[Eugene Church]

MY LIFE IN 2024
EC's Life Is An Encore In '24

Yeah, buddy, life is still good in the New Year of 2024... but I almost forgot our 53rd anniversary, but EC saved the day 'cause I get up early and my wife sleeps late... when I saw the Happy Anniversary card she put on the kitchen counter so I would see it when I fixed my breakfast, I said, "Oh no, not again"... this is the second time I forgot in the last few years... but, Mr. Wonderful saved the day and my marriage (just kidding)... jumped in the car, bought some anniversary cards and a bouquet of flowers and got back before she got up... despite the fact that she knew I forgot one of the most important days in the year, her birthday is the other one... in her eyes and in her heart Mr. Wonderful is still Mr. Wonderful.

"Wit, Quips and Quotes From the Diamond Minds"
Here is an excerpt from Joe Posnanski's entertaining book "Why We Love Baseball - A History in 50 Moments"... actually he has 108 moments in the book.

Kerry and the Bleacher Bums
Historical Moment #49

Actor Joe Mantegna was a Chicago Cubs fan... he was a struggling actor in Chicago in 1977 and his did his favorite thing... he went to a Cubs game and sat in the bleachers at Wrigley Field... he sat with the regular crowd that always seemed to be there, filled with a varied, diverse and motley crew of society... 3 blind guys that loved baseball... a woman sunbathing in a bikini... a hooky-playing kid, that was a huge storehouse of knowledge and trivia... on any subject he had the answers... and there was a guy that owned a clothing store... he always took his shirt off and wrapped it around his head like a turban... Mantegna looked at the bleacher bums, his people, and it was a gorgeous sunny day, and the Cubs were losing, like always, and he thought to himself... This ought to be a play.

Yep, Mantegna and his actor friends at the Organic Theatre in Chicago wrote a play called Bleacher Bums... it was popular in Chicago and has been performed all across the country since then.

21 years later on May 6, 1998, Mantegna -- by now a Tony Award-winning actor and successful movie star -- returned to Chicago along with the Bleacher Bums original cast... they came back to perform the play for National Public Radio... the Cubs invited the whole group out to Wrigley for a game between the Cubs and the Astros... it was a meaningless game in early May, cold with a chance of rain... not much of a crowd... half-filled stadium... and Joe says to himself, "Who's pitching today anyway?"... and they said, "we have this kid, Kerry Wood".

Mantegna agreed to sing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame"... Harry Caray had died 3 months earlier... Mantegna like all Cub fans loved Harry... as the organ began to play, Mantegna said, "I dedicate this to all the bleachers bums, past, present and future"... Joe sang his heart out... after finishing the song, he added with a flourish, "All right! Go, Kerry".

One of the bleacher bums Tom Bujnowski posted K's for each strikeout at games... he had 16 K-cards for each game.

Kerry Wood fanned 20 Astros that day in May and tied Roger Clemens for the MLB record.

Bujnowski convinced 4 fans to paint K's on their chests.

Wood was 20 years old.

Yeah, buddy, stories like this is why we love baseball.