Took mom out to the ballgame

I can remember some of the hilarious color and play announcing by Harry and Steve Stone at Wrigley back in the 'old days'. All this was said at one time or other;

******************
Harry Carey and Steve Stone, 1984.

(Loud hacking and hawking off mic)

HC; Well Stoney, I see Elmer and Myrtle McGillicudy are in from the Quad Cities today, enjoying the 'resort' weather here at the friendly confines with their grandchildren. The Cub (sic) take the field.
(Loud hacking and hawking just audible off mic)

SS; Yes, Harry, the Quad City is a great town, I mean are,,,towns. ah, you know.....I...

HC; Can you name the Quad Cities, Steve?? Their grandkids name (sic) are Bolly? Bowlly?, no no Billy, and Susie.

SS; Well, uh, Davenport?,,,,,uh,,,,,Moline?,,,,,uh??

HC; Two and Two. They are big fans of the Iowa Cubs AAA team,,,, So what,,,huh? What? Oh. Oh!! The first baseman dropped it! it! it!! It got by Durham!! It's in the dugout!! THERE'S A MAN RUNNING FOR THIRD!!

SS; Omaha? No, no. Well Harry, looks like the Cubs have their work cut out for them with the Mets loading up the bases with nobody out.

HC; Keith Hernandez comes to the plate. Let's see if we can't get the camera on Elmer and Myrtle; Arnie? Can you do your magic?
(More hawking up heard.)

HC; Hey Steve. Ha ha ha ha, (hawking and hacking) The Bud is for you!!.......Ha ha, you know what I mean,,,,,ha ha ha,,,,, oh yeah, Arnie...... Woah!!! IT's GONE! THE BASES ARE EMPTIED!! What began hopefully ended ignominiously.....

SS; Bettendorf!
(Elmer and Myrtle and the grand kids wave.)

HC; That's only three, Stoney.
(Further hawking)

***********
And so the summers passed.

Thanks to Bubba,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMebclpHbo4

Not sure what's gone wrong with baseball, but here are some interesting points from the past;

Dave Kingman was considered big and strong.
Outfielders were fast
A good right fielder could throw a man out at the plate!
All pitchers could bunt
Some pitchers were power hitters
Every regular season game counted and was important win.
No bogus inter-league play during the regular season.
No undeserved 'wild card' entries into the playoffs

I remember Harry Carray and Jimmy Piersol often seeming to be drunk by around the 6th or 7th inning when they were calling the games for the the White Sox (Chicago's only MLB team). Now that was entertainment!

C.Morris,
Agree with your list of what's missing from today's baseball.

So what has caused our current sad state of the game? Two factors, IMO:

1) Moneyball. It's all about swinging for the fences. Nobody cares about the nuances anymore. Five tool players are a rarity now, and today balloon heads like Manny Ramirez can be "stars". (Or Sosa and McGuire -- and their "pharmacists" -- a few years ago... UGH!)

2) Bud Selig

Leo T,
Well, I couldn't disagree with your two points.

Yes, Harry and Piersol were slurring their speech by the seventh.
Hot, humid, stinking nights at old Comiskey, Fisk running the team from behind the plate. The heady aroma of tobacco, beer, sweat, perfume, vomit and pi$$ all mixed up.

I moved away several years ago. Do they even bother to call New Comiskey, New Comiskey any more?

C. Morris,

The locals call it "The Cell" now. That's the most common name; "Sox Park" would be the second most common name; occasionally some clever wag will call it "The Joan" after US Cellular Spokesperson, Joan Cusack.

Nobody calls it by its official name, "US Cellular Field".

Even before the US Cellular sponsorship fans tended not to call it "Comiskey", but rather "Sox Park" -- even tho "New Comiskey Park" was the official name.

As far as the fans are concerned, the "Comiskey Park" name died when the old stadium was torn down.

The new place certainly lacks charm, but I gotta say I appreciate the modern restrooms (clean, and enough of them) and there are NO obstructed views. The Cell is defintely comfortable, though not cozy.

