If you grew up on the south side of Chicago, you were probably a White Sox fan. If on the north side, a Cubs fan. Growing up in Evanston, IL, the first suburb on the lake north of Chicago, makes me a Cubby. I came by it rightly because my parents were great Cub fans. Into their last days they sat in their brown leather recliners watching the games.
My mother, Madeline, read Sports Illustrated magazine cover to cover and talked about her favorite writers when the magazine was at its zenith. I sat between my parents when they went to the ballpark and names like Ernie Banks: short stop and 1st base, Hank Sauer: left fielder, Andy Pafko: center field and Bob Rush: pitcher, are part of the trivia you carry around as a Cubs fan of my generation. Everyone recognizes Harry Carey singing –https://youtu.be/HnHV5FaqvEs?si=V7YvwM6ZNwITQTBA
A great article, Growing Up With The 1950s Cubs by Ray Schmidt is worth the read. Click on: https://sabr.org/journal/article/growing-up-with-the-1950s-cubs
I want you to picture the trains after work heading north out of the city and the passengers straining to see if the Cubs had a win that afternoon with the W flag flying. (On August 8, 1988, the Chicago Cubs hosted the first night game in the history of Wrigley Field.)
You may be one who collected baseball trading cards, and hopefully did not loose them along the way. Here is an Andy Pafko card that will remind you of your prizes.
One of my favorite lines in the Bull Durham movie filmed in Durham, NC is this one. Annie Savoy: Walt Whitman once said, “I see great things in baseball. It’s our game, the American game. It will repair our losses and be a blessing to us.” You could look it up.
I have said before I can’t imagine my life without reading. David Halberstam has become one of my favorite authors. I’m reading October 1964 when the aging New York Yankees played the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series that year. I have no idea who won, so don’t tell me. There are vivid portrayals of legends like Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris of the Yankees and Bob Gibson and Lou Brock of the Cardinals. Halberstam is great at weaving the interplay between sports and society.
The San Francisco Chronicle’s review of the book says that Halberstam gives us the feeling of actually being there–in another time, in the locker rooms and in the minds of baseball legends. His time and effort researching the book result in a fluency with his topic and a fluidity of writing that make the reading almost effortless….Absorbing. (I find this absolutely true.)
The Chicago Sun-Times wrote: Superb reporting…Incisive analysis…You know from the start that Halberstam is going to focus on a large human canvas…One of the many joys of this book is the humanity with which Halberstam explores the characters as well as the talents of the players, coaches and managers. These are not demigods of summer but flawed, believable human beings who on occasion can rise to peaks of heroism.
In an act of solidarity with the America we grew up in, I hope everyone watches a few innings of the October World Series, 2023. We need the drama, the color, the fans, the beer and hot dogs, and dad’s with their sons standing to cheer as the batter runs the bases for a home run. This is what can repair our losses.
We must continue to hold the wonderful memories of listening to a game on the radio while washing the car or sitting on the screen porch. We must not forget the sound of an aluminum bat hitting a ball. I love the chatter in the infield as teams warm up. If you once were a young man carrying a bat, ball and glove to the neighborhood pick up game or the young girl with a crush on the first baseman, I hope you recall the smell of fresh cut grass and summer evenings because “It’s our game, the American game. It will repair our losses and be a blessing to us.”
The World Series Begins October 27, 2023
Main Street Rocky Mount 