100 Things Cubs Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die (28 page)

87. The 7,339-Game Hitting Streak

Some numbers in baseball need no introduction, the mere mention of them conjures up grand images of Hall of Fame ballplayers and historic moments.

This is not the story of one of those numbers.

Babe Ruth has his 714 homers, Joe DiMaggio his 56-game hitting streak, and Cal Ripken his 2,632 consecutive games played. The Cubs have made history with a somewhat lesser-known streak, one that’s decades in the making with no end in sight.

As the 2011 season came to a close, the Cubs had hit safely in every game during more than 46 full seasons to put together a 7,339-game hitting streak, the longest—and quite possibly the least important—streak of its kind in baseball history. During the previous 46 years, there had been 114 no-hitters thrown by major league pitchers but none against the Cubs.

The streak began on
September 10, 1965, the day after the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Sandy Koufax threw a perfect game against the Cubs in a 1–0 victory at Dodger Stadium. Cubs left fielder Billy Williams came to the plate in the third inning against San Francisco’s Ron Herbel and singled to right field.

The next day, second baseman Glenn Beckert lashed a single to left in the fourth inning and you could almost sense—if you really, really tried—that something magical was happening.

There were plenty of close calls along the way
—21 one-hitters over the years, to be exact—including just a few weeks after the streak started when the immortal Vic Roznovsky, who finished his career with 99 career hits, was the only Cub to hit safely against Pittsburgh’s Don Cardwell. Four years later, all of baseball wondered if the streak would end as the New York Mets’ Tom Seaver took a no-hitter into the ninth inning before running into Jim Qualls, who singled to center with one out for the 12
th
of his 31 career hits.

After Roznovsky and Qualls, the Cubs were blessed to have yet another otherwise forgettable and mediocre hitter to keep the streak alive. On September 27, 1973, backup catcher Ken Rudolph, who finished his career with 158 hits, singled off Cardinals’ right-hander Reggie Cleveland in the sixth to end the no-hit bid.

Perhaps no one should get more credit than Beckert for keeping the streak alive. On August 26, 1968, he singled in the seventh inning to break up Gaylord Perry’s no-hitter and less than a year later, on June 19, 1969, Beckert had the only hit against St. Louis’ Steve Carlton.

There is no finer example of the dominance the Cubs have shown over the rest of baseball than by looking at what occurred on April 10, 1997. They had lost seven straight to start the season on their way to a club-record 14-game losing streak when they faced Florida’s Alex Fernandez, who held the Cubs without a hit for eight innings.

But Fernandez was no match for the Cubs and utility infielder Dave Hansen, whose single with one out in the ninth preserved the streak for the North Siders, who got the second-to-last laugh in their 1–0 loss to the Marlins.

This amazing streak will likely end some day, but even so, history has already been made. Sort of.

88. Arrange To Have Your Ashes Scattered at Wrigley Field

Other than watching the Cubs win the World Series, this might be the most difficult thing in this book to do. Certainly, it’ll be the hardest to enjoy.

But here’s the surprising truth. The Cubs actually do accept requests to have ashes of deceased fans scattered at Wrigley Field, and they even honor those requests from time to time. Not surprisingly, they don’t make announcements over the public address system every time a former season-ticket holder gets mixed in with the infield dirt.

“It’s something we can rarely accommodate but do take a look at on a case-by-case basis,” said Peter Chase, Cubs Director of Media Relations. “It’s also something we do not ever publicize, nor does the family publicize.”

It’s impossible to say how many people have chosen Wrigley Field as their final resting place and had their wishes carried out, but it’s happened more than a few times. Cubs great Charlie “Jolly Cholly” Grimm died in 1983 and, according to Ray Sons of the
Chicago Sun-Times
, had it in his will that he was to be spread around Wrigley.

Not long after Grimm’s death, his wife Marion, former Cubs executive Salty Saltwell, and former Cubs owner Bill Wrigley, who sold the team to Tribune Co., walked onto Wrigley Field and carried out his wish. When Marion died in 1997, her wish was to join Charlie and her ashes were also scattered at the Friendly Confines, according to a
Sun-Times
obituary.

Legendary Cubs fan and folk singer Steve Goodman, who died in 1984 from leukemia at the age of 36, famously sang about a long-suffering Cubs fan who wanted to have his ashes blown around Wrigley Field in “A Dying Cubs Fan’s Last Request.” He sang:

Let my ashes blow in a beautiful snow

From the prevailing thirty-mile-an-hour southwest wind

And when my last remains go flying over the left field wall

We’ll bid the bleacher bums adieu

I will come to my final resting place

Out on Waveland Avenue

Al Bunetta, who was Goodman’s friend and business partner, tried to get the Cubs to let him spread the ashes around Wrigley but he was denied. So he and Goodman’s brother, David, found a connection to get them into Wrigley shortly before Opening Day in 1988.

