I was 12 years old in 69, my dad and I got to see some games toward the end of the season at Wrigley and I still count that time as on as some of the most special of my life.
You should send this out for publication.

… and I want to point out one other thing. After that win the Cubs were eight games ahead of the Mets and cruising to the division title. They had won 13 of their previous 17 games. Meanwhile, the Mets had lost 11 of 18.

Nothing could go wrong, right? Nothing.

We all know how that ended up. Lesson for today: hot as the Cardinals are and cold as the Cubs are, it can change in a heartbeat.

…. beautifully written from the heart. Brings back all the reasons I’m a Cub fan and have been sitting in the bleachers for the last 41 seasons.

This is, however, a painful reminder that the ’69 team has not really been properly celebrated and recognized by the Cubs at the ballpark this year. Ten years from now, the 50th anniversary, many of these legends and HOFers from this team will be gone.

Think of a ’69 Cubs Weekend — ’69 players appearing all over town and at the ballpark. On the Saturday or Sunday afternoon, just as we would normally anticipate the team taking the field, instead over the PA comes, “Please welcome your 1969 Chicago Cubs!” …. and from the dugout come our heroes in uniform. Ernie, Beck, Kes and Ronnie from 1st to 3rd with a battery of Fergie and Rebel …. and all the other ’69 players led by Billy across the outfield.

Can you imagine the roar and what that would feel like?

However, the way you described them reminds me of what a SRO ticket signifies.

“In 69, I paid ONE dollar to get in the game. With the bus, L, hot dog and coke (too young for beer) my total spend was less than $3. It was the perfect timing for me, I was young enough not to have a full time job, old enough to go to game with my friends, and I was fortunate enough to see about a dozen or so games in the bleachers that year. I wasn’t alone; you would see the same core people at every game.”

I don’t have season tickets and I don’t have a lot of money to scalp tickets, but I have a thirst to go down to Wrigley as many times as possible in a given season. Therefore, my brothers, my friends, and I (we live in the northern suburbs) drive to the linden CTA stop and pay for parking ($4, split 4 ways is $1), pay for the L (4.50 round trip), get a giant slice of pizza and a soda at Bacci’s ($5) and then buy SRO tickets ($15). We’re essentially the only people at Wrigley Field who can take in a game for this cheap, and we don’t mind not being able to see the beautiful scoreboard while standing behind the 200 section because our attention is focused on baseball and our beloved cubs. The bleachers have changed a lot, and as far as die-hards without a lot of money go nowadays, I’d say that the SRO section is where they tend to congregate.

…my sister and her Chicago cop husband (with whom I came) had to restrain me by both arms to keep me from running on the field after Aaron’s out.

My memory of Santo’s HR is that it cut through the gale and landed on the sidewalk across Waveland. Of course, my memory could be faulty.

No matter, that day is still the greatest memory of my childhood – no exaggeration, no lie. By the way, Santo almost crushed Holtzman when he jumped into the pitcher’s arms after the game.

My wife’s uncle used to be a pilot for United and in 1969 he flew a certain type of jet for United that was often used as a charter plane. This type of plane had a second staircase the folded down from the tail of the plane. In 1969, the Cubs apparently frequently used United to charter flights, so my wife’s uncle flew them around some.

After a game in NY against the Mets, my wife’s uncle was flying the plane that taking the Cubs back to Chicago from NY. As they were preparing for take off, one of the flight attendants politely asked Leo Durocher to sit down so that the plane could take off. Leo “politely” replied that he was Leo Durocher and didn’t have to sit down if he didn’t want to (or something to that effect). My wife’s uncle figured there was no point pressing the matter so he simply prepared for take off.

The plane approached its lift off speed of 120-160 knots (138-184 mph) when the rear staircase fell open causing my wife’s uncle to have to slam on the breaks of the plane and throw the engines into reverse. The plane skidded and swerved to a stop. My wife’s uncle went into the passenger section of the plane to lift a white as a sheet Leo Durocher off the floor of the plane and place him into a seat. I don’t believe Leo remained standing for another charter flight take off.

and def worth my time to read.

I wasn’t at Wrigley that day but watched the game on WGN. I remember the players swarming around Holtzman afterwards with Jack Brickhouse whooping & hollering in the background. There were 5 of us kids watching in the house, and when it was over we started screaming and jumping up and down because we had never seen a nohitter thrown by a Cubs pitcher. My mother was on the phone at the time talking with my aunt and I guess we made too much noise because she came into the living room, turned the tv off and told us to go outside and play! So we got our mitts, balls, and bats and had an impromptu game on the street that afternoon.

That was one of the best summers of my life, even though it ended badly for all us Cubs fans.

It’s been 40 years since Holtzman got that no-hitter with no strikeouts, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s another 40 years before another pitcher does that.

on a California vacation that day. I was quite surprised when my Dad showed me the paper of where ever we stopped that night.

I was hoping that the pennant would be wrapped by the time we returned, before Labor Day!

