A black cat that crossed Ron Santo's path spooked the Cubs on Sept. 9, 1969, at Shea Stadium. Could the collapse that befell those Cubs happen this year?
Posted on 09/09/2008 1:25:54 PM PDT by Charles Henrickson
Thirty-nine years ago today, a black cat found Ron Santo in the on-deck circle at Shea Stadium in New York, walked around him, then headed through the Cubs' dugout, past manager Leo Durocher and disappeared under the stands.
Of course, the Cubs' high hopes during an extraordinary season disappeared right behind the feline. They lost to the New York Mets that night -- the sixth of eight straight losses -- and the next day, the Mets overtook them in the National League East race for good.
''At the time, I didn't think anything of it,'' Santo told the New York Daily News earlier this summer. ''But, jeez, what an omen. It was like walking under a ladder.''
Fast forward to now, with the Cubs in a 1-7 swoon heading into the toughest part of their schedule, and there are some eerie similarities between this team and that one.
Five months of great baseball followed by their worst stretch of the season at the worst possible time. The records are almost identical, both with 57 losses on this date -- and both 1-5 in September -- entering a game against a division rival, in this case St. Louis.
The '69 team had its entire infield and catcher make the All-Star team. This one had a club-record eight players make it. Both had fiery managers famous for high-voltage ejections and considered among the best of their generations.
It's a perfect-storm nightmare for Cub cursemongers.
But what's worth believing?
The fact is, this franchise and September rarely have had a good relationship since the Cubs' last World Series appearance in 1945. They've had 42 losing Septembers since then, along with a pair of break-even ones and a canceled one in 1994.
In the only World Series played entirely in September, the Cubs lost to a team that would take 86 years to win another: the Boston Red Sox in 1918.
And even the guy who saw the ''omen'' that day in 1969 said he knows the real reason the Cubs faded to an 8-17 September that year: They were tired.
In a conversation two weeks ago, Santo recalled a writer interviewing all the players on that team after the season ended.
''I was really surprised,'' he said. ''They all talked about the fact that they were tired, meaning with all the day games.''
Many of the regulars played every game that season: Billy Williams 163 games, Santo 160, Don Kessinger 158 and 38-year-old Ernie Banks 155. Randy Hundley caught 151, a year after catching 160.
''I never thought about it until I saw what we hit,'' Santo said. ''I think the highest batting average in September was Glenn Beckert at about .260. Now I realize we were probably tired.''
These Cubs have stopped hitting, too. But they also have 30 home night games the '69 team didn't have. And nobody admits to weariness.
Shortstop Ryan Theriot, who seemed to wear down late last season, said he's starting to feel refreshed after a dip in August. First baseman Derrek Lee, whose power has been down dramatically since late July, laughed at the question.
''No, I'm not tired,'' he said, chuckling. ''I'm not tired at all.''
Center fielder Jim Edmonds, 38, who played on St. Louis teams that survived September to make deep October runs, as well as Anaheim teams that swooned out of races, said he sees plenty of energy from the Cubs.
''The one thing you can probably get into is maybe you see the light at the end of the tunnel,'' Edmonds said, ''and you kind of take a step back, start looking at the schedule and realizing there's only three weeks left and maybe get a little complacent.
''But I don't see anybody doing that. I just don't see it. We just don't have that extra kick that we need, and we need to find a way to get it back.''
Seeing red might be a start, with the intensity of the Cardinals series over the next three days.
Seeing a few more healthy pitchers wouldn't hurt the Cubs' cause, either. A good start from Rich Harden on Thursday -- his first start in 13 days after reporting shoulder ''discomfort'' -- and a good bullpen session this week from Carlos Zambrano's balky shoulder might provide every answer the Cubs need.
And, of course, they have a few more things going for them than the '69 team did as they face their final 19 games. Nobody within sight of pursuing the Cubs for a playoff spot shows any signs of pulling off the kind of 23-7 September the Mets did that year.
Those Cubs also didn't have the fallback position of a wild-card playoff spot, which they would have won had the format been in place.
The odds of the Cubs tailspinning all the way out of the postseason are extremely long. Just do the math. If they win only one game in each series the rest of the way for a 6-13 finish, the top challenger in a would-be wild-card race, Philadelphia, would need to go 13-5 to tie the Cubs.
But until they actually close it out, there always will be black cats and curses. Just depends on what you believe.
A black cat that crossed Ron Santo's path spooked the Cubs on Sept. 9, 1969, at Shea Stadium. Could the collapse that befell those Cubs happen this year?
I’m holding back on the Manila Folders references.
