Cubs Historic Photos: Sixth In A Series
by Al Yellon on Dec 21, 2009 8:00 AM CST
in History
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PrintThe catcher you see in this photo had, by the date it was taken, already established himself at a very young age as one of the top catchers in the game. Go past the jump to find out when it was taken.
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This photo was in a large group of pictures from a 9-8 loss to the Reds on August 25, 1969. That was a wild game in which the Cubs spotted the Reds a 9-4 lead, only to score four runs in the bottom of the ninth, all with two out, and left the bases loaded.
Glenn Beckert is the hitter; Beckert batted three times with runners on base, which appears to be the case here as Johnny Bench prepares to throw toward either first or second. In the third inning, Beckert singled after Don Kessinger led off the inning with a single. In the fifth, he came up with runners on first and second and nobody out and singled to load the bases (the runner on second was pitcher Bill Hands, which is likely why no run scored).
And in the wacky ninth inning, walks put runners on first and second with nobody out, and Beckert lined out to left field.
Looking at the shadows, I'm guessing it's the third-inning at-bat, since you can see faces in the first-base boxes still in the sun -- you wouldn't see that later in the game. The Cubs lost the first three of that four-game series to Cincinnati and lost 2.5 games off their first-place lead. No need to rehash what happened after that.
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Umpire
Hall of Fame umpire Doug “God” Harvey behind the plate.
Keep'em coming, Al!
I remember how the Dernier/Sandberg Daily Double reminds me so much of Kessinger and Beckert in 1969. I was only 10 going on 11 years old in that summer of the moon landing, but it seems to me that Kess and Beck were setting the table very consistently. I hope the 2010 Cubs can get back to that formula again.
"WGN, Channel 9 Cubs Baseball, Excitingly, Importantly, Dramatically Yours." - Jack Brickhouse
Not setting the table too consistently in '69.
Kessinger should have never been a leadoff hitter. He was a wonderful fielder with amazing range and should have batted 8th (or 9th when Jenkins was pitching) from his first day in the league until his last. He just couldn’t get on base. Barely over a .300 OBP for his career I believe. But Leo kept running him out there game after game. Of course, good productive seasons by Cub leadoff hitters in the past 50 years can sadly be counted on two hands.
It was a lower-offense era.
Kessinger’s .332 OBP that year was pretty mediocre — 38th in the NL — but he scored 109 runs, fourth in the league.
You’re right that he probably should have batted 8th. Beckert’s OBP in 1969 was even worse, .325.
The Cubs’ leader in OBP in 1969 was Ron Santo with .384. That ranked 8th in the National League. Comparison point: a .384 OBP in 2009 in the NL would have ranked 18th. That shows you how OBP was viewed 40 years ago.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
That's all true.
The feeling in those days was you put your fastest guy in the leadoff spot. Sadly, Kessinger was the fastest Cub. Guys like Joe Morgan were the fastest on their team in the 70s but he also happened to get on base a lot which led to even more runs. But listening to him these days, I’m still not even he knows why he was such a good leadoff man.
Rick Monday ended up leading off for the Cubs for long stretches but I doubt it was because he was good at getting on base (he was) I think it was just that he was faster than Kessinger.
You'd like to at least think it was because he drew a lot of walks.
Monday scored 107 runs in 1976, fifth in the NL. In his five years as a Cub he hit .270/.366/.460, very good numbers for that era.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
lead off
Don’t know who on that team would have been suited for the top of the order. The run producers were 3, 4,& 5 Billy, Ron & Ernie. What they really needed was a CFer who could hit at the top. Sadly, that’s a position in the last 50 yrs. that we’ve had just a handful of guys who could be called decent.
"It's a funny old world. Man's lucky if he gets out of it alive." W.C. Fields
Which is why if they'd still had Lou Brock...
… they could have been dominant for years.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
And imagine how much greater Brock would
have been if he just put the bat on the ball more and forced the defense to deal with his speed. He struck out an outrageous amount for a speed player.
Notice how the wall looks about a half mile from the foul line?
This, obviously, was before the big-bucks seats were added this decade.
Al, have you ever heard Santo’s story about Beckert getting into a barroom brawl in Cincy?
