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For years I’ve been trying to get my good friend Mike Handley (aka: “Budman”) to send me details of the memorable day in September, 1969 when he was in the Wrigley Field bleachers and caught a home run ball hit by the Pirates’ Steve Blass. He finally did it! I’m happy to share it with our Baseball History Comes Alive readers! –GL
A Memorable 1969 Day In The Wrigley Field Bleachers!
The Cubs’ season ending this year was reminiscent of their infamous 1969 swoon [Ed. Note: Did you have to mention that, Mike?]. That one started with a loss at Cincinnati. The Cubbies then came back to Wrigley for a short three-game home stand against the Pirates…and proceeded to lose all three.
A young Mke Handley “back in the day!”
Pitching for the Pirates in that series opener on September 5 was Steve Blass, on his way to a 14-8 record; while on the mound for the Cubs was Ken Holtzman, who would finish the year at 17-13. The Pirates blew out the Cubs by a final score of 9-2.
I was in the left field bleachers for that game and caught my first-ever home run ball. It was hit by none other than Blass himself! No sooner had I snared the ball (after it bounced off at least two sets of hands) than the head Bleacher Bum was in my face yelling for me to “throw the ball back.” I hesitated for a moment and he quickly followed it up with “if ya know what’s good for ya!” So I gave it my all and threw it back, but I doubt that the ball even made the infield.
Steve Blass
Years later (well into the 2000s), my memory told me that Blass had a career day and had gone 5 for 5 at the plate. But a quick check of the baseball stats revealed that he had “only” gone 4 for 5 with three RBIs. Even more noteworthy was the fact that his homer that day was the only one he ever hit in his major league career! It made me wish that I had defied the Bleacher Bum’s mandate and kept the ball instead. How cool would it have been to be able to give Blass that ball so many years later!
But the story doesn’t end there! I decided to see if I could locate Blass and send him a letter and tell him the story. I discovered that he was a Pirates broadcaster, so I looked up their website and found a mailing address for the Pirates’ organization. And so off went the letter with a request to please forward to Steve Blass.
A few weeks later I came back to the office after the Thanksgiving holiday to discover a very nice voicemail from Steve himself. In it he recalled that Billy Williams, the Cubs’ great Hall of Famer, went 4 for 4 that game, including two solo homers and two RBIs. He added that, “If only Billy had only been sick that day, I might have had a no-no and a shutout!” But unfortunately Billy played and he didn’t get either. The rest of the voicemail was a heartfelt thanks for sharing and season wishes.
The start of the Cubs’ downfall!
And now, just like Paul Harvey’s famous signoff, you know…the rest of the story!
Mike Handley
(Post Script: Thanks Mike for sharing this story. In checking the box score for that game, I discovered that Mike was one of 10,411 fans in attendance that day and it was played in a fast 2:20. Some of us “senior’ readers will recall the umpires: Harry Wendelstedt, Ken Burkhart, Ed Sudell, and “Big Lee Weyer.” Sadly, the Cubs blew a big lead in September that year and finished at 84-54, eight games behind the “Miracle Mets,” on their way to the 1969 World Series championship. Bad memories for us Cub fans!- GL)
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There are thousands of stories about Wrigley Field fans but this one is in the top five, very heartwarming tale and I could feel Mike’s remorse at throwing the ball back. Thanks for the memory.
Thanks Kevin!
It’s to bad there wasn’t an old baseball that someone had in the bleachers that you could have thrown back instead of the home run ball that Blass hit. ’69 was such an unbelievable year for the Cubs with so many unbelievable highs and lows. Ive been a Cub fan for over 75 years. I have alot of Pirate and Cub autographs from the early to mid 50’s but not Blass. Thanks for the trip down memory lane Gary.
You bet, Bryan…You’ve got me beat..I’ve “only” been a Cub fan for about 68 years!
Speaking of 1969, my best friend and I cut classes at U of I on Opening Day to go to the game. We got to Wrigley a few minutes before game time as was common then and had to buy standing room only tickets (we had never seen such a crowd as that day – back then you bought a seat and you could put your jacket on the seat to the left of you and your lunch on the seat to your right.) We stood in the leftfield bleachers right through the immortal Willie Smith’s walk-off home run that won it in extra innings.
My friend and I had summer jobs at the Jewel Companies warehouse in Melrose Park that year and it seemed like every few yards along the dock someone had a radio with the game on WGN. We still talk about that summer and that year’s team more than a half-century later.
I remember the Willie Smith home run. I was watching on TV and remember Brickhouse going beserk!
