Chicago Cubs Basketball Game

Chicago Cubs Basketball Game Photos

Back in the 70's and 80's, players from the Chicago Cubs team would form a basketball team for off season exhibition games. They would play high school faculty teams and that sort of thing.

I would've loved to see them play the Harlem Globetrotters. :)

Here are some old photos from one of those games.
Also playing for the Cubs is their athletic trainer Tony Garofalo.

We should all thank Michael Jordan for changing the sport of basketball by getting rid of these awful short short gym shorts. :)

Feel free to reply to this post and identify the players if you wish.

Enjoy the photos.

Diana

PS: You can click on a photo to view a larger image.

The March 30, 2005 Chicago Tribune ran an article mentioning these Cubs basketball games. The players mentioned in the article played years before the team that I photographed, but since it is a rare reference to these games, I thought I'd share a quote. The link has since aged off but you can probably find this article in the Tribune library archives.

Double players
When it comes to rooting for baseball in Chicago, these fans love their teams. Plural.
http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/cs-050328cubssoxfans,1,7825535.story

Quote from Jay Martin (J.C. Martin's son)

"During the winter months, Dad played on a basketball team that was primarily Cub players--Don Kessinger, Ron Santo, Glenn Beckert, Paul Popovich, Billy Williams, Jim Hickman, Fergie Jenkins, Randy Hundley," he recalled. "They'd go around playing coaching staffs from high schools. It'd be kind of a charity event for the high school. I'd look forward to traveling, and I got to know the players in a personal way."