Pat Pieper

Frank "Pat" Pieper served as the Chicago Cubs field (public address) announcer from 1916 to 1974, a span of 59 years.

Pieper (pronounced "Piper") was born February 17, 1886 in Hanover, Germany. His family, including ten siblings, settled in Denver, Colorado. In 1904, 17-year-old Pat left for Chicago in search of a career. He was hired as a popcorn and peanut vendor by Dan Ryan, Sr., then the concessions boss at West Side Park, the home field of the Cubs. He later recalled that Ryan told him that "the first fifty years are the toughest. After that, it's easy."

By 1916, the Cubs had moved into Weeghman Park, soon to become known as Wrigley Field. The team did not bring along their field announcer, and Pieper talked himself into the job with Cub President Charles Weeghman.

Pieper also worked in the World Series of 1918, wherein the Cubs used Comiskey Park as home due to its greater capacity. There, he had the unusual task of announcing a pinch hitter for Babe Ruth, who was then a young pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. "The Babe," says Pieper, "was always tough for my Cubs."

Pieper first got to use an electronic public address system in 1932. "That saved my life," he said. "Before that, I had to run up and down the lines with my [14-pound] megaphone to make any kind of announcement. On some of those hot Wrigley Field days I’d lose six or eight pounds." As field announcer, he proclaimed the lineups, the current batter, defensive changes and so forth. He also introduced special guests and announced special events, such as births within the Cub "family."

On September 25, 1963, the retiring Stan Musial was named a Vice President of the St. Louis Cardinals just before he came to bat in the third inning at Wrigley. The next time that Musial batted, Pieper announced him with his new title. The Vice President struck out, then left the game for City Hall to be made an honorary citizen of Chicago.

Pieper's signature phrase at the beginning of each game was, "Attention! ... Attention, please! ... Have your pencil ... and scorecards ready ... and I'll give you... the correct lineup ... for today's ball game. The batt'ry ... for the [team]... [pitcher's name] ... and [catcher's name]." [and so on] He also would announce, "Play ball!" at the start of the game.

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