I am not a native Chicagoan, so I am requesting input regarding the following:

Can anyone verify Mike Murphy's August 8, 2006 claim that he was present in the Wrigley Field bleachers in 1967 when his friend invented the tradition of throwing back the opponent's home run ball?

_________________
1923-1927-1928-1932-1936-1937-1938-1939
1941-1943-1947-1949-1950-1951-1952-1953
1956-1958-1961-1962-1977-1978-1996-1998
1999-2000-2009
----------
XXI - XXV - XLII - XLVI

He might have been there, but he is full of shit as usual.

murph, who will tell you he started the bleacher bums, is a lying, no talent, piece of garbage. Next he will tell you he told jack brickhouse to say hey, hey when the cubs hit a homer. someone needs to call this pos out.

Murph would tell you he planted the Ivoy if he thought he could get away with it. He so desperatly wants to involve himself in Cubs history and declare his significance any chance he gets.

I would not be suprised to find out that this turd had his hand in the bulk of these stupid Wrigley 'traditions.'

_________________

murph planted the ivy at wrigley field himself.

well he told veeck to do it, legend has it....

...miss a little...

I think it's total b.s.

I dont' remember any cub fan back in the 70s throwing back hr's. I think that started in the late 80s or early 90s. No way they were doing it in the 60s or before.

I agree. I wasn't around in the 70's but I seem to recall it starting on a regular basis in the late 80's as well. There might have been a fan or two throwing home runs back prior to that. I'm sure that was the case for a couple other cities. But I think it became "every opposing homerun hit" in the late 80's.

I thought it started around the same time people were tossing O Henry bars onto the field for Henry Rodriguez.

I know throwing the ball back was around in '89. I remember a person in the bleachers not throwing back a Kevin Mitchell homerun in the NLCS and getting called out on national TV for it.

_________________
Homer: "Asleep at the switch"? I wasn't asleep, I was drunk!
Bart: I believe you, Dad.

Alright lets clear up the start of these Wrigley traditions of things thrown by the bleacher fans.

Oposition home runs- Late 80's

O'Henry Bars- Late 90's

Garbage- 2006

Thankyou.

Speaking of "Bleacher Bums," has anyone actually seen and liked this play and/or cable movie? I found the movie to be painfully bad. Unwatchable.

Has Murphy ever claimed to have written it?

_________________
1923-1927-1928-1932-1936-1937-1938-1939
1941-1943-1947-1949-1950-1951-1952-1953
1956-1958-1961-1962-1977-1978-1996-1998
1999-2000-2009
----------
XXI - XXV - XLII - XLVI

I believe Joe Mantegna wrote it. Was he a Bleacher Bum with Murph?

I fuckin hate Mike Murphy.

You are a member of a very large club.

This story can't be true. Murph having a friend? Seriously...

_________________
Q--What do you call a Toronto Puckbunny?

A--A Leafblower

Yes, Joe Mantegna was a bum with Murph. And the movie was absolutely terrible. I never saw the play, but if it was anything like the movie with Hal Sparks, I'll pass.

I asked Joe Mantegna about this last week when he was in town. (Friend of the family if you must know). Joe conceived the play Bleacher Bums and wrote it with his fellow cast members of Second City in the mid 70s. He was a frequent denizen of the bleachers in the late 60s as a young, struggling actor. He confirmed that the ball throwing tradition began in the 60s and he included it among other aspects of late 60s and early 70s "traditions" when he wrote the play. The movie was a poor adaptation/rip off of the play, which was pretty funny in its day.

Look at you, rubbing elbows with the stars.

Did he know Murph from the day?

In the 70's my dad told me about throwing the homers back that began in the 60's. Why would Murph lie about something like that.

Is this a rhetorical question?

_________________
1923-1927-1928-1932-1936-1937-1938-1939
1941-1943-1947-1949-1950-1951-1952-1953
1956-1958-1961-1962-1977-1978-1996-1998
1999-2000-2009
----------
XXI - XXV - XLII - XLVI

Garbage has been thrown on the field since 1876

_________________
"This agression will not stand, man."