According to a 2007 column by the
Chicago Tribune
’s Eric Zorn, David Goodman wrote about that day: “We stood along the wall, sang the song, and let his ashes flow in a beautiful snow. One problem, the wind was blowing in that day and instead of coming to rest on Waveland Avenue, Stevie landed jus’ a little short, [on the] warning track under the 368 sign.”

There are stories of regular fans either getting approval from the Cubs or taking matters into their own hands. In 1981, the family of Perry J. Goldberg asked the Cubs to grant his wish, and team president William J. Hagenah Jr. said in a
Tribune
article that they would.

“This is not the first time we have had such a request. It would not be the first time we have granted such a request,” Hagenah said. “But the ceremony, if it takes place, will be conducted in complete privacy. There will be no fanfare, no media coverage. And we certainly won’t permit it while people are in the stands.”

No, the Cubs won’t permit it, but at least one fan didn’t care. On May 2, 1995, a man in left field was spotted pouring something onto the warning track. It turned out to be his father’s remains.

“I thought it was flour or white chalk or powder or something,” Houston Astros left fielder Luis Gonzalez said after the game. “Man, there were a lot of ashes.”

The man was ejected and a few days later the Cubs, concerned about a repeat performance, made it clear this would not be tolerated.

“I understand these are dying wishes, especially if they were Cub fans,” Cubs general manager Ed Lynch said. “But we can’t have that sort of thing.”

So there you have it. Ed Lynch, who once traded Jon Garland for Matt Karchner, said you can’t scatter your ashes at Wrigley Field.

Your move, Cubs fans.

89. Start Your Own Cubs Blog

One of the best reasons to start a Cubs blog can be summed up in a single word: TOOTBLAN.

Well, that’s not exactly a word—it’s an acronym that stands for Thrown Out On The Bases Like A Nincompoop, and it was invented in a May 7, 2008, post published by Tony Jewell on his Cubs blog,
Wrigleyville23.

TOOTBLAN is actually one portion of a larger statistical term he dubbed “The Ryan Theriot Adjusted On-Base Percentage,” which he created to help determine how much Theriot’s value as a leadoff man was being eroded by being a nincompoop on the basepaths.

Here’s how the first post began:

“To cement our legacy, Wrigleyville23 is introducing a new stat to the baseball world—The Ryan Theriot Adjusted On-Base Percentage. It is calculated as such: RTAOBP = (Hits+Walks+HBP-CS-Thrown Out On The Basepaths Like A Nincompoop)/Plate Appearances (AB+BB+HBP+SF).”

Here’s how Jewell later defined TOOTBLAN on his blog:

In short, it is any out a runner makes on the basepaths while attempting to take an extra base—whether advancing from second to third on a ground out (with no runner on first); attempting to stretch a single into a double, a double into a triple, and so on; or getting thrown out while advancing on a flyball. It also applies to base runners who are picked off or who are doubled out on a line drive.

And here’s what Jewell wrote in an email after helping me understand exactly how the term was derived:

“That was the genesis,” wrote Jewell, who lives in Philadelphia and no longer updates Wrigleyville23. “And yes, I had a lot of time on my hands in the evenings.”

Google “TOOTBLAN” and you’ll see it appear on countless blogs, particularly ones about teams for which Theriot has played and whose fans’ patience he has tested. You’ll also see the power one creative blogger can have on highly engaged communities.

Creating and giving rise to your own statistic couldn’t have happened before the age of blogging, which has enabled any Cubs fan to be their own publisher and show they can be every bit as witty, dumb, arrogant, and brilliant as those in traditional media. If you decide to start your own blog, here are a few tips that will help you get underway.

• Don’t worry about the title. Pick something you’re happy with and get to the important stuff.

• Post a lot, and during the baseball season post every day. If you’re having a hard time coming up with something to write when there are about a million storylines, then you’re just not paying attention.

• With wire stories and game casts, there is never any reason for you to write your own game story. Ever. Instead, you should focus on breaking down managerial blunders or ripping somebody who TOOTBLAN’d the Cubs into a loss. Your personality and opinion is your most valuable commodity, not your ability to relay what happened from reading a box score.

