Cutrones Lawmen #4

From Wrigley Field to the White House Ronald Reagan was the 40th President of the United States, but his career path began as a radio announcer for the Chicago Cubs in 1933 with radio station WHO in Des Moines, Iowa. As the station’s chief sports announcer, Reagan broadcast studio recreations of the Cubs’ home games based on telegraph reports from Wrigley Field. Aside from the bare facts, he used his imagination to tell the story of a game taking place 335 miles away. Reagan was well known for an improvisation he did in 1934 when the wire went dead during the ninth inning of a scoreless Cubs-Cardinals game. Handed a note that simply stated, “The wire has gone dead,” he smoothly provided a fictional play-by-play until the ticker was restored six minutes later. Did You Know? Since the White Sox won the 1917 World Series, no Chicago team has won a postseason series in 14 tries. In the spring of 1937, while attending spring training on Catalina Island with the Cubs, Reagan he made a screen test for the Warner Bros. movie studio, which would soon lead to a career change. “One day at Catalina, Charlie Grimm, the Cubs' manager bawled me out for not even showing up at the practice field. How could I tell him that somewhere within myself was the knowledge I would no longer be a sports announcer,” he said. By June 7, he reported back to the studio to appear in his first film. In 1940 he played the role of George “The Gipper” Gipp in the film Knute Rockne All American, from which he uttered the famous line: “Some day, when things are tough, maybe you can ask the boys to go in there and win just one for the Gipper.” In 1952, he played Hall of Fame pitching legend Grover Cleveland Alexander in The Winning Team. Reagan's movie career spanned more than 20 years and over 50 movies. By 1966 Reagan had left Hollywood for the Governor’s mansion in Sacramento, California. The Republican became President in 1981, and served for two terms, during which he kept an active interest in the game. For starters, he signed a proclamation naming May of 1983 National Amateur Baseball Month. On September 30, 1988 he finally got to announce a game from Wrigley Field. After throwing out the first pitch, Reagan broadcast 1 1/2 innings of the Pirates-Cubs game on the radio, telling legendary broadcast partner Harry Caray, “You know in a few months I'm going to be out of work and I thought I might as well audition.” Six months after he left the office he attended the 1989 All Star game and did some more broadcasting. From the announcing booth to the big screen and the Presidency, one thing has remained constant: Although Reagan is the longest-lived person to have served as President (age 91 as of 2002), his beloved Cubs have yet to win a World Series in his lifetime.