Cubs Historic Photos: First In A Series

by Al Yellon on Dec 12, 2009 7:00 AM CST in History

Recently, I was introduced to Leo Bauby, who owns a very large collection of historic Chicago sports photos, including hundreds of Cubs photos from the 1960's and 1970's. They were taken by a photographer primarily working for the Sporting News and Baseball Digest. Leo has graciously granted me permission to post these photos -- there's more information after the jump. Here's the first one; see if you can guess the pitcher and the date:

Click on photo to open a larger version in a new browser window

There are so few pitchers in major league history who have thrown with motions like that, it's easy to guess who it is -- the answer is Ted Abernathy, who set the major league save record in 1965 with the Cubs (31, broken the next year) and was later traded away; he returned in 1969. This photo was taken in 1969; Leo's information had a date of July 14 on it, but Abernathy didn't appear in the July 14 game.

This was with a large group of photos that all had that date on them, but it must have been taken on July 16, because they all were from a game vs. the Mets; the July 16 game was the only game in that series in which Abernathy appeared.

The Mets blew out to a 6-0 lead after the top of the 2nd; the Cubs closed to within 6-5, but wound up losing 9-5. Abernathy came into the game to start the top of the seventh and if you look behind him, you'll see second baseman Glenn Beckert standing around, not ready for action. This photo must be of one of Abernathy's warmup throws. You can also see some empty bleacher seats; attendance that day was a full house of 36,795, but you can understand why people might have left early with the Cubs down 6-0 before they even batted twice. The game also ran three hours. That doesn't seem long to us now, but it's far longer than the average game in the late 1960's.

You'll also see a watermark on the photo. That's because one of the reasons Leo Bauby is granting permission to me to post these photos, is that they are all available to purchase as prints. Here's Leo's photo website; as you can see it's a work in progress, but if you are interested in purchasing a print of this photo -- or any of the others I'll be posting over this offseason -- you can contact him at this email address.

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Photo black and white
Days of youthful joy long gone
1969

Well, I never heard it before, but it sounds uncommon nonsense.
- The Mock Turtle, Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll -

by eths on Dec 12, 2009 7:36 AM CST via mobile reply actions

Jenkins ...

… one inning pitched! Agee double and HR against Jenkins in one inning. Great photo, but not a game I would have wanted to remember from the summer of 69. Agee — ugh.

"The Cubs are due in sixty-two." - #14

by BatCubFan on Dec 12, 2009 8:22 AM CST reply actions

a single from Glenn
always dumped over second
(Leo the Lip smiles)

Numbers may not lie, but they don’t tell the whole truth (and nothing but the truth), either. -- Doug Glanville

by leothelip on Dec 12, 2009 8:59 AM CST reply actions

Great stuff

As a life-long Cub fan (like everyone else around here), I look forward to these pictures, they are such a glimpse into the great history of the Cubs. Your analysis is also fun to read. Keep up the great work Al.

Mike

I'm going to Randy Hundley's fantast camp in 2010.

by VegasCubFan on Dec 12, 2009 9:26 AM CST reply actions

I think

I see AL in the 3rd row!

big hitter....the Lama - Carl

by bh714 on Dec 12, 2009 9:31 AM CST reply actions

Um...

… nope. Was definitely not there that day.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Dec 12, 2009 9:49 AM CST up reply actions

Ted Abernathy, 1970

the basket on the wall was only there during his last stint with the Cubs

"Truth hurts. Maybe not as much as jumping on a bicycle with the seat missing, but it hurts." - Leslie Nielson

by LAcarl519 on Dec 12, 2009 9:33 AM CST reply actions

There's no basket on the wall in that photo.

What appears to be the basket is the watermark.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Dec 12, 2009 9:49 AM CST up reply actions

so Abernathy, 1965

"Truth hurts. Maybe not as much as jumping on a bicycle with the seat missing, but it hurts." - Leslie Nielson

by LAcarl519 on Dec 12, 2009 9:50 AM CST up reply actions

sorry Al, I did not see the second part of your post about Abernathy...

I used to love to imitate his pitching motion when I played wiffle ball.

"Truth hurts. Maybe not as much as jumping on a bicycle with the seat missing, but it hurts." - Leslie Nielson

by LAcarl519 on Dec 12, 2009 9:58 AM CST up reply actions

I'm surprised more pitchers haven't tried submarine motions.

Abernathy did it because he had to — he had shoulder problems that made it impossible to throw overhand.

But guys like Dan Quisenberry, and more recently, Chad Bradford, have had success throwing that way.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Dec 12, 2009 10:05 AM CST up reply actions

i fell in love with that style watching Kent Tekulve

and I pitched that way in high school with success

baseball is a game of outs......pop out, ground out, line out, pitch out, strike out, fly out, and Fox and Bud's favorite black out

by Cubbie-Tim on Dec 12, 2009 2:14 PM CST up reply actions

I bet there are selection processes in play...

