'Hot fun in the summertime'
Cubs' demise shrouds onetime Chicago joy
By DICK MURPHY
Kansas Sports Correspondent
Editor's note: A native Chicagoan, Dick Murphy has lived and died with the Cubs since Ernie Banks' first home run. This is his account of a summer with a loser.
The chilling autumn wind blows through the lonely turnstiles of Wrigley Field in Chicago now and for Cub fans it is going to be a long winter. The lowly Cubs almost did it this year and one can easily reminisce about the peculiar flavor and personality of an afternoon at beautiful Wrigley Field.
To say that there was electricity in the air when the Cubs were in town is an understatement. The line for tickets was always several blocks long and it started to form as early as 12 hours before any game.
Perhaps the most consistent and refreshing element of any Cub game, if you were lucky enough to get in the park, was the Bleacher Bums. The Bums occupied the left field bleachers during every game and entertained the rest of the crowd from beginning to end with their rythmic cheers and extraordinary sartorial efforts.
They came to the ballgames in every type of outfit imaginable. Rebel costumes to honor Randy Hundley, cowboy outfits for Don Kessinger, and one guy showed up dressed up like a chef with "Pizza Power" written all over him for Ron (the bomb) Santo.
Their loyalty to the Cubbies was unquestioned. Every home game, rain or shine, the Bums were there and not one fan in the left field bleachers made a move for the exits until the last pitch was thrown.
10 KANSAN Oct. 2 1969
Hey, hey, holy mackerel, no
night about it
doubt about it
The Cubs are on their way.
They've got the hustle,
They've got the muscle,
The Chicago Cubs are on
their way.
Even the music business got into the act and came up with these lyrics for the "Chicago Cub Fight Song." The spirited melody was played before every game by the Wrigley Field organist
were perched on top of the National League's Eastern Division.
Most Cub fans who couldn't get tickets, and most could not, had to tolerate Jack Brickhouse, the voice of the Cubbies for all televised games. Brickhouse is a pretty spirited announcer and this year his cliches saturated Chicagoans more than ever before.
Mid-season smile
Manager Leo Durocher before the Cub collapse
and was quite popular in a number of North Side taverns.
Thousands of bumper stickers displaying "Cub Power" and "The Cubs will be Fine in '69" appeared everywhere. Even Mayor Daley had one. The city buzzed 24 hours a day while the Cubs
Now the season is just about over . . . and in about five months Chicagoans will see ancient Ernie Banks get on the tube and comment once again that the Cubs are going to go all the way in 70.
Nonetheless, it has been truly great to be in the Windy City while the Cubs were going wild. And for loyal fans (the people who have suffered through 24 seasons with the pennantless Cubs), it will long be remembered as the big one that got away.
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Chester to cap cagers
Chester Lawrence, senior guard from Vienna, II., has been elected captain of the 1969-70 Kansas basketball squad.
Jayhawk coach Ted Owens noted that this is the first time the Kansas basketball squad has elected a captain prior to the season since his first year as coach. The past four years the captain has been elected at the end of the season.
"I feel it probably has been a mistake," Owens said, "not to
elect a captain before the season. I think a captain's leadership through the season can be important to a squad and I think that will be particularly true this season with Chester's leadership."
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