Mike Ditka’s football legacy will fill the biggest rooms in Chicago, but one noisy afternoon at Wrigley Field gave Cubs fans another picture to keep. Ditka, who died Friday at age 86, turned the seventh-inning stretch into his own kind of goal-line drill on July 5, 1998.
The former Bears coach arrived late to the WGN booth, then attacked “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” with the same full-throttle style that made him a Windy City institution. The organist had little chance of matching his pace.
Quick facts
- Ditka died Friday at 86.
- He was the first tight end elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
- As Bears head coach, he led Chicago to the franchise’s lone Super Bowl title after the 1985 season.
- His Wrigley Field stretch performance came on July 5, 1998.
- At the time, he was two months away from beginning his second season as head coach of the New Orleans Saints.
Wrigley’s guest-conductor tradition was in a transition period that summer. Harry Caray, whose booming version of the song made the stretch a Chicago ritual, had died in February 1998.
The Cubs had been bringing in a wide range of guests to handle the moment, from Eddie Vedder and Ernie Banks to Jay Leno and Jimmy Buffett. Even Cookie Monster had taken a turn at the microphone.
Ditka was scheduled to join Cubs broadcasters Chip Caray and Steve Stone, but he was nowhere in sight as the inning change arrived. Fans at the ballpark began voicing their impatience while the booth waited.
Then, as the organ started, Ditka came into the booth and seized the microphone. There was no gentle buildup and no attempt to find the melody; he blasted through the song in a hurry, nearly leaving the accompaniment behind.
After barking out the final line, Ditka paused for a breath as laughter and cheers rolled through the Friendly Confines. It was off-key, over quickly and perfectly on brand for a man whose Chicago presence reached well beyond the football field.
