 2 of the World Series. Before he was through playing in New York, DiMaggio was a 13-time all-star, a nine-time World Series champion, a two-time batting champ, a two-time home run and RBI champ, a three time MVP, and the holder of the all-time hitting streak record of 56 games. Oh, and he married Marilyn Monroe.
This year marks my 20th year as a professional writer. Over the course of 2024, I'll be sharing a few of those offerings you may have missed along the way.
The baseball playoffs are underway, and once again, the Cubs are not in it. Wrigley sits dormant. But it hasn't always been that way at Wrigley in October. I've written about it many times in many ways.
Here are a few stories from some of those games that occurred this month in history at Wrigley Field.
October 1, 1932
The most famous moment in Wrigley Field history occurred. Or did it?
It was Game 3 of the World Series. The Yankees had won the first two at Yankee Stadium. Soon-to-be President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (sitting next to Chicago mayor Anton Cermak) threw out the first pitch. In the stands; a young boy named John Paul Stevens, who would go on to become a Supreme Court Justice.
The 1932 Yankees were a riled up team who hated the Cubs for dissing one of their former teammates. Mark Koenig had replaced Cubs shortstop Billy Jurges during the season after Jurges was shot by a fan. Despite hitting .353 during the season and saving the hides of the Cubs, the players voted not to give him a full World Series share. This really angered the Yankees, especially their emotional leader Babe Ruth.
He was ticked off and let the Cubs know it in no uncertain terms.
Did Babe Ruth really call the shot? Almost certainly not. The writers said he did, and he played along with it, but he also privately acknowledged that he never would have done that to Charlie Root who was known as a ruthless headhunter. Charlie swore to his dying day that Babe did not call the shot.
According to the Cubs players, Ruth was being taunted by the Cubs dugout (who should have had their heads examined after they already ticked off the Babe). Ruth was more than likely pointing at the dugout, gesturing that he still had one strike left. That may have looked to the writers like he was calling his shot. Plus, the writers said he pointing to left–but he hit nearly all of his homers to right, and the actual homer went to deep centerfield…an unusual location for a homer by the Babe. The called shot is probably nothing more than a legend.
Nevertheless, part of the legend is true. He did homer. And Gehrig homered right after that. And they both homered again later in the game.
The 1932 World Series was a 4-game pummeling. But as famous as that supposed “called shot” was, Babe Ruth was not even the player of the series. Lou Gehrig hit .529, and would have been named the MVP if they had such an honor in those days.
October 1, 1950
Andy Pafko puts the finishing touches on a great season. Joe DiMaggio is probably known as the greatest player in baseball history to possess both power and patience at the plate. In four different seasons he actually had more homers than strikeouts. His final career numbers are absolutely jaw dropping: 361 homers, and only 369 Ks.
One Cubs player also had that same combination of power and patience, and his 1950 season in particular can only be described as “DiMaggio-esque”.
That year Andy Pafko knocked the ball out of National League ballparks 36 times while only striking out 32 times. Only 14 players have ever accomplished that feat: Ken Williams (1922), Lefty O’Doul (1929), Mel Ott (1929), Al Simmons (1930), Lou Gehrig (1934, 1936), Joe DiMaggio (1937, 1938, 1939, 1940), Ted Williams (1941), Willard Marshall (1947), Johnny Mize (1947, 1948), Stan Musial (1948), Yogi Berra (1952, 1956), Ted Kluszewki (1953, 1954, 1955, 1956), and Barry Bonds (2004).
Pafko’s 1950 season was so impressive that Reds’ president Warren Giles said if he could choose any player in the National League to help improve his team, he would choose Pafko.
Naturally, Handy Andy was rewarded for that incredible season in true Cubs fashion. He was traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers.
October 1: In 2008 Ryan Dempster walks the bases loaded then gives up a grand slam to James Loney as the Dodgers beat the Cubs in Game 1 of the playoffs.
###
October 2, 1984.
The Cubs played their first playoff game in 39 years.
The 1984 Cubs won the division going away with the most wins in the National League (96). They had the most exciting young player in the league (MVP Ryne Sandberg). They had a team of veterans (Cey, Moreland, Bowa, Sutcliffe) that had won championships before. With that entertaining cast of cast of characters, and Harry Caray at the microphone broadcasting every single game on a Superstation (WGN), the 1984 Cubs were America’s darlings.
