[Letters from Chicago
by Marsha Morgan
¡Spring 7 You ve got to be kidding
|It s still w inter here It s always
[cooler near the lake, and while the
[suburbs of Chicago enjoy a sunny
[dav from time to time here lately,
[we who hover w ithin sight of the
[tallest buildings in the world,
[shiver and look longingly at the
[dark unyielding ground Our
Wes Westrum
[beleaguered weather reporters call
Norm Cash
[it. The Lake Effect We call it
C
AB
H
ZB 3R HR HRX R
RR SO SR RA SA
2089 6705 1820 241 41 377 5 8 1046 1043 10*»I 43 271 411
|ram. sleet, snow and ice
Well, at least some Chicagoans
At the mention of career years thoughts turn to either Smokey Joe Wood.
are enjoying mild weather The
Carl Yastrzemski. or Norm Cash Unlike Wood or Yaz. Norm eluded the
Cubs and the Sox romp in the
World Series spotlight in 1961 He hit 361 to win the title 075 better
sunshine at spring training Bo
than his next best season, with 132 KB, s He never again approached 100
lack son is recovering from hip
ribbies Still quite a few players today would endure weekly UA s for a
replacement surgery and has
year like that He had a good eye, collecting more career walks than
made the cut Harry Carry also
Hornsby. Bando, Slaughter or Kiner Cash also had good power w ith 377
I seems to be benefiting from the
lifetim e dingers at a 5 6 i better than DiMaggio. Kaline or Dale Murphy In warm weather His voice is strong
1968, when all bats went limp, his 263 was 33 points better than the
and clear Later in the season it II
begin to sound like he s reporting
American League average He would be a franchise player in today s
from the bottom of a fish tank but
market
for
now there is a certain
You w a it fo r a s trik e Then you knock the s h it out of it "
hardiness there Hope is is the air
Stan Musial
After living near Wrigley field
In 1984. Rob Deer was a r<x>kie w ith the Giants ,n a gruesome glimpse
of the future, he had 24 at bats and garnered 4 hits Of these. 3 were home for years on Chicago s near north
runs Out of the 24 AB s, 10 were strike outs and the 3 homers collected a side I moved to the near south
side close to the newly built Sox
total of 3 RBIs Can someone explain this cal to me7 Just last year
park My brother Mike Morgan
He struck out more than 130 times for a mind boggling seventh
(not the pitcher, is coming to
consecutive year
Chicago this summer and he wants
On Aug 23, he had 42 KBI s 36 from homers. 3 on 2Bs, and two on
to go to a Sox game to see the new
Kuthian bases loaded walks That day he crushed his first KBI single
stadium He kept asking me last
He hit 32 homers in fewer than 400 ABs, the firs, Al. player since
year if I d seen it ye, and 1 kept
Kudy York in 1937 Mystery Who was the NL batsman'
saying Cubs fans don t go to Sox
He broke his wrist while striking out
games But really, the Cubs were
He drove in his own self as many times as his bemused teammates 32
having such a horrible year that
homers and 64 KBI s. a firs t for a 30 homer slugger
watching any basball game was a
painful experience Watching a Sox
He hit two balls off the ceiling of the Metrodome in consecutive ABs
game was jus, out of the question
And this is the best at the end of August, he had more home runs
But now I m living w ithin five
than singles, and as of Sept 22. he had more m ulti homer games than
miles of Comiskey park and I
m ulti single games
began to wonder if I could make
Is this the natural progression of Wally Post to Dick Allen to Dave
the switch Go Sox I said
Kingman to this? Or is Sparky some dark practitioner of the forbidden
tentatively, the words felt strange
Genetic Arts and Deer is the product of a horrible mistake in his vats7
I compared the uniforms Sox
colors are macho black w ith white
"People ask me w h a t I do in w in te r w hen th e re is no baseball
Cubs are Little League red white
I II te ll you w h a t I do I stare ou t the w in d o w and w a it fo r
and blue w ith a cute cubby bear
spring "
Rogers H o rnsb y
face on the sleeve Oh. stop the
debate. I could at least give it a
