SAN FRANCISCO — In September of 1976, a 24-year-old Mike Krukow got called up to the big leagues and joined the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. As he settled into the clubhouse for the first time, veteran catcher George Mitterwald walked over. “Hey meat,” Mitterwald said. “Welcome to the big leagues.”
And with that, the seeds of one of the most popular phrases in baseball broadcasting history had been planted.
Krukow spent the first six seasons of his career in Chicago, learning not just how to pitch like a big leaguer, but how to talk like one. He found all of it to be hilarious, and he soaked up as much as he could. When an opponent would strike out, Cubs third base coach Jack Bloomfield would bellow, “Grab some pine,” and over time, Krukow merged one phrase with another.
There’s no room for catch phrases when you’re on a big league mound, especially back when Krukow played. But when he recorded a strikeout, he would stare the batter down and often say the same thing in his head.
“I would be saying, ‘Grab some pine, meat,’ ” Krukow recalled recently....