December 6, 1969: "Na Na Na Na... Na Na Na Na... Hey Hey Hey... Goodbye!"

Gary DeCarlo

December 6, 1969: "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye," as the title of the song appears on the record label, Fontana Records release number F 1667, hits Number 1 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart. This song would still be Number 1 in America when I was born, 12 days later.

It was written and recorded at Mercury Sound Studios in New York, by Paul Leka, Gary DeCarlo and Dale Frashuer, formerly a Connecticut-based doo-wop group called The Glenwoods. This time, they recorded under the name "Steam." DeCarlo was the lead singer.

When the song became a hit, they were faced with the same problem as fake "studio groups" The Strangeloves (who had a Number 11 hit with "I Want Candy" in 1965) and The Archies (who hit Number 1 earlier in 1969 with "Sugar, Sugar"): They had to send out a touring group, so they put one together. None of this group's members had anything to do with the recording, but played concerts and made a promotional clip of the song. (They didn't call these clips "music videos" back then.)

Bananarama had a British hit with "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" in 1983, and The Nylons had a U.S. hit with it in 1987. But the best-known version might be the one improvised in 1977 by Chicago White Sox organist Nancy Faust, played for when an opposing pitcher was taken out of the game, so the home fans could mock-serenade him. As a result, it has become an about-to-win standard for fans in all sports, some of whom have no idea that they're only singing the chorus, or that it has verses at all – much like "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."

Leka also wrote "Green Tambourine," a Number 1 hit for The Lemon Pipers in 1968, often credited with starting the "bubblegum music" trend; and produced REO Speedwagon's 1st 2 albums. He died in 2011, at age 68. DeCarlo, who never had another hit in any capacity, died in 2017, at 75. Frashuer never had another hit, either. He became a composer for films, and then for video games, and died in 1998, at 59.

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December 6, 1969 was a Saturday. This was the day of the disastrous rock music festival at the Altamont Speedway in the San Francisco Bay Area. I have a separate entry for this event.

It was the off-season for baseball. There was 1 game played in the NFL that day, and it was also in the Bay Area: The San Francisco 49ers beat the Chicago Bears, 42-21 at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco. And there was 1 game played in the AFL: The New York Jets beat the Houston Oilers, 34-26 at the Astrodome in Houston.

The big story in America that day was not expected to be Altamont. It was expected to be a college football game that was moved to the Saturday after the intended last week of the regular season, because it looked like the teams involved would be ranked the top two in the nation. In this "Game of the Century," Number 1 Texas beat Number 2 Arkansas, 15-14 at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas. I have a separate entry for this event.

There was 1 other college football game played that day: The Pasadena Bowl, held at the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena. San Diego State beat Boston University, 28-7.

Also that day, there were 5 games played in the NBA: 

* The New York Knicks beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 124-99 at what was still being called "The New Madison Square Garden Center." Walt Frazier and Bill Bradley each scored 29 points for the Knickerbockers, who advanced to 26-2 on the season that would end with their 1st NBA title. In a losing cause, Lew Alcindor (he changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1972) scored 26, and Len Chappell scored 24.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Cincinnati Royals, 120-102 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Seattle SuperSonics beat the Baltimore Bullets, 132-129 in overtime at the Baltimore Civic Center (now the CFG Bank Arena).

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Boston Celtics, 116-114 in overtime at the Chicago Stadium.

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the San Diego Rockets, 128-115 at the San Diego Sports Arena. Wilt Chamberlain did not play for L.A., but Jerry West scored 30, and Elgin Baylor 25. Elvin Hayes scored 40 in a losing effort. The Rockets moved to Houston in 1971, and the arena is now named the Pechanga Arena.

Two games were played in the American Basketball Association:

* The Denver Rockets beat the Washington Caps, 108-97 at the Washington Coliseum. The Rockets would become the Denver Nuggets in 1974, renaming themselves for the city's 1st NBA team, which were founded in 1935, joined the NBA in 1948, and folded in 1950. After the 1969-70 season, the Caps moved to Norfolk, and became the Virginia Squires. The Nuggets, the New York Nets, the Indiana Pacers and the San Antonio Spurs were merged from the crumbling ABA into the NBA in 1976. The Squires were not.

* And the New Orleans Buccaneers beat the Miami Floridians, 112-104 at the Miami Beach Convention Hall.

* Five games were played in the NHL. The New York Rangers, the only NHL team in the Tri-State Area at the time, were not involved in any of them:

* The Minnesota North Stars beat the Montreal Canadiens, 4-3 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 6-1 at the Boston Garden.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5-0 at Maple Leaf Gardens.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the St. Louis Blues, 5-1 at the St. Louis Arena.

* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the Oakland Seals, 5-3 at The Forum in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, California.

Also, Arsenal drew with Southampton, 2-2 at Highbury in North London.

August 4, 1977: The Modern Height of Chicago Baseball

August 4, 1977: This is the modern height of Chicago baseball. Both of Chicago's baseball teams are in 1st place in their respective Divisions. That had never happened this late in the season before (including in the years of single-division leagues), and it has only happened once since (in 2008).

On this day, the Chicago White Sox beat the Texas Rangers, 5-4 at Comiskey Park, on the South Side. Steve Stone outpitched Bert Blyleven. Oscar Gamble went 3-for-3. As a result of this game, the White Sox led the American League Western Division by 3 1/2 games over the Minnesota Twins, 4 1/2 over the Kansas City Royals, and 5 1/2 over the Rangers.

Oscar Gamble

White Sox owner Bill Veeck was going for it: Having saved the team from bankruptcy and from being moved to Seattle in the 1975-76 off-season, and staged several kooky promotions like he had in his previous ownership of the South Siders, 1959 to 1961, he obtained a few "rent-a-players," in an attempt to win the Pennant this season, knowing that, as perhaps the least wealthy team owner in Major League Baseball, he wouldn't be able to re-sign them as free agents for the next season. He often remarked, "It's not the high price of talent that bothers me, it's the high prices of mediocrity."

