June 25, 1977:  Hall of Famers, old-timers and the first-place Cubs

Baseball magic was happening in Chicago during the summer of 1977. It was late June and both of the city’s teams were atop their divisions. The White Sox – who had not won the World Series since 1917 – were tied for first in the American League West Division at the end of the day with a 38-30 record.1 The Cubs – whose most recent World Series title was in 1908 – were in first in the National League East by seven games, with a record of 44-22 when the sun set on June 25, 1977.

The Cubs had timely hitting and solid defense, accompanied by a strong bullpen. Their relief corps was led by 24-year-old Bruce Sutter, who had developed a specialty pitch, dubbed a split-finger fastball, which was virtually unhittable and revitalized his career.2 Thus far, Sutter, in only his second major-league season, had figured in nearly 50 percent of the team’s victories with three wins and 18 saves.3

Cubs fans embraced the moment. Despite many years of falling short, with tales of billy goats and other such hobgoblins lurking in the background, maybe this time it was for real. Even New York sportswriters were struck by the experience when they came to town for the series between the Cubs and New York Mets at Wrigley Field. According to the Chicago Tribune’s Cooper Rollow, one visiting writer exclaimed, “The Cubs run onto the field and they get a standing ovation. They haven’t even done anything yet.”4

Meanwhile, the Mets – who fell 5-0 to the Cubs in the series opener on June 24, Chicago’s fourth win in a row – were in disarray. Earlier in the month, the “midnight massacre” of June 15 had sent legendary pitcher Tom Seaver from the Big Apple to the Queen City in exchange for four Cincinnati Reds.5 It seemed to suck the life out of a team that eventually finished last in the NL East Division.

The stage was set for the second game of the series, with a special treat for early arrivals among the crowd of 33,130, the Cubs’ biggest Saturday gate at home since Ron Santo Day in August 1971. An impressive array of baseball legends was on hand for the first-ever Old-Timers Game held at Wrigley Field, an entertaining three-inning preliminary contest that lasted about an hour with the Cubs legends defeating the Hall of Famers, 5-1. The star-studded cast illuminated the last remaining ballpark in the big leagues without lights.

A sunny afternoon greeted the Cubs when they took the field for the main event, with temperatures hovering near 85 degrees and north to northeast winds blowing in from left-center field at 10-15 mph.6 Ray Burris was on the mound for the Cubs with an 8-6 record to face newly acquired Pat Zachry, who came to New York from the Reds in the Seaver trade and was making his second start for the Mets.

Burris retired the Mets in order in the top of the first. The Cubs loaded the bases with two out in the bottom of the inning on Bill Buckner’s single and walks to Bobby Murcer and Jerry Morales. But they left the bases jammed when Manny Trillo grounded to shortstop Bud Harrelson, who flipped it to Joel Youngblood for the force at third to end the inning.

The Mets jumped ahead in the second. John Stearns doubled to lead off. After John Milner popped out, Ed Kranepool launched a home run to the right-field bleachers for a 2-0 lead.

When Joel Youngblood and Felix Millan followed with singles, New York was in position to expand its lead, but Zachry grounded to second baseman Trillo, who turned the 4-6-3 double play, Trillo to Ivan DeJesus to Buckner, to end the inning.

The Mets did add a run in the third. Burris hit leadoff hitter Lee Mazzilli and Harrelson singled to right to move Mazzilli to third. Then Burris threw wild on a pickoff attempt at third, sending Mazzilli scampering across home plate to give the Mets a 3-0 lead.

Held scoreless by Zachry over the first two innings, the Cubs pushed across a run in the third. Larry Biittner led off with a walk and took third on Buckner’s single. When Zachry was called for a balk, Biittner scored the Cubs’ first run.

Burris and Zachry then traded scoreless innings through the seventh. The Mets made it 4-1 in the eighth when Stearns bunted for a single and came home after Milner’s grounder to first went through Buckner for an error. Milner was thrown out trying to advance to third base on the play.

In the bottom of the eighth, New York manager Joe Torre moved some chess pieces, inserting two more arrivals from the Seaver trade: Doug Flynn replaced Youngblood at third base and Steve Henderson took over for Kranepool in left field. Torre  lifted Zachry for Skip Lockwood after a leadoff single by Morales. Lockwood induced a 3-6-3 double play to squelch the Cubs rally.

Burris was still on the hill in the top of the ninth and retired the Mets in order. He had gone the distance but appeared to be headed for a loss.

Steve Swisher led off the bottom of the ninth with a single, hitting a groundball with eyes to left field. “I was just hoping to start something,” Swisher said afterward.7

Burris was lifted for pinch-hitter Greg Gross, who flied out to left field for the first out. DeJesus then doubled to left, moving Swisher to third.

Biittner pulled a liner down the first-base line that glanced off the mitt of Milner and continued into right field for another double. Milner explained, “I was guarding the line. … If I had been where I usually play, I would have had it.”8 DeJesus and Swisher crossed the plate to cut the margin to one, 4-3.

Bob Apodaca was called on from the bullpen to face Buckner to try to put out the fire with the game’s tying run in scoring position. Buckner launched a drive to center field. “When I hit it, I thought it might reach the wall,” Buckner recalled.9

But the summer wind was blowing in from across the wall. What appeared destined to perhaps leave the park, stayed in play and lingered there, baffling the New York outfielders. Crowd noise added further confusion.

Newly acquired left fielder Henderson and center fielder Mazzilli converged on the ball and collided; the ball dropped. Biittner scored, and the game was tied. The crowd was euphoric, and Buckner was standing on second base representing the winning run.

The managerial chess match continued. Cubs manager Herman Franks substituted Mick Kelleher to pinch-run for a hobbled Buckner at second. Torre countered by walking the left-handed-batting Murcer intentionally, giving Apodaca a righty-righty matchup with Morales to set up a double play possibility. Apodaca, however, walked Morales unintentionally to load the bases.

