The date that was attached to this photo when originally sent to me would have solved a mystery of history, if true. It was tagged by the photographer "June 6, 1969". On that date the Cubs beat the Reds 14-8.
But Ron Santo's heel clicks after victories, according to research I did for "Cubs By The Numbers" (shameless promotion: "Cubs By The Numbers" makes a great and inexpensive holiday gift for your favorite Cubs fan!), didn't begin until the last week of June. Go past the jump to find out the actual date of this heel click.
Divisional play began in 1969, and although the Reds were and are in the Eastern time zone, east of Chicago, they wound up in the NL West. Apparently, the presence of the Braves and Reds in the NL West was due to the influence of the Cubs; the Cubs wanted to be in the same division with the Cardinals but neither wanted to be in the West, where they'd have many more late-night TV dates. So the Cubs used their pull to push Atlanta and Cincinnati to the West, where they would stay till realignment in 1994.
Anyway, that meant that the Reds only traveled to Wrigley Field twice in 1969 and the Cubs only beat them twice in seven games (should have been only six, but the June 7 game was delayed by rain and then halted for darkness in a 5-5 tie and replayed). The photo was definitely part of a set taken in a game vs. the Reds; the temperature on June 6 was only 60 degrees, so Santo wouldn't have been wearing short sleeves that day.
Thus, this is the heel-click after a 3-1 win over the Reds on August 28, 1969. Incidentally, that was also the day that the 40-year-old team attendance record was broken with the crowd of 29,092, bringing the season total to 1,502,222 (it would later finish at 1,674,993; that record stood until 1984).
In an era with curtain calls, Jose Valverde acts and outfielder bumps after wins, those of you in your 20's or 30's might wonder what the fuss was over Santo's heel clicks. It was a different time. Players just didn't do that "in your face" kind of thing in 1969 -- it was widely panned by broadcasters, writers and fellow players, and Santo became one of the most disliked opponents around the National League. It may, even to this day, be one of the factors keeping him out of the Hall of Fame.
It was innocent. Santo was just happy with winning. If he only knew what was to come after that August 28 game, he might not have done it at all, and the heel clicks disappeared after 1969.
Once again, if you'd like a print of this photo, email Leo Bauby for ordering information.
0 recs | 61 comments
To gloat in victory...
…and whine in defeat. It’s a legacy that’s tough to shake. What did Santo’s teammates think about this back in ’69?
ernaga - December 13, 2009
I don't know what his teammates thought.
But the New York Times called it “bush”.
Al Yellon - December 13, 2009
Imagine what people would have said about
Terrell Owens in 1969. I can’t even imagine.
Goodie1969 - December 13, 2009
Our sports culture was different then.
People just didn’t do that kind of thing.
Al Yellon - December 13, 2009
IRRC
The first time was spontaneous, and Durocher asked him to do it from then on. I think Santo gets a bum rap on this one.
Shanghai Badger - December 14, 2009
I'm stuck in haiku mode
Agree that is bush
I still love Ron Santo though
He deserves the Hall
katie casey - December 13, 2009
Which proves even the Times can be right, occasionally.
ernaga - December 13, 2009
Like I said in the post...
…. times change. If a player did that in 2009, no one would even blink, considering some of the “in your face” stuff that goes on now.
It appears pretty mild from a 2009 viewpoint. But in 1969, players just didn’t do that. Santo was just happy they were winning and wanted to express himself.
Al Yellon - December 13, 2009
Saw that many, many times in 1969.
Simple exuberance on Santo’s part.
That said, I do remember the days of unexpressed thoughts and feelings. Not entirely with disfavor, I might add.
MN exile - December 13, 2009
I hear that...
…I always like a bit of stoicism in my performers….
CaughtInTheVines - December 13, 2009
You want stoicism?
Watch the video of the BALTIMORE Colts vs. the NY Giants at Yankee Stadium on December 28 of 1958. BTW, 1958 was a GREAT year ;)
The first NFL Championship game to go into overtime. Johnny U calls all the plays and drives them 80 yards and Ameche plows in from the one for the victory.
You know what Unitas does? He’s just won the NFL Championship. He watches Ameche score, turns his head and walks calmly to the sidelines. That’s freakin’ stoicism! And I love it.
BigJohnAZ - December 13, 2009
Al, I must say...
…. your detective work adds to the value of the picture….the added info makes the pictures much more interesting!
cooliogirl47 - December 13, 2009
That's exactly how I feel.
The photos are cool. The stories behind them are what makes them fun.
Al Yellon - December 13, 2009
Look at that gorgeous Wilson A2000 glove Santo's wearing...
looks like it’s made for scooping up everything in sight. I loved Santo as a kid — I even fantasized that he was part of my family (he was Italian, too, and he made pizzas, which my mother did) so the first time I could afford my own mitt, I bought an A2000. Never could do with it what Santo did with his, though.
copingwiththecubs - December 13, 2009
Let's Talk Shop
What about the available non-tendered free agents? Kelly Johnson? Matt Capps? They are few out there that could be worth chatting about.
