The news room at the Sun Times was a noisy place. People were in a hurry and a thousand conversations were going on at once. It was the typical ambiance of the newspaper office and Amy loved every minute of it. She was engrossed with some reports on the Cubs during the last week of December. Most people would be covering the Bears because it was still football season and the other reporters would be covering the Blackhawks because believe it or not, Chicago was still a hockey town, It was four weeks before Spring Training and all she could think of was the upcoming baseball season – it was an important one, it was 2008 and it would officially be 100 years since the Cubs had last won a World Series. Her phone started to ring on her desk. When she answered, she heard a voice on the other end that she recognized, but couldn’t remember. Amy had a puzzled look on her face and asked the gentleman on the other end who he was.

He replied. “This is Chris, Chris Hanes. The guy from Texas you met over a year ago that night at the bar during the holidays.”

She remembered and then she smiled. Amy said to him. “This is a surprise. I never thought I would hear from you.”

Chris laughed and then said. “I could see that, but you’re the only one I know in Chicago and since I’m here I thought I would give you a call.”

“You’re in Chicago, what are you doing here?”

“I have a job interview at a law firm downtown so I thought I would come up to Chicago and see what they had to offer. Who knows, I might like it up here. ”

“I thought you Texas boys would never dare move out of Texas.”

“Some won’t, but I might if the right offer came along. Hell Kerry Wood did.”

Amy Laughed at his amusing statement and replied. “You know how to impress me – keeping up with my favorite team. After all if Chicago is good enough for Kerry Wood then it might be good for you.”

“I guess we’ll have to see about that. Listen since I’m in town do you want to grab dinner tonight. I know you don’t have that much to do because it’s football season.”

“Yes, you’re right about that and sure, I would like to get some dinner tonight.”

“Well let’s meet at 6:00 somewhere and I’ll let you pick the place since you know where the best places to eat are.”

“You’ve got that right. Tonight I am taking you to the best pizza place in town. I guarantee you’ve never had good pizza before, but after tonight that will change.”

They both laughed. Amy’s smile couldn’t hide her school girl joy. A guy who she was attracted to had called her.  Later that night they met at a little Italian joint called Campese’s that served the best Deep Dish pizza in the world – this was according to Amy. It was a true fixture of Chicago, just like the Cubs and if Chris was going to be introduced to the Windy City in the right way there was no place better. The two met at the restaurant a few hours later. When Amy walked in she saw Chris standing by the small bar. She smiled joyfully, as if she were a kid again for she was happy to see him. She had to admit to herself that she had a little crush on him. She did a couple of years ago the night she met him and it was still there. Amy walked over and said hi – then she gave him a hug. It was little unusual for her to do that on a first date, but she has never been attracted to someone like this before. And the truth was Chris felt the same way about her; the underlying reason he called her.

They took a table in the back and ordered a traditional Chicago pie with a couple of beers. That’s when they started talking. They caught up with their lives over the past couple of years. He told her about working for a small Dallas law firm that was so bad it made him rethink his legal career. The firm represented a lot of the oil companies in Texas and he couldn’t stomach protecting them anymore – it wasn’t really a Texas quality, but he did have a conscience. Amy started telling about her career over the past couple of years and how she was getting to cover the Cubs a lot more. In the last half of the 2007 season she had started to become the regular sports reporter covering the Cubs for the Sun Times. Amy also told Chris about her brother getting called up in August of 2007. Chris smiled when she told him the story and then he told her that he happened to be at the game in Houston when Ryan got called up from Triple A to pitch for the Cubs. He was at the game with clients of the law firm he worked at and he was also the only one who knew of Ryan Larson. It was a historic game especially being Ryan’s first major league game, but also because he pitched a 2-0 shutout and flirted with a no-hitter, allowing only one hit in the bottom of the 8^th inning. Amy couldn’t believe that he was there and so they talked about the game. Amy was a little infatuated now because being a former college football player he was taking an active interest in her favorite team.            

