The Cubs of '69: Recollections of the Team That Should Have Been

Read this when it came out and re-read it recently, excellent book, hopefully the put it back into circulation. No other book goes in depth as this one does for those famous Cubs of 69.Talley recently passed away but he was a writer for the paper and was by this team everyday of the season. Great Book but very hard to find these days!

Although I am a die-hard White Sox fan (not to mention, a one-time Cub fan growing up), I was aware of the Bruins' misfortunes. But amazingly, I didn't know anything about the Cubs infamous 1969 season until high school when I made a visit to the library in Phoenix, AZ and in the sports section I discovered "The Cubs of '69" by Chicago writer Rick Talley (sadly, he's already dead). I couldn't believe that they were in first place on Opening Day and then they buckled to the up-and-coming Mets. Does baseball fans realize that hadn't they held on to their lead in the NL East the '69 Cubs would had been the first team to spend first place in the entire regular season since the 1927 Yankess? (That's right; argued to be one of the greatest teams in baseball history) I liked the part when Talley writes,"They had a pennant won and they blew it" and it then I said to myself,'Even worse: They also blew a World Series' since the Mets ran the table and beat the Orioles. But let's get to the players, shall we? This team was lined up with players like Ernie Banks (why was "Mr. Cub" batting fifth for most of the year?), Billy Williams, Ron Santo, Glenn Beckert, Don Kessinger, Randy Huntley, Jim Hickman, and the pitching staff of Ferguson Jenkins, Bill Hands, Dick Selma, and Ken Holtzman. My Dad told me several years ago that he went to two games that year and as if the sun, moon, and stars were allined, they were the two games that defined the year: Opening Day at Wrigley against the Philles when pitch-hitter Willie Smith hit a game-winning homer over the right-field wall with the Cubs trailing by one in extra innings and the other was Holtzman pitching a no-hitter (with no strikeouts!) against the Braves in August (Hank Aaron was the last batter). Talley aruges two reasons why they collapsed in the last month: One was that they played in the July and August heat at home every day; another reason why no lights at Wrigley really hurted them and the other reason was the most important: They had a hothead manager with Leo Durocher; who may have been sports' original bad boy long before Bobby Knight and John MacEnroe showed up. He makes the point that Durocher refused to sit his players down the stretch and it got to the point that he created a monster of himself when it was revealed that he may of betted against his own team (long before Pete Rose was accused of it) during the critical September series with the Mets. As you may know, the Cubs blew a 3-1 lead to the up-and-coming Marlins (does this sound familar?) in the NLCS last month. When that happened, I cryed because I felt so bad for Banks, Williams, Santo, Huntley, and all the other Cubs because I wanted the burden to be off their shoulders and it didn't. Dad then told me simply, "Don't worry Eric. I've been waiting for the Cubs to get into the World Series ever since that 1969 season." For all those baseball fans who think the sport is fragile like life, must pick up "The Cubs of '69." They'll realize that

I read this book a while ago. I didn't realize it was out of print. It's a shame really.This book focuses on the 1969 baseball season of the Chicago Cubs. What's common knowledge to many baseball fans is that in 1969 the NY Mets came from last place in the NL East division to win the World Series. What's less well known (to non-Cubs fans) is that the Cubs led the NL East division from the start of the season until mid-September when the Mets beat them out. A lot of books have been written about the Miracle Mets of '69 but this book is about the team that lost out - the Cubs. It's also a look back at yet another painful chapter in Cubs' history.The book goes chapter by chapter covering the members of the team individually. Examples of chapters are: Leo Durocher, Ken Holzmann, Ernie Banks, Don Young, Kenn Hundley, Ron Santo and others.The book covers the entire careers of the team members including where they came from before playing for the Cubs in the 1969 season and what happened to them after the season ended so disastrously.Most Cubs fans will probably enjoy this book as the author was able to interview quite a few members of the team and gather their reflections on that season. Non-Cubs fans will enjoy this book because it will remind them that no matter how bad their team is, it probably isn't as bad as the Cubs.