Fabled, Ill-Fated Cubs Team of ’69 To Agonize Over 40-Year Anniversary

"Ya gotta believe" are the magic words, the "open sesame" of baseball history, immortalized by Tug McGraw in 1973. But the baseball good wish fairy doesn't always respond. Chicago Cubs fans and players remember the year, 1969, when the wish was never fulfilled.

In the span of two months, the Cubs slipped from nine-and-a-half games in front of the Mets to eight games behind.

"It's true," said the late Jack Brickhouse before his death in 1998. He watched it all go down in '69 from the great heights of the radio announcer's booth. "The Cubs lost it," he said.

The Big Fade. A 17.5 game turnaround starting in August. Brickhouse, like the rest of the city of Chicago, had never seen anything like it.

"But l...

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