I was 10, not turning 11 until November. I watched the game on Channel 9 with my brother and mother. I remember the despair when Hank hit the sure thing home run, and the relief and joy when Billy stayed with it and made the catch.

We were on pins and needles the last 2 innings, especially the 9th. When Beck threw to Banks for the final out, we all jumped and screamed and my Mom, who was sitting in her chair, broke a toe as she jumped up and her bare foot hit the table in front of her. We all screamed and hugged each other, the ultimate joy. I agree, we all thought that THIS was the year. No doubt.

Great post by Batcubfan. I can fully confirm the essential details, and had a great view of Billy Williams’s catch of Hank Aaron’s “the wind held it in the park fly ball” from where I was sitting in the center field bleachers just below the scoreboard.

My memory of Santo’s HR that day is a little fuzzier, but like Batcubfan I think I recall it making it to Waveland. If so, Ron must have really crushed the ball that day to get it onto Waveland into that wind. Hammerin’ Hank’s ball sure looked like it was going out, and Williams clearly at first thought the same. It’s also possible that the wind could have shifted or kicked up between the 1st and 7th innings.

I posted a rather lenghty comment on the game last year, in a “Survivors of ’69 thread,” whcih, If I can find, I’ll re-post here in case anyone’s interested.

One final point: As it turned out, the real portent of that game was the Cubs offense, which could do absolutley nothing after the first inning and very little for the remainder of 1969.

Memories of ’69
As it happened, I was on active duty in the USAR in ’69 from mid-April to mid-August. I vividly remember the euphoria after Willie Smith’s opening day walkoff HR, but I was quite literally in boot camp just days afterwards. All I could find out about the Cubs would generally come only sporadically through newspapers that were days, sometimes even weeks, old. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. Kessinger, Beckert, and Williams were on an unbelievable tear; a rejuvenated Ernie was more productive than he’d been for several years; Santo was very good—and great defensively at third; Hundley a rock behind the plate with some punch as a hitter; and Fergie, Hands, and Holtzman a great 1-2-3 in the days of complete games and four-man rotations. I do remember getting to see one televised mid-summer night game on a scratchy black & white TV in a depressing army PX. The Cubs were either playing at Houston or Cincinnati and trailing by a run when Sweet Swinging Billy Williams—my favorite as my avatar would suggest—hit a game tying HR with two outs in the top of the ninth. The Cubs went on to win in extra innings. I was one happy crew cut army dude—the high point of my army career as far as I’m concerned.

When I got out in August, I headed to Wrigley one of my first days back home—a mid-week series opener against the Braves. Cubs were still flying high. Crowd was going to be big but, feeling lucky, I managed to get a bleacher ticket. Normally, I’d head for either left or right field (one had lots of options on those under 10,000 games), but this day was a full or near full house so I had to settle for a seat in center field almost directly under the scoreboard. As some of you may have by now surmised, the game I’d gone to was Kenny Holtzman’s no-hitter . Sitting where I was, I had a great view of Hank Aaron’s long drive that the wind kept in the park. The ball appeared to be over the ivy, and Billy Williams appeared to have given up on it, but somehow the wind held it up for what seemed like forever, and Billy adjusted in time to make the catch.

I don’t know whether other fans who remember Kenny’s no-no would agree with me, but I didn’t think Holtzman was at his very best that day. In addition to Hammerin’ Hank’s, there were several had hit balls hit right at people and some good defense needed to bail Kenny out. I also believe he walked 4-5 as well. I’ve always felt too much good Cubs mojo got used up that day. They dropped the next two games of the series to the Braves, and it was downhill from there.

….courtesy of the Mount Prospect Park District. I was 11 years old, sitting on the first base side under in the terrace area. Great write up.

…was getting yelled at by my mom and dad because I was being too noisy and distracting them from the end of the game.

It’s slightly freaky to think it was that long ago.

I was 16 and growing up in Kankakee that year. I saw Willie Smith’s Opening Day homer at Wrigley, and the ’69 team will always be my favorite.

When the Cubs were sliding in September, I sent them a telegram to tell them I was rooting for them and knew they could do it, while they were in the clubhouse for an away game (I think it might have been St. Louis). I just figured I had to do my part, or I couldn’t look at myself. I suppose today you would send an email, but it wouldn’t cost anything. I had to stuff a pay phone full of change to pull it off.

The ’69 Cubs helped me keep it together though a lot of family stress and depression that summer. This game helped me get back in touch with the Cubs, post-funeral, and I thought things were about to get BETTER for us as a result of their continued play.

Little did I know…

Nonetheless, I’ve been a Cubs fan ever since and year after year praying for a WS- partly because I think it would help close the emotional circle of 1969…

I’m still waiting…

My wife’s Uncle was at the game and made me a gift of the ticket last year…

If this game was not the sole reason for the eventual triangle top and basket in the bleachers in was certainly the tipping point. By the next April the old wall was marred for life.

Someone please forward this post to Joe Morgan.

Thank you so much for sharing!

Thank you. :)