They chatted a little more about their lives, even told a few stories about family. So that’s when Chris asked her about the Larsons. He had asked around to a few guys that really knew baseball after he had first met her and every one of them said that the family was legendary in baseball. He had also heard that the tragic history of the family seem to parallel the history of the Cubs organization, but he still didn’t know a whole lot about the Cubs and her family. He mentioned what he had heard and Amy gave him a sarcastic smile. She had heard that statement all of her life – in fact she had to live with it being a Larson herself. She looked at Chris and said

“My family has its triumphs and its tragedies and yes, it seems that every major let down in Cubs history, I’ve had a family member on that team.”

           Chris smiled and said. “We all have own family demons as my grandfather use to say.”

“Have you had five generations play for the same team and suffer every major heartbreak with that team over the last hundred years?”

“No, you’ve got me on that one, but I know what it means to be let down by family and to feel like you’ve let down the ones you love.”

“You think that’s me too?”

“It’s a fair bet.”

“Maybe you’re right, but there are no easy solutions to it all.”

“No, there never are, but grandfather used to also say something else that I think fits this particular occasion. Sometimes the only way we truly understand who we are is to tell our story and see it through the eyes of the audience. It sounds like you have a pretty interesting story, maybe you should tell it.”

“Well, I am a writer. It’s kind of what I do. I don’t know where to begin and who would really want to hear it.”

“I do. I figure it’s a good way to get to know you.”

“Oh is that your secret plan with me?”

“You were the only person I called in Chicago.”

“It could be just to see if you can get lucky?”

“I’m a guy…of course it is.” Chris told her in a sarcastic tone. He then winked at her to let her know that he was just kidding.

Amy smiled at him. She paused for a moment then took a sip of beer and said. “If you really want to know me and hear a little family history  then where do you want me to start?”

“Start at the beginning…it’s always the best place to start.”

They ordered another round of beers and told the waiter to keep the tab open for awhile. Apparently they were going to be there longer than they had anticipated. So Amy started at the beginning with her family history – her great, great grandfather, Paul Larson. He played outfield for Chicago Cubs from 1906 -1921 and was the only member of her family to ever win a World Series. Paul was a large Danish farm boy from Iowa who stood about 6’3” and weighed about 225. The thing is he was about the size of Babe Ruth, but never had his kind of numbers; although he was a great hitter and had a lifetime batting average of .310 with the Cubs. He also came close to hitting over .400 in 1910, 31 years before Ted Williams – he would fall shy of that tremendous feat and end that season with .390 leading the Cubs in batting records that year. Paul Larson was overshadowed in baseball history, but he was always considered a legend in Cubs history and one of the driving forces for the Cubs winning back to back World Series titles in 1907 and 1908. But 1908 would be the last year the Cubs would ever win a World Series. These were just a few of the facts that Amy would tell Chris about her great, great grandfather. Chris didn’t really know anything about the Cubs so alongside this family story he was a getting a history lesson about the Cubs.

A surprise visit by a Cubs scout to his home town of Mashalltown, Iowa started Paul’s career with the Cubs. The Larson family had immigrated to America in 1899 from Denmark – there were dairy farmers. Paul’s father, Paul Sr. was one of six boys that ran the family dairy farm in Denmark. It was a hard life and he wanted a fresh start for his own family so he moved his wife, three boys, and two girls across the ocean to America and after a year living in New York, Paul Larson Sr. took his family west, eventually settling in Marshalltown where there was an abundance of farm land and, even better, the promise of a fresh start. Paul Larson Jr. was the oldest child and he was 13 years old when they settled in Iowa.

While the Larson family was new to America and trying to adopt the customs of the Midwest while also still maintaining their Danish customs, there was one thing that Larson boys found that was truly American. They found baseball and for them it was the best part of the American dream because even though they might have been different than most of the people in Marshalltown, after all, they were still considered just immigrants, on the baseball field they were looked as equals. Part of that came from the fact that all three Larson boys were better than anybody in town. Paul and his two brothers, Arthur and George, quickly picked up the game, and were playing some kind baseball game when they weren’t in school or on the farm.

