Leonard R. Merullo

Leonard Richard Merullo, Lennie, was the last survivor of a family of 15 and the sole survivor of the last time the Chicago Cubs went to the World Series, in 1945, when he passed away on May 30 at the age of 98, in Reading Mass, his home for 60 years. He was born on May 5, 1917 to Carmine and Angelina Merullo in a bustling second floor apartment in East Boston, barely big enough to accommodate a family half the size. Sleeping head to toe with a selection of brothers, the youngest across the foot of the bed, his childhood was spent, when not helping press wine from their own vines and pickling the vegetables from their extended garden, playing knockabout ball games. His life changed when he was spotted at a school baseball game by part time Cubs scout, Boston Herald sports journalist, Ralph Wheeler who arranged for him to have a try out at the age of 15 with the Cubs. The boy impressed the professionals at Wrigley Field and far from the prospect of early graduation, having skipped a grade early on, and no more school baseball, Lennie found himself instead in the presence of the Cubs owner, Philip K Wrigley who offered to support his continuing education if Lennie would consider joining the Cubs organization after college. He would. Lennie returned home in the middle of a family supper sporting a new suit, and a healthy check. His mother, formerly no fan of children's games, banished his brothers from the table to practice their baseball. Lennie attended St John's Prep for two Years, hitchhiking twenty miles back and forth on weekends to East Boston to see family and his sweetheart Jean, before going on to star at Villanova University in Philadelphia. He kept his promise to the Cubs by signing with them at the beginning of his senior year. He never forgot St John's and he loved Villanova, but after his extraordinary visit to Chicago and the gift of an education and stellar opportunities, his abiding loyalty, beyond his family, for 80 years was to the Cubs. Lennie played in the Cape Cod league and the Cape Breton league in Nova Scotia in his college years and then in the Pacific Coast league in the Cubs system before he was called up to the Cubs in 1941. In that year, Lennie also married his lifelong love, the girl across the street, Jean Geggis. Leonard Jr's arrival the following year so upset Lennie Senior's equilibrium that he famously managed the near impossible, four errors (boots in old baseball parlance) in one inning. The Chicago Tribune quickly renamed the child, Boots. It stuck. Lennie played shortstop for the Cubs through much of the 1940s. He had an exceptionally strong arm and very good hands which made him an excellent shortstop but he also had what he termed a "light bat". Not one of the greats but Lennie was good enough to manage a major league career that lasted 7 years including the World Series in 1945, which the Cubs took to the seventh game before they ceded to the Tigers. He kept a spike wound from the final game alive for weeks, scratching it to remind himself that it was all true. Lennie and Jean spent the next 74 years very happily married and created their own baseball family line. The infamous Boots went to the Pirates organization, his son, Matt, played for the White Sox and Lennie's great grandson, Nick, joined the Orioles organization last year. Jean, like other Cubs fans, waited patiently for another World Series at Wrigley Field and a promised new outfit to go with it. They didn't get the series, but the Cubs graciously invited Jean and Lennie back to Wrigley field in Lennie's 97th year as the sole survivor of the Cubs team of 1945. Invited to throw out the first pitch, he stole the day leading the 7th inning stretch singing of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and recounting from the press box, anecdotes of heroes known only to grandparents in the crowd. They loved it. Following his major league career, Lennie worked as a scout for the Cubs. Later, he was a founding member of the Major League Scouting Bureau and he informally acted as an ambassador for baseball in New England. He saw, signed, and mentored boys like Moe Drabowsky and Danny Murphy into the majors and he had a part in the Cubs signing Ernie Banks, and Ron Santo. Lennie was well known to fans, to players of all ages, and to their coaches, as well as, to the many personal friends he and Jean made over the years. He was a very important supporter of the Cape Cod league in which he had starred in the late 1930s and which subsequently elected him to their Hall of Fame. Lennie proudly added this honor to his extensive collection of Lions Club bronzes, Rotary club plaques, Little and Pony league trophies, small and large, gathered from myriad end of season banquets, alongside his World Series ring, his National Scout of the Year ring, Villanova Hall of Fame recognition, and the prestigious Judge Emil Fuchs Award for Outstanding Contribution to Baseball. He is survived by his wife, Jean, four sons: Leonard Jr, Charles, Richard and his wife, Pamela and David, as well as, five grandchildren: Matt and his wife Chris, Lisa, Sam, Chiara and Sarah and three great grandchildren: Nick, Allison and Carly. His Funeral Mass will be celebrated in St. Agnes Church, 186 Woburn St., Reading, on Friday, at 10am. Visitation for relatives and friends will be held at the McDonald Funeral Home, 19 Yale Ave. Wakefield, Thursday from 4 to 7pm. Interment will be at Forest Glen Cemetery in Reading. Contributions may be made to the Sawtelle Family Hospice House, 320 Haverhill St, Reading, MA 01867.