Leo & CM,

Couldn't agree more. Another guilty pleasure that I miss from Chi-town is listening to Peirsol on The Score shredding the Cubs.

Moneyball, juice and managers that baby over-paid manchildren. Nothing I hated more than watching the Baylor/Baker era of fielding a team that can't bunt, hit a cutoff guy or run the bases. Then accusing the media of picking on them, Dusty in particular-good riddance.

I want to see Sweet Lou come unglued this year.

I always liked US Comiskular.

Bubba,

I never liked Baker. Good riddence to him! I think Piniella was a good choice.

And When the Trib sells the Cubs, that will be a good thing for the team. It's better for a team to be run by individual owners, IMO, rather than some faceless corporation.

Yeah Piersol was a delight to listen to. Not just because he's "colorful" and funny... he knows the game.

Leo, Bub,

Piersol used to tell Harry;
"I'm sane, and have the papers to prove it! Do you?"
Pretty funny stuff.

I remember in the late 70's when the place was in bad shape, prior to a subsequent rehab; The outfield looked like some neglected desert back yard.

I think it was Bill Veck that finally tarted the old girl up again and gave her life for a few more years. I could be wrong. I know Riensdorff and some other guy bought in at some point.

Also I recall the money people behind the new park said old Comiskey was dangerous and in danger of falling down, but when the wrecking crews started, they COULDN"T KNOCK IT DOWN.

OOPS!! Red faces all around. Yeah, they built em nuke proof, even before nukes.

People always bring up the 'charm' thing or say the Cell is 'sterile.' I think it's come a long way from when it first opened. As a woman, I appreciate the vast improvement in the restrooms---I think there were 4 stalls per deck at the old park for us.

I agree the Trib selling the Cubs is the best thing that could happen for that team. I hope the new owners restore Wrigley to its former glory.

Yeah, I remember the talk about it being "unsafe" and the subsequent headaches trying to wreck the place.

The suspicion of a lot of Chcagoans was that they just didn't want to spend the bucks to upgrade for comfy seats, adequate number modern modern restrooms etc... which would have been big, big bucks indeed.

However, if they built a new place and got the taxpayers to pony up, it would be state-of-the-art, PLUS it would have a lot more corporate Suites/skyboxes. Cha-CHING!!

So the owners cooked up a story about Commiskey being unsafe.

The truth is, I don't miss the old park. It was pretty dumpy, and many's a game when I had to crane my neck around a steel column to see the infield. However, as a taxpayer, I resent being soaked for building the new one.

Cheryl,

You're right, The Cell has improved since it has opened. It's a very family friendly place, comfy seats, cupholders, easy access to the concession stands...

And ALL of my female friends, relatives and signifacant others are greatful for the modern restrooms!

When Comiskey was built in 1910, women simply did't attend baseball games. It was unlady-like. When it became socially acceptable the ballparks just converted a few of the men's rooms to ladies' rooms -- result: nobody's satisfied, but least of all the women who got more shorted than the men.

Now everybody's happy.

I've come to like The Cell.

All,

But old Riverview (Western and Belmont) was a dump, yet it had a certain magic. The whiff of history and life about it. Old Comiskey had it. Ditto the International Amphitheater, Stadium, etc. Dare I call it 'the grandeur of history'??

All gone.

Of course the facilities are better in a new building.

Maybe I am waxing too serious, but,,,,

My feeling is that baseball is about history, and every time an old park is torn down, that history is degraded a bit. Fenway must have old toilets, too. Get her, boys!

HC; Heeyyyyy, uhhh, Schtoneyy! , hearrs a hennt on the Quad Cities; 'The Rock Island Line is a mighty fine line. heh heh heh.'

Without a doubt I loved the guy.

C. Morris,

You're right about that. There was something thrilling about looking out on that grass and knowing that Ruth, Cobb, DiMaggio and so many others once stood there.