Bittersweet Memories for Long-suffering Cubs Fans

Courtesy of Frank Jackson and The Hardball Times ... "The 1973 Cubs: Swan Song of a Dynasty That Never Was."

Don't miss reading about one of the great eras in Chicago Cubs history, 1967-1973. Even without a single playoff game, this Cubs squad was easily one of the best in baseball, and featured a core group of four future Hall-of-Famers -- Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, Billy Williams and Fergie Jenkins.

This article chronicles the history of this core group, where they came from and where they went, and the heartbreak they felt year after year as they always found themselves on the outside looking in when sometimes lesser teams were still competing at the end of October.

This article is particularly timely for me as I'm about two-thirds of the way through my APBA Baseball Game replay of the Cubs' fateful 1969 season.

Just as in real life, my replay Cubs are tearing up the National League! As of July 27, 1969, the Cubbies stand at 65-38 after splitting a four-game set with the Dodgers. Midweek, Banks earned the MVP award for the All-Star Game, leading the NL to a 4-2 win with a two-run home run in the eighth inning.

Next up for the Cubs at Wrigley Field is a four-game series versus Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and the San Francisco Giants.

God willing and a few favorable dice rolls here and there and maybe, just maybe, I can enjoy a World Series at Wrigley ...

Note: Here are the latest stats on my 1969 Cubs replay. 

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'82 Brewers Begin Season Replay with a Bang!

Now I know how Leo Durocher may have felt when managing the Cubs into July and August back in 1969. ... When the weather got hot, the Cubs cooled off ...

Just as in real life, the '69 Cubs have started to struggle now that I've reached the 100-game mark and the stretch run of my replay season. Where I used to be sweeping the lower-echelon teams, the Cubs are now dropping series to the likes of the Seattle Pilots! (Yes, I know, the Cubs didn't play interleague games back then, but they do in my replay!)

Unlike the Cubs who famously crashed and burned in the heat of the summer pennant race, I'm ready to take a break. Maybe the replay Cubs can regroup after a brief respite and regain the swagger that propelled them to a 55-21 record -- 34 games over .500! -- at the end of June.

I needed some time off anyway ...

So I'm taking on a season replay of the 1982 Milwaukee Brewers.

I'm way overdue in replaying the Brewers' iconic 1982 season, which culminated in a World Series showdown versus the St. Louis Cardinals. It's the first and only time the Brewers have made it to baseball's championship, and followed by 25 years the World Series title earned by the then-Milwaukee Braves, who of course were led by Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews and Warren Spahn.

The 1982 Milwaukee team is easily my most favorite, whether reminiscing about the good-ol' days or playing APBA. I grew up outside Milwaukee. My first APBA baseball game arrived in the mail in 1976, and I was thrilled to play game after game with the lowly '75 Brewers team that finished in fifth place with a 68-94 record. At least they didn't lose 100 games!

That season marked Aaron's return to Milwaukee, where he became the designated hitter and managed to crack another dozen dingers. Robin Yount was truly "The Kid," and I became a huge fan of Sixto Lezcano, the promising right fielder who eventually got traded to St. Louis with some other guys for three of the key components of the '82 AL title team -- Rollie Fingers, Ted Simmons and Pete Vuckovich.

I graduated from high school in 1981. We attended many a game during my high school years and into my college days at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. By the time we had become bleacher bums at old Milwaukee County Stadium I had shifted my fickle favorite-player allegiance to mutton-chopped center fielder "Stormin'" Gorman Thomas.

Of course, the '82 squad featured three future Hall-of-Famers -- Yount, Paul Molitor and Fingers, the ace reliever. Yount went on to earn the league's Most Valuable Player award. That year he hit .331 with 29 home runs and 129 runs scored. He led the league in hits with 210, doubles with 46 and slugging percentage at .578. He topped it off with his first and only Gold Glove Award.

Vuckovich had one of his best seasons, earning the AL Cy Young Award by going 18-6 with a 3.34 ERA. Fingers saved 29 games as the Brewers compiled a 95-67 record.

