You said it, Jack

I see that today is the birthday of sportscaster Jack Brickhouse (1916-1998). He called games of Chicago teams for more than 40 years on WGN radio and television, but he is most remembered as the voice of the Chicago Cubs from 1948 until he retired in 1981.

Like most sportscasters, Brickhouse had a cache of things he said all the time. I can still hear him giving the Cubs’ defensive positions at the beginning of a game. During Leo Durocher’s tenure as manager (1966-1972), it would go like this:

"Williams, Hickman, and Spangler in left, center, and right; Santo, Kessinger, Beckert, and Banks, the infield third to first; and a battery of Hundley and Jenkins." (Or Hundley and whoever -- Holtzman, Hands, Pappas, Niekro, and many others.) 

In almost every baseball game I see, something happens that causes me to say out loud what Brickhouse always said in that situation:

When the 0-2 pitch was a ball: "He wasted one."

When it was time for the seventh-inning stretch: "All right, on your feet, you Cubs fans."

When the Cubs came from behind to tie the game: "We've got us a brand-new ball game!"

When the score was tied going into the Cubs' bottom of the 9th or any extra inning: "Any old kind of a run wins this ball game."

When the score was tied after nine innings: "We'll have an extra-inning ball game today."

When something really good happened for the Cubs: "Wheeee!"

When something really bad happened for the Cubs: "Oh, brother."

When the Cubs dodged a bullet on a close play: "Whew boy!"

And, of course, when a Cub hit a home run: "That's pretty well hit! Back ... back ... back ... Hey hey! A home run!"