Jackson: The ultimate die-hard Cubs fan, John Dillinger
From SABR member Frank Jackson at The Hardball Times on February 8, 2018:
I’d like to have enough money to enjoy life; be clear of everything – not worry; take care of my old man, and see a ball game every day. – John Dillinger
Back in the early 1970s, I was watching a movie at a revival house on the North Side of Chicago. The feature was Young Dillinger, a 1965 movie with Nick Adams in the title role. Sitting behind me was an elderly man who periodically punctuated the narrative by mumbling “Mmm-hmm, John Dillinger!”
Dillinger was ambushed and killed on July 22, 1934 at the Biograph Theater, another North Side movie house. The man behind me had been alive when it happened. Clearly, the Dillinger mystique had made an impression on him as a young man. To the consternation of J. Edgar Hoover, Dillinger was more glamorous than his G-men. Well, why not? Dillinger loved baseball and movies and he hated banks. In 1933-1934, when Dillinger was making headline news, those were mainstream sentiments.
Read the full article here: https://www.fangraphs.com/tht/the-ultimate-die-hard-cubs-fan/
Originally published: February 8, 2018. Last Updated: February 8, 2018.