I'll never forget the Brewers' dramatic march to the World Series after dropping the first two playoff games to the Angels in California. They came home to sweep the Halos in the best-of-five round and then headed to St. Louis to take on the Cardinals. So many times I've replayed Game 7 but I can seldom knock out Joaquin Andujar and those pesky Cardinals -- even when I "cheat" and have Rollie Fingers warming up in the 'pen. (He missed the series that year due to injury. Dang it!)

What the Brewers lacked in starting pitching they more than made up with their hitting. Harvey's Wallbangers led the league in home runs (216) and runs scored (891) -- no other team came even close to matching those numbers!

So I'm looking forward to a few more blowouts in this replay, which will once again use the basic game with a few tweaks here and there, including a 48-game interleague schedule (two home and two away against each NL squad). I use the actual starting pitchers for both teams, and the actual lineups for the Brewers' opponents. During interleague action, I try to use the opponent's actual lineup on that date, unless they happened face a righty on the day that Milwaukee lefty Mike Caldwell pitched. Then I try to find a lefty batting order as close to the actual game date. Not perfect, but it works.

My replay results have been pretty close to real life so far (e.g. '08 Brewers and '69 Cubs), so I'm looking forward to enjoying plenty of wins by the '82 Brewers.

But if they hit a rough patch, I can always go back to the Cubs and see if I can finish off the 1969 season with better results ...

Brewers Win 10-0 in Season Opener

The Brewers opened their 1982 APBA season replay by destroying the Blue Jays 10-0 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto behind home runs by Gorman Thomas, Robin Yount and Paul Molitor and a four-hit shutout by Pete Vuckovich.

Fans didn't have to wait long for the Brew Crew's offense to show up as the Brewers pounded Blue Jays starter Mark Bomback for seven runs in the second inning.

Designated hitter Don Money got the season's first hit, a double, followed by a walk to Ben Oglivie. Thomas then got the fireworks started, launching a three-run home run to deep right field. Catcher Charlie Moore, filling in for the injured Ted Simmons, then got the Brewers reloaded with a double, scoring on Jim Gantner's single.

Molitor followed with his first hit of the season, a double that moved Gantner to third. Yount then came up to deliver the second-three-run shot of the inning, a blast over the center field fence, staking the Crew to a 7-0 lead.

Meanwhile, "Dirty Pete" Vuckovich was setting down the Jays, scattering four hits and pitching a complete game in his season debut. Vuke struck out a half dozen batters and walked only two.

Molitor finished off the scoring with a two-run homer in the sixth inning as the Brewers banged out 14 hits in the opener for both teams.

The Brewers went on to sweep the series, coming from behind to beat the Jays 7-3 in game two and holding on for a 2-1 win in game three.

In their next stop, Ted Simmons returned to the lineup with a first-inning, bases-clearing triple to lead the Crew to an 8-5 win over the Indians. They duplicated the feat the next day, defeating Cleveland again 8-5 with three more home runs and a second win by Vuckovich.

Yount got injured, however, and will be out for about a week. And the Brewers got their first loss, a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Bert Blyleven, who pitched a complete game. (It was one of the few games Blyleven pitched that year; I had to use his '81 APBA card. I had to find the '81 card for "Super Joe" Charboneau as well. The 1980 AL Rookie of the Year turned out to be not so super after all, playing his last major league game on June 1, 1982.)

Next I'm looking forward to replaying the Brewers' home opener against the Rangers ...

Note: Here are my up-to-date Brewers replay stats.

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Interleague Schedule Can't Slow '69 Cubs

With a three-game sweep of the Red Sox, the Cubs pushed their record to an incredible 53-19 in a replay of the team's memorable 1969 season.

The latest victory was a 5-4 walk-off win in the 21st inning as Jim Qualls singled off Fred Wenz to bring home Jim Hickman, who had led off the inning with single. Dick Selma got the win for the Cubs, who were led by Hall-of-Famers Billy Williams and Ernie Banks, who each tallied five hits and a home run.

The win over Boston raised Chicago's interleague record to 7-2, including a pair of victories over Detroit and two wins over the crosstown rival White Sox. In this replay, the Cubs will play 30 interleague games in all, six against the White Sox. (Of course, it wouldn't be until 1997 that the Cubs would play an interleague game for real!)

