Baseball smile

[DeaconKC]

No matter how the Cardinals end this season, at least we can always make fun of the Cubs.


Twenty major events that have occurred since the Chicago Cubs last laid claim to a World Series championship:


1. Radio was invented; Cubs fans got to hear their team lose.

2. TV was invented; Cubs fans got to see their team lose.

3. Baseball added 14 teams; Cubs fans get to see and hear their team lose to more clubs.

4. George Burns celebrated his 10th, 20th, 30th, 40th, 50th, 60th, 70th, 80th, 90th and 100th birthdays.

5. Haley's Comet passed Earth -- twice.

6. Harry Caray was born....and died.

7. The NBA, NHL and NFL were formed, and Chicago teams won championships in each league.

8. Man landed on the moon, as have several home runs given up by Cubs pitchers.

9. Sixteen U.S. presidents were elected.

10. There were 11 amendments added to the Constitution.

11. Prohibition was created and repealed.

12. The Titanic was built, set sail, sank, was discovered and became the subject of major motion pictures, the latest giving Cubs fans hope that something that finishes on the bottom can come out on top.

13. Wrigley Field was built and became the oldest park in the National League.

14. Flag poles were erected on Wrigley Field roof to hold all of the team's future World Series pennants. Those flag poles have since rusted and been taken down.

15. A combination of 40 Summer and Winter Olympics have been held.

16. Thirteen baseball players have won the Triple Crown; several thanked Cubs pitchers.

17. Bell-bottoms came in style went out of style and came back in.

18. The Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox and the Florida Marlins have all won the World Series.

19. The Cubs played 14,153 regular-season games; they lost the majority of them.

20. Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Oklahoma and New Mexico were added to the Union.

Great quotes in Cubs history:

"Noise pollution can't be that much of a problem [at Wrigley]. There's nothing to cheer about."

--State rep. John F. Dunn, arguing for the installation of lights at Wrigley Field



"If I managed the Cubs, I'd be an alcoholic." -- Whitey Herzog



"There's nothing wrong with this team that more pitching, more fielding and more hitting couldn't help." -- Bill Buckner



"You get tired of looking at garbage in your own backyard." – Cubs manager Lee Elia in 1983 about why the Cubs got rid of so many players. Elia was fired later that same season.



"The Cubs were taking batting practice, and the pitching machine threw a no-hitter." - Radio deejay



"The only bad thing about being released by the Cubs is that they made me keep my season tickets." - Ken Rietz, ex-Cub third baseman.



"Would the lady who left her nine kids at Wrigley Field please pick them up immediately? They are beating the Cubs 4-0 in the 7th inning." - Radio Deejay.



"One thing you learn as a Cubs fan: When you bought your ticket, you could bank on seeing the bottom of the ninth." - Joe Garagiola

 

[dhermann1]

Just a few weeks till pitchers and catchers show up for spring training. Hey, hope springs eternal!
Many years ago (1983, if I recall) I saw a great Off Broadway show called "Bleacher Bums", about Cubby fans in the bleachers. Next best thing to being there.

 

[Michael Carter]

Poor Cubs.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Speaking as a lifelong Red Sox fan, we were always very grateful that the Cubs existed, if only so we could say "well, things aren't as bad as they could be."

Over the last hundred years, the Washington Senators have won more World Series than the Cubs.

 

[Tomasso]

Making fun of the Cubbies....who's next, cripples and orphans.......

 

[Dan'l]

GO CUBS!

DeaconKC, that is a cool list... I guess...
LizzieMaine, you're not the first Redsox fan I've heard say that

The Cubs are always good for conversation. By the way, "This is the year."

 

[Tomasso]

By the way, "This is the year."

[video=youtube;CqHTScDBsDU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqHTScDBsDU [/video]

 

[Fletch]

Garrison Keillor said, "Cats exist to show us that not everything in life must have a purpose."

That's kinda how I feel about the Cubs.