Montreal is the hockey capita, of the world Well, it used to be anyway
try
I especially liked the rude
Perhaps that s why the ill fated Expos franchise can t seem to grasp the
chant Sox fans sing when an
concept of hardball This year s squad has the talent to capture the
adversary is having a difficult
National League Least pennant, but so did the Carler/Dawson/Kogers Expos
time Na na na na Na na na na
that flailed about for ten years searching for a second baseman
Na na na na Good-bye
Which leaves the d<x>r open for the Cardinals The Felix Jose for Gregg
Just as my resolve was
Jefferies trade is hxikmg better by the day. and the starting rotation is
hardening quite by accident I
going to surprise many After Brian Jordan was convinced the St Louis
turned on Channel 9 The Cubs
outfield was more profitable than the Atlanta backfield, the Cards had a
were winning and Mike Morgan
commitment to play him, so they picked up Mark Whiten from the Indians
(not my brother, was pitching A
and solidified the 7.8. and 9 positions w ith excellent athletes Pena is hot,
feeling of hope and sudden joy
Ozzie is ageless, throw m Lee Smith and you ve go, a contender
suffused my being I settled onto
The Braves w ill trade Ron Gant for a closer by the Al, Star break They
the couch, but almost immediately
have nothing in their organization to fill that need, but they do have a
drifted off to sleep Harry Cary s
center fielder named Mike Kelly waiting for a chance
voice awoke me The Cubs had
loaded the bases, couldn t score
and were down by two I could
"Baseball is dull only to dull minds ’
Red S m ith
feel my heart constrict
involuntarily, and I began the
Baseball Quiz
March Mantra It s only spring
For a single He hit 12 of 24 in a World Series, w ith 2 HR 2 3B. and 8
training It s only spring training
RBIs He said. Cheating is as much a part of the game as scorecards and hot
It sonlyspringtrainmg
dogs
I go, up from the couch, wrapped
Double In 1951. the Cubs infield was so scatter armed that a typical
myself in several layers and went
Tribune description of an attempted double play read, rather harshly,
outside to shovel snow The sky
Smalley to Miksis to Addison Street If the miracle twin killing had
was mole grey, and the brittle tree
limbs clacked against one another
(Kcured, who would have been the fortunate first sacker?
The street was deserted, and 1
T rip le Who was the firs, black Maior Leaguer '
noticed how very quiet it is here in
A n o th e r t r ip le Name the only ML player who weighed less than! 25 lbs
this neighborhood away from the
to hit a home run
Two run homer The 194 I Giants had four Jewish players on their roster
JIM WEATHERS
Name them
For a b u n t sin g le Who pitched the most innings past the age of 507
high rises and the madding crowds
of young careerists 1 realized then
that it was loo late for me to
abandon the Cubs How could I
dismiss all those years of waiting
and hoping for the Cubs to w in 7
all those prayerful March s and
despairing Octobers s in that little
ancient ivy covered |ewe, of a park
where time and usually the Cubs
stands still How would I feel if I
start rooting for the Sox and the
Cubs have a great yea r' What if
this is the year we pul it all
together and win another pennant
No. I m sorry. Bo I wish you and
your team all the best I even
hope we have a subway series
soon, and I II plan on attending a
game or two w ith Mike and my
new south side friends But I |ust
can t leave the Cubs They need
me Besides, this could be The
Year We Go All The Way, Hope
springs eternal Go Cubbies'
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R I P - Steve Olin The Portland State baseball team has announced it is
dedicating the 93 season to his memory, and a contribution of canned
g«x)ds to be used to feed those in need w ill gel you into the yard If you re
in town w ith an empty afternoon, take in a game and do the right thing
It II be good for you Thanks
Thanks also to Bill James and Bill Mazeroski for background material and
ripped off quotes
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