Chapter 7

“Cubs Win! Cubs Win!”

(akaFuk the Mets!)

Tue, Aug 19, 1969, Chicago, IL

After Woodstock, I was itching to rejoin the Cubs. In Ralf’s time, the Cubs had peaked too early, & they started to lose more & more games. Eventually, the dreaded NY Mets overtook them, winning the East, then beating the Atlanta Braves in the National League Championships. After that, the Fuking Mets would go on to win the World Series, by beating the Baltimore Orioles.

Not many know, but until 1969, both the National & American Leagues didn’t have Divisions. Instead, all Teams were just grouped together, thus whoever won their League went directly to the World Series. This reduced the number of Teams that made the Playoffs. So, 1969 was the 1st year for the Championship Series.

To every Chicago Cub fan, the meltdown of ‘69 still rips our hearts out every time we think of it. Well, I, (as Pug) was determined to change that!

I could play every position on the field, though I rarely Pitched or played Catcher. I knew that a lot of the Cubs players were just plain worn out towards the end of the season. I would try to get our Manager, Leo Durocher, to “put me in Coach” to spell the regular starters, on a rotating basis, so they could rest up a little.

Leo & I had talked often on the phone, as he had taken a shine to me for some reason. He had really vented to me of his worries. Mostly they were about how he was losing control of the team.

I had been able to help calm Leo down, as I had learned a great new way of looking at life. As Ralf, I had read a great book called: Feeling Good: the New Mood Therapy by Dr David Burns He helped create Cognitive Therapy, which is a major shift in how we think. It teaches that no one EVER made me mad, sad, happy, etc. Nope, those feelings were the result from the Interpretations I had to the events around me. But often, the interpretations I have are irrational & mistaken.

Remember, Feelings ain’t Facts.

A big Red Flag would be if you are overly Mad, Sad, etc. It usually means you are trying to control something or someone that is out of your control. The Serenity Prayer comes to mind.

Dr Burns came up with his own Top 10 List:

1. All or Nothing Thinking. Black or White. Nope often Gray.

2. Overgeneralizing

3. Mental Filter

4. Disqualifying the Positive

5. Jumping To Conclusions

6. Magnification (Catastrophizing) or making things smaller than they are

7. Emotional Reasoning

8. Should Statements

9. Labeling & Mislabeling

10. Personalizing

OK, here goes: Something happens. Then you Interpret it. That’s how we operate, you can’t see or hear or feel or smell something without Interpreting it. Try NOT interpreting something.

Dr Burns also came up with another easy to use List: The 6-Step Process

1. Situation- Write down what happened

2. Emotion - Then write down how you Feel about it, & how strong the feeling is- 100% 50% 10% You can write down more than 1 feeling too. Angry, Sad, Hateful, Scared, Ashamed, etc Do the % for each Feeling.

3. Automatic Thoughts- Now, Compare each feeling to the Top-Ten-List- Do you REALLY have nothing to live for? There are over 1 MILLION Jobs in the Seattle area. You only need ONE!

4. Cognitive Distortion. Look at the Situation to see if your Thoughts seem rational.

5. Rational Response- Now you may only feel 10% Sad, etc. You will also see see things with much less distortion.

It’s important that we write this down, as otherwise it will just be a mish-mash of thoughts. And it’s even better if you use his process.

So now what? At 1st, you may be mad that you can’t blame others for your problems anymore. But then, you can just make up a new Interpretation, basically “Fake it til you make it” You have Choices now! When you look at your problems, using the 6-Step-Process, you will be amazed at how often what you believed before, now looks twisted. It’s hard to do it all the time, but the more you do it, it almost becomes 2nd Nature.

Dr Burns also has you get a hand-held counter, like they might do to count a crowd. Then, every time you think a negative thought about yourself or someone else, you click the counter. It’s amazing how pervasive our Negative Thoughts often skew our lives. At 1st, you may not click it a lot, but as time goes on, you’ll find yourself clicking it more & more. When we do things without being aware of them, we are in their control, not ours. After awhile, you will see the count start to go down! That’s because when you are aware of doing something, you now have a CHOICE. Now, what do you WANT to do.

