SHAWON-O-METER

Cubs/Sox Pregame 6/19/19

A little exposure before the game last night!

Cubs Legends display case

If you switched over to the Cubs game after the Kentucky Derby you might have seen these credits. June 5th marks the 30th anniversary of the SHAWON-O-METER - how should we celebrate?

On the Jumbo tonight!

Shawon 1-4 with a sac fly in the Dogs win!

It’s Rising!!

The meter is back at Impact Field tonight. Great job Sandy! Shawon Jr quickly doubled!

Thankfully I didn’t suck. Honored to have Shawon Jr as my battery mate

Newly discovered clip. Nice mention by Tom Seaver during Game 2 of the 1989 NLCS. Bob Costas on the play-by-play.

From the Spanish bcast, can make out Meter, 6-6-7, And Rising & Wrigley. Any translators?

Michigan fans may get a kick out of the “Pepp-O-Meter”, unveiled during Saturday’s home game against Rutgers on BTN. It tracks the plays-per-game of safety Jabrill Peppers. Announcer Kevin Kugler gives a nice acknowledgement during its debut.

Here’s a quick glimpse of us in the 1st inning during Budweiser Bleacher Fridays on 8/21. It was a 90’s theme and everyone in the bleachers received neon Cubs hats. Great fun to be part of that 4-game sweep of the Braves!! The meter had .462 for Shawon Jr’s most recent stint with the AZL Cubs during his rehab assignment. He just came off the DL and is back with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans in the Advanced A league. On the flip side we broke out a Schwarb-O-Meter, tracking his slugging %. Kyle started the day over .600 and unfortunately went 0-4. Here Steve and I are frantically calculating his 2nd AB possibilities – there are four!! With the Shawon-O-Meter we had his new average after a hit under the current average and just had to peal a couple #’s off. Calculating slugging % is way above our pay grade!!

Baseball lost Don Zimmer in 2014, here's a brief tribute from Harry after the last home game of 1989 - with O-Meter bookends.

Here’s the interview and associated comments from Wednesday night, due to MLB copyright rules play on the field has been blacked out. Len and JD were awesome, they made me feel right at home. Len really did his homework too, knowing more than me – that Dunston had three hits the day before we broke out the meter, raising his average from .187 to .203 – our starting average.

Here's a clip from last night's game, the 25th anniversary of the Shawon-O-Meter. Due to MLB copyright infringement the shots of play on the field have been removed.

It’s time to dust off the Shawon-O-Meter!! 25th anniversaries do not come around every day – just ask Edith!! Thursday, 6/5/14, marks the 25th anniversary of the Shawon-O-Meter and to commemorate we will be in the left field bleachers for the 6:05 game VS the Mets. We’ll be tracking Shawon Jr’s at-bats remotely from Kane County (Cougars game starts at 6:30). Come join us and have a beer!!

1990 All Star Game 9th inning

Top of the ninth. Jack Buck and Tim McCarver discuss Shawon's habit of motioning to 1st base before every pitch. The NL didn't have anything else going on this All-Star game so you really can't blame them.

All Star Game 7/10/90

This would be Shawon’s 2nd and final at bat in an All Star Game. He made the All Star Team in 1988 also but didn’t get an at bat. What’s missing from Shawon’s helmet? An “S”, of course. That would be added in 1993.

7/10/90 All-Star Game lineup

Here is the 7th inning NL defense after a 68-minute rain delay. Jack Buck and Tim McCarver get us caught up. This could be the most boring game in All-Star history. Here are some records: Lowest batting average - NL with .069; Fewest hits - NL with 2; Fewest total bases - NL with 2; Fewest total bases both teams - 10.

Shawon-O-Meter 9/11/90 - .275

Another lost clip!! And here we see operator error. Shawon had only two hits in his prior thirty at bats so we had “AND SINKING” at the bottom of the meter. I neglected to tear that off after his base hit. We never claimed to be perfect!!

Shawon-O-Meter 1990 - Yellow Pages

In 1990 this was our Google.

Shawon-O-Meter 9/2/97

This clip has it all. The legendary Tim Weigel narrates the day’s events of interleague play: -A juiced Sosa hits an opposite field blast to help the Cubs beat the Twins. -A juiced McGwire crushes one to help beat the White Sox. -Shawon hits two homers in his first game with the Pirates. Unfortunately that helped the White Sox.

Shawon-O-Meter 9/14/97

In celebration of the Cubs playing .500 ball against the Pirates, here’s another Shawon/Sveum clip, except Dale bats before Shawon this time. The result is the same, fishing for a strike-three breaking ball in the dirt.

Shawon-O-Meter 9/13/97

In honor of the Cubs Opening Day victory over the Pirates here is a game from 1997 against the Pirates, with Dale Sveum making the final out of the game. Shawon had just popped out to Sosa in right for the 2nd out of the inning. Shawon’s Achilles’ heel was the slider low and away. From the little I’ve seen on these old tapes Sveum’s Achilles’ heel was the slider low and in. We also get a quick glimpse of Sandberg in one of the last games of his career.

Shawon-O-Meter 4/13/96

Wayne Larrivee interviews Shawon before a game at Candlestick where a "Shawon-O-Meter" was spotted the day before.

Shawon Traded to San Francisco 1/8/96

NBC's Mark Giangreco reports Shawon's trade to the Giants. Hard to believe 17 years later Shawon Jr. would be wearing a Cubs uniform.

Shawon-O-Meter 4/12/96 - .382

This would be the first time the Cubs faced the Giants in 1996 and the first game Shawon would play against his former teammates. Some resourceful Giants fans get in on Shawon-O-Meter fun. We also get to hear the call by Wayne Larrivee who filled-in after Thom Brennaman's departure.

Shawon-O-Meter stats 9/30/95

Here's a graphic comparing Shawon's stats from 1989 & 1995. Of particular is the footnote at the bottom showing his average in 1989 after 5/31. The meter debuted 6/5/89.

Shawon-O-Meter 9/30/95 - .296

What an amazing finish to the 1995 season. The Cubs had won eight in a row and needed to win their final two games (and Colorado needed to lose their last two). This was the 2nd to last game of the year and the Cubs were still in the pennant race. Shawon would get an infield single this at bat, driving in the fourth run of the inning and giving the Cubs a 5-4 lead in the 3rd.

Lead-Off Man 9/30/95

Thom Brennaman is interviewed by Steve Stone before his second-to-last game as a Cubs broadcaster. The Cubs were still in the race for the recently implemented Wild Card on this final day of September.

Harry Caray sign-off 10-1-95

This is the most heartbreaking sports segment I can think of. At the time it was kind of funny, the immortal Harry Caray getting wistful after another season. Harry righted himself quickly and finished the true professional he was. You may remember the Budweiser commercial from that year (it played a few times during this game) where a son and father are on a dock fishing and the son gets all emotional – telling his father (I love ya man!) and the father tells him he’s not getting his Bud Light. I took some of the audio from this clip and added “Forget it Harry, you’re not getting my Bud Light” and used it as my outgoing phone message for a while. I didn’t see it at the time but this was a man facing mortality which unfortunately came too soon afterwards. I’m glad to have this entire game on tape; it was a beautiful shorts & t-shirt day in October, Harry spent an entire inning interviewing Ryne Sandberg and his family and the Cubs had completed just their third winning season in the prior 20 years (1984 & 1989 the others). If you didn’t know any better, listening to Harry you’d think the Cubs were battling for a playoff spot when actually their chance ended the day before. It seemed Harry really didn’t want this day or season to end.