I recently heard a rumor that the late Chicago folk singer Steve Goodman was cremated, and his ashes are under home plate at Wrigley Field. This sounds too absurd to be anything other than an urban legend (or one in the making), but I thought I’d check it out here anyway.
Al in Pittsburgh
Well, if you’re a Steve Goodman fan, you know he wrote “A Dying Cubs Fan’s Last Request,” (here’s a video of Steve singing it) in which the dying fan asks:
So it is perhaps no surprise that when Goodman (a lifelong Cubs fan himself) died in 1984 at the tragically young age of 36, efforts were made to recreate the song. Apparently one official request was denied, but four years later, in 1988, when they were installing the lights at Wrigley, Goodman’s brother David tried again. With the help of Goodman’s friend, songwriter Harry Waller, they contacted members of the Wrigley grounds crew. One or two turned them down, but the third person they called said okay, and let them onto the field.
David had a film cannister full of ashes, and he and Waller went out to left field, just like the song, and scattered them there.
The rest of the ashes were scattered on the ball field at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, by Steve’s widow and daughter. They climbed over the fence at night to do it.
All of this is according to Clay Eals’ book “Facing the Music,” a must for any Steve Goodman fan. (pp. 725-727.)