West Side Grounds Monument

There's a great article in the Tribune today about a bunch of guys who are working hard to get a monument erected at the site of West Side Grounds, the home of the last Chicago Cubs team to win a World Series.

Read the article here.

It's hard to believe that there's nothing at all to commemorate this site, which now sits on the University of Illinois-Chicago campus.

Cup of Coffee: Darcy Rae Fast

There's an awesome "Cup of Coffee" Story in today's Chicago Sun-Times about 1968 Cubs reliever Darcy Rae Fast. Whatever happened to him?


He pitched ten innings, and had ten strike outs, and then suddenly disappeared. Neil Hayes tells the story in this wonderful article.

A letter from 1954

Jerry Pritikin is known to die-hard Cubs fans as the Bleacher Preacher. In 1947, he attended the first game Jackie Robinson played at Wrigley. (That game is featured today in "Tales from a Bad Century.") Jerry's memory of that day? "A lot of people brought binoculars to get a good glimpse of him."

In 1954 Jerry wrote a letter to the Cubs asking if they would ever get a Japanese player. Just read the letter they wrote back to him and you'll get a good insight into what the times were like. Remember, 1954 was the first full season that Ernie Banks played with the Cubs.


If you click on the letter you can read a larger version of it.