Recently, I was introduced to Leo Bauby, who owns a very large collection of historic Chicago sports photos, including hundreds of Cubs photos from the 1960's and 1970's. They were taken by a photographer primarily working for the Sporting News and Baseball Digest. Leo has graciously granted me permission to post these photos -- there's more information after the jump. Here's the first one; see if you can guess the pitcher and the date:
There are so few pitchers in major league history who have thrown with motions like that, it's easy to guess who it is -- the answer is Ted Abernathy, who set the major league save record in 1965 with the Cubs (31, broken the next year) and was later traded away; he returned in 1969. This photo was taken in 1969; Leo's information had a date of July 14 on it, but Abernathy didn't appear in the July 14 game.
This was with a large group of photos that all had that date on them, but it must have been taken on July 16, because they all were from a game vs. the Mets; the July 16 game was the only game in that series in which Abernathy appeared.
The Mets blew out to a 6-0 lead after the top of the 2nd; the Cubs closed to within 6-5, but wound up losing 9-5. Abernathy came into the game to start the top of the seventh and if you look behind him, you'll see second baseman Glenn Beckert standing around, not ready for action. This photo must be of one of Abernathy's warmup throws. You can also see some empty bleacher seats; attendance that day was a full house of 36,795, but you can understand why people might have left early with the Cubs down 6-0 before they even batted twice. The game also ran three hours. That doesn't seem long to us now, but it's far longer than the average game in the late 1960's.
You'll also see a watermark on the photo. That's because one of the reasons Leo Bauby is granting permission to me to post these photos, is that they are all available to purchase as prints. Here's Leo's photo website; as you can see it's a work in progress, but if you are interested in purchasing a print of this photo -- or any of the others I'll be posting over this offseason -- you can contact him at this email address.
0 recs | 33 comments
Photo black and white
Days of youthful joy long gone
1969
eths - December 12, 2009 via mobile
Jenkins ...
… one inning pitched! Agee double and HR against Jenkins in one inning. Great photo, but not a game I would have wanted to remember from the summer of 69. Agee — ugh.
BatCubFan - December 12, 2009
a single from Glenn
always dumped over second
(Leo the Lip smiles)
leothelip - December 12, 2009
Great stuff
As a life-long Cub fan (like everyone else around here), I look forward to these pictures, they are such a glimpse into the great history of the Cubs. Your analysis is also fun to read. Keep up the great work Al.
Mike
VegasCubFan - December 12, 2009
I think
I see AL in the 3rd row!
bh714 - December 12, 2009
Um...
… nope. Was definitely not there that day.
Al Yellon - December 12, 2009
Ted Abernathy, 1970
the basket on the wall was only there during his last stint with the Cubs
LAcarl519 - December 12, 2009
There's no basket on the wall in that photo.
What appears to be the basket is the watermark.
Al Yellon - December 12, 2009
so Abernathy, 1965
LAcarl519 - December 12, 2009
sorry Al, I did not see the second part of your post about Abernathy...
I used to love to imitate his pitching motion when I played wiffle ball.
LAcarl519 - December 12, 2009
I'm surprised more pitchers haven't tried submarine motions.
Abernathy did it because he had to — he had shoulder problems that made it impossible to throw overhand.
But guys like Dan Quisenberry, and more recently, Chad Bradford, have had success throwing that way.
Al Yellon - December 12, 2009
i fell in love with that style watching Kent Tekulve
and I pitched that way in high school with success
Cubbie-Tim - December 12, 2009
I bet there are selection processes in play...
Players don’t tend to make major mechanical changes after HS or college. And pitching that way tends to be really tough on same-handed batters but easier on opposite-handed ones (Bradford: RHB OPS .584 against him and LHB .859; Quisenberry was .598/.718; Abernathy .618/.756; Tekulve .556/.759), so it’s better suited to relievers with more control over their match-ups. Colleges and pro teams typically look at HS starters, not relievers.
It’s quite possible that given a different selection process there would be more submarine-throwing relievers in the majors.
aldimond - December 13, 2009
WONDERFUL OLD PHOTOS......
