Dec 19, 2010

Phil Cavarretta


Phil Cavarretta (Chicago Tribune photo)


Dot's Diary, October 3, 1945:
Today's news:

WORLD SERIES ON TODAY: CUBS VS. TIGERS! - CHICAGO CLUB SETS RANGE IN BATTING DRILL - Short Fences Make Inviting Targets - Tigers by a Shade!: Charley Grimm and his champion Cubs surveyed Briggs stadium, lair of the Tigers, this afternoon and judged it suitable for the hitting styles of the several gents who gave the Cubs both the Individual and team hitting championships of the National league.

BOROWY DRAWS NEWHOUSER AS PITCHING RIVAL - Detroit Weather Cloudy, Windy: The world series, the baseball magnates' annual glamor show and, incidentally, an affair in which financial loot falls to some of the ball players, will get under way this afternoon. From what is definitely known about the principals, anything might happen.

Chicago Tribune, Dec. 19, 2010:

Phil Cavarretta, who went from Lane Tech to playing for the Cubs at age 18 and holds the franchise record for longevity with 20 seasons, died Saturday in Lilburn, Ga. He was 94.

The first baseman and outfielder, who was the National League's Most Valuable Player and led the Cubs to their last World Series appearance in 1945, played his final 77 games for the White Sox.

Cavarretta holds the Cubs' record for single-season batting average by a left-handed hitter at .355 in his MVP season. He ranks in the top 10 in most offensive categories for the Cubs.

Cavarretta, it seems, was also prescient:

During the 1951 season, he replaced Frankie Frisch as manager while still playing. That lasted until the spring of 1954, when Cavarretta told owner P. K. Wrigley he didn't believe the team could win. He was fired and quit the organization, moving on to the Sox.

The Cubs ended their 1951 season with 62 wins and 92 losses---and without Cavarretta.

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