Durocher was the cause of their collapse. He didn’t use his bench to rest his regulars and the Cubs only played day games in the hot summer sun.
Agree! While on the Mets, Gil Hodges did the opposite, playing his entire roster and giving the regulars breaks. They were all fresh going down the stretch.
Gary, Gary, Gary: thanks for asking me to do this. It was a thrill! But I do have one little question about your fact check. I don’t think “Sweet-Swinging Billy” could have been credited with 3 ribbies when they only managed to score 2 runs that day!
Hmmm….you’re right! 1 +1 = 2, not 3!
Oh, Bill, they did hate me but not as much as the supervisor who herded the fans out after I looked the other way. My one day job!
Yes, the 69 Mets deserve their Miracle name. Leo didn’t help the Cubs nor did the curse of the goats.
I’m putting it out on FB, should do well there!
Very much enjoyed the article, Mike. And I would have been intimidated by the head Bleacher Bum also! Good move throwing the ball back.
The Cubs were up against it in ’69…God was a Mets fan that year.
(Believe Blass won 16 that year, Holtzman 17. Steve was 18-6 in ’68, with seven shutouts and an ERA of 2.12. His ’71 World Series was other worldly, winning a complete game, seventh game and allowing only two runs in 18 innings of work.)
Always remember Blass for his inexplicable loss of control after 1972. You remember he couldn’t find the plate, walking 84 in 88.2 innings and hitting 12 batters, with an ERA approaching 10. Steve never really explained it, but said the sudden death of his dear friend, Roberto Clemente, in the off season that year had nothing to do with it.
Thanks for a great job stirring those baseball memories!
Thanks for the great insight, Bill!
Gary: In my only visit to Wrigley Field I got a foul ball hit by Sammy Sosa. I could figure out the date since it was during the World Cup in 1994. We had driven from Detroit from upstate NY to see two WC games & then with my son , Mike, who now lives in Downers Grove, to Chicago & saw the Cubs vs. Cardinals on a Sunday. We were staying in a motel which was full of St.Louis fans. I still have the ball.
That’s neat, Fred…thanks!
No, it was the curse of the Billy Goat! 🙂
For all the things he wasn’t as a manager and a human being, remember the Cubs before Durocher? The college of coaches? Broadcasters turned managers? Maybe he was just lucky to catch the Cubs as the farm system started producing Santo, Williams, et al., but he did manage winning teams for the first time since WWII.
Great story from The Budman! I recall working as an usher at Wrigley in late September 1969. It was freezing cold that weekday. My job was to keep the few fans in attendance from going down into the box seats where the warm sun shone. No fun and ironic for me since the Cubs might have swooned that year due to playing only day games at home in hot summer weather.
Andy,
You’re throwing The Lip a bone, which is a good thing. But one can’t compare the Durocher of the Cubs with the Durocher of the Dodgers and Giants. At his best he may have been the best of all time. No one could motivate and drive a team like Leo in his prime. Jackie Robinson said the same thing. By the time he got to Chi Town he was intractable and alienated most of his players.
Jay,
If I were a fan on that freezing day, I would have hated you!
Seriously, the brutal summer sun didn’t help the little bears. But, from games played August 16 through games of October 1, the Mets went 38-10. That’s .791 ball–or 8 out of every 10. Yes, the Cubs wilted under the heat of the sun and the ascending Mets, but God was in New York that year. See Ron Santo.
From Jay Walsh:
Oh, Bill, they did hate me but not as much as the supervisor who herded the fans out after I looked the other way. My one day job!
Yes, the 69 Mets deserve their Miracle name. Leo didn’t help the Cubs nor did the curse of the goats.
One last shot at Leo:
Not much of a human being, from what I’ve read and heard about him, agreed.
Irascible and alienating, agreed, but other teams have won for irascible and alienating managers (Billy Martin, anyone?)
I think the Cubs lost because, a) the Mets won, and b) they may just not have been that good a team. Only three regulars had an OPS+ >100. Their supersubs were Al Spangler and Paul Popovich. They sure could’ve used Lou Brock in center instead of Don Young, but that’s a story for another day. Their 5th starter was Rich Nye, who was only 24 and already in his penultimate season.
It was a great season until fate intervened in September.
Good points, Al !
But Leo, irascible aside, had lost his touch and drained his players. His heretofore fine-tuned psychological strategy had waivered from its frequency on the motivational dial.
Gil Hodges’ approach was perfect for the Mets: “Don’t allow pressure to replace your fun in playing the game.” And two aces at the top of the rotation didn’t hurt.