All three brothers were a year or so apart from each other and they always played on the same team no matter what that team was. Their team also just happened to be the winning team most of the time.  Paul played in the outfield most of the time and batted Cleanup – he was the best hitter in Marshalltown and most people said that he was the best in the entire state of Iowa. But that’s just what people say. Arthur was a pitcher and he was definitely the best in the state of Iowa – you could tell that because he had more than one scout come and look at him waiting until the day he turned eighteen and could be signed with a big league club. He would turn eighteen in the middle of the 1906 season. George played catcher and although he was not as a good of a hitter as Paul, he certainly would be an above average hitter on any team.

At the beginning of the 1906 season, all three brothers were playing on the semi pro team in Marshalltown, the Marshalltown Greys.  It was towards the end of the season when a scout from the Chicago Cubs came to Marshalltown, and he came to see Arthur pitch. The scouts name was Frank Seele and he and he had been manger of the Cubs in the 1890’s before having to retire due to having TB, but he still filled in as a scout from time to time and that’s where his talent really was. He found everybody that would make up the 1907 and 1908 teams. He was also the one that put the Tinkers to Evers to Chance together playing field. His eye for talent was very good, but saying that would be an understatement.

 Stories of Arthur had gotten as far as New York because even the New York Giants were looking at him. Paul wasn’t on anybody’s radar – nobody had even heard of him in the big leagues. Arthur was known because he had on more than one occasion thrown a no hitter and a few complete games, which was almost unheard of back then. As it turned out the day the scout was at a Grey’s game, Arthur was having an off day, having given up 5 runs and nine hits in the first two innings of the game. He was not that impressive, and to the scout all the stories he had heard sounded more like legend than actual fact. The truth of the matter was that Arthur had a tired arm. He had pitched a one hit complete game two days before. He was far from rested and so he played lousy.

The one brother that had a spectacular day was Paul. The Greys were able to come back and win the game 9 to 8. All the RBIs were by Paul. He batted six times in nine innings getting a hit every time he was at bat. The other team couldn’t seem to get him out. He hit for the cycle and what was more impressive, he hit three home runs, scoring seven runs on the three homers. What had become legend in Iowa became fact in front of the scout for the Cubs. In 103 years that feat has never been accomplished again with any baseball team in Iowa. Not even a Field of Dreams could match it. That day it seemed as if the baseball gods ignored Arthur and shined their light a little more on Paul. After the game the scout never even talked to Arthur, he wasn’t interested. Instead, he talked to Paul about playing in the big leagues for what was considered the best team in Professional Baseball. In 1906 the Cubs would actually prove it, and what Paul didn’t know at beginning of the 1906 season playing for the Marshalltown Greys was that he was going to be a part of it. He may have started playing for the Greys in 1906, but at the end of the season he would be playing or the Cubs.

As Amy got through telling that part of the story Chris looked at her funny. She asked what was wrong.  He said. “I thought you were going to tell me about the 1907 and 1908 Cubs teams that your great, great grandfather played on.”

She smiled and replied. “I’m getting there, but it’s important for you to know how he got there. And to also know how on any given day in baseball the biggest star can be a failure while a little bit of luck can come at the right moment for an average player, and how that’s a rare thing that should never be take for granted. That’s baseball for you.”

So Amy continued her story. After the game the scout from Chicago of course wanted to talk to Paul. He wasn’t interested in Arthur anymore. To him everything he had heard about Arthur was a myth – he had seen for himself what the kid could do It seemed to Paul and the rest of the Grey’s team that he ignored a major rule to be a good scout;  he never thought to himself that Paul could be having an off day. It happens in baseball, more than people realize. As everybody was packing their gear the scout made his way over to Paul asked him one question.

He asked Paul. “Have you ever considered playing pro ball? You hit the ball like nobody I’ve ever seen?”

Paul replied to him. “No, I haven’t. The person you should talk to is my brother Arthur.”

“I saw what he could do and I’m not interested. I am however interested in you.”

“I appreciate that, but I have no interest in playing pro ball.”

“Not if it means playing for more money than you’ve ever made being a farmer. Not even if it means playing in big cities. Have you ever been to a big city?”

Paul gave him a smile and said. “We traveled through New York when we came from Denmark years ago.”

“Yeah, but you’ve never played baseball in a stadium with thousands of fans that think you’re a star. And I guarantee that Chicago is a more exciting city.”

            “Why Chicago?”