We also don’t use Don’t (Ha!) Have To, Can’t, Must, Should, Won’t, etc.

No, now we say: It’s a Possibility, I May, I CHOOSE it, it MAY help.

Anyway, Feeling Good: the New-Mood-Therapy, by Dr David Burns is one of the 2 Books that have shaped me the most.

The 2nd book is The URANTIA Book, written by, well, let me just say: The Authors are Out-Of-This-World. The Book is a gift to our planet from the Powers-That-Be. It would be cool if you checked it out. Just Google it. You can Read it On-Line, & you can also Listen to it. It’s my new Bible, & Bible literally means “The BOOK.”

Anyway, getting back to my Tale:

Leo Durocher was overjoyed when I called from LGA, to say I felt like I was ready to come back.

The next day, Tue, Aug 19, 1969, I took the Chicago Transit Authority Bus, from my Hotel to Wrigley Field. I was there for Batting Practice, then the Game. It was only a few stops from my Hotel to Wrigley Field. That’s one reason why the Cubs put me up there.

As soon as I walked into the Cub’s Clubhouse, I was mobbed by my Teammates. Earnie Banks, Ron Santo, Fergie Jenkins, Randy Huntley, & especially Manager Leo Durocher.

Leo had the Cub’s Main Doc there. He gave me a quick Look-See, & determined that I was Good-To-Go.

While I was dressing, Ron Santo, the starting 3rd-Baseman, asked me if I was interested in Sub-Leasing his Apartment in Marina City, which was a complex on the North Side of the Chicago River. It was in the The-Loop, which was the heart of Chicago’s Downtown, so it was surrounded by tall buildings.

Marina City was comprised of 2 Round Towers, & Ron’s Apartment was in the East Tower. His Apartment was 6501, & took up 1/3 of the Top Floor, the 65th.

There was also a Theatre at the base of the Towers, connecting them. It would later become the Chicago House-Of-Blues, started by Dan Ackroyd. Marina City was partially built over the river on Pilings, & there was a small Marina under the complex. Ron had a Slip for his classic wooden 1956 Chris-Craft Speedboat, which he went out on a lot. He said he’d let me take it out whenever I wanted.

The Apartment was superb! 3-Bedrooms, 2-Bath, Balconies, Living-Room, Dining-Room, Gas-Fireplace, & furnished like an English-Mens-Club. Lots of Black-Leather Chairs & Couches, Brass Fixtures & Lamps, etc.

The best part though, was that Ron would let Ali & I live there for free for the rest of the Season! Like Leo, Ron had taken a liking to me right away. He had already moved into an Estate right on the shores of Lake Michigan, up in Lake Bluff, IL. I said I would be glad to take him up on his offer.

Ron, his Wife, Ali & I would hang out whenever we were in Chicago, which would be often. After his playing-days, Ron would become the Color Man for the Cub’s Radio Broadcasts on WGN. The sad thing was, he would get Diabetes & eventually have both his legs amputated. He broadcast until he finally succumbed to his illness. Maybe I could use my 2019 Knowledge to help him & improve his chances.

Randy Huntley also lived at Marina City, but in the West Tower, so we were able to hung-out a lot too. Ron Santo & his wife often joined us too. Randy’s Apartment, was more ‘60’s-Mod. Lots of Plastic & Vinyl & Bright Colors. Ugh! But like Ron’s unit, the main attraction of both apartments were the Views out the windows & Balconies. Views to the East showed 5-Bridges crossing the Chicago River. Beyond was to Lake Michigan, & the Locks. The views to the South were across the river, with tons of tall & famous buildings. To the West was the Merchandise Mart & Design Center, which was the world’s largest commercial building. It was owned by the Kennedy Family.

But, I digress.

As soon as I took Batting Practice for the!st time, I found that I could hit just about any Pitch. Thank God, all my memories from the Old Pug were at my finger-tips, so I was instantly in The-Zone.