The first game went exactly as planned. Cy Young winner Rick Sutcliffe shut down the Padres on the mound, and Cubs batters immediately took it to San Diego. In the bottom of the first inning lead off man Bob Dernier cracked a homer, and two batters later Gary Mathews did the same. He later hit another one, as did Ron Cey, and even the pitcher Rick Sutcliffe joined in on the fireworks display.
At the end of the game the scoreboard said: Cubs 13–Padres 0.
America’s darlings were well on their way to the title.
Right?
October 2: In 1932, the Yankees sweep the 1932 World Series with a crushing 13-6 victory. Future Cub Tony Lazzeri hits 2 homers for the Yanks. In 2001, Sammy hits his 60th homer in a 5-4 loss. In 2008, every single Cubs infielder commits an error and the Dodgers take a commanding 2-0 lead in the five game NLDS series. In 2018, the Rockies outlast the Cubs in 13 innings to win the Wild Card game, 2-1. In 2020, the Marlins came in and did the same thing, knocking the Cubs out of the wild card series with a 2-0 win.
###
October 3, 1976
Ken Griffey’s final game of the 1976 season is a cautionary tale for anyone who tries to take the conservative way out to win the batting title. He was leading the league in hitting on the second to last day of the season, and when someone did the math, it looked like there was no way he could lose it. The second leading hitter, Bill Madlock of the Cubs, would have to go 3 for 3 or better to steal it away. Going with the odds, Griffey was rested on that last day to secure the title.
Unfortunately for him, Bill Madlock decided not to follow the script. He got hits in his first three at-bats of the Cubs game, and word reached Griffey in the Cincinnati dugout that his batting title was at stake. So, he came into the game as a pinch hitter and made an out. Madlock, on the other hand, got another hit, ending his day 4 for 4.
The batting title went to Bill Madlock, his second batting title during his Cubs career.
The 1976 Reds went on to win the World Series that year, while the Cubs finished in the cellar. And, after the season ended, Cubs owner Philip K. Wrigley authorized the team to trade Madlock so that he wouldn’t have to meet his salary demands. (The Cubs traded him to the Giants for Bobby Murcer.) But Ken Griffey Sr. played another fifteen big league seasons and never won the batting title.
October 3: In 1930 the Cubs win a rare game in the City Series against the White Sox.7. In 1998, Kerry Wood faces Greg Maddux in the playoffs, and Maddux comes out on top to sweep the Cubs out of the playoffs. Wood will miss the entire 1999 season because of an injury. In 2000, Jon Lieber wins his 20th game of the season, 13-7 over the Reds.
###
October 4, 1989
If you look at the roster of the 1989 Cubs, you realize that they had no business making the playoffs that year. Even manager Don Zimmer and general manager Jim Frey thought they would win about 70 games. Two thirds of the starting outfield were rookies–Jerome Walton and Dwight Smith. Rookie catchers Damon Berryhill, Joe Girardi, and Rick Wrona split time behind the plate. The third basemen were Vance Law and Luis Salazar. But somehow, with this group of players and the veteran presence of Ryne Sandberg, Andre Dawson, and Mark Grace (who was actually quite young too), the Cubs caught lightning in a bottle.
This motley group became known as the Boys of Zimmer. Don Zimmer’s unorthodox managing style confounded his opponents all year, and with smoke and mirrors the Cubs won the division. Mark Grace led the team with a whopping 79 RBI. The rookies played way above their heads. Jerome Walton was the rookie of the year and had a 30-game hitting streak. Dwight Smith hit .323 in left field sharing time with converted catcher Lloyd McClendon. Shawon Dunston became a sensation with his frightening arm at shortstop, and the entire city followed his batting average thanks to the Shawon-O-Meter; maintained by a bleacher fan. A crazy kid reliever named Mitch Williams had the most terrifying saves imaginable–yet he pulled it off time and time again. And a young pitcher emerged to lead the starting rotation…his name was Greg Maddux.
Still, this team had no business being in the playoffs and they discovered that pretty quickly. The Cubs were clearly overmatched by the Giants, who sported a lineup featuring the likes of Will Clark, Matt Williams, and the MVP of the league–Kevin Mitchell. They say that good pitching always beats good hitting, which can mean only one thing. The Cubs didn’t have good pitching.