How well I remember the Collapse of '69! Scarred me for life! I was 16 years old at the time and was CRUSHED when the Cubs failed to make it.
Statistically speaking...you can pretty much count on it...its the September slump. Happens to the Cubs most years, whether they're in contention or not.
Thanks for the PING... I’m looking forward to hanging my “W” Flag on my back deck later this evening!
Let’s Get Some Runs!!!!!
Thanks!
I think we’re okay although I did notice a few gray hairs this morning.
The Cubs are a good team 29 over 500 having a bad week.
If the Brewers could manage to walk and chew gum at the same time I’d be more worried.
And Brewers are the only team close to Cubs for best record in the league. So if the Cubs can just finish a game ahead of them, they get home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
Wrigley Field is the only field for me. Please add me to your ping list :)
It’s gonna be a very interesting three weeks. I do NOT want to be going into the final three IN Milwaukee needing anything at all.
I want it ALL before the last three games...our Magic Number is 15...and they have to play the same people we do.
Thanks for this Ping List. It should be fun.
I went to Sat & Sunday’s game at Cincy this past weekend. More blue in the stands than red, perhaps. Anyway, the bats were average, except for Soriano’s 3 HR on Sat nite. It was the bullpen that really tubed it. All three games I believe - they let in 15 or 16 runs total. We really need for all cylinders to be firing very soon now, or it’s gonna be gut wrenching once again.
GO CUBS GO!
CUbs - Birds tied in the 9th...
Fuku is on and SorryAno is up...
Gotta Love Baseball at times like this.
GO CUBS GO!!!!
I was at the cub home opener in 1969...by September, while the Cubs were swooning, I was in the USMC. I didn't experience the fold first hand.
Looks like I get to experience it in 2008.
BTW..Tommy Agee STILL hasn’t touched home plate !
1969 was the first year I paid attention to baseball. Since I lived in Atlanta then I was following the Braves and very much remember the 1969 NLCS between the Mets and Braves. Since we had just moved to GA from Connecticut my older brothers were rooting for the Mets. Since it’s possible the Cubs and Mets could meet in the playoffs maybe the Cubs could get some revenge. Maybe have the Billygoat eat a black cat. LOL!
And Elrod Hendricks still hasn't tagged out Bobby Tolan (1970 game 1 world series reference)
Yes, there are certain similarities between the late August-early September swoon of the 1969 Cubs and the late August-early September slump of these 2008 Cubs, most notably, that the bats stopped hitting.
However, there is one HUGH difference: The '69 Cubs were overtaken by an incredibly hot Mets team. The '08 Cubs are being matched in stumbling by their closest competitor, the Brewers.
If Cubs go 8-9 in their last 17 games, Brewers now will have to go 12-4 in their last 16, just to tie at 95 wins. The two teams play each other six times more, so their respective fates will be largely in their own hands.
Two goals for the rest of this season: 1) Finish with the best record in the league, to insure home-field advantage throughout playoffs. 2) Be playing well (Marmol, Wood, and the Big Three Bats, Soriano, D-Lee, and A-Ram) and be healthy (Big Z, Harden) the last week of the season, heading into October.
I was at the Cubs-Cards game the last two nights, and I'm going again tonight. Two things that concern me over these last two games: 1) The Cubs do all their scoring in the first three innings, and then nothing thereafter. 2) Marmol and Wood have not looked good.
Brings back fond memories.
That’s about when I was introduced to the Cubbies. Playing dodge ball in the alley with the neighborhood kids and that’s all the boys were talking about.
“What’s a Met?” I asked as my days in ballet class insulated me from what mom considered “boys sports”. Mom and Dad never liked baseball, having emigrated (legally) from Eastern Europe - they were fond of “futbol” (soccer).
The boys in the neighborhood were so pumped about the Cubs and Mets that I started on a self-imposed Cubs discovery program. I managed to invite myself to a game with a friend whose father had tickets.
What a day! To this day, I’ve never had a hot dog that tasted so good.
My absolute favorite player is Ron Santo and he knows me enough to smile and wave - although he never remembers my name. That’s ok - I know his name. ;-)
Cubs Win! Cubs Win! Magic Number now down to 11... And thanks to Hurricane Ike, we get a 2 day rest while (hopefully) the VERY HOT Astros cool off.
Let’s hope the Phillies can keep up their good play vs. the Brew-Crew and our guys get rested and ready to get back on top of their game starting Sunday!
Let’s Get Some Runs!!!!!
Wooo-Hoooo!!!
Cubbies win the division!!!
Were any of you lucky enough to be at the game?
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