Opening Day at Wrigley

Monday April 13, will mark the 73rd Opening Day baseball game at Wrigley Field as the Cubs will play host to the Colorado Rockies.

While I will not be able to be there, being as I live in Sarasota Florida . . . . I thought I would share a photo and recap of the very first Opening Day.

The Cubs won 4 -2 against the Cincinnati Reds. I find it interesting to see that the box score has the visiting team listed below the home team and that rbi's were not part of the box score, instead they highlighted the defensive moments of putouts and assists.
The article also says the Cubs "celebrated in grand fashion with a 4 - 2 thrashing" and that 33,000 were in attendance and the time of the game was 1:37. A fast paced game though the final score surely does not indicate a "thrashing".

The Cubs would end the season in fourth place with a 82-72 record, seven games behind the World Champion St Louis Cardinals.

I hope that Opening Day 2009 results are the same - with a Cubs win !

"Brock for Broglio"

Ernie Broglio was on the wrong end of the “most lopsided” trade in major league baseball. That is the end of the story, because in June of 1964, the three for three trade was originally deemed in favor of the Cubs.

Broglio was a fixture in the St. Louis rotation for five plus years, posting 18 victories in 1963 and in 1960 had his career year with a 21-9 record and 2.74 ERA, finishing third in the Cy Young voting. After his slow start in the 1964 campaign, winning only 3 and losing 5 games for the Cardinals, he was traded along with Doug Clemens and Bobby Shantz for Jack Spring, Paul Toth and . . . Lou Brock.

Brock had been a disappointment for the Cubs, the Cubs had lost patience with this speedy outfielder and Broglio was a top-flight pitcher.

In two and half years in Chicago Broglio posted a record of 7 and 19 and Brock went on to bat .348 for the remainder of the 1964 season, help the Cardinals win the World Series that year, “star” in 2 more series’ (67 and 68) and play for 15 more years. Brock set the career mark for stolen bases at 938 (since broken by newly elected HOF Ricky Henderson). Lou Brock was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1985 and Broglio stormed out of Wrigley Field in 1966, burned his uniform and never returned to Major League Baseball

I highlight this 1966 Broglio card for a couple of reasons. First and for most he is in a Cubs uniform. Secondly, as is my usual theme for “vintage” cards, the back is more interesting. The top right cartoon indicates Broglio led the league with 21 victories in 1960 (the year of my birth by the way) and describes the June15th 1964 trade in detail.

In my opinion, Ernie Broglio does not deserve the lifetime tagline of “Brock for Broglio – the most lopsided trade in baseball history”, no one’s deserves that.