BobcatAttack.com - For Fans of Ohio University Sports

Welcome Guest!
Create an Account

site search

about us

advertise with us

help

BobcatAttack.com Message Board

Ohio Baseball

Topic: Ernie Banks, Lou Boudreau & Jack Quinlan

Topic: Ernie Banks, Lou Boudreau & Jack Quinlan

Author

Message

OhioCatFan
General User

Member Since: 12/20/2004
Location: Athens, OH
Post Count: 15,698

Status: Offline

Ernie Banks, Lou Boudreau & Jack Quinlan

Posted: 5/1/2026 4:15:26 PM

Since it's now baseball season, I thought I'd record a memory that comes back to me every spring. I think that I may have told parts of this story on here before, but here's the "rest of the story" (with apologies to Paul Harvey) about one of my fondest baseball memories.

Growing up in Athens I was a Chicago Cubs fan -- probably for two reason: I loved Ernie Banks and my father was a graduate of the University of Chicago and was always telling me about the gridiron exploits of the Maroons under the leadership of Jay Burwanger. So, to me Chicago seemed like an exotic sports Mecca.

With that as background one day in the early 1960s I took the train from Athens to Cincinnati to see a game between the Cubs and the Reds at Crosley Field. Before the game I had a chance to see Ernie Banks outside the stadium. There was a wire fench separating the fans from the players, but I was able to catch Ernie's attention and he waved at me with a big smile on his face. That meant a lot to a teenage boy. It's a memory I will always cherish. [Years later I enchanged letters with Ernie after I made a small donation to his foundation that helps Chicago youth, and he sent me an autographed baseball that's still proudly display on my mantle.]

Then after the game I was walking back to the train station, wearing my Cubs ball cap, and a big black car stops and asks me if I want a ride. To my surprise, the person asking was none other than Lou Boudreau! And, in the seat next to him was Jack Quinlan, the Cubs play-by-play guy. Lou was the color announcer at that time. Once I figured out who they were I gladly accepted their kind offer. The ride to the train station was probably no more than five or ten minutes, but it was pure joy to this young Cub fan! I don't remember much detail about our conversation, but they asked me where I was from and how I became a Cub fan. I was on cloud nine all the way home on the train, and couldn't wait to tell my family about the wonderful day I had at the old ballpark.

Strange thing, with all these vivid memories, I can't remember if the Cubs won or lost the game.

Perhaps, others on here have fond baseball memories that they'd like to share. I wouldn't mind if this post starts a thread on youthful baseball memories of BAers.

In case your interested, here's a link to Ernie Banks foundation website:
https://erniebanksfoundation.org/make-an-impact-2 /

The only BLSS Certified Hypocrite on BA

"It is better to be an optimist and be proven a fool than to be a pessimist and be proven right."

Note: My avatar is the national colors of the 78th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry, which are now preserved in a climate controlled vault at the Ohio History Connection. Learn more about the old 78th at: http://www.78ohio.org

Showing Replies:	1 - 1 of 1 Posts
Jump to Page:	1

View Other 'Ohio Baseball' Topics

There are 318 Active Visitors on BobcatAttack.com

317 Guests
1 Registered User:
	FJC31

There are no other users looking at this page.