Tying in with Chicago's image as a high-crime city, particularly one gripped by organized crime, the '77 White Sox became known as "The South Size Hit Men." Designated hitter Gamble hit 31 home runs and had 83 RBIs, right fielder Richie Zisk hit 30 home runs and had 101 RBIs, 2nd baseman Jorge Orta had 84 RBIs, 1st baseman Jim Spencer had 18 homers and 69 RBIs, 3rd baseman Eric Soderholm had 25 home runs and 67 RBIs, center fielder Chet Lemon had 67 RBIs, designated hitter Lamar Johnson had 65 RBIs, and left fielder and former National League batting champion Ralph Garr batted .388 and had 54 RBIs.

This was no old-style "Go-Go White Sox": Garr, whose speed had earned him the nickname "The Roadrunner," led the team with 12 stolen bases. There were a lot of fireworks shot off from Comiskey's center field "exploding scoreboard," and organist Nancy Faust gleefully playing Steam's 1969 Number 1 hit "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" every time the "Hit Men" led an opposing manager to relieve his pitcher.

Playing their home games at Wrigley Field on the North Side, the Chicago Cubs were not scheduled for the day. They were in an even tighter race for the lead in the National League Eastern Division, but, for the moment, they had it, by 1 game over the Philadelphia Phillies, 2 1/2 over the Pittsburgh Pirates, and 4 over the St. Louis Cardinals.

They weren't loaded with big hitters. Right fielder Bobby Murcer, the former Yankee star, hit 27 home runs, but he was their only player with more than 12. He had 89 RBIs, and was the only one with more than 69. But 3rd baseman Steve Ontiveros batted .299, center fielder Jerry Morales batted .290, 1st baseman Bill Buckner batted .284, and 2nd baseman Manny Trillo batted .280.

But while the Cubs have been known for power hitting, they only times they have ever seriously contended was when they had very good pitching. Rick Reuschel finished the season 20-10, making him the Cubs' only 20-game winner between Ferguson Jenkins in 1972 and Greg Maddux in 1992. (Rick Sutcliffe went 20-6 in 1984, but 15-1 after being traded to the Cubs in midseason.) And Bruce Sutter had one of the best seasons any reliever had ever had, going 7-3 with 31 saves and a 1.34 ERA.

Rick Reuschel

Between the Cubs and their ivy-covered walls, their hand-operated scoreboard, and their "Bleacher Bums" by daylight, and the White Sox and their promotions, their exploding scoreboard, and their "South Side Hit Men" by night, Chicago was the place to be for a baseball fan from early April to early August.

But, in the end, neither team had enough pitching, and things began to fall apart after this. On Sunday, August 7, at Wrigley, the Cubs beat the San Diego Padres, 9-4. José Cardenal and Steve Swisher hit home runs, and Steve Renko was the winning pitcher. But it was the 2nd game of a doubleheader, and they had lost the 1st game, 8-6. The Phillies beat the Dodgers, 3-1 at Veterans Stadium, and passed the Cubs for 1st place in the NL East. The Phils led the Division the rest of the way, and the Cubs had another late-season fade, finishing at exactly .500, 81-81, a whopping 20 games behind the Phillies, in 4th place.

Also on August 7, the White Sox lost, 3-2 to the Royals at Royals Stadium. Gamble hit a home run, but John Wathan's single won it in the bottom of the 9th, completing a 3-game sweep for the defending AL West Champions.

On August 12, a loss to the Rangers knocked the Pale Hose out of 1st place. They were tied for 1st as late as August 19, but they went into a tailspin as the Royals surged. The White Sox finished 90-72, their highest win total between 1965 and 1983; but were 12 games behind the Royals, in 3rd place.

Sure enough, Veeck let his players drift away to other teams. Zisk signed with the Rangers. Gamble signed with the Padres. In mid-1978, Spencer was traded to the Yankees. Soderholm and Garr stayed until mid-1979, when they was traded to the Rangers and the Angels, respectively. Orta remained through the 1979 season, before going to Cleveland. Lemon and Johnson each lasted all the way until the end of the 1981 season.

After 3 seasons, in 1980, he sold the team to Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn. Veeck died in 1986. In 1988, "The Reinhorn Twins" threatened to move to the White Sox to the Tampa Bay region if they didn't get a replacement for Comiskey Park. They got it, and it opened in 1991. Finally, in 2005, the White Sox won their 1st Pennant since 1959, and their 1st World Series since 1917.

The Cubs would have shocking Playoff losses in 1984 and 2003, and ordinary Playoff losses in 1989, 1998, 2007, 2008 and 2015. Finally, in 2016, the Cubs won their 1st Pennant since 1945, and their 1st World Series since 1908.

The 2008 and 2020 seasons remain the only ones in which both the Cubs and the White Sox made the Playoffs. Neither won a round, either time.

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August 4, 1977 was a Thursday. In addition to the White Sox' win over the Rangers, 5 MLB games were played that day:

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the San Diego Padres, 2-1 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Bake McBride singled Jerry Martin home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Mike Schmidt went 0-for-3. Dave Winfield went 0-for-4.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Montreal Expos, 5-2 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-2 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Rod Carew went 1-for-5.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 8-0 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. Larry Gura allowed 9 hits, but no walks, and kept the shutout. George Brett went 4-for-5 with an RBI, but the only home run was hit by the shortest player in baseball at the time, shortstop Freddie Patek.

* And the Boston Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 3-1 at the Oakland Coliseum. Fergie Jenkins outpitched Vida Blue. Carl Yastrzemski did not play.