Greg Maddux was torched in Game 1. The Cubs lost 11-3. The worst moment of the game occurred when Don Zimmer came out to talk to Maddux just before Will Clark came up to bat. The first pitch after the mound visit was crushed for a home run. Clark later said he read Maddux’s lips and knew which pitch was coming. That moment sparked the trend of pitchers and catchers covering up their mouths with their gloves when they talk.
October 4: In 1935, the Cubs lose Game 3 of the World Series to the Tigers, 6-5 in 11 innings. The Tigers have a 2-1 lead in the series. In 1992, Andre Dawson hits his last homer as a Cub, and the 399th of his career.
###
October 5, 2003 The Cubs won their first playoff series since 1908. Kerry Wood was on the mound in Atlanta, facing off against Mike Hampton.
Cubs leadoff man Kenny Lofton got the ball rolling immediately, scoring in the top of the first on a Moises Alou single. The Cubs added a second run in the top of the second on an Alex Gonzalez home run, and then padded the lead in the sixth on a two-run homer by Aramis Ramirez.
Kerry Wood did the rest. He struck out seven, allowed only one run, and was named the MVP of the series. (He had also won Game 1 in Atlanta).
The Cubs didn’t win another playoff series until 2015.
October 5: In 1935, the Cubs fall behind 3 games to 1 in the World Series after the Tigers beat them 2-1 at Wrigley. In 1938, Cubs ace Bill Lee loses Game 1 of the World Series to the Yankees, 3-1. In 1980, Bill Buckner wins the batting title. In 1989, the Cubs beat former Cub Rick Reuschel 9-5 to even up the NLCS at 1 game apiece. Mark Grace is on fire.
###
October 6, 1938 The Cubs were playing in the World Series against the New York Yankees at Wrigley Field. The Cubs had dropped the first game of the series, but for Game 2 they had their old warrior Dizzy Dean (photo) on the mound.
The Cubs actually had the lead going into the 8th inning. Somehow, the cocky Dean was getting them out with nothing more than guts and guile. It really looked like he may have one more miracle left in that bag of tricks. Then the Yankees came to bat in the top of the eighth. Leadoff man Frankie Crosetti knocked a ball out of the park, and the Yanks took a slim lead. The score was 4-3 in the ninth, and ol’ Diz took the mound one last time.
Tommy Heinrich led off the inning with a single, and Joe DiMaggio came to the plate. DiMaggio was the most feared hitter in baseball that year, and it didn’t take Dizzy Dean too long to figure out why. He easily cleared the left field wall with a mammoth shot, and the Yanks sealed the win. Dizzy was yanked from the game, never to return to the big stage again.
After losing those first two games in Chicago, the series was essentially over. The Yankees beat Clay Bryant 5-2 in Game 3, and then clobbered the Cubs in Game 4 for an easy four game sweep.
October 6: In 1935, the Cubs win Game 5 of the World Series against the Tigers, 3-1. Cubs ace Lon Warneke gets the win. In 1945, the Tigers tie up the series by beating the Cubs 4-1. Dizzy Trout (father of Steve) wins the game. In 1963, the Bears beat the Colts 10-3 on their way to the NFL Championship. In 2007, the Diamondbacks sweep the Cubs out of the playoffs.
###
October 7: In 1945, the Tigers go up 3 games to 2, by beating the Cubs 8-4. In 2001, Sammy Sosa hits his 64th homer of the season in a 4-3 loss to the Pirates. In 2016, Jon Lester outduels Johnny Cueto and Cubs beat the Giants 1-0 to take a 1-0 lead in the NLDS. Javy Baez hits a homer for the only run of the game.
October 8
In 1929, the Cubs fall 3-1 to Philadelphia in first World Series game at Wrigley Field.
On this day in 1945, the Cubs won a World Series game for the very last time. It was Game 6 of the series versus the Detroit Tigers, and it was captured on film.
On this day in 2016, the Cubs beat former Cub Jeff Samardizja 5-2 to take a 2-0 lead in the NLDS. Cubs pitcher Travis Wood homers for the fifth run.