            “That’s where the club I’m with is located. I work for the Chicago Cubs and they’re the best team in baseball. You can be on that team if you want. And the best part, you won’t be that far from home.”

            The last part piquedPaul’s interest about pro baseball. He never thought for a moment he would have a chance to play. He was happy in Iowa, and he was happy playing for the Marshalltown Greys. Paul always assumed that if somebody in his family would play professional baseball and live in the big city it would be Arthur and he was fine with that. After a conversation with the scout from Chicago all of that changed. Now he wanted to live in a big city and keep playing baseball since it was his favorite thing to do. The scout told him that if he really wanted a chance to play pro ball that he would have a seat for him on the train in the morning. Of course Paul needed to talk to his family about the decision because it was assumed that since he was the oldest son he would help run the family farm.  While he didn’t know it at the time he had already made his decision.

            Paul discussed his plans with his parents that night over dinner. His father was less than pleased because he was counting on Paul to always be there on the farm. His mother on the other hand was more understanding and even happy for him. She had always worried that Paul would never know true joy in life and settle for something else that others wanted for him. After Paul’s father stormed out of the house and went to the barn to drink his mother simply told him, “Dear you have to follow your own heart and if you can play the game while at the same time make a good living doing it then follow that path. It’s your new beginning just as moving to America was your father’s and mine.”

            Paul smiled and hugged his mother. He knew she was right and that Iowa wasn’t to be his permanent home. It was just a stop onto the next place in life he had to go. George was also happy for him, but Arthur wasn’t. He played the part of the jealous brother and hardly ever spoke to Paul again. He didn’t see Paul off at the train station, he didn’t say goodbye like George. The silence between Arthur and Paul would last another twelve years. Arthur would be the one to stay behind and it would slowly kill him until the joyful young man that everybody once knew wouldn’t exist anymore. But that story is for another time.

            The next day Paul would leave on a train heading for Chicago. He was the first Larson to play for the Chicago Cubs and his first season with the team would be 1906. It was also the best season that any baseball team ever had for the Cubs would win 116 games that year and many baseball fans considered them to be the best team ever to take the field. Well, that team had big a lanky blond haired 19 year old kid from Iowa who would perfect the Home Run nearly ten years before Babe Ruth. As the train left Iowa Paul looked out the window at the passing farm land. He thought to himself that he was watching his old life pass him by.  When the train entered Chicago and Paul saw the tall buildings and the bright lights he knew that he would never be the same. Paul smiled to himself never being the same seemed to make him happy.

            The scout first helped get Paul a hotel and then walked him over to the Cubs baseball park as the team was doing batting practice. He wanted Paul to meet his new manager, Frank Chance. Everybody just called him Chance. He had taken over the manager job when the scout who had discovered Paul retired from the job the year before. Chance wasn’t that impressed with Paul at the beginning; he hadn’t proved himself yet and the Cubs already had what was considered the best team in baseball that year. Paul was just another scrub in the system and those guys got in the way. None of that mattered to Paul because he was in the big city and he was about to play professional baseball.

            The 1906 season had already started, but the Cubs were only about 9 games into the season. They were undefeated and because of that Paul really didn’t matter to anyone in the organization - they didn’t need him at all. The scout convinced Chance to at least let Paul participate in batting practice just so he could show everyone what he could do. Chance trusted the scout because it was him who moved Chance to first base and made him a star. So Paul grabbed a bat and stepped up to the plate. He took a few practice swings and stared down the pitcher. The pitcher on the mound gave Paul a dirty look because he didn’t believe that the kid from Iowa could really do anything. He was about to be proved wrong.  Frank Chance decided to let the his best pitchers all take a crack at Paul Larson – he figured that if Paul could hit anything off of his pitching staff then he would be worth his weight as a ballplayer. And that assumption was correct considering the Cubs had the best pitching staff in the professional baseball.