Bsullivan - December 13, 2009
How about posting that in the Fanpost made for that purpose?
Link
Al Yellon - December 13, 2009
My beef with the heel-clicking...
It is girly. I’m really surprised he didn’t take one in the ear for that tomfoolery.
Worf - December 13, 2009
You're looking at that from a 2009 viewpoint.
In 1969, it wasn’t looked at that way.
Al Yellon - December 13, 2009
Fair point
But I’m in the minority. I find Santo to be tiresome.
Worf - December 13, 2009
...girly???
I think saying tomfoolery is girly …just kidding. ;)
cooliogirl47 - December 13, 2009
Ha!
Shanghai Badger - December 14, 2009
I agree and I also think the outfielder bumps are girly.
They annoy the hec out me. I’ve heard some people say that it’s all in good fun, but I think it is tacky in the extreme. Besides being poor sportsmanship, I think it’s incredibly silly looking.
katie casey - December 13, 2009
Oh geez
C’mon poor sportsmanship? what the hell do you want them to do, be a bunch of robots out there? At least there is some passion for the game they are playing. Sheesh, seems like people like to nit pick about everything. You get on a big stage like that – win a game – and then tell me that one of those bumps is annoying. My guess is you and everyone else would be glad to be part of that kind of camaraderie with fellow teammates.
StevenABQ - December 13, 2009
I'd rather see a high five or something less showy.
I guess it’s because I’m from that era that didn’t like that ’in your face" thing that Al described.
katie casey - December 13, 2009
It could be alot worse
In general baseball is pretty tame compared to other sports and player celebrations. I see the point, but I would be hesitant to go so far as calling it “poor sportsmanship”. As you have indicated, you are using principles from another era, I doubt players on the opposing team take the outfield bump in the manner you have suggested. This is probably because when the other team wins a game – they have their own way of celebrating. Instead of complaining about our guys, how about making fun of those ninnys who untuck their shirts.
StevenABQ - December 13, 2009
Go Cubs Go...
sometimes I think singing that song after every win is a little over the top, but then I see the look on kids faces in the stands and they’re loving it. Ditto for the 7th inning stretch. For me, I would miss those moments of happy celebration by the players.
cooliogirl47 - December 13, 2009
I don't find "Go Cubs Go" over the top
but I do find it incredibly misplaced. “The Cubs are gonna win today” after they’ve just won seems kind of stupid. If anything, they should play it before the game starts so everyone can sing along to get in the mood for the game, and then play something better after a win.
The fact that it annoys the piss out of Cardinal and Brewer fans is good enough reason for me to leave it alone, though.
Goodie1969 - December 13, 2009
" annoys the piss out of Cardinal and Brewer fans".....
I concede.
cooliogirl47 - December 13, 2009
White Sox fans too...
…some of my best friends are Sox fans and they can’t stand it. :)
cooliogirl47 - December 13, 2009
I agree.
That song is misplaced. I don’t mind it though or think it’s over the top. Good idea to sing it pre-game.
katie casey - December 13, 2009
The words place it at the beginning of the game....
But that chorus belongs at the end of a game. Come on, you know you love listening to the fans sing it after a win when you’ve watched the game on TV. It’s so happy and triumphant. And it is uniquely a Cub thing. Leave it alone. We’ll all sing it one day after the World Series win.
And as said above, it does annoy the piss out of Cardinal, Brewers and White Sox fans.
Cubfansince1957 - December 13, 2009
TMOTTBG . . .
We’re already there.
Shanghai Badger - December 14, 2009
Oh my,
you are right! Never thought of it that way. But alas, that is my song. I’d be ever so distraught if they put an end to that tradition. Although I don’t mind them finding someone more suitable to sing it rather than some of the celebrities they choose-and please not a recording of Harry-he’s been honored enough if you ask me.
katie casey - December 14, 2009
I see your point too.
I used to find the untucking annoying til I read somewhere that it got started as a tribute to a player’s father who was a blue collar worker that would come home from a hard day at work and untuck his shirt. I’m not sure who or if I’m remembering that correctly, but since then it hasn’t bothered me as much. BTW-I wasn’t necessarily meaning our team in disliking the bump. I usually picture the Brewers being the ones to do that.
katie casey - December 13, 2009
Let's also understand this was AFTER the game was over and players were leaving (or in many cases already off) the field.
Both teams were going in opposite directions. The Cubs to their clubhouse entrance in the left field corner and the opposing teams through their own dugout, back up the long tunnel walk and stairs to the visitors clubhouse.
