Cubs Historic Photos: Second In A Series

But the New York Times called it “bush”.

…. times change. If a player did that in 2009, no one would even blink, considering some of the “in your face” stuff that goes on now.

It appears pretty mild from a 2009 viewpoint. But in 1969, players just didn’t do that. Santo was just happy they were winning and wanted to express himself.

…I always like a bit of stoicism in my performers….

The photos are cool. The stories behind them are what makes them fun.

Link

In 1969, it wasn’t looked at that way.

I think saying tomfoolery is girly …just kidding. ;)

They annoy the hec out me. I’ve heard some people say that it’s all in good fun, but I think it is tacky in the extreme. Besides being poor sportsmanship, I think it’s incredibly silly looking.

No, there were no victory celebrations in those days except for a handshake or pat on the ass. But, we all know Ronny wore and still wears his heart on his sleeve and he expressed his joy. If the Cubs were 40-100 at the time, then yes, it’s over the top. But they were in a heated pennant race and they were having a great frickin’ summer with all of Chicago watching everything Cubs. I remember that summer well, and it beats any year the Cubs have had in my lifetime. The only thing that will top ’69 (even with the eventual heartbreak) will be a WS victory, but I digress.

I am an emotional person like Ronnie, so I say “Hell Yeah!” click your heels.

where people are driving invisible cars down the street? In the 70’s maybe? Was it a Hertz ad?

It was presumed to be from one of two series, since it was in a set of other photos that related to a game vs. the Reds.

…who have followed the team for the last 50 years. If you were around in 1960, you may remember how he brought life to a dead franchise. During typical weekday games with 5,000 or fewer in the stands, kids sneaking into the box seats along the third-base line actually could carry on a conversation with Ron – during the game. Al Dark or Don Hoak sure didn’t do that.

Also, his honesty was refreshing. In one late season game in ‘61 – his first full year – he hit his 20th home run of that College of Coaches season. Later, when I saw him signing autographs after the game, I called out “Hey Ron, Number 20!” He looked over, saw me giving him the thumbs up and shouted back "Yeah, that’s a big one!"

As kids, we were always fed the nonsense that good ballplayers didn’t care about personal stats – only winning! If Jack Brickhouse said so, it must be true. But deep down, we knew better. Twenty home runs was a big deal then, and Santo, the prototype of the modern, self-promoting athlete, obviously didn’t mind admitting as much.

Great competitor that he was, the inertia of Cubdom in the pre-Durocher Wrigley era must have eaten away at Ron. His best seasons were largely wasted in those years before the ’67 renaissance when, despite his production, he was regarded as only the third-best NL third baseman. Another source of frustration for Santo may have been the realization that, as good as he was, he could never even be the best player on his own team, so long as #26 was suiting up.

Whatever caused him to boil over, his lack of self-control at key moments in ‘69 and ’71, including the heel-clicking in ’69, were certainly factors in the collapse of those teams. By the time his career ended in ’74, I don’t think many outside his immediate family thought of him as a Hall of Famer. But, like Kiner, Kell, and Rizzuto in other cities, his lobbying from the broadcast booth probably will get him in the back door.

Which is OK with me, especially if it helps him stop moaning every time Marmol goes 2-0 on a batter. When and if that glorious day arrives, let’s hope he goes in with Ken Boyer, just to make it fair.

To me, 1984 is the closest that a winning Cubs season is to matching the excitement of 1969. When I watch some of the video from ’69, at times I am transported back in time and can actually “feel” how I felt that summer. That summer was absolute joy, we had the Holtzman no-no and Dick Selma and the Bleacher Bums and all the neighborhood appearances the players made. We had the Cub Power album, cups, posters, you name it. We actually had Cubs on the cover of Sports Illustrated! Imagine that lol

1984 reminds me of it with the Daily Double and Sutclifffe, Jody JODY Davis and Zonk, and the “Sandberg” game. All the late comeback wins and how they came back out from the clubhouse to do a victory lap.

That was a great summer, too. But 1969 will always be my tops.