            The Cubs rotation consisted of Jack Taylor, who had a streak of 187 complete games dating back all the way to 1901, Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown, Orval Overall, Ed Reulbach Carl Lundgren and Jack Pfiester, who was known as Jack “the Giant Killer” because he was virtually invincible when pitching against their arch rivals, the New York Giants. The Cubs pitchers would pretty much lead the league in pitching categories. And this was who Paul had to face at the plate – it was the ultimate test to see if he was worthy to wear a Cubs uniform. Most of the team bet among themselves that he wouldn’t get one hit. They were wrong. When all of the pitchers had pitched to him and after 70 pitches had been thrown Paul had 18 hits and his batting average was well above .200. Everybody was impressed, not at the hits, but because he had made contact on over 80% of the pitches. That alone gave Paul a spot on the roster. He wouldn’t start at all throughout the 1906 season, but he proved to be a great bench player and utility man.

         After batting practice was over, Frank Chance walked over to Paul and shook his hand with pride. He smiled and said that it was one of the most impressive batting feats he had ever seen, for not even a seasoned player could have done that. Then he told Paul that Frank Seele was one of the best judges of talent he had ever known. That last part was very true because it was Seele who had found most of the team, but what he would become known for was putting together the great defensive team of Tinkers to Evers to Chance. Seele had been the manager of the Cubs the year before, but due to health issues he had to step aside. Truth was he couldn’t get away from baseball no matter how much he tried, and he would always go out of his way to find those rare talents that most managers dismissed. Paul Larson would become of those talents that nobody ever thought about. So Paul became a part of the Cubs organization and as he was getting to know his teammates after batting practice Frank Seele started to leave – he had a train to catch back to Colorado where he was living now. He had found the last player the Cubs needed in his mind and now he could really retire from baseball. Even though he didn’t want to get away from the game that he loved he had or it would kill him – his health issues were too great.  Paul ran over to him and thanked him for what he did. Frank looked at him and said.”

          “The thanks is getting a chance to watch you play. You’re going to do great, son.”

            Paul smiled and replied. “I don’t know if I will see much action on this team…they’re pretty good.”

            “You’ll play, maybe not much, but you will. Just make every chance you get count.”

            And that was it; Frank Seele turned around and walked off the field. That would be the last time Paul Larson ever saw him. He finally did retire, except for letters to Frank Chance about players he was hearing about throughout the country. He was always making recommendations and while scouting for players still wasn’t a popular business, Frank Seele was a modern scout trapped in an old fashioned era. He certainly was ahead of his time and what made him better was his rare eye for talent, for if it had not been for him we would never have heard of Tinkers to Evers to Chance. And for the Larson family, well, they might have just been an afterthought in baseball – the story of what could have been as they worked a dairy farm in Iowa for the last hundred years.

            In the beginning of the season, Paul didn’t see much action. He substituted for players in games that the Cubs won by 9 or more runs, which happened a lot more often than people would think. The Cubs were more than just the best team in baseball – they were simply unstoppable and by August the Cubs had it pretty much wrapped up. They would win 116 games that year; no other team has won more games in baseball history. They finished 20 games ahead of the second best team that year, the New York Giants. They lead the league in batting and of course pitching – they had a team ERA of 1.76, a record that still stands today. They also had the lowest number of runs scored by an opposing team against them – 381, another record that still stands today. To say that the 1906 Cubs were good was an understatement and by many accounts they were the best team ever to play the game. Paul would help with that and he ended up helping more than he thought he would that year.

            Paul Larson was the perfect utility man because he could play 7 positions if needed. He could bat and while he never started a game or even played in every game he did end the season with a .276 batting average – not bad for a rookie on that team. By the end of the season Paul had become the regular substitute for the Cubs – if anybody needed to come out, Paul was the man that was put into the game. One day in early August while playing against the Pirates in Pittsburg, he was called upon to replace Frank Schulte after he was hit by a pitch. Paul simply walked up to the plate and launched the first pitch into the right field corner. Because of his speed he hit an inside the park homerun and batted in two runs to win the game. A week later after Orval Overall’s arm was getting tired by the 7^th inning, Frank Chance didn’t want to use any of his regular pitchers so they could stay rested. The Cubs were up by eight runs so Chance decided to have some fun – he put Paul Larson in as a pitcher. As it turned out he had a pretty good arm. He had a blazing fastball and a sinking curve – that was all he needed to get the next 9 batters out after allowing only one hit. He struck out 5 of the 9 batters he faced. He may not have had the best mechanics, but he was big and he could over power people with his pitches.   