Santo wasn’t doing it in front of the other team or in any way as an in-your-face gesture.
As a 14 year old kid watching at home, I loved it.
And the NY Times can just get over themselves. Snots. :P
Zeke - December 13, 2009
I tend to agree with you
No, there were no victory celebrations in those days except for a handshake or pat on the ass. But, we all know Ronny wore and still wears his heart on his sleeve and he expressed his joy. If the Cubs were 40-100 at the time, then yes, it’s over the top. But they were in a heated pennant race and they were having a great frickin’ summer with all of Chicago watching everything Cubs. I remember that summer well, and it beats any year the Cubs have had in my lifetime. The only thing that will top ’69 (even with the eventual heartbreak) will be a WS victory, but I digress.
I am an emotional person like Ronnie, so I say “Hell Yeah!” click your heels.
BigJohnAZ - December 13, 2009
He wasn't posing, dissing someone to their face, spitting on them or talking smack, as seems so prevalent and accepted today.
It was Ronnie’s inner 14 year old literally jumping for joy at a Cubs victory.
Childish? No. Childlike, yes. And I loved it…and still do.
Ron Santo: The very definition of Bleed Cubbie Blue.
Zeke - December 14, 2009
Perfect!
BigJohnAZ - December 15, 2009
LOLSanto
northpaw22k - December 13, 2009
does any one remember that commercial....
where people are driving invisible cars down the street? In the 70’s maybe? Was it a Hertz ad?
cooliogirl47 - December 14, 2009
Is it this one?
link
Or maybe this one from McDonald’s.
katie casey - December 14, 2009
LOL...the chevy one looks more familiar...
thanks for searching that….it made me laugh :)
cooliogirl47 - December 14, 2009
Yep
BigJohnAZ - December 15, 2009
PS - That book is great.
Bought it for my dad for his birthday in August. Worth it for a good holiday present.
dtpollitt - December 13, 2009
I agree...
…the heel kick could be 50% of the reason Santo has not seen the HOF yet.
MPH73 - December 13, 2009
Which, if true, is utterly and completely ridiculous.
Zeke - December 14, 2009
Some people...
…have very long memories and let’s face it, Santo annoyed a lot of people in his day.
MPH73 - December 14, 2009
Thank goodness Ty Cobb didn't annoy people.
No, I’m not saying Ron is in the same class of player as Ty, just that there a double standard from the HOF voters. Too bad.
Zeke - December 14, 2009
Voting for the HOF...
…has always been a joke, what else can I say?
Today, it’s probably the worst it has ever been.
MPH73 - December 14, 2009
Sadly, yes.
Zeke - December 14, 2009
AL, QUESTION about the date...
…if the photographer was wrong on the date, why do you assume he was right on the opponent…how do we know it is the Reds?? The rest of the detective work is sound, if the original premise that it is the Reds is correct.
cubfanjim - December 14, 2009
That's a good question.
It was presumed to be from one of two series, since it was in a set of other photos that related to a game vs. the Reds.
Al Yellon - December 14, 2009
I can't help but look at the photo,
and remember how exciting it was to see Ron do his thing after home wins. There had been so many years when we had no chance to win, and what was happening in 69 was so atypical that a certain giddiness prevailed. Ron was only acting that out.
But, there is another side of the story that this photo brings to mind, and that is what a polarizing figure Santo was during his playing career. It is hard to imagine it today, as Ron has evolved into a face of the franchise. Today, his struggles with his health, struggles with being rebuffed by his peers to make the HOF, and his peaks and valleys (“oh noooooooo”) rooting for the team have made him an endearing icon.
But that wasn’t the case during his playing days. Not only did some consider his heel clicking to be show boating, but Ron also got criticized for his commercial interests and for being a hot head. In the sixties Santo was known as the Pizza Man because he endorsed a pizza product that was both sold at the game and eventually in local supermarkets. On the field some thought him to be a hot head, he would frequently throw his bat and helmet after striking out, and engage in numerous arguments with the umps.
So what I remember is some, like me, were unabashed Santo rooters, who thought he could do no wrong, but there is just as large a group who thought he was a combination of being too self-promoting and disrespectful. Clearly, some of that has lingered with his playing peers and is still keeping him out of the HOF.
BatCubFan - December 14, 2009
He's undoubtedly a sympathetic figure for most of us...
…who have followed the team for the last 50 years. If you were around in 1960, you may remember how he brought life to a dead franchise. During typical weekday games with 5,000 or fewer in the stands, kids sneaking into the box seats along the third-base line actually could carry on a conversation with Ron – during the game. Al Dark or Don Hoak sure didn’t do that.
Also, his honesty was refreshing. In one late season game in ‘61 – his first full year – he hit his 20th home run of that College of Coaches season. Later, when I saw him signing autographs after the game, I called out “Hey Ron, Number 20!” He looked over, saw me giving him the thumbs up and shouted back "Yeah, that’s a big one!"
