Living a mile north of Wrigley Field (Cub’s Park) was a big advantage. There were no computers, cellphones or 24-hour off-shore stores… only flags and the right weather report.

I would go to the southwest corner of Waveland and Sheffield in Chicago about 10:30a.m. (there were no Cub night games until 1988). There were only flags atop the centerfield scoreboard. If the flags were limp, there would be no play on the total that day… if they were standing straight up, blowing in or out over centerfield and the pitchers were right… it was the best bet I’ve ever seen then or now.

I’m not sure if the lines were from the East or Vegas, but they would use the weather information from O’Hare Field Airport. O’Hare is about 15 miles west of Cub’s Park and 16 from Lake Michigan. I had a woman at Meig’s Field Airport that gave me the weather on the lakefront, which was a lot closer to the Park. On certain days the wind would be blowing opposite at Meig’s. Just before the game I have seen the total go as low as 5 and high as 17, when the linesmakers found out. When the wind was blowing in from the northeast at 20 miles per hour or so, on a chilly April day (it happens in Chicago), it was impossible to hit a home run (especially with strong pitchers). The wind would knock down every ball that was normally a home run. It would take about 8 errors to make the game go over. Conversely, when the wind was blowing out (especially with weak pitchers) from the southwest at 20 miles per hour or so, pop flies would be home runs. I would regularly get Overs about 10½ or 11 and Unders about 6½ or 7. There were many square local bookmakers with soft numbers back then and I had a lot of outs.

In 1988 I was sitting in Bernie’s, the great Chicago Cub bar, at Clark and Waveland across the street from the Park... I was looking out the window watching the first night lights being put up in Wrigley Field (the last Park to put in night lights). I thought this was the end of an era… but NO, the end of an era came for me in the early to mid 70’s when the oddsmakers figured out the right weather report to use when making lines for Cub totals at Wrigley Field.