RIP Former Cub Don Cardwell

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

It appears that former Cubs pitcher Don Cardwell passed away today at the age of 72.

 

Cardwell threw a no-hitter as a member of the Chicago Cubs.

 

Link

[Post Count Padder]

RIP

[UK1679666180]

It appears that former Cubs pitcher Don Cardwell passed away today at the age of 72.

 

Cardwell threw a no-hitter as a member of the Chicago Cubs.

 

Link

 

That no-hitter was his 1st start in a Cubs uniform against STL, I have footage of that game like the last inning or 2 that he pitched which included a declining Musial.

[NCCubFan]

Another pitcher from the same era, Johnny Podres, died Sunday at 75. You know you're getting older when players who were still active when you started following baseball are now dying in their 70s.

[Soz]

Don Cardwell's no-hitter was the second game of a doubleheader on my first visit to Wrigley Field. I was 9 years old. I remember everyone being on the field after the game. My dad told me to scoop up some dirt from the pitcher's mound and put it in my pocket to save. On the way home, I naively told my dad that I wanted to get more dirt next time. He told me, "Son, you'll never be on that field again." Of course, he was right.

 

Nineteen years later, when I was sports editor of the daily paper down in Carbondale, I tracked down Cardwell for an interview. I also tracked down Joe Cunningham, who made the last out for the Cardinals, and Moose Moryn, who caught Cunningham's sinking liner to left on his shoetips. All were very gracious. Cardwell sent me an autographed picture ... but he was wearing the uniform of the hated Mets!

 

I'll never forget May 15, 1960.

 

Here is video of the ninth inning, with Jack Brickhouse at his peak: http://108mag.typepad.com/the_southpaw/2007/05/don_cardwells_n.html.

[Lefty]

Ninth inning also on youtube.

[danonwaveland]

That was quite a call by Brick. "Watch it!" No instant replay, limited cameras, and -- because Vince Lloyd was headed down to the field -- no one in the booth to "fill in." Actually, it was very enjoyable to watch. (Although I can't imagine watching Trachsel pitch without instant replay and other distractions to kill the hours between his pitches.) Also, the crowd noise was pretty loud. I wonder how many were there, in the ninth inning of the second game of a DH (double header, not designated hitter).

 

My wife won one of those "no-hitter" balls at Wrigley last season -- the one with Hooton's, Pappas', and Cardwell's signatures. Kind of a nice memento, although I am sad that this gentleman from my childhood is now in his field of dreams; he'd better not be wearing a Mets uni up there. My son picked up a Johnny Podres authographed card last year. Unfortunately, his card is worth more now, too.

 

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Sandberg>Mazeroski>Morgan

[Soz]

That was quite a call by Brick. "Watch it!" No instant replay, limited cameras, and -- because Vince Lloyd was headed down to the field -- no one in the booth to "fill in." Actually, it was very enjoyable to watch. (Although I can't imagine watching Trachsel pitch without instant replay and other distractions to kill the hours between his pitches.) Also, the crowd noise was pretty loud. I wonder how many were there, in the ninth inning of the second game of a DH (double header, not designated hitter).

 

As I recall, Brickhouse always worked alone. Vince Lloyd (later Lloyd Pettit, then Joe West) would do the Leadoff Man and the eighth inning, when Brickhouse took a break. Brickhouse had quite a workload in those days: he did The Tenth Inning, then, I think, he went to the radio studio and did a daily entertainment hour with Eddie Hubbard. He also did a radio sportscast at 6 p.m. I don't remember if he did the 10 p.m. sports on Channel 9, but he covered the political conventions for WGN, did talk shows and just about everything else. Until 1967 or '68, when the Sox left Channel 9 for UHF (a suicidal move), Brickhouse worked the Sox games, too. If you only heard Brickhouse in the early '80s, at the end of his career, you don't realize how good he really was.

 

As for the crowd noise: the WGN booth was open on two sides, and you had a ballpark full of kids in those days. In 1960, bleacher tickets were 75 cents. For years, 22,000 seats went on sale the day of the game, and, with all those day games, the ratio of kids to adults was higher than it is today. That's very noticeable when you listen to the old broadcasts.

 

The crowd for the Cardwell game, on a Sunday, was 30,000+, which was unusual in those days, The upper deck rarely was opened during the week.