I could look at them all day .( Wife says I live in the past ) . Perfect place for these would be in the Cubs Hall of Fame . I am digging thru old boxes of photos taken in 1943-1948. THere were a few taken at Tiger Stadium during World Series by my Grandfather . I will post them should I find them .
cubs north - December 12, 2009
Thanks Al
Really enjoying these photos and reading the detective work involved with solving the dates.
katie casey - December 12, 2009
My Thanks As Well
I know I’m just one voice, but I really enjoy these posts. I could look at old baseball photos all day long, and these are all Cub-related, which makes it twice as much fun.
In a related question, does anyone know if that Chicago Baseball Museum is ever going to get off the ground?
Gamecock - December 12, 2009
I moment I saw it I knew it was the old submariner
Ivy Walls - December 12, 2009
Me too
BigJohnAZ - December 12, 2009
add me to that list
Cubbie-Tim - December 12, 2009
Ditto. It was a good thing to see.
I loved watching Ted pitch. I used to try to imitate his motion as a kid and got pretty good at it, but I wasn’t as effective. I used to ether hit batters or GET hit. So I quit using it.
Zeke - December 13, 2009
How long...
did games take before television?
Snake Plisskin - December 12, 2009
It's not the TV aspect per se.
It’s the increased TV commercial time and MLB agreeing to expand the time allotted between half innings to allow more ads to be run.
I went to games in the 1960s and early 1970s that were televised on WGN. They still could come in under two hours.
And once the networks (ESPN, FOX, TBS) started adding between innings features and dugout interviews etc., etc., etc. Well, you get the idea. The length of the game was barely considered anymore.
MLB seems to at least now be trying to address some of that by starting playoff games sooner.
But they lost a generation or more of fans. My kids could care less about baseball. And they aren’t into soccer, so it’s not that.
Zeke - December 13, 2009
World of Warcraft?
Actually, it could be any number of things. My son (now age 20) didn’t care much about baseball either, so it’s been going on for awhile.
Steaming Pile - December 14, 2009
Al, my first impression was that's...
Phil Regan. He, too, threw with a strange motion — not a submariner, of course, but he sort of scrunched himself up before he threw. And, that doesn’t look like Abernathy’s face. Again, more like Regan’s.
copingwiththecubs - December 12, 2009
Phil was a over-the-top jerky motion. Definitely not sidearm.
I used to imitate it as a kid playing sandlot and it was tough to do for any length of time.
Zeke - December 13, 2009
Zeke, that's a memory of mine, too.
My friends and I would play fast pitch with a rubber ball against a brick wall with a strike zone spray painted on it. We all tried to do Phil Regan — none of us could quite get it. He had one of the weirdest motions I’ve ever seen. It was almost as though — pardon me for using this insulting old saying — he threw like a girl.
copingwiththecubs - December 13, 2009
Regan got the final out...
…in a 1-0 win over Seaver and the Mets on July 14th, ’69.
copingwiththecubs - December 12, 2009
One more thing...
Abernathy came into the July 16th game to start the seventh. If that were Abernathy warming up, Beckert wouldn’t have been standing there with his arms folded — he’d have been near second base either to take the grounder from Ernie or to take the throw down from Randy. He’s standing at his normal position because it’s the middle of a half-inning.
I’m going with The Vulture.
copingwiththecubs - December 12, 2009
Well...
…. that’s possible. Some of the photos I got appear to be mislabeled. I’ll take a closer look at the rest before I post.
Al Yellon - December 13, 2009
By the way, you can see how extreme the old drainage system was...
Beckert looks like he’s standing in a gully.
copingwiththecubs - December 13, 2009
Guess the pitcher and the *date? From that??
First glance, I thought maybe he’s pitching with a catcher’s glove on, which would at least give people a shot at an exact date, heh.
The Deputy Mayor of Rush Street - December 13, 2009
Reagan
It is for sure Phil Reagan, but when, who can say by looking at this picture?
KedzieKid - December 14, 2009
If it's Regan...
… then it’s probably from the July 14 game, as noted above. The photo was in a large group of pictures taken on July 14.
Al Yellon - December 14, 2009
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