• Read up on the Cubs’ minor leaguers at
baseballamerica.com
,
minorleaguebaseball.com,
or on blogs and news sites in the cities where the Cubs’ farm teams play. There’s a voracious appetite for minor league news and analysis. And there’s nothing wrong with doing your own Top 10 Cubs Prospects list.

• Pick out a whole bunch of Cubs blogs, figure out which ones you like and start commenting on them. Share their posts on your blog, if you start to send traffic their way, it won’t go unnoticed and maybe the favor will be returned. In short, be a good neighbor.

• Invite your Cub fan friends to start commenting and even contribute their own posts, there’s nothing wrong with having more than one writer on a blog. When somebody new leaves a comment, be sure to respond whether it’s positive or negative. You want to be present and make your blog a place where other Cubs fans want to hang out.

Full disclosure: Since 2009, I’ve been the Community Manager at ChicagoNow,
the
Tribune
’s blog network. We’ve got some tremendous Cubs blogs but it would be impolitic of me to suggest one over another so if you’re just starting to explore, here are three suggestions:

• Julie DiCaro’s “A League Of Her Own” at
aeryssports.com/a-league-of-her-own

• Bad Kermit’s “Hire Jim Essian” at
hirejimessian.com

• SB Nation’s Bleed Cubbie Blue at
bleedcubbieblue.com

They’re all great in their own ways with smart writers who can be wickedly funny. And if you’re interested in starting a Cubs blog on ChicagoNow, email me at
[email protected]
.

90. Jerome Walton Streaks In and Out

The short, ultimately unsuccessful major league career of Jerome Walton had such promise when it started it’s still remarkable he’s known more for what went wrong than for what went right.

And to be sure, when his career started, almost everything went right.

Walton was drafted in the second round out of Enterprise State Junior College in 1986 and quickly soared to the upper echelon of the Cubs’ minor league system at a time when they were producing prospects like Joe Carter, Mark Grace, Rafael Palmeiro, and Greg Maddux.

After hitting .331 at Double-A Pittsfield in 1988, Walton went to camp poised to make the club with a great supporter in Cubs manager Don Zimmer, who said Walton, 23 at the time, only needed to prove he could hit .260 to be named his Opening Day center fielder.

Walton hit just about .260, proved humble in saying all the right things during camp, and on April 4, 1989, made his major league debut by going 2-for-4 with an RBI in a 5–4 Opening Day win over Philadelphia. It was a sign of things to come.

During the Cubs drive to win the NL East, their second division title in six years, Walton provided remarkable consistency at the top of the lineup. He hit safely in 91 of 116 games and never went more than three games all season without a base hit despite the threat of rustiness from losing a month in the first half to a hamstring tear.

On July 21, Walton got a single off of San Francisco’s Scott Garrelts. The next day he got another hit and the next day another, and by the time he finally went hitless a month later on August 21, he had compiled a 30-game hitting streak, the longest in Cubs history.

The dream season extended into the postseason when Walton hit .364 in a five-game loss to San Francisco in the National League Championship Series. Not long afterward, with a .293 average, 24 stolen bases, and a headline-inducing hitting streak, he was named the NL Rookie of the Year, the first Cub to win the award since Ken Hubbs in 1962.

And thus ended the glory days for Jerome Walton.

A rancorous off-season contract negotiation ended with the Cubs renewing Walton’s salary at $185,000, far less than the $270,000 he had been seeking. He told
the
Tribune
the negotiations were “behind me” but they weren’t.

The 1990 season wasn’t a terrible one for Walton; it was actually not that far off from his rookie year. He hit .263 with 14 stolen bases and once again lost a big chunk of time—this time 60 games—to injuries. In the off-season, the Cubs again renewed his contract at Walton’s displeasure, but the point was moot because he never had a leg to stand on during negotiations.

Walton hit .219 in 1991 and then plummeted to .127 in just 30 games in 1992. He was sent down to Triple-A Iowa on June 19 and never returned. He signed with the California Angels in 1993 and actually hit .302 over the next six seasons with five different clubs but during that span only had 381 at-bats.

Less than three years after being named the NL’s top rookie, Walton was released by the Cubs and during his exit interview with the media said his first contract after winning Rookie of the Year distracted and disturbed him. “I felt I was treated unfairly on my contract,” he told
the
Tribune
. “From then on, I just kind of had a grudge. I didn’t really clear my head and say, ‘Just forget it and go out and do what you’ve got to do.’”

Jerome Walton has a place in the Cubs’ record book and will always have an indelible spot in the hearts of Cubs fans for his contributions to a magical 1989 season. He’ll also go down as something of a mystery for the way his seemingly golden future turned into just another link to the Cubs disappointing past.