The Cubs continue to be led by their strong starting trio of Fergie Jenkins (11-4), Bill Hands (10-4) and Ken Holtzman (13-4). Each has thrown three shutouts and they have totalled 37 complete games! Ted Abernathy has 4 wins and 6 saves out of the bullpen to go along with Phil Regan's 3 wins and 5 saves.

Leadoff man Don Kessinger has ignited the offense with his .295 average and 53 runs scored.

Williams and Ron Santo have buoyed the center of the lineup -- Williams is hitting .335 with 9 home runs and 52 RBI; Santo leads the team with 10 home runs and has driven in 48 runners. Willie Smith has 9 home runs in his part-time role.

Paul Popovich has admirably filled in for the injured Glenn Beckert since being acquired in a trade with the Dodgers. In 16 games, Popo is batting .288 with 11 runs and 11 RBI. After his slow start, Hickman continues to provide punch at the bottom of the lineup with 8 home runs and 30 RBI.

Next up for the Cubs are games against division rivals Pittsburgh and St. Louis before hosting a three-game set versus the Yankees at Wrigley Field.

Here are some of the highlights from the past 30 games:

May 25: Randy Hundley smacks a three-run pinch-hit home run in the top of the ninth inning to propel the Cubs to an 8-6 win over the Padres.

May 31: Jenkins shuts out the Braves 5-0, limiting Atlanta's lineup to five singles and striking out nine.

June 7: Light-hitting Nate "Pee Wee" Oliver smacks a grand slam to lead the Cubs to an 8-3 win over the Reds. Oliver, primarily a pinch runner to this point in the season, was starting for the injured Beckert.

June 9: Two days later Al Spangler hits his second home run of the season, a walk-off two-run dinger to defeat the Reds 8-6.

June 14: Reds right-fielder Bobby Tolan hits a walk-off grand slam to beat the Cubs 9-5. He had hit a solo home run in the eighth to tie the game. Willie Smith had put the Cubs ahead in the top of the ninth with a two-out, two-run pinch-hit home run before Tolan helped the Reds rebound.

June 17: Jenkins throws a three-hit shutout as the Cubs defeated the White Sox 7-0 in the first interleague game of the season.

June 20: Hands loses a 1-0 one-hitter after allowing a seventh-inning solo home run to Mack Jones of the Expos.

June 21: The Cubs pound Tigers ace Mickey Lolich in a 9-4 win over Detroit.

Note: Here are the up-to-date stats for my Cubs replay.

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Cubs Win 12 Straight in '69 Replay

Now I really don't know how the Cubs didn't win 100 games or top the Mets for the NL Championship in 1969.

In my APBA Baseball Game replay the Cubs now stand at 24-5, including winning 12 straight games. In that stretch, the Cubs won 18 out of 19 games, sweeping all eight games against the Mets!

The Cubbies continue to rely on incredible pitching and timely hitting to win game after game. Their Big Three -- Fergie Jenkins (5-3), Bill Hands (5-1) and Ken Holtzman (6-1) -- have piled up 16 wins. They have 17 complete games and 4 shutouts.

The team ERA is 2.06.

On the offensive side, the Cubs are getting clutch hits throughout the batting order.

Their top hitters continue to be Billy Williams (.329), Glenn Beckert (.325) and Randy Hundley (.341).  Leadoff man Don Kessinger and cleanup hitter Ron Santo lead the team in runs scored with 19 each, followed by Beckert at 17.

Santo leads the Cubs in runs batted in with 22; Williams is next at 19. Santo and right-fielder Willie Smith are tied with a team-high 4 home runs apiece.

The biggest mystery continues to be the lack of hitting by Jim Hickman, who is at .119 after 42 at-bats. However, he did smack a two-run homer in his last game.

Here are the highlights over the past two weeks:

April 22: Cubs sweep a doubleheader -- 2-1 and 6-5 -- at Forbes Field vs. the Pirates. Hundley wins game one with an RBI-double in the eighth. In game two, the Cubs got a solo home run from Williams and a three-run homer by fill-in catcher Bill Heath.

April 24: Holtzman strikes out 11 in an 8-1 blowout vs. the Cardinals that included home runs by Beckert, Santo, Smith and Hundley.