###
October 9
In 1929, the Cubs lose the A’s 9-3 to fall behind 2 games to none in the World Series. Both losses have come at Wrigley Field. In 1950, 48,000+ fans come out to see Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Lujack and the Bears beat the crosstown Cardinals. In 1966, the Bears beat the Baltimore Colts 27-12. In 2017, Anthony RIzzo drives home the winning run in the 8th as Cubs take 2-1 lead in the NLDS against the Nationals.
###
October 10: The Tigers beat the Cubs in Wrigley Field to win the 1945 World Series. In 1965, Gale Sayers and Dick Butkus play their first game at Wrigley Field, a 31-6 drubbing of the Los Angeles Rams.
October 11: In 1964, the Bears beat the Rams 38-17. In 2017, Michael Taylor of the Nationals hits a grand slam off Cubs closer Wade Davis to beat the Cubs 5-0 and tie the series 2-2.
October 12: In 1947, the Bears beat the Eagles 0-7. In 1958, they beat the 49ers 28-6.
In 2015, the Cubs beat the Cardinals 8-6 behind homers from Kris Bryant, Starlin Castro, Anthony Rizzo, and Kyle Schwarber. Schwarber’s homer lands on top of the right field video scoreboard.
October 13: In 1937, the Cubs lose the City Series to the White Sox. In 1946, the Bears and Rams tie 28-28.
October 14: In 1922, the Cubs win the City Series at Cubs Park. Grover Alexander pitches a shutout. In 1934, the Bears beat the crosstown Cardinals 20-0 on their way to an undefeated season. In 2003, exactly 95 years to the day after the Cubs last World Series championship, a life-long Cubs fan’s life was forever altered when he leaned out to catch a foul ball. The behavior of the fans in the ballpark that day was, and always will be, a disgrace.
October 15: In 1922, the Bears play their first ever game at Wrigley as the Bears. They beat Rochester 7-0. In 1934, the Bears crush the crosstown Cardinals 44-7.
In 2016, Cubs blow late lead but come back to beat Dodgers in Game 1 of NLCS on Miguel Montero grand slam.
October 16: In 1923, the Cubs lose the City Series to the White Sox, 4 games to 2. In 1927, Red Grange returns to Wrigley Field as a member of the New York Yankees (football)…In 2016, Clayton Kershaw shuts out the Cubs to even the NLCS at 1-1.
October 17: In 1926, the Bears beat the crosstown Cardinals 16-0. In 2017, Yu Darvish shuts down the Cubs 6-1, giving the Dodgers a 3-0 lead in the NLCS.
October 18: In 1931, Red Grange and the Bears beat the Cardinals 26-13. In 2017, Javier Baez hits two homers and the Cubs salvage one game in the NLCS with a 3-2 win over the Dodgers.
October 19: In 1941, the Bears crush the Detroit Lions 49-0.
October 21: In 1951, the Bears beat the 49ers 13-7 in front of 42,000+ fans. In 2015, the Cubs are eliminated from the NLCS by the New York Mets. Mets sweep the series in four games. The Cubs never had a lead at any point in the four game series. Daniel Murphy absolutely killed them, hitting .529 with the four home runs and a 1.294 slugging percentage for the series.
October 22: In 1933, Red Grange and Bronko Nagurski lead the Bears to a 13-7 victory over the Packers. In 1961, the Bears beat the vaunted 49ers shotgun offense 31-0.
In 2016, Kyle Hendricks pitches 8 1⁄3 innings in the clinching game of the NLCS to send the Cubs to their first World Series since 1945. Aroldis Chapman.
October 28, 1937: Cubs trade for future Hall of Famer Tony Lazzerri
In 2016, In first World Series game at Wrigley since 1945, Cubs lose 1-0 on late run by the Indians. It was Josh Tomlin vs. Kyle Hendricks. Both pitchers pitched well, but in the top of the seventh, pinch-hitter Coco Crisp hit a broken bat single to score the games only run. In the ninth, the Cubs put runners on second and third following singles by Anthony Rizzo and Jason Heyward. Javy Báez struck out swinging to end the game. The win gave the Indians a 2–1 lead in the series.
October 29, 2016: John Lackey hit hard and Cubs lose Game 4 of World Series 7-2. The Indians are only one win away from winning series. Corey Kluber pitches a gem on short rest, and also singles in the go-ahead run. The Cubs fall behind in the series three games to one.
This year marks my 20th year as a professional writer. Over the course of 2024, I'll be sharing a few of those offerings you may have missed along the way.