Joe, you coulda made us proud!
by copingwiththecubs on Dec 21, 2009 9:25 AM CST reply actions
You can even sort of see the crown on the field in this photo.
Nope, never heard the barroom brawl story before.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
Pages 56-58 of Santo's book, "For Love of Ivy".
He tells the whole story there. Funny story, although for Ronnie personally, I’m sure he found it funny only after the fact.
"Don't complain to me about the stormy weather, boys. Just bring the ship into port." --Steve Stone, September 2004
That was my thought, too
And how I miss the beautiful old backdrop
Randy Hundley's Influence on Johnny Bench
On The Baseball Bunch way back in the ancient times of the 1980’s, Johnny Bench said he copied his catching style from Randy Hundley. I’ve heard about how good Hundley was defensively. Looking at his stat sheet, Hundley appeared to be a decent hitter in his prime. Then, injuries took their toll. If Bench was influenced by Hundley, then Randy doesn’t get enough credit for changing how catchers work.
"The big possums walk late." - Harry Caray
Hundley should get that credit, but doesn't because Bench became a better player.
If Hundley hadn’t suffered the knee injuries, he would surely now be the 2nd-best catcher in Cubs history behind Gabby Hartnett.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
When It Was a Game
i cant help but be reminded of the hbo documentary when it was a game when i see these pictures. there is some amazing footage of the cubs and wrigley field in the 30’s to the late fifties and the major leagues in general. keep an eye on hbo in your program guide, it seems to pop up occasionally or check out the dvds. anyways, thanks for posting these great pics, al.
I was at that game...
It seemed to me that the crowd expected a rally in the 9th, as the noise level was what you would expect with a couple men on, and this was before the first man cam up. As the rally progessed, it just got louder and louder. Paul Popovich made the last out, crushing a line drive to right center, and the &^&^%$( Pete Rose ice cream coned the ball. Every game in that series was close, and yes, it was really the last hurrah of the 69 Cubs.
by 100 Years is Nothing on Dec 21, 2009 4:58 PM CST reply actions
And btw
If i Recall correctly I paid $1.75 for grandstand general reserved. Those were any grandstand seat past the boxes….
by 100 Years is Nothing on Dec 21, 2009 5:00 PM CST reply actions
Actually, the grandstand seats...
… which are now called terrace box and terrace reserved, were ALL unreserved. Jack Brickhouse used to promote “22,000 unreserved seats are on sale every day!”
With about 3,000 bleacher seats in those days, 19,000 other seats, including the upper reserved on days when they opened the upper deck, were all available on the day of the game, first come first served.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
As Ernie Harwell would say, those days a "Looooooong Gone!"
Too bad at least a thousand G.A. “day-of” tickets can’t be made available for each home game.
Now only 12,859 on the "Cubs Season Tickets Waiting List"...
general admission
Not general reserved/
by 100 Years is Nothing on Dec 21, 2009 5:01 PM CST reply actions
I remember heading to Wrigley...
on a whim one Sunday morning back in those days. The Cubs and Reds had a doubleheader. Until then, I was always able to get day of game tickets with no problem. Not on this day though. All the standing room only tickets were already taken, so I was turned away.
I was just going to comment on the large crowd.
August 25th was only six days after Holtzman’s no-hitter against Atlanta, which was the season’s pinnacle. The decline had slowly started already, but panic had not yet set in among Cub fans, or so it would seem from this photo, and the stories about how loud the crowd was. Based on what I have read, the real panic began in the Pittsburgh series the first week of September at Wrigley, particularly the game where the Cubs were one strike away from winning, and Willie Stargell hit what ended up being the game winning homer onto Sheffield Avenue against about a 30-mph wind blowing in.
"Don't complain to me about the stormy weather, boys. Just bring the ship into port." --Steve Stone, September 2004
i wish i were around for some of these old games i raed about here
being 33, i wasnt even a sperm or a thought for that matter in 69
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
It's so cute when you young punks wish you were older.
I was around, but too young to care at that point being born in 64. I didn’t get interested in baseball til my younger brother started watching. I am however old enough to not wish I was any older. I’ll just stick to enjoying the photos.
"Fasten those seatbelts"-Pat Hughes
by katie casey on Dec 23, 2009 10:12 AM CST up reply actions
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