April 25: Jenkins outpitches Tom Seaver, defeating the Mets 3-1 at Shea Stadium.

April 27: The Cubs pile up 21 runs on 28 hits to sweep a doubleheader against the Mets -- 4-3 and 17-5.

May 2: Holtzman throws a 6-hit shutout against the Mets as Ernie Banks gets his first home run of the season in a 5-0 win.

May 4: Seaver takes another loss vs. the Cubs, this time a 5-0 shutout by Hands.

May 6: Holtzman notches his team-high 6th win of the season with a 1-0 two-hit shutout against the Dodgers at Wrigley Field. In seven starts, the lefty is now 6-1 with an ERA of 1.29.

May 7: The Cubs fall 7-5 in 11 innings as Jenkins is torched for 14 hits. Santo hits a pair of home runs in the loss.

To this point in the season, the Mets have been anything but miraculous vs. the Cubs. And it's not hard to see why. Their pitching hasn't phased the Cubs, and their current lineup remains impotent with the likes of Rod Gaspar, Al Weis and Kevin Collins piling up the outs.

Likewise, one of my favorite players ever -- Amos Otis -- did little for the Mets in his outings against the Cubs. I'm glad he went on to become an all-star, Gold Glove center-fielder -- in 1970 with the Royals.

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Note: Here's a link to my ongoing Cubs replay season stats. 

A Trip Back to Wrigley: Replaying the '69 Cubs

The 1969 Cubs included future Hall-of-Famers Ernie Banks, Fergie Jenkins, Billy Williams and Ron Santo.

Ultimately, the decision just came down to enjoying replaying games with hall-of-famers.

I'm just starting my quest to replay the Chicago Cubs infamous 1969 season in APBA baseball -- with a few twists. For example, I've ditched 30 games against division rivals to add some inter-league games, including a home-and-home series against the crosstown White Sox.

In addition to managing Cubs legends Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Fergie Jenkins and Ron Santo, I'm looking forward to almost daily encounters with opposing hall-of-famers, from Bench and Seaver to Clemente, Mays and Aaron. Replaying games with such greats makes the 1969 Cubs an easy replay choice. For me, 1969 is part of one of baseball's golden eras.

And then there's the personal connection. Although my favorite team remains the Milwaukee Brewers, I was born in the Chicago area and lived on the north side of the city in Northbrook until third grade. That's when I moved north and started rooting for the Brew Crew.

But I can remember my grandma following the "Cubbies" and talking about the team when we visited her north side apartment in Winnetka.

Looking through the Cubs APBA cards, it's hard to believe they finished 8 games behind the Mets! Sure, the Mets had A starters Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman, but they didn't have Santo. Banks and Williams suiting up every day. It was more like Art Shamsky, Ed Kranepool and Ron Swoboda.

The Cubs won 92 games that year, but are known more for their epic September collapse, and giving way to the Miracle Mets, who went on to defeat the invincible Baltimore Orioles in the World Series.

The Cubs starting rotation was solid, with three B starters -- Jenkins, Bill Hands and Ken Holtzman. Where they could have used some help was a shutdown reliever. They had to depend on Phil Regan (CZ) and Ted Abernathy (BY).

The team's strength, of course, was it's everyday lineup. In addition to Santo, Williams and Banks, it featured all-star double-play combo Don Kessinger and Glenn Beckert. The Gold Glove shortstop was among the league leaders in runs, hits and doubles. Santo finished second in runs batted in (121)  and eighth in home runs (29). Williams finished the year in the top 10 in a half-dozen categories, including hits, runs, doubles, triples and RBI.

On the mound, the Cubs big three combined for 58 wins: Jenkins (21-15); Hands (20-14) and Holtzman (17-13).

One of the cool things about the 1969 APBA reprint set is that it includes a card for every player who got into a game that season. While it's neat to see some future stars who got their first taste of the big leagues that season (e.g. Ted Simmons, Carlton Fisk, Steve Garvey, Bill Buckner, Cesar Geronimo) I don't see going out of my way to find two at-bats for the Cubs' sixth-string catcher Randy Bobb!

The Cubs will open the season against the Phillies at Wrigley Field. Play ball!

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