Cubs historical sleuthing: chicago cubs shirt handmade Don Zimmer edition

Focus on Sport via Getty Images

That’s Don Zimmer, who managed the Cubs from 1988-91, being interviewed by a Cardinals broadcaster (more on him later) — you can see the Cardinals logo on the mic flag.

If this were the entire photo I wouldn’t be able to tell you anything about the date, all I could tell you was that it was taken at Wrigley Field. Getty ImaMiguel Cabrera Jerseys ges says iMLB Car Accessories t was taken in “the late 1980s” and, well, that’s pretty obvious from Zimmer being interviewed. (Yes, Zimmer was also a Cubs coach from 1984-86, but that position wouldn’t likely have gotten him interviewed by a Cardinals broad chicago cubs light blue jersey caster.)

But it’s not the entire photo. Here’s the full image:

Now we know it was taken on a sunny day in summertime, ivy full on the bleacher wall, at about 11:40 a.m.

Those team names on the scoreboard are pretty blurry, but we already know the Cubs are playing the Cardinals. After a lot of squinting, I got the 5t chicago cubs shirt rest of them.

NL side: ATLANTA/CINCINNATI, PITTSBURGH/NEW YORK, SAN FRANCISCO/HOUSTON, LOS ANGELES/SAN DIEGO, PHILADJorge Soler Marlins Jerseys ELPHIA/MONTREAL, ST. LOUIS/CUBS

AL side: MINNESOTA/KANSAS CITY, TORONTO/CLEVELAND, BOSTON/CALIFORNIA, BALTIMORE/TEXAS, NEW YORK/OAKLAND, CHICAGO/DETROIT

With Noah Syndergaard Phillies Jerseys no night games listed, this has to be a Sunday. There is just one Sunday during Zimmer’s tenure as manager that matches the matchups shown: Sunday, September 10, 1989. The Cubs had just defeated the Cardinals in a thrilling extra-inning game the day before to avoid falling out of first place, so having Zimmer chicago cubsMLB Jackets mlb jersey gameday appear on a Cardinals broadcast before the Sunday game would have made sense. The shadows on the scoreboard, too, would match a mid-September day around noonish. If the photo had shown the right-field bleachers about two sections to the right, I probably could have picked myself out of the crowd.

I didn’t recognize the Cardinals broadcaster so I enlisted Josey Curtis and her staff at Viva el Birdos for an ID. They say it’s a “clean-shaven Al Hrabosky” and I concur with that; “The Mad Hungarian,” as Hrabosky was known, generally had generous facial hair but those were his early days in broadcasting (he began as a Cardinals announcer in 1985) and it could be that the TV channel wanted a cleaner look at the time. Many thanks to Josey and the VEB staff for their help.

So, this interview took place about an hour and a half before the Cubs/Cardinals game Sunday, September 10, 1989. The Cubs won the game that day chicago cubs el mago jersey 4-1, the second of what eventually became a six-game winning streak that put them 5½ games in first place and put them on their way to clinching the division in Montreal September 26.