Pat Pieper

He served as the Chicago Cubs field (public address) announcer from 1916 to 1974, a span of 59 years.

He was hired as a popcorn and peanut vendor by Dan Ryan, Sr., then the concessions boss at West Side Park, the home field of the Cubs.

The team did not bring along their field announcer, and Pieper talked himself into the job with Cub President Charles Weeghman.

[3] Pieper also worked in the World Series of 1918, wherein the Cubs used Comiskey Park as home due to its greater capacity.

There, he had the unusual task of announcing a pinch hitter for Babe Ruth, who was then a young pitcher for the Boston Red Sox.

"[7] On September 25, 1963, the retiring Stan Musial was named a Vice President of the St. Louis Cardinals just before he came to bat in the third inning at Wrigley.

The Vice President struck out, then left the game for City Hall to be made an honorary citizen of Chicago.

"[10] "Don’t let anybody tell you the Babe [Ruth] didn’t point to the bleachers before he slammed that homer off Charlie Root," said Pieper, referring to The Called Shot of 1932.

Guy Bush, one of our best pitchers was on the edge of the Cub dugout screaming ‘You big so and so, he's got two strikes on you.

"[11] Pieper was on the job when Gabby Hartnett‘s Homer in the Gloamin' helped propel the Cubs to the 1938 National League pennant.

"But when I saw Gabby's hit soaring on its way over the left field fence, I picked up the bag of baseballs I keep for umpires and ran to third base to meet him.

Bob Anderson's next pitch was errant, evading catcher Sammy Taylor and rolling all the way to the backstop.

Musial, though, did not see Dark's throw and only noticed Anderson's ball fly over the second baseman's head, so he tried to go to third base.

After the games, Pieper would serve as a waiter at The Ivanhoe, a castle-themed north-side Chicago restaurant that opened in 1920 and featured turrets and drawbridges, and even had an adjoining theater.

[17] Pieper met Karen Marie Jorgensen in 1910, and after what he called "a whirlwind courtship," married her in 1918.

Karen didn't like to attend baseball games, although Pieper recalls that he once got her to stay for all of three innings.

[18] A dedicated bowler, Pieper subbed for an absent player in the American Bowling Congress tournament in 1924.

[19] He was a mainstay of the Cubs’ team, rolling alongside Andy Pafko, Billy Holm, Phil Cavarretta and Gabby Hartnett, often in tournaments organized by Ray Schalk.