Chicago Cubs Desecrate Memory of Loyal Fans, World War II Veterans

The letter was sent to my brother Ari: It said that the brick purchased in memory of our late father Albert and his brother Seymour was moved:

Dear Mr. Soglin:

...from the Gabby Hartnett section to the Jack Brickhouse section ...due to the addition of the Captain Morgan Club...

Dad and his younger brother were veterans. Dad was in the Signal Corps during World War II and his kid brother was sent to Europe after the invasion of Normandy. Uncle Seymour participated in the occupation of Germany and as soon as Europe was secure, was shipped to the Pacific Theater to participate in the occupation of Japan in the late summer of 1945.

They were both diehard Cub fans. They saw all of the great Cubs of the 1930's, and all of the mediocre Cubs who played alongside of Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Ron Santo and Lou Brock from the 1950's until their deaths in the 1970's.

Dad's only regret was that I became a White Sox fan. When my cousin Maddie married, the wedding was preceded with about 30 of us going to a Cub game at Wrigley Field. A few years earlier when my brother Jono married in Boulder, the wedding was scheduled to coincide with a Rockies game.

When the Cubs offered fans the opportunity to obtain memorial bricks, my four siblings and our four cousins thought it fitting to purchase one for the two brothers to spend eternity in Wrigley Field.

It was meant to be an honor, not a punishment.

The Gabby Harnett section was most appropriate. He was a Hall of Fame catcher who played for the Cubs from 1922 through 1940. He appeared in six All-Star Games and was the MVP in 1935, the year Dad turned 16.

Dad would turn on WGN-TV and watch the Cub games with the volume turned down. Next to him would be the radio tuned to WGN radio, 720 on the dial, and he would listen to the play-by-play with Lou Boudreau, who started  doing the color commentary in 1958. Dad considered Boudreau one of the most knowledgeable men in the world of baseball. After all, as a player-manager, Lou led the Cleveland Indians to a World Series triumph in 1942 at the age of 24.

Boudreau worked with a number of baseball announcers, also skilled, primarily Vince Llyod and Jack Quinlan, who could call a game with the best of them.

Dad had no respect for Jack Brickhouse. Brickhouse was overrated. In Dad's terms, "a fool and an idiot," all in the same breath.

Relocate the brick, if not back to the Gabby Harnett section, at least to the "Miskus to Smalley to Addison Street section" or the "College of Coaches section.

Comments

[George Hesselberg]

This is a good story.

[Dan]

My dad is rolling over in his grave. They would be happier if the brick was at that other "minor league" park on the south side.

[Louise]

The Cubs should be competitive enough to keep pace with the others teams. I really like the Cubs . They’ve always been one of my favourite MLB teams to watch. I pass most time watching and looking for their news and videos. Last time I saw some hot videos of them here:
http://www.cubszone.com

They really deserve our love so we must not stop supporting them .Go Go Cubs

[Jonathan]

Minor correction, Paul. Lou Boudreau became the player-manager for Cleveland in '42 at the age of 24 but he didn't win the World Series until 1948 at the ripe old age of 30. He was a good one.

[Sibling]

We need to take the brick back from brickhouse.