Trillo, who was leading the National League in hitting with a .346 average, came to the plate with the bags jammed and the crowd exhorting the home team for a dream comeback.

He hit a grounder to Flynn at third base. According to New York Times writer Parton Keese, “[T]he ball took a short skip just as it reached Flynn, who bobbled it, picked it up and stepped on third for the second out.”10

With the speedy Kelleher racing home and the force at the plate now off, Flynn tried for the double play at first, but Trillo beat the throw. “Kelleher dashed like a rabbit across home with the winning run,” commented the Chicago Tribune.11

The Cubs completed the sweep with a 5-2 win on Sunday. Two more wins over the Montreal Expos ran their streak to eight in a row, and they were perched loftily atop the NL East on June 28 with a record of 47-22 and an 8½-game lead.

As things turned out, the Cubs limped to the finish line, winning just 34 more games for the season. Most notably, Sutter was overused from the bullpen and ultimately landed on the 21-day disabled list on August 2 with the Cubs still in first place. By the time he returned to action and registered a save on August 26, the Cubs were 7½ games back of the Philadelphia Phillies and in third place. They ended up in fourth place with an 81-81 record, 20 games behind the division champion Phillies.12

But on this historic day, there was magic on the field, stars in the stands, and hopes were high.

Author’s Note 

According to the 20-page Old Timers Day game program, the star power was real for the preliminary game, as the Hall of Fame lineup that actually took the field included Bob Feller, Warren Spahn (playing center field), Ralph Kiner, Luke Appling, Monte Irvin, and Lloyd “Little Poison” Waner.

Three Hall of Famers who had played for the Cubs – Ernie Banks, (who had been selected for the Hall of Fame in January 1977 and was inducted on August 8), Billy Herman, and Freddie Lindstrom – joined those stars to square off on the field against a formidable gathering of Chicago Cubs Old-Timers.

A host of other Hall of Famers and old-timers who did not play were on hand, including Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Cool Papa Bell, Lefty Grove, and Joe Cronin.

Altogether, participants in the Old Timers game included 24 Hall of Famers and 37 Cubs Old Timers. It was said to be the largest collection of old‐timers ever assembled for an exhibition outside Cooperstown. According to Hall of Fame historian Cliff Kachline, who was quoted in the program, “To my knowledge, except for a Hall of Fame induction ceremony at Cooperstown, there has never been as many Hall of Famers collected in one place as will be at Wrigley Field on June 25, 1977.”

The Cubs Old-Timers versus Hall-of-Famers contest is available for viewing on YouTube at this link: https://youtu.be/q2tiBzIVHMw

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for information including the box score and play-by-play.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN197706250.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1977/B06250CHN1977.htm

Thankful regards for editorial and fact-check review by John Fredland, Thomas Brown, and Kurt Blumenau. This article was copy-edited by Len Levin.

Notes

1 The White Sox finished the year with a 90-72 record, coming in third in the AL West behind the Kansas City Royals (102-60) and Texas Rangers (94-68). It was the White Sox’ best winning percentage and highest finish since 1972.

2 Sutter finished 1977 with a 1.34 ERA in 107⅓ innings pitched. As of the 2022 season, it was the lowest ERA for a major-league pitcher with 100 or more innings pitched since the mound was raised for the 1969 season.

3 “Cubs Today,” Chicago Tribune, June 26, 1977: B1. Trillo, Biittner, and Morales were all hitting over .300 on this date. The bullpen trio of Sutter (3 wins, 18 saves, 0.71 ERA), Paul Reuschel (2 wins, 3 saves, 1.26 ERA), and rookie Willie Hernandez (3 wins, 2 saves, 2.01 ERA) had impressive stats that secured many late-inning wins.

4 Cooper Rollow, “Crowd of 35,913 Inspired Cubs,” Chicago Tribune June 25, 1977: A3.

5 In 1977 baseball’s trading deadline was on June 15. Besides trading Seaver to the Reds for Zachry, Henderson, Flynn, and Dan Norman on that date, the Cubs also sent outfielder-first baseman Dave Kingman to the San Diego Padres for Bobby Valentine and Paul Sieber, and utilityman Mike Phillips went to the St. Louis Cardinals for Joel Youngblood.

6  “Weather 1,” Chicago Tribune, June 26, 1977: A26; Chicago and Vicinity Weather, Chicago Tribune, June 25, 1977: S1.

7 Bob Verdi. “Cubs Crazy Rally Sends Mets Reeling: Cubs ‘Explode.’” Chicago Tribune, June 26, 1977: B1.

8 Verdi.

9 Verdi.

10  Parton Keese, “Outfield Collision Helps Cubs Defeat Mets 5-4,” New York Times, June 26, 1977: 147.

11 Verdi. The play was not without some controversy, according to Verdi’s Chicago Tribune account. Flynn said, “I still had a play at first base and I think, the runner was out.” “Said Trillo: Was I safe? Yes, but not by much.”

12 The plight of the ever-faithful Cubs fan is chronicled in a play called Bleacher Bums, produced by the Organic Theater Company, that – not so coincidentally – opened and ran in 1977 at a local theater in the shadows of Wrigley Field. With what was to become a star-studded cast, including Joe Mantegna and Dennis Franz, the script celebrated being a Cubs fan, the Wrigley Field bleacher experience, and hope. Near the end of the play, Marvin, the antagonist character, states, “Nobody ever went broke betting against the Cubs after the Fourth of July.” “WWTW Channel 11 – Bleacher Bums,” Museum of Classic Chicago Television website, accessed January 7, 2023, http://fuzzymemories.tv/watch/3690.