Q. After coming within five outs of the World Series this year, most Cubs fans figure their team will win it next season. What was the feeling of coming so close in 1969?
A. I don’t know what happened to us in ’69, but we just cooled off. The whole team, we went downhill together. I was having trouble fielding. We all were. The hitting and pitching went down. But we did have a good team for more than three-quarters of the year. I can’t believe that in the city of Chicago we are still remembered, even though we didn’t make the playoffs. The ’69 Mets reminded me a lot of the Florida Marlins this year. People were saying: “Who are these guys?” There were no big names on their team.
Q. Do you remain close to former teammate Ron Santo?
A. We roomed together on the road for nine years. We had some wonderful times. I think that over those nine years we only had a couple of spats. Ronnie has a lot of guts for holding up through [numerous surgeries] after being a juvenile diabetic. All of our prayers go out to him. We are at that age now. We always have carried a lot telephone numbers and names in our wallets. Now all we have are the names and numbers of doctors and hospitals that we go to.
Q. When did you first become aware that Santo was a diabetic?
A. I remember when I was a rookie and I was hitting .205 or something and Ronnie was hitting .335. We were rooming together and I saw him in the bathroom giving himself an injection. I didn’t know what he was doing. I didn’t know anything about insulin injections or diabetes. So I said, `No wonder you’re hitting .335. Give me a shot of that stuff.’ Then he explained to me that he was a diabetic and had to take his insulin shot every morning.
Q. You were a .283 career hitter, playing for the Cubs from 1965 to 1973, before finishing your career with San Diego in ’74 and ’75. What do you remember most from your years with the Cubs?
A. We were very fortunate the nucleus of our team was able to play together for nine years. That is not done too much anymore. Right after the 1969 season, Ronnie said to me: “Let’s get away from baseball. Let’s go to Las Vegas.” So we go to one of the big casinos there. We started playing blackjack and we said to each other: “Isn’t this great? We don’t have to listen to the World Series and all that stuff.” Then they opened up a 100-foot screen right in front of us showing the Mets and Orioles playing in the World Series. Ronnie said: “Let’s get the heck out of here.”
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