O’Donnell: Maddon, Rizzo, Cubs to celebrate 10th anniversary of autumn dream
IN AN EVENT THAT WOULD SEEM TO MERIT being higher up the marquee, the Cubs will celebrate the 10th anniversary of their World Series championship Saturday at Wrigley Field.
A 10 a.m. ceremony outside the ballpark is open to the public and will feature Joe Maddon, Tom Ricketts and Anthony Rizzo, among others.
A permanent “Championship Gate” will be unveiled on Gallagher Way. Native Clevelanders need not applaud.
Later, Kyle Hendricks will throw out the first pitch before the Cubs-Twins matinee (1:20 p.m., Marquee, AM-670 & 104.3).
THE REALITY IS THAT MEMORIES of that championship season and the incredible nine-day WS against Cleveland could stretch on for weeks.
Calling the triumph “landmark” doesn't begin to cover it.
It was a magnum opus, completed with an ultra-theatrical ten-inning win in the damp at Progressive Field that could fuel a season of Hallmark happy for the Wrigley Field mesmerized.
EVEN SOME OF THE MEDIA TRAPPINGS around the Cubs' first Series win since 1908 remain etched in the egg-shell baseball brain.
The first was the enlightened Fox wraparound panel of Kevin Burkhardt, Pete Rose, Frank Thomas and Alex Rodriguez.
The quartet would prove to be a one-off because Rose was dismissed a few months afterward for yet more entanglement in some alleged seamy matter.
But during its brief run, the foursome was magic.
THE CORE AFFABILITY AND EXPERTISE of Thomas glistened. Rodriguez represented the Hall of Fame “now.” Burkhardt was gaining loft en route to his current status as No. 1 play-by-play man for the NFL on Fox.
And Rose?
The diamond hustler's Charles Barkley. Able to take a B-grade zinger and pepper it back. Impossible not to note that one of the five greatest pure hitters ever — in the most frigid baseball exile this side of Shoeless Joe Jackson — could humanize, entertain and energize even at age 75.
THE SECOND GREAT MEDIA TREAT OF THAT FABLED SERIES was the overnight shows of Les Grobstein on WSCR-AM (then 670 only).
Grobstein — who died in January 2022 at age 69 — represented every Chicago-spawned nerd, ahem, who had ever snuck a transistor radio under his pillow on a school night to listen to an old-style WGN broadcast of the final innings of a West Coast game.
His wee-houring as the Cubs finally beat all goat odds was so organic and so “Chicago.”
Grobstein deserved to be a primary clarion of those mystic post-games.
SO IT'S ALL TO BE CELEBRATED later this week at Addison and Clark.
But it remains an ivy fulfillment that extends far beyond any mere Championship Gate.
For so many Cubs fans, it was the time of their lives.
STREET-BEATIN':
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Chris Placek's recent Daily Herald report on Rush's 1977 visit to Hersey High reminds that the first Chicago-area performance of the star-bound Canadian rockers was at Palatine's Fremd High in April 1975. The power trio was opening act of a fundraiser for incoming basketball coach Mo Tharp and the Vikings Boosters Club. KISS headlined and top ticket price was $6.50. …
Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears each week on Sunday and Wednesday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com. All communications may be considered for publication.