This is a very nice view of a bygone era at Wrigley Field, also sent to me by BCB reader Joe Coney.
I had to enhance the colors a little; the original photo as sent to me was a little faded. It also made it easier to read the matches on the scoreboard, and I already had a hunch about this match before that.
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This is clearly the pre-Tribune Co. era, as there is no discussion forum. If we go back a few years, without a football clock under the scoreboard, it must be from before 1978.
The Braves are the visiting team, as you can see from the pitcher’s jersey. The Braves began wearing these road jerseys in 1976.
So now we are in 1976 or 1977. The Cubs pitcher is number 39, and at this point in the game he is still pitching.
It has to be Mike Krukow, who debuted with the Cubs in September 1976. But he didn’t face the Braves that year.
So this is one of Krukow’s two starts against the Braves in 1977. The first was in early May and the ivy is too full for this time of year.
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So that’s Krukow’s other start against the Braves that year. We played Saturday July 23, 1977. Everything written on the board is what happened that day.
The Cubs lead 1-0 and it’s the end of the seventh inning. The runner on second is Jerry Morales and Steve Ontiveros (16 on the board) is batting. There is one out. Atlanta’s pitcher was Steve Hargan, who gave up a single to Ontiveros, with Morales taking third. After that, the Braves replaced Hargan with Rick Camp, who gave up RBI singles to Manny Trillo and George Mitterwald, and the Cubs led 3-0 heading into the eighth.
But Krukow hesitated and allowed a few hits. Willie Hernandez relieved him and allowed hits to Gary Matthews (who would become a Cub seven years later!) and Willie Montanez, and the Braves took a 4-3 lead.
Ontiveros hit an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game 4-4, and Paul Reuschel pitched the ninth, serving up a leadoff homer to Rod Gilbreath. The Cubs were out 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth and lost the match 5-4.
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Despite the loss, the Cubs were 56-36 after that game and still led the NL East by 2.5 games, that year many of us thought they would finally catch up to 1969. Well, you know what happened.
Just another little slice of Cubs history.