Players don’t tend to make major mechanical changes after HS or college. And pitching that way tends to be really tough on same-handed batters but easier on opposite-handed ones (Bradford: RHB OPS .584 against him and LHB .859; Quisenberry was .598/.718; Abernathy .618/.756; Tekulve .556/.759), so it’s better suited to relievers with more control over their match-ups. Colleges and pro teams typically look at HS starters, not relievers.

It’s quite possible that given a different selection process there would be more submarine-throwing relievers in the majors.

by aldimond on Dec 13, 2009 2:28 PM CST up reply actions

WONDERFUL OLD PHOTOS......

I could look at them all day .( Wife says I live in the past ) . Perfect place for these would be in the Cubs Hall of Fame . I am digging thru old boxes of photos taken in 1943-1948. THere were a few taken at Tiger Stadium during World Series by my Grandfather . I will post them should I find them .

by cubs north on Dec 12, 2009 10:13 AM CST reply actions

Thanks Al

Really enjoying these photos and reading the detective work involved with solving the dates.

"Fasten those seatbelts"-Pat Hughes

by katie casey on Dec 12, 2009 11:46 AM CST reply actions

My Thanks As Well

I know I’m just one voice, but I really enjoy these posts. I could look at old baseball photos all day long, and these are all Cub-related, which makes it twice as much fun.

In a related question, does anyone know if that Chicago Baseball Museum is ever going to get off the ground?

by Gamecock on Dec 12, 2009 12:33 PM CST reply actions

I moment I saw it I knew it was the old submariner

Piniella: "This is a tougher job than I thought it would be, I'm going to be honest with you."

by Ivy Walls on Dec 12, 2009 12:56 PM CST reply actions

Me too

"WGN, Channel 9 Cubs Baseball, Excitingly, Importantly, Dramatically Yours." - Jack Brickhouse

by BigJohnAZ on Dec 12, 2009 1:32 PM CST up reply actions

add me to that list

baseball is a game of outs......pop out, ground out, line out, pitch out, strike out, fly out, and Fox and Bud's favorite black out

by Cubbie-Tim on Dec 12, 2009 2:15 PM CST up reply actions

Ditto. It was a good thing to see.

I loved watching Ted pitch. I used to try to imitate his motion as a kid and got pretty good at it, but I wasn’t as effective. I used to ether hit batters or GET hit. So I quit using it.

Now only 12,859 on the "Cubs Season Tickets Waiting List"...

by Zeke on Dec 13, 2009 6:29 AM CST up reply actions

How long...

did games take before television?

by Snake Plisskin on Dec 12, 2009 7:02 PM CST reply actions

It's not the TV aspect per se.

It’s the increased TV commercial time and MLB agreeing to expand the time allotted between half innings to allow more ads to be run.

I went to games in the 1960s and early 1970s that were televised on WGN. They still could come in under two hours.

And once the networks (ESPN, FOX, TBS) started adding between innings features and dugout interviews etc., etc., etc. Well, you get the idea. The length of the game was barely considered anymore.

MLB seems to at least now be trying to address some of that by starting playoff games sooner.

But they lost a generation or more of fans. My kids could care less about baseball. And they aren’t into soccer, so it’s not that.

Now only 12,859 on the "Cubs Season Tickets Waiting List"...

by Zeke on Dec 13, 2009 6:26 AM CST up reply actions

World of Warcraft?

Actually, it could be any number of things. My son (now age 20) didn’t care much about baseball either, so it’s been going on for awhile.

Yankees suck.

by Steaming Pile on Dec 14, 2009 7:17 AM CST up reply actions

Al, my first impression was that's...

Phil Regan. He, too, threw with a strange motion — not a submariner, of course, but he sort of scrunched himself up before he threw. And, that doesn’t look like Abernathy’s face. Again, more like Regan’s.

Joe, you coulda made us proud!

by copingwiththecubs on Dec 12, 2009 7:59 PM CST reply actions

Phil was a over-the-top jerky motion. Definitely not sidearm.

I used to imitate it as a kid playing sandlot and it was tough to do for any length of time.

Now only 12,859 on the "Cubs Season Tickets Waiting List"...

by Zeke on Dec 13, 2009 6:28 AM CST up reply actions

Zeke, that's a memory of mine, too.

My friends and I would play fast pitch with a rubber ball against a brick wall with a strike zone spray painted on it. We all tried to do Phil Regan — none of us could quite get it. He had one of the weirdest motions I’ve ever seen. It was almost as though — pardon me for using this insulting old saying — he threw like a girl.

Joe, you coulda made us proud!

by copingwiththecubs on Dec 13, 2009 9:51 AM CST up reply actions

Regan got the final out...

…in a 1-0 win over Seaver and the Mets on July 14th, ’69.

Joe, you coulda made us proud!

by copingwiththecubs on Dec 12, 2009 8:01 PM CST reply actions

One more thing...

Abernathy came into the July 16th game to start the seventh. If that were Abernathy warming up, Beckert wouldn’t have been standing there with his arms folded — he’d have been near second base either to take the grounder from Ernie or to take the throw down from Randy. He’s standing at his normal position because it’s the middle of a half-inning.

I’m going with The Vulture.

Joe, you coulda made us proud!

by copingwiththecubs on Dec 12, 2009 8:18 PM CST reply actions