According to the World Almanac of Presidential Facts published in 1988 President Reagan counted among the organizations he belonged to a certain Emil Verban Society. The Emil Verban society is named after a baseball player who in 7 major league seasons hit .272 for the Chicago Cubs. The association is for Die Hard Cub Fans

 

 

 

According to the World Almanac of Presidential Facts published in 1988 President Reagan counted among the organizations he belonged to a certain Emil Verban Society. The Emil Verban society is named after a baseball player who in 7 major league seasons hit .272 for the Chicago Cubs. The association is for Die Hard Cub Fans

 

 

 

I know. I know. He was a Cubs fan. Don't remind me. :puke

Didn't he also announce Cub games way back when?

Reagan spent time as a Radio broadcaster and would do the Cubs updates. It is a sad, sad story really.

In the mid 30's he was a broadcaster for the Cubs, that's how he got his break in Hollywood.

 

Oh, he was better then Harry.

He did games on delay. A guy in the room next to him would read the text of what happened on each pitch and he would announce it on the radio like he was there.

He did games on delay. A guy in the room next to him would read the text of what happened on each pitch and he would announce it on the radio like he was there.

And it was absolutely hysterical. This is from memory - and a very old one (and not mine ).. but one time the ticker broke and he had to improvise announcing something like a 12 pitch at bat resulting in a walk (I think, please don't hold me to this).. when they got it back working he found out the batter had gotten out.

And it was absolutely hysterical. This is from memory - and a very old one (and not mine  ).. but one time the ticker broke and he had to improvise announcing something like a 12 pitch at bat resulting in a walk (I think, please don't hold me to this).. when they got it back working he found out the batter had gotten out. 

Close, Steff. He had the batter foul off like 15 pitches. When the ticker finally came back, it said the batter had popped out on the first pitch. Classic stuff.

And it was absolutely hysterical. This is from memory - and a very old one (and not mine  ).. but one time the ticker broke and he had to improvise announcing something like a 12 pitch at bat resulting in a walk (I think, please don't hold me to this).. when they got it back working he found out the batter had gotten out. 

The story goes...

That the ticker was down for so long that he improvised a rain delay also...

 

Here it is:

 

Before becoming an actor, Reagan was a radio sportscaster near Des Moines, Iowa.  One of his responsibilities was to give accounts of Chicago Cubs baseball games via telegraph.  During one game between the Cubs and their arch rivals the St. Louis Cardinals that was tied 0-0 in the 9th inning, the telegraph went dead:

 

 

 

There were several other stations broadcasting that game and I knew I’d lose my audience if I told them we’d lost our telegraph connections so I took a chance.  I had (Billy) Jurges hit another foul.  Then I had him foul one that only missed being a homerun by a foot. I had him foul one back in the stands and took up some time describing the two lads that got in a fight over the ball.

 

I kept on having him foul balls until I was setting a record for a ballplayer hitting successive foul balls and I was getting more than a little scared. Just then my operator started typing. When he passed me the paper I started to giggle – it said: “Jurges popped out on the first ball pitched.”

I know. I know. He was a Cubs fan. Don't remind me.  :puke

What a poor, misguided sports fan he was, but he was a good president