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Cubs Historic Photos: 21st In A Series

This one should be pretty easy -- but if you look at it for a while and still can't guess, find the answer after the jump.

A color photo!

Star-divide

Obviously, it's Opening Day -- that's the only time the Cubs have played the Cardinals at Wrigley with bunting on the brick wall, and the opponent is clearly St. Louis. It has to be the late 1980's or early 1990's, because of the bear logo on the sleeve.

The Cardinals catcher is easily identifiable from the "P" on his shirt -- it's Tom Pagnozzi, who was their mostly-regular catcher for much of the 1990's.

The Cubs stopped wearing pants without belts after 1989 and went back to the belted look for the 1990 season, so this has to be 1990, 1991 or 1992. If you haven't guessed the Cub by now, it's Joe Girardi, who left the Cubs after 1992. The only Opening Day game that Girardi caught as a Cub, against the Cardinals, was on April 11, 1991. The Cubs lost the game 5-4; trailing 5-2 going into the last of the ninth, the Cubs scored twice and had the tying run in scoring position with only one out. George Bell, playing his first game as a Cub, struck out and Andre Dawson then hit an infield single to load the bases, putting the tying and winning runs in scoring position; unfortunately, Shawon Dunston flied to right to end the game.

Which AB is this for Girardi? In four plate appearances that day, he flied to right, grounded to third, grounded back to the pitcher and walked. In this photo he has clearly just hit the ball somewhere -- and I'd say it looks like he's looking toward right field, so this is probably his first AB, which ended the bottom of the second inning.

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Hey, I finally guessed one right.

And, on a random sidenote, Girardi’s swing in that particular photo reminds me of a right-handed Fukudome.

Catch my act on Twitter as @dat_cubfan_dave.

by dat cubfan daver on Jan 29, 2010 9:00 AM CST reply actions  

That is, when Fukudome's not doing the helicopter.

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

by Al Yellon on Jan 29, 2010 9:01 AM CST up reply actions  

That's funny

I did a double take when I realized it was a righty in the pic because that is exactly what Fukudome looks likes at the end of his swing, just from the other side.

by alwaysacub on Jan 29, 2010 9:41 AM CST up reply actions  

If you want to make a direct comparison...

… he’d have to manage the Yomiuri Giants to a championship.

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

by Al Yellon on Jan 29, 2010 11:59 AM CST up reply actions  

Sure you do.

But they’re like the Phillies. The Yomiuri Giants are the Yankees of Japan.

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

by Al Yellon on Jan 29, 2010 12:28 PM CST up reply actions  

I'm sure you're aware...

…but that team is just called the Fighters. Their “city” or, in this case, corporate benefactor, is Nippon Ham. They are a big meat packing company that serves east and southeast Asia. Sometimes I prefer to imagine they are the Ham Fighters anyway cause…that imagery is just plain funny!

by WiscCubsFan on Jan 29, 2010 12:31 PM CST up reply actions  

Yeah, I'm just trying to aggravate Jay Johnstone.

(See the previous Xavier Nady thread.)

Catch my act on Twitter as @dat_cubfan_dave.

by dat cubfan daver on Jan 29, 2010 12:50 PM CST up reply actions  

I took the bait once....

not going to be Debbie Downer again….

by Jay Johnstone on Jan 30, 2010 7:26 AM CST up reply actions  

fukodome

Thought the same thing. Had the jerseys been the same it would have been tough.

by cozmotaylor123 on Jan 29, 2010 9:08 AM CST via mobile up reply actions  

To me it looks just like So Taguchi.

"Only a mediocre person is always at his best." ~W. Somerset Maugham

by Goodie1969 on Jan 30, 2010 11:11 AM CST up reply actions  

Girardi was always a

class act. I really gained a lot of respect for him after the Darryl Kile incident. I cannot wait until he take the helm for the Cubs.

