Should the Chicago Cubs end the practice of the 7th inning guest conductor of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame?"

Yes

1 of 2

by Luke Rasmussen

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Honestly, I wouldn't mind getting rid of the whole Take Me Out to the Ballgame thing period. Well, maybe not - but the way the Chicago Cubs have done it since Harry Caray passed away, it's been nothing short of passe.

Caray couldn't sing worth a lick. I watched him on WGN so many times you wouldn't believe it. Matter of fact, sometimes I just watched the Cubs on WGN just for Harry Caray and the seventh inning stretch.

I think we all were devastated at his passing. Such an animated broadcaster, with his huge rimmed glasses and unforgettable pronounciation of "Holy Cow," Harry was one of the best. The singing of the seventh inning stretch from the pressbox truly was his mark on the baseball world; no one else does it like that.

Personally, I think the Cubs should have completely axed the singing of the stretch from the pressbox the day after he died. As I said, it was his mark on the baseball world. No one else was ever going to do it like him. I think the Cubs should have done it like everybody else, have some little kid on the pitcher's mound that's won some contest.

The Minnesota Wild NHL club does something similar to what the Cubs are doing now. Prior to each Wild home game, someone stands on the platform high above the 200 level, and leads 19,000 rabid hockey fans in saying "Let's Play Hockey." That phrase hails all the way back to the old Minnesota North Stars and the Met Center.

His name was Bob Utecht. He said those words prior to every North Stars home game for years. Mr. Utecht actually passed away June 23 of last year. The Wild have been doing it long before his passing, and he has occasionally been on the perch at the X saying those words.

The "Let's Play Hockey" thing for the Wild is a bit different than the seventh inning stretch for the Cubs, however. Mr. Utecht had been battling illness for years before his passing. And, it might even be safe to say that Mr. Utecht was only associated with the North Stars and their fans. The Wild were the new kid in town, time for someone else to take the helm.

But for years Caray sang those words, albeit off-key, for decades from the pressbox at Wrigley. It was him. It was only him. It seems to me that continuing the tradition in the way he did it, is a bit disrespectful.

Of course, Cubs fans would probably tell you, "it's the way he would have wanted it." Maybe so, but no one is ever going to touch the hearts of Cubs fans with the song like Caray did. There was something special about the way he did it - to have someone else singing the song from the box at Wrigley; it just doesn't seem the same.

I will always be a fan of the way Harry Caray did it. I don't even watch Cubs baseball anymore since Harry's passing. It's not the same. Personally, I think the tradition should be retired, and done just like every other MLB team. Because, after all, it seems that ever since Harry's passing, the Cubs are just like every other MLB team.

And really, who else comes to mind when you hear, "And one...and two...and 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame"?

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