Jerry Pritikin is a lifelong
Chicago Cubs fan known as the Bleacher Preacher.
Early life
Pritikin became a Cubs fan in 1945 at the age of eight, when the Cubs were in the
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
and he begged his father to take him to a game. While denying his request, his father did promise to take him the next time the Cubs made it to the Series (a feat the Cubs would not achieve until 2016).
Pritikin started going to Cubs games with his brothers and sisters. In 1960 he moved to San Francisco, where he worked as a photographer, selling his photos to wire services and local newspapers.
[ He started attending baseball games at ]Candlestick Park
Candlestick Park was an outdoor stadium on the West Coast of the United States, located in San Francisco's Bayview Heights area. The stadium was originally the home of Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants, who played there from 1960 ...
, where he gained notoriety as a Cubs fan. In 1981, he became a paid consultant for a production of ''Bleacher Bums
''Bleacher Bums'' is a 1977 play written collaboratively by members of Chicago's Organic Theater Company, from an idea by actor Joe Mantegna. Its original Chicago production was directed by Stuart Gordon. A 1979 performance of the play was tape ...
'', coaching the cast on how Chicago Cubs fans acted.[
]
The Bleacher Preacher
Pritikin moved back to Chicago in 1985 and began to regularly attend Cubs games at Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago ...
. He admired the Cubs fan known as "Slow Motion Happy" in the mid-40s and decided to put together his own character, which was later called the "Bleacher Preacher". The Bleacher Preacher became famous around Chicago for his routine.
Routine
During Cubs games at the "Friendly Confines," Pritikin sat in the bleachers[
]
Attire
As the Bleacher Preacher, Pritikin wore a solar-powered propeller pith helmet
The pith helmet, also known as the safari helmet, salacot, sola topee, sun helmet, topee, and topi) is a lightweight cloth-covered helmet made of sholapith. The pith helmet originates from the Spanish military adaptation of the native '' salako ...
. He carried around a life-sized voodoo doll dressed in the uniforms of various visiting teams. Pritikin also carried "The Ten Cub-Mandments", a sign fashioned after the Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ ...
.
In 2014, Pritikin was named the recipient of the Hilda Award, given by the Baseball Reliquary in Pasadena, Ca. The award was named after Hilda Chester, the fabled fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers, known for her cowbell
A cowbell (or cow bell) is a bell worn around the neck of free-roaming livestock so herders can keep track of an animal via the sound of the bell when the animal is grazing out of view in hilly landscapes or vast plains. Although they are t ...
. The award is given to fans who have contributed to the game of baseball.
In popular media
Pritikin is largely the subject of the Lonnie Wheeler book ''Bleachers''. Edgar Lenze interviewed Pritikin for his documentary about Chicago Cubs fans entitled ''Keep the Faith''.Harry Caray
Harry Christopher Caray (; March 1, 1914 – February 18, 1998) was an American radio and television sportscaster. During his career he called the play-by-play for five Major League Baseball teams, beginning with 25 years of calling the games ...
once called Pritikin "the world's greatest Cubs fan".[
]
References
External links
The Bleacher Preacher Official Trailer
(video)
Pritikin outside Wrigley Field from 2011
(photo) at ''Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...
''
Chicago Cubs
Baseball spectators
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
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