…and belts out “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” to the Wrigley faithful.
Yesterday, Rick Sutcliffe joined Cubs’ broadcasters Len Kasper and Bob Brenly in the booth after he and his daughter sang TMOTTB during the 7th inning stretch. It was good to see Sut back at Wrigley… even wearing a Cub jersey. Shoot, if he didn’t look so pained after throwing out the first pitch, I’d say he get out there and throw a few innings. Seems he won a game here and there a few years back.
I remember Game 5 of the 1984 NL playoffs. I was on my way back from Washington DC with a vanload of people. There were enough people guys on the van who wanted to see the game so we stopped at a smoky bar to watch it. Sut pitched that game and got the loss. He couldn’t be held totally accountable… that was the game when the infamous (well, infamous to Cubs fans, at least) grounder went through Leon Durham’s legs.
The majority of us were Cubs fans, of course so we were pretty disappointed and I never forgave Steve Garvey who had a hell of series, I never held it against Sutcliffe unlike some fans. We would never had made it that far without him (he went 16-1 after the Cubs picked him up) and he pitched a hell of a game 1.
It was good to see the Sut in the booth and hear him talk about the old days with the Cubs. I normally don’t care for in-game interviews and feel they interfere with the action on the field. Maybe it’s because Sutcliffe is a broadcaster himself or because he has a tie with the team but I didn’t mind so much this time.