As kids, we were always fed the nonsense that good ballplayers didn’t care about personal stats – only winning! If Jack Brickhouse said so, it must be true. But deep down, we knew better. Twenty home runs was a big deal then, and Santo, the prototype of the modern, self-promoting athlete, obviously didn’t mind admitting as much.
Great competitor that he was, the inertia of Cubdom in the pre-Durocher Wrigley era must have eaten away at Ron. His best seasons were largely wasted in those years before the ’67 renaissance when, despite his production, he was regarded as only the third-best NL third baseman. Another source of frustration for Santo may have been the realization that, as good as he was, he could never even be the best player on his own team, so long as #26 was suiting up.
Whatever caused him to boil over, his lack of self-control at key moments in ‘69 and ’71, including the heel-clicking in ’69, were certainly factors in the collapse of those teams. By the time his career ended in ’74, I don’t think many outside his immediate family thought of him as a Hall of Famer. But, like Kiner, Kell, and Rizzuto in other cities, his lobbying from the broadcast booth probably will get him in the back door.
Which is OK with me, especially if it helps him stop moaning every time Marmol goes 2-0 on a batter. When and if that glorious day arrives, let’s hope he goes in with Ken Boyer, just to make it fair.
ernaga - December 14, 2009
Respect your opinions, and
share a lot of your thoughts, but you threw in some things there at the end that I would like to rebut.
First, while I tried to point out that not all Cub fans were over the top Santo supporters during his playing career, I would strongly disagree that heel clicking, pizza promotion, or his hot head rep, had anything to do with the failures of the 69-71 teams. Ron was just being Ron.
Second, I would argue at length that Santo s/b in the HOF today on his playing merit alone. And, Ken Boyer, while a solid contemporary, was clearly a lesser player than Santo. Santo has better power numbers, was a better fielder, and made the ASG over Boyer more often.
Despite his on field temper, commercial ventures, and activity shown in the photo above, Santo s/b in HOF today based on his own merit.
BatCubFan - December 14, 2009
The Santo picture and 1969.
A great summer and a dreadful autumn. I still feel the pain of that year. I don’t know how Santo can stay in the broadcast booth and live the pain of his memories every day during the season.
Though I am sure Santo is grateful to be alive (given all his health issues), I am sure he will feel his life’s goals have been fulfilled when the Cubs finally win the WS. As for the show-boating nature of Santo, he was just ahead of his time. Free agency makes every player a promoter of their stats and marketing appeal. Ron was ahead of his time. Good for him, I say! Screw the HoF voters who have it out for Ron.
LAcarl519 - December 14, 2009
Great comments
To me, 1984 is the closest that a winning Cubs season is to matching the excitement of 1969. When I watch some of the video from ’69, at times I am transported back in time and can actually “feel” how I felt that summer. That summer was absolute joy, we had the Holtzman no-no and Dick Selma and the Bleacher Bums and all the neighborhood appearances the players made. We had the Cub Power album, cups, posters, you name it. We actually had Cubs on the cover of Sports Illustrated! Imagine that lol
1984 reminds me of it with the Daily Double and Sutclifffe, Jody JODY Davis and Zonk, and the “Sandberg” game. All the late comeback wins and how they came back out from the clubhouse to do a victory lap.
That was a great summer, too. But 1969 will always be my tops.
BigJohnAZ - December 15, 2009
1984 was more fun for me...
…. because the Cubs actually DID win something, the NL East title, their first title of any kind in 39 years.
Al Yellon - December 15, 2009
As it should be for most of us...
But just as the shock and pain of the humiliating defeat of ’69 seems etched in these photos from that bittersweet time, looking at them can bring back the confounded sense of loss and entitlement that we all occasionally feel about this team.
But let’s remember that Dallas Green, God bless him, really did get the monkey off our backs in ‘84, playoffs and media be damned. He did, indeed, “build a new tradition” and, although an often-distracted Trib management failed to follow-up sufficiently on his success, five years in the playoffs and three years with the NL’s best record should be enough for us to get past ’69 and look ahead with confidence.
ernaga - December 16, 2009
I agree, without a doubt he does...
…especially given the many questionable choices of recent years. But I would also endorse Ken Boyer’s election. Not only did Ken’s final numbers approach Santo’s but, like Brooks Robinson, Boyer starred more than once on the national stage. His hitting was key to the Cards ’64 Series win, a year in which he also won the NL MVP. Also, he was the hands-down star of the ’56 All-Star Game in which no less than 15 eventual Hall of Famers appeared.
ernaga - December 14, 2009
Ken Boyer's not even close to being a Hall of Famer.
Al Yellon - December 14, 2009
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