A friend of mine worked for Jack Brickhouse and his family helping to take care of his children in the late 1950's & early 1960's and could not say enough good about the character of the man. Even in her 70's, whenever he became the topic of conversation, she respectfully referred to him as 'Mr. Brickhouse'.
I was at Ernie's 498th home run. In 2006 I met Ernie in Aurora, IL at a bank grand opening. Later that year, my 12 year old son sent a letter to Ernie c/o Wrigley Field and a few weeks later, Ernie sent a signed picture to my son. What a nice man.
Became a Cubs fan by watching their games on WGN. I lived in South Bend, In. and those were to days of no cable only the antenna on top of our house and my brothers and I used to crawl on top if the house trying to get better reception. It was worth it for still a cubs fan today for Mr. Cub, Jack Brickhouse and the Hamm’s bear! 2016 was a special year for I had resided that I would never see my beloved Cubbies win the World Series yet the Lord had other plans, thank God for that!
I saw Ernie's 500th home run on TV. I was depressed much of the game because it appeared the Cubs looked like they were going to lose. They were trailing a run or two going into bottom of the ninth, but Cubs rallied to either tie or win in the ninth, I don't remember which. If Cubs only tied, then they won game in extra innings. When Henry Aaron hit #715 against Atlanta against the Dodgers, the Braves still lost. It makes sense though. Dodgers won NL pennant that year(1974). I don't think Braves were very good that season.
Ughhh..noooo...Dawson was great but only played in Chicago for a few seasons...Ernie was there for 16 years and is considered a legend in the Windy City...no comparison
Brickhouse, I thought was a very good play by play man. He did many games were neither Chicago team was involved, including the Mays catch in 1954 World Series. Many didn't like the fact that he openly rooted for the Cubs, when on the air, but that's how all local announcers do it to this day.
One of the most liked HOF players of all time. Not just in Chicago but all over the country. Now he's telling all his buddies in Heaven "Let's play two". Rest well Earnie.
Living in Western Michigan, we would leave town on a double header Sunday at 2:00 AM to get in line by 5:00 hoping to snatch a seat with the chance of catching a foul ball - and one time we did. Sitting on the right field side in the first row of the lower grand stands, a foul from Ron Santo (RON SANTO!!!) came down among the box seats, hit the cement stairs, and bounced high above my friend, a college center fielder. He jumped and made such a great catch, the crowd roared its approval. But being the idiots we were, when we got home we used the ball until it was ruined.
Typical Wrigley field crowd on a week day, and I think there was a threat of rain. In spite of what critics said then about the day baseball, in the long run it's likely the big reason Cubs are so popular, and televising every game helped.
Most seats were unreserved same day general admission. That would certainly keep crowds down when weather wasn't good(a lot of days like that in Chicago during the spring).
The guy in left field for the Braves watching Ernie’s 500th sail over his head into the seats thinking....”in a few years, I’m going to be the all time Home Run Champion”....I think we all know who that is
@@daniellinehan63 Tug McGraw. Cubs beat the Mets 11-7. Since my comment I've looked it up. July 21, 1971 at Wrigley Field. I'm sure of this because it was the only time he hit a pinch hit home run that season.
I remember watching the ‘69 Cubs blow their season to the Mets of all teams. That Cub team had great talent. Should’ve won that year, but the Cubs had to wait until 2015. I spent many days at Wrigley watching them play as a kid. $1 bleacher seats. Too bad we were owned by a cheap chewing gum company.
I know it's fictional, but in the film Opportunity Knocks there's a character who is portrayed as having caught number 499 and gotten it autographed by Mr. Cub with the words "Nice catch!" I've always wondered what the real story of that ball is.
Brickhouse reminds me a little of Hawk Harrelson, though obviously from an earlier era and working on the other side of town. An unabashed "homer" and a little bit of a cornball. That type of announcing isn't for everyone, especially when it's not your own team's announcer doing it, but I can see why Cub fans of that era would have liked him.
I grew up in Chicago a die hard Cubs fan. I NEVER heard any Cub fan ripping on Jack. He was AMAZING. Knew his shit about the game. His enthusiasm was so cool. He had you on the edge of your seat, and the CUBS NEVER won shit back then. They were doomed the Lovable losers 😏
The baskets had been installed by the time Ernie hit #500, but notably were absent for #498 earlier that season. Hard to tell on #499 but likely was already up since it was installed after the first home stand in 1970, after fans climbed over the walls and got into scuffles following the home opener.
no batting gloves or any protective gear. just a real man unassisted in his love of the game. it's almost unnecessary to say we don't have players like this today because we don't. just over padded over paid p*****s
Jack Brickhouse was a very sincere and knowledgeable boy scout-type baseball announcer who never ambushed or criticized a player during an interview. In the mid-60s, he even let Pete Rose talk himself off the hook on the 10th Inning Show over an aggressive base running play. Back when players all wore metal spikes, Rose had stepped on Ernie's heel running to first base (he was out), taking Banks out of the lineup the next few games. Rose said it was not intentional and Brickhouse backed him. Later on when Roses's style of play became more known (e.g. Ray Fosse collision), it was obvious it was intentional. And Rose may have been worried about getting out of the Wrigley Field parking lot that day because Ernie was so popular. Yes, at times we used to get annoyed at Jack's enthusiasm. Yes, he whooped and hollered, but he did love the Cubs, as we all did back then. Looking back, wish we had more announcers like him now. BTW, as a Cubs fan for the last 64 years, if anybody talks to me about what a great announcer Harry Caray was for the Cubs, I correct them and say Jack was better and to me Harry was always associated with the Cardinals. Harry got crosswise with Gussie Busch, did not have his contract renewed, announced for the White Sox for a few years, THEN came over to the Cubs. I agree he was an interesting character, but stayed too long.