A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five.

by copes006 on Jan 29, 2010 9:03 AM CST reply actions  

Oh yes

and my guess is he just topped the ball (see where the cather has his mitt) back to the pitcher.

A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five.

by copes006 on Jan 29, 2010 9:05 AM CST up reply actions  

Possibly, but...

… Girardi is looking up; appears he is following the flight of a fly ball.

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

by Al Yellon on Jan 29, 2010 9:10 AM CST up reply actions  

I agree

that it looks like he’s looking at a fly ball. Maybe he went down and golfed one. The count was 1-2 so he would have been protecting the plate.

One of Lee Elia's 15%

by waiting4cubs on Jan 29, 2010 9:44 AM CST up reply actions  

I would have preferred Girardi to Lou

Not that I’m a Lou hater, I just always felt like he’d be a better fit. But Lou has produced two division titles, so who knows if that still happens under Girardi.

"Pounding sand since 1982...."

by cubswynn on Jan 29, 2010 9:16 AM CST up reply actions  

Quibble: April 11, 1991 wasn't Opening Day...

Opening Day was April 9, 1991. The April 11 game was the rubber match of the series:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHC/1991-schedule-scores.shtml

It definitely wasn’t 1989 (Pagnozzi didn’t catch a game against the Cubs in April) and it wasn’t 1990 (they didn’t even play the Cards in April that year). The only other possibility is April 10, 1992, which was the home opener for the Cubs (and both players caught that game).

I couldn’t decide between April 11, 1991 or April 10, 1992.

by SouthernCub on Jan 29, 2010 10:49 AM CST reply actions  

Ultimately, April 11, 1991 makes more sense...

they probably just kept the bunting up for the whole series.

by SouthernCub on Jan 29, 2010 10:54 AM CST up reply actions  

You know, you're probably right.

I looked at Girardi’s game logs rather than the master schedule list. It’s probably the 1992 game, although in that game, Girardi grounded out three times and had an infield single.

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

by Al Yellon on Jan 29, 2010 10:56 AM CST up reply actions  

Could be a groundout to 2B...

I guess it comes down to these questions:
A. Do the Cubs keep the bunting up for the entire opening series or just the first game?
B. Do the Cubs put up bunting for just Opening Day game/series or for the home opening game/series in general?

If the answer to #1 is “just the opener,” then it would have to be 1992. Otherwise, then if the answer to #2 is just Opening Day game/series, then it’s 1991. If it’s any home opening series, then it could be any of four games.

The play definitely looks up the middle or to the right side. It’s just hard to tell if it is a line drive or a grounder.

by SouthernCub on Jan 29, 2010 11:16 AM CST up reply actions  

I think now they keep the bunting up for the series.

But in the early 1990’s I think it was just the first game.

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

by Al Yellon on Jan 29, 2010 11:37 AM CST up reply actions  

Hey - look at that! "Cubs" and "bunting" in the same sentence!

don’t see that too often… ;-)

Lou Brown: "My kinda team, Charlie, my kinda team..."

by ballhawk on Jan 31, 2010 12:40 PM CST up reply actions  

One of

my coaches in college was Girardi’s coach in East Peoria, IL.

When we go to a game that Girardi’s part of, we yell out his little league’s team name and he comes over to chat with us. Great guy and classy baseball man.

by jthack on Jan 29, 2010 5:37 PM CST reply actions  

yup

i was thinking the same thing—totally looks like fukudome!

by spain2323 on Jan 29, 2010 6:24 PM CST reply actions  

Girardi and I were in the same class at Northwestern

Of course, we never met, but I always told people in jest that we were roommates. Years later, when I finally did meet him at an autograph signing after an NU Alumni Day at Wrigley, I told him that if anybody asked about being my roommate, to just go along with it, for my sake. He seemed amused. Great guy—and I wish he’d been a Cub for a lot longer.

"Any old kind of run wins it!"--Jack Brickhouse

by MannyTrilloFlipsTo1B on Jan 29, 2010 10:04 PM CST reply actions  

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