Wow, I remember his card when I was a kid. Looong time ago.
Posted on 10/09/2013 9:04:55 AM PDT by EveningStar
Former Cubs star Andy Pafko had a good bat, a memorable nickname and a reputation as one of the friendliest players in the game.
Pafko, 92, died Tuesday in a nursing home in Stevensville, Mich., the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
A popular five-time All-Star who played 17 seasons and appeared in 24 World Series games — including the Cubs' last visit to the Series in 1945 — Pafko had a lifetime .285 average with 213 home runs and 976 RBIs playing for the Cubs, Brooklyn Dodgers and Milwaukee Braves.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
Pafko was one of the players profiled in Roger Kahn’s book, “The Boys of Summer”.
I only know the name because Bruce Willis’ character in “Cop Out” had an Andy Pafko rookie card as his prized possession. Not much of a sports guy myself, but RIP.
Who was available to play major league baseball in 1945? Almost all able bodied men over 17 years old and under 40 years old were in the military.
The Cubs have been to the World Series?
Handy Andy Pafko — could play just about anywhere on teh field and help the club.
Cubs have the longest championship round appearance drought of the 4 major team sports at 67 seasons now.
The Sacramento Kings are 2nd - their last NBA finals appearance came 62 seasons ago.
The Atlanta Hawks and Detroit Lions are tied for 3rd at 55 seasons.
All others are 45 seasons or less.
RIP.
Historical trivia:
Pafko was the Dodgers' left fielder who watched helplessly as Bobby Thomson's famous pennant winning HR sailed over his head and into the Polo Grounds stands in 1951. He had been obtained by the Dodgers in a trade from the Cubs during that season. Ironically, Pafko and Thomson later became teammates on the Milwaukee Braves. (Thomson himself later played for the Cubs.)
You can't really make legitimate comparisons like that between the teams in different sports because the sports historically are different and have different formats which have changed over the years.
In 1945, when the Cubs last won the NL pennant, there was no NBA in existence yet, the NFL had at most ten teams (maybe nine, not sure) and the NHL had six. Major league baseball had a total of 16, eight in each league. So the vast majority of professional sports franchises now in existence couldn't possibly have challenged the Cubs for the distinction you mentioned, since they didn't even exist in 1945.
When you get into long-time professional sports records, here is quite an irony: the team with the most games won all-time is none other than the Chicago Cubs!
That was my first thought, anyway. Didn't realize they'd been to the World Series since then.
RIP Andy.
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