I was 13 in 1969, I chose the Cubs because all of their games were televised on WGN channel 9. The games were all day games because William Wrigley of the chewing gum fortune felt games should be played during the day so kids could attend, that, and the ball park did not have lights. (Boy have things changed.)
So I became a Cubs fan in 1969, the slogan of that team was "No one can stop us."
Leo Durocher was the manager that season. Ron Santo was the third baseman. He of the "heel click" fame. One night Santo celebrated a walk off win in Montreal. Manager Durocher liked it so much, he asked Santo to do the heel click with each home win. The Cubs were in first place September SECOND. That was the last heel click of the season, but for some reason that gesture stuck in all our minds. Those that cared. Those that died a little each September failure. Those that witnessed the utter collapse to the Miracle Mets. Up till 1969 the Mets were the doormats and laughing stocks of baseball. The Miracle Mets caught and beat the "no one can stop us" Cubs. The Mets were World Champions in 1969.
Heel clicks stopped September 2nd, 1969, but that gesture stuck in our minds. Those that cared. It became emblematic of failure. Leo Durocher became the voice of failure. Who heel clicks in the face of calamity? Ron Santo.
Years later I read a news article about Ron Santo losing his legs to diabetes, and thought as I suspect many Cubs fans from 1969 did. God took his legs for the heel clicks. You don't have to tell me it is an irrational notion, but so was losing to the New York Mets.
So when I read the headline today that Ron Santo died, I thought how nutty I ever entertained the notion that God took his legs. I felt stupid. After all, Ron did the heel click spontaneously, reacting to a unexpected walk off win. All the subsequent heel clicks, the ones that stuck in our craw were Durocher's idea. Ron was just following Durocher's order. Ron must be forgiven. Sorry Ron. Durocher's folly. Durocher of the famous quote "Nice guys finish last."
God took Leo to the big clubhouse in the sky in 1991.
Still it is kind of odd that Ron Santo died aged SIXTY NINE. SIXTY NINE, 1969.
Nineteen Sixty Nine. MCMLXIX The heel click, Jack Brickhouse post game interviews, the black cat that came on the field....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV1gls58XXw&feature=related
MLB came back to Milwaukee when the Seattle Pilots folded in 1969, and moved into County Stadium in 1970. It made the recovery from what I witnessed the year before easier. It was easy to severe my fealty to the Cubs and cleave my emotions to the Milwaukee Brewers. I remained a Brewer fan even after I moved to Minnesota in 1974. It wasn't until 1984, at Harmon Killibrew day. A game between the Brewers and Twins in the Dome. That was the year a rookie broke in with the Twins, Kirby Puckett. I was leaning towards the Twins when that September the Twins were knocked out of the playoffs in the last week by the Cleveland Indians. The Third Baseman for the Twins Gary Gaetti, aka "Rat" said afterward, "baseball is nearly impossible when you have both hands around your neck." Personal responsibility, no excuses, acceptance. My heart leaped. I love these guys.
I have been a Twins fan ever since.
1987, and 1991 disprove Durochers bromide that "Nice guys finish last."
Kirby and the Twins finished first, TWICE. 1991 is very possibly the greatest game 6, and 7 ever played. I would argue in game six, when Kirby had a walk off to win it, Jack Buck has the greatest home run call ever. Kirby struck, and Buck said very matter of factly, "We'll see you tomorrow night."
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