At the end of the season, Paul had become a regular player even if he didn’t start. He had proven himself as a professional player and if it had been any other team then he would have been a starting player and possibly an all-star. But more importantly he was the right kind of utility player the Cubs were going to need as they played the Chicago White Sox in the World Series. Everybody expected the Cubs to walk all over the White Sox, and they should have because they were the better team. But as a rule in baseball, what we think should happen in the game usually doesn’t happen, after all, the Cubs have gone a hundred years without winning the World Series. Sometimes baseball and the love of a team can be very cruel to the fan. The other rule in baseball, never underestimate the other team because baseball never has foregone conclusions. That was the lesson Paul was about to learn.

The White Sox were very good and in every game they tested the ability of the Cubs. The games were well pitched and every one of them seemed to be a pitcher’s duel. In fact some say that the 1906 World Series was the best pitched series ever in baseball ball history and nothing was more evident of that fact than the result of game one. The Cubs would lose the game 2-1 and Nick Altrock of the White Sox edged Three-Finger Brown in numbers and performance to win game one for the White Sox. It was the biggest shocker for the Cubs that year and the worst upset that they had suffered. Paul Larson never made a hit the two times he was at bat in the game, striking out and flying out.  The Cubs would come back and win game 2 of the series 7-1 and Paul Larson would get a hit, but game three was a repeat of the game 1 as the Cubs would be shut out for the first time during the 1906 season. Three-Finger Brown would redeem himself and win game four – he single handedly won the game for the Cubs with superior pitching. He was a remnant of his old self. The Cub hitters also came out during the game, including Paul. He would prove again why he was a great utility man and good man to have hitting for your team. He got another hit allowing two runs to score for the Cubs. 

The series was tied again. Game 5 would be in the White Sox’s favor though as they broke a 3-3 tie to win the game 8-6. This time the one hit Paul would have in the game scoring another two runs for the Cubs wouldn’t be enough. So it came down to game 6 and everybody just expected the Cub to win it, tying the series and sending it to a deciding game 7. It was not to be, however, because the invincible Cubs proved to be the opposite and the White Sox were the better team that day.  Frank Chance wanted “Three-Finger” Brown to pitch game 6 and he told him that since he was the best pitcher on the team it was up to him to even the series. But that’s not the way it happed; Brown would give up seven runs in the first two innings. It was practically over by then, but the Cubs tried to rally. They scored one run early in the game. The score was 7-1 by the fourth inning. That’s when Paul Larson came up with a little magic of his own. Just like he had done before he would get a hit and the Cubs would score two more runs. Paul would get a triple, but nobody could hit him home. The score would remain 8-3 until the eighth inning when the Cubs would start hitting again. One man got on base and the next hit would end in a double play. Frank Chance told Paul to do whatever he could to get a run before he walked to the plate.

Everybody knew that Paul was hot and one of the best chances they had to come back. Paul did get a hit in the right field corner, so he did what anybody else would have done in that situation. He tried to stretch a double into a triple, but he was tagged out at third to end the inning. It was close and of course Frank Chance argued the call, but the call stood. The ninth inning was the Cubs’ last chance and with three outs away they never hit the ball out of the infield, and the White Sox would win the game and the series. Nobody wanted to talk about it as the Cubs clubhouse was silent. Even Paul had never felt such sadness. For Paul, it hurt because he absolutely believed that they would win and he would do great. But he learned the hard way that there are no guarantees. even in baseball, despite how well you play the game.

The only thing ever said about the series was by Frank Chance. He told the team in the Club House. “Maybe now you sons of bitches have learned a lesson as to what happens when you underrate the other sons of bitches.” What Frank said to the team was all that needed to be said and for Paul Larson he would take it to heart. Paul would go back home to Iowa during the off season and work on the farm. It would be a good off season and a tragic one. First he would get married to a woman that he had grown up with and loved since he was eight years old. Her name was Sonja and she was of Swedish descent. The tragedy that would happen was the death of his brother George. It was freak farming accident, something that hardly ever happens, they say, but it did. Paul would be forever changed by it and it would divide the Larson family.