Day 59: Raising a Bud to the Bud Man

     Harry Caray died on February 18, 1998. Almost immediately, there was a statue erected in his honor outside of Wrigley Field(shortly thereafter[upon his death], Jack Brickhouse was memorialized in the Friendly Confines as well), as well as memorial patches included on the 1998 Cubs uniforms.  However, as the first anniversary of his passing approached, there were mumblings of an event to be held in tribute to the man.  During his time in Chicago, he had gained a reputation as quite a party animal, being awarded titles varying from "The Mayor of Rush Street" to simply "The Bud Man".  That, along with his claim that he had consumed over 300,000 alcoholic beverages in his lifetime(including 75,000 Budweisers[quick aside:  In my opinion, Budweiser is the most over-hyped beer of all time.  If you are to believe their ad campaigns, Bud tastes like the nectar of the gods, only better.  But you know what?  It doesn't.  I've had many beers that were worse, and many beers that were better.  Budweiser is simply middle-of-the-road.  Okay, rant over]), made the idea of having a toast to his memory the logical choice. So in February of 1999, 100 people were led in a toast by Harry's widow, Dutchie.  The toast quickly spread, first to cover the entire nation, and then beyond.  The 2003 Toast became truly worldwide, featuring at least one toast in every single time zone.

     Of course, most Cubs fans remember 2003 as the year that this happened.  While Bartman did indeed Catch Hell for this, he didn't actually catch the ball.  Somebody else did, and promptly put it up for auction. At the auction, the ball was snapped up for the tidy sum of $113,800 by Grant DePorter(the owner of Harry Caray's Restaurant Group).  Then, in what was probably the most literal case of 'blowing (up) money' ever witnessed, the 2004 toast featured the ball being destroyed by an Oscar-winning effects expert.  Of course, prior to its destruction the ball did receive a final meal(no record exists on whether the ball was granted its one phone call or last rites).  The Ball made one last appearance as part of the 2005 Toast, where the blown-up remnants were cooked and made a part of a spaghetti sauce consumed at the Toast.

     2007 marked the 99-Year anniversary of 1908.  To celebrate this, Harry Caray's was offering 99 Cent Budweisers that night.  The next year when the calendar hit an even 100, the 2008 Toast featured a 100-Gallon mug of beer-the world's biggest.  In 2010, the new Harry Caray's Tavern opened on Navy Pier(which also includes a small museum of Chicago sports memorabilia), so the Worldwide HQ was moved from the Wrigleyville location to Navy Pier.  The next year the toast served as a tribute to both Caray and the recently deceased Ron Santo.

     The 2012 Toast witnessed a major milestone, as 2012 marked the year that the Five-Millionth person raised a Bud to Harry.  The 2013 Toast occurred on February 28, featuring the traditional toast, but also a fireworks display afterwards, as well as this shattering performance.  Rest assured, the Toast to Harry Caray will be going on for many more years to come.