Pat Pieper - Personal

Personal

The Cubs honored Pieper with a “day” on September 22, 1940, celebrating 25 years as field announcer, and again on September 13, 1953, in honor of his fifty years as a Cub employee. The latter occasion took place a day before Gene Baker and Ernie Banks joined—and thus integrated—the ballclub. In 1961, he got to throw out the first ball to open the season, after which he reported for work as customary, in his chair behind home plate, making the usual announcements and providing fresh baseballs to the plate umpire as needed. The Hall of Fame made a recording of Pieper's voice in 1966.

As Wrigley Field had no lighting system until 1988, all the Cubs home games were played in the daytime. After the games, Pieper would serve as a waiter at The Ivanhoe, a castle-themed north-side Chicago restaurant that opened in 1920 and featured turrets and drawbridges, and even had an adjoining theater.

Pieper met Karen Marie Jorgensen in 1910, and after what he called “a whirlwind courtship,” married her in 1918. Karen didn’t like to attend baseball games, although Pieper recalls that he once got her to stay for all of three innings. Karen died in 1971. They had no children..”

A dedicated bowler, Pieper subbed for an absent player in the American Bowling Congress tournament in 1924. He threw three consecutive strikes before the absentee returned. He was a mainstay of the Cubs’ team, rolling alongside Andy Pafko, Billy Holm, Phil Cavarretta and Gabby Hartnett, often in tournaments organized by Ray Schalk. Pieper bowled a 200 game at age 80.