Watch CBS News

Cubs Usher From 1945 Has Special Tie To Wrigley Field

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The last time the Cubs were in the World Series, many fans weren't even born yet -- and neither were their parents.

CBS 2's Vince Gerasole not only found someone who was at the World Series but who has a special tie to Wrigley Field.

Long ago while working at Wrigley Field, Schaumburg resident Stan Rauch said he picked up a piece of Cubs paraphernalia.

"I just happened to pick it up off the floor never realizing that that was going to be something that would be quite a momento," he said.

cubsusher6
During the 1945 World Series at Wrigley Field, tickets sold for just $6.

It's a ticket to the 1945 World Series at Wrigley, priced at a whopping $6.

"If I would't have worked there, I couldn't afford to go," Rauch said.

The baseball lover was just 15 when he worked the crowds selling refreshments.

"You'd yell out 'pop I got pop' or 'I got peanuts,'" he remembered.

That was the year the second World War came to a close, and  Chicagoans were celebrating peace and America's pastime was re-energized.

"It was just great, because the Cubs were on top, the boys were back and you couldn't ask for anything more" Rauch said.

Now 86, Rauch still pitches senior league ball. He remembers paying $0.50 for a permit to hock refreshments in the packed stands.

"I made about $25 dollars a day for the World Series," he said. "It was commission only, so you really hustled up and down the aisles to make money."

And to make more, he said he'd "holler louder!"

For this World Series, tickets for standing room could cost you about $2,000 and for a place to sit could cost you as high as $40,000.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.