Three reasons I like the Chicago Cubs and the one reason I don’t

Chicago Cubs and the seventh inning stretch

Just how the seventh inning stretch began is unclear. But a Cubs legend made it what it is today. On the South Side, Caray was singing to himself and one day, Bill Veeck, Jr. left Caray’s microphone on for the seventh inning stretch. When he came to the Cubs, he brought the tradition with him and cemented its undying ties to the Friendly Confines in the process.

When he died in February 1998, the baseball world was lost without him. But they had a tribute for him. That year, they had a guest conductor come in and lead. Guys like Bill Murray, Ozzy Osbourne (seriously, so bad), Michael Jordan and more have come in and led the stretch. To this day, they continue with it – and even put Caray’s clips up regularly on the video board at Wrigley.

While no one knows all the finer details of the seventh inning stretch, we do know the phrase was coined in the 1920s and its origins date even further back. But, to me, the stretch belongs to Harry Caray and the Chicago Cubs.