The Ballgame

Harold Krubsack


Watched a ballgame today.
Reds came to Wrigley Field.
Cubs won 12 to Four.
Strange game.
No roar of the crowd.
No stadium organ music.
No P.A. announcer giving the line-ups.
No national anthem—tho some guy stood in the on-deck circle with a mic and the crowd stood up. Suppose that was the “Star spangled Banner”. I stood up.
My kind of game, lots of hits and lots of runs. Don’t like those pitchers’ duels where everyone sits on their hands and nothing happens for nine innings. This crowd stood up, waved their arms and stomped their feet, but a strange game.
No roar of the crowd.
No stadium organ music.
No P.A. announcer.
Cubs opened with four runs in the first. Looked like a walk-away game for them. Crowd stood with arms waving and feet stomping the whole inning.
Reds answered with four runs in the next inning and the walk-away evaporated. No standing, no booing this inning. Strange game.
No roar of the crowd.
No stadium organ music.
No P.A. announcer.
With the game tied, we all needed our resolve strengthened so we ordered beers and some snacks. Paid six bucks for two dollars worth of beer, four bucks for a dollar hot dog, and another three bucks for fifty cents worth of peanuts. Could have bought season tickets for that much in 61* when I watched Roger Maris and Micky Mantle each bang out homers in a double header at Boston. That was the year of the real home run race.
Reds popped one homer in their four run rally. Just made it over the wall, but still a homer.
Still more zeros on the scoreboard. Strange game.
No roar of the crowd.
No stadium organ music.
No P.A. announcer.
Cubbies scored another run, then the game went stagnant. More refreshments were ordered and consumed in hopes it would create action.
I remember action. Our neighbors, Ray and Mary Fletcher, took my brother and me to a Milwaukee Braves game. That was the team to see in those days. My Dad didn’t care for sports much and Ray and Mary felt sorry for us kids so offered to take us to the game. Great game that day. Joe Adcock knocked out four homers in that game. An historic moment for a ten year old kid—probably for Joe Adcock too. My brother was a Brooklyn Dodger fan so wasn’t quite as happy with the game, but we still had a great time at our first ever major league game.
Cubs and Reds putting goose eggs on the scoreboard. Strange game.


No roar of the crowd.
No stadium organ music.
No P.A. announcer.
Another round of beers, but not a round of action.
Went to Washington, D.C. with my brother when I was 13 and he was twelve. Dad was a railroad man so we got free rail passes every summer. Went to D.C. to see our national monuments and museums. Took the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad from Chicago. Saw all the sights and one night decided to take in a baseball game—Washington Senators vs: Detroit Tigers. Tigers were hot that year. Al Kaline and Harvey Keuhn were burning up the league. Kaline popped one out of the park that night, but Keuhn didn’t do much. We cheered him anyway cause he married a girl from our home town. Knew her younger sister a bit as she used to babysit around the neighborhood. Got some funny looks from fans sitting around us, but guess they were Senator fans.
Still more goose eggs, and still more beers. From a walk-away game, to a close battle, a strange game.
No roar of the crowd.
No stadium organ music.
No P.A. announcer.
By the sixth round of beers, the action began. My bladder was acting full, so I took my seventh inning stretch walking the catacombs under the stands. Found the men’s room, then another beer stand for a re-fill.
Back to my seat and all are standing, so I stand. Seems there is action again. Cubs blasted away. A single, a pair of doubles, more singles, more doubles. Seven runs in the seventh inning and it looked like our walk-away game was here again. Seventh inning stretch lasted the whole inning with everyone standing, waving arms and stomping feet. Strange game.
No roar of the crowd.
No stadium organ music.
No P.A. announcer.
That was it for action. Even another round of six dollar beer didn’t change that. Crowd began to thin out. Then, top of the ninth, the Reds did some hitting and it looked like it might change the game. But, it fizzled out when Ken Griffey (the Jr.) blooped the final out with men in scoring position. The crowd stood and waved good-by.
Cubs had a season high record 20 hits—all singles and doubles.
Reds had nine hits—one homer. My kind of game, but a strange game.
No roar of the crowd.
No stadium organ music.
No P.A. announcer.
Been deaf now two years this June.
WATCHED a ballgame today.