For about ten years I wrote for various different entities owned by Lee Publishing, including the NWI Times, NWI Parent, Get Healthy Magazine, Shore Magazine (and a few others I can't remember). They were really good to me, gave me some great exposure, and basically let me write whatever I wanted. It was a wonderful freelance gig that ended when editor Pat Colander left the company.
I think my all-time favorite assignment was going to the Marche region of Italy. I even got to take my wife Bridget along (on my dime). This is just one of the articles I filed from that trip. The day I went truffle hunting...
One of the things we did in Italy
was go on a truffle hunt. Truffles
aren’t grown. They are found. We were only briefed that we’d need to wear the
proper footwear—preferably boots we didn’t mind getting muddy, and that we’d be
traveling to the village of Acqualagna.
A quick look at
the map let us know that the ride might be a bumpy one, and it certainly was.
Acqualagna is seemingly in the middle of nowhere, but the journey from our
hotel on the Adriatic Coast of the Italy’s Marche Region to our destination was
an incredibly picturesque ride through the spectacular Furlo River Gourge, and
the rolling hills of Italy.
When we arrived in
the village, it was obvious we were in a place that was famous for their
truffles. References to truffles could be seen everywhere. We pulled into the compound of our truffle
hunter, Giorgio, who also doubled as the town’s Chief of Police, and
immediately heard the dogs barking. Giorgio had dozens of them, all in various
stages of truffle hunting training. He filled us in on the training technique
as his assistant fetched his prize truffle dog.
“The dogs have
very developed senses of smell,” he told us through the interpreter, “but they
also have a very good sense of taste.”He was smiling as he spoke. “They know good truffles when they smell
them, so the trick is to make sure they don’t eat them too. With the finest
white truffles going for 3000 Euros a kilo, that’s like eating money!”
We met the star of
today’s truffle hunt, the most famous truffle hunting dog in the entire region,
Chicca (Photo above). Her travels have taken her around the world, including a visit to the
White House at the tail end of the Clinton Administration.
“How much is
Chicca worth?” Bridget asked.
“She is not for
sale!” Giorgio replied.
“I know,” I said,
“I’m just curious how much she would be worth if...”
“Not for sale,”
Giorgio said once again. He looked like he had been asked to part with one of
his children.
Giorgio released
Chicca from her leash, and we followed.
“She knows where
to look,” Giorgio said as we slowly trotted behind her. “At the base of the
trees. The white truffles are up to sixty centimeters under the ground, but it
is not yet white truffle season. It is the tail end of the black truffle
season, so those will be a little easier to find, only ten to twenty centimeters
under the ground.”
Our amazing
truffle hunting dog stopped abruptly at the base of a small oak tree and
started digging. Giorgio saddled up beside her and crouched on a knee. “Aha,
see here, she has found one.”
After he wiped the
dirt off, he held it up for all to see. It still looked like a black clump of
mud in his hand, but when he passed it around, we could immediately smell the
fine musky aroma of the black truffle. For the next thirty minutes or so we
followed Chicca around as she dug for gold. We began to figure out where to
look, so we started hunting for them too.
“I found one!”
Bridget said.
Giorgio looked at
the clump she had in her hand. “Ah,” he said with a twinkle in his eye. “That
is a brown truffle.”
“A brown truffle?”
she asked.
“Yes, probably the
droppings of a porcupine or a wild boar.”
She dropped it
immediately.
Perhaps it was
best to leave the truffle hunting to the professionals.
***
I wrote cover stories for all of these issues...
***
A Cubbie Bonus...
Forgotten Cub Harry Steinfeldt should be just as famous as the other members of his infield, Tinker, Evers & Chance. So much so, I wrote a poem for him in EveryCubEver...
An Ode To Harry…It seems only
right that someone should write a poem about Harry Steinfeldt. With apologies
to Franklin P. Adams, here is my contribution…
The poem by Franklin P. Adams definitely enhanced,
The Hall of Fames chances of Tinker, Evers & Chance,
But the other name in that infield has been lost to time,
Just because Harry Steinfeldt’s name didn’t rhyme,
He hit for more power, he drove in more runs,
He made fewer errors, and when the game was to be won,
They leaned on Harry Steinfeldt, the World Series MVP,
Though his name was a mouthful, depriving immortality
This year marks my 20th year as a professional writer. Over the course of 2024, I'll be sharing a few of those offerings you may have missed along the way.