 

[Dan'l]

[video=youtube;CqHTScDBsDU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqHTScDBsDU [/video]

:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap Beautiful, thanks Tomasso

 

[LizzieMaine]

Lest we forget, though, the Cubs were a powerhouse in the thirties, even if they didn't go all the way. Pennants in 1929, 1932, 1935, and 1938 -- along with the Giants and the Cardinals, they were a dominant club in the National League. The woe-is-me stuff didn't really start until the fifties and sixties.

The '35 Cubbies in all their glory. Not a sad sack in the bunch. Except maybe that guy in the black suit. (The guy sitting next to him, though, is Phil Cavaretta, universally acclaimed in his day as the best-looking first baseman in the National League.)

 

[dhermann1]

Well, it looks like those erstwhile perennial cellar dweller Phils are the odds on favorite to win it all this year. Any other opinions?

 

[Tomasso]

Lest we forget, though, the Cubs were a powerhouse in the thirties, even if they didn't go all the way. Pennants in 1929, 1932, 1935, and 1938 -- along with the Giants and the Cardinals, they were a dominant club in the National League. The woe-is-me stuff didn't really start until the fifties and sixties.

Yep, their all-time record (1876-2010) is 10,240-9,688 for a winning percentage of .514


Whereas, let's say, Oh, the Cardinals (1882-2010) are 10,105-9,418 for .518.........

 

[Dan'l]

Yep, their all-time record (1876-2010) is 10,240-9,688 for a winning percentage of .514


Whereas, let's say, Oh, the Cardinals (1882-2010) are 10,105-9,418 for .518.........

I like how those numbers add up for the Cubs, puts things in better perspective.

 

[Harp]

The '35 Cubbies in all their glory. Not a sad sack in the bunch.

"...there has always remained a glimmering that has gone forth
from person to person, from one generation to another,
and so has been continued and kept...."

Thomas More, CUBS

 

[Tomasso]

It does take the patience of a saint.......

 

[Harp]

Speaking as a lifelong Red Sox fan....

As a lifelong Cubs fan, I strongly recommend Nicholas Dawidoff's biography
of Red Sox alum Moe Berg, The Catcher Was a Spy to any lounger's
new year reading list. A second-string backup catcher with a silent bat,
Berg nevertheless spent two decades in baseball and his story is all
the more compelling for his character and passion for knowledge.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Berg is a well known figure in BoSox lore -- supposedly it was a Boston sportswriter who observed that "Moe could speak nine languages and couldn't hit in any of them."

 

[dhermann1]

Interesting character. I've read that his spying escapades are considerably exaggerated. I believe he did spend some time in Japan and took a few notes about it. He apparently was sort of a weird holy man of baseball. He was Ivy League educated, but he loved the game so much, he just stayed in it as long as he could. I think he had like a .213 lifetime average.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Interesting character. I've read that his spying escapades are considerably exaggerated. I believe he did spend some time in Japan and took a few notes about it. He apparently was sort of a weird holy man of baseball. He was Ivy League educated, but he loved the game so much, he just stayed in it as long as he could. I think he had like a .213 lifetime average.

I think one reason why he stood out so much was simply the demographics of baseball at the time -- the greatest number of players in the Era were small-town Southern boys. Drop a Jewish intellectual into that crowd and he's bound to be viewed with astonishment, especially by sportswriters.

Distinguished looking fellow, wasn't he?

The Japan trip occured in the early thirties, when he was selected as a member of a touring American all-star team. Since Berg was never an all-star by merit, the trip was evidently a blind for his real purpose in being there, which was taking movies and photos of strategic installations around Tokyo and other cities on the tour. Some of that footage came in handy in later years.

 

[Harp]

Berg later saw active duty in Europe with the OSS; declined a commission,
though posthumously decorated for his WWII and postwar service.
After baseball and the war, Berg seemed to have lost himself in his own
study and thoughts, which is unfortunate since his talents were seemingly
never spent in what otherwise might have proved an even more
remarkable life.