In 2019 I released the first edition of my book EveryCubEver. It has thousands of stories about all (yes, all) of the players who ever played for the Cubs, along with a few other historical nuggets.
The following stories are all appropriate for this week...
September
24—Mario Encarnancion birthday
=Here is listing in EveryCubEver...
Mario Encarnacion 1975--2005 (Cubs 2002)
The outfielder got to bat exactly nine times in a Cubs uniform. He didn’t get a
single hit. The Dominican played nine seasons in the minors, mostly in the
Oakland A’s organization. He also played in Taiwan, and that’s where he met his
mysterious demise. Mario was found dead in his team dormitory on October 3, 2005. The cause of
death is officially listed as a congenital medical condition, but he was only
30 years old.
***
September
25—Pat Malone birthday
=Here is his listing in EveryCubEver...
Pat Malone 1902--1943 (Cubs 1928-1934)
Malone was a two-time 20-game winner with the Cubs and led the team to the 1929
and 1932 World Series, but he also hung out with Hack Wilson. When they weren’t
playing baseball, they were either drinking or brawling. The stories are
legendary. In Malone’s first season with the Cubs his roommate was Percy Jones.
They didn’t get along. Jones insisted on getting a new roommate after Malone
trapped some pigeons on a hotel ledge and put them in Jones’ bed as he slept.
One night Malone and Wilson got into a huge fist fight in a hotel. They were
walking down the hallway of their hotel, and Wilson laughed. Someone in a hotel
room mimicked his laugh. Wilson and Malone broke into the room and beat the
hell out of four men, until all of them were out cold. One of the men was still
standing and Malone kept punching. Wilson pointed out that he was already
knocked out. “Move the lamp and he’ll fall.” Malone moved the lamp, and the man
fell to the ground. It didn’t end well for either man. Wilson was only 48 years
old when he drank himself to death. Malone didn’t even last as long as Hack. He
was only 40 years old when he died in 1943.
Historical
note: On the day Andy Warhol was born in Pittsburgh (1928), Pat walked in the
winning run in the bottom of the ninth in a 4-3 Cubs loss to the Phillies in
Philadelphia.
***
September 27, 1876—Cubs win their first title
=This is the way I told that story at Justonebadcentury.com...
The last game of the first official National League season is played on September 27, 1876. The Chicago White Stockings (today’s Cubs) beat the Hartford Dark Blues 16-10. Because Chicago ends the season seven games ahead of the second place St. Louis Brown Stockings, they are declared the champions.
Among the players on that team: Hall of Famers Albert Spalding (a 47-game winner that season) and Cap Anson (below, who batted .356). Neither of them are the biggest star of that team, however. That honor goes to second baseman Ross Barnes, who leads the league in hitting (.429), runs, hits, doubles, triples, and walks.
Of course, modern day fans would barely recognize the 1876 game because they play with very different rules. Very different.
For instance, the pitchers mound is only 45 feet away from home plate. The pitchers throw underhand, and batters can request either high or low pitches. If a ball bounces over the fence, it’s a homer…and some fences are less than 200 feet away from home. It also takes nine balls to get a walk, and a foul ball is an out if it is caught on one bounce.
Like we said, very different.
But a championship is a championship, and no one can take away Chicago’s glorious 1876 title.
***
September
28, 1932—World Series begins
=A few photos and memories from that classic Yankees-Cubs World Series. The team photo. The official poster. And the official scorecard.
***
September
28, 1938—The Homer in the Gloamin
=As told at Justonebadcentury.com...
The second place Cubs were playing the first place Pittsburgh Pirates at Wrigley Field. It was the bottom of the ninth, the score was tied 5-5, and Cubs catcher Gabby Hartnett stepped to the plate.
The umpires were sure to call the game because of darkness if the Cubs didn’t score in the bottom of the inning. No one knows how Hartnett even saw that ball from Pittsburgh pitcher Mace Brown, but Gabby knocked it out of the park, in a moment that will always be remembered as the “Homer in the Gloamin.” The Cubs overtook the Pirates for first place, and clinched the pennant a few days later.
All these years later, “The Homer in the Gloamin'” remains the second most famous home run in Wrigley Field history.
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