Bert Wilson (broadcaster)
Ralph Bertram Puckett, using the radio name Bert Wilson (1911 – November 1955), was a play-by-play broadcaster for Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs from 1944 to 1955. He was an unabashed "homer", known for two catchphrases: "I don't care who wins, as long as it's the Cubs!" and "Sic 'em, Cubs!" He also invented a short-lived catchphrase for the double play combination of Ernie Banks, Gene Baker and Steve Bilko: "Bingo to Bango to Bilko". This phrase did not threaten the fame of "Tinker to Evers to Chance". He also had other well-known phrases, such as "It's a Beautiful day in Chicago" and when the Cubs were doing poorly near the end of the season as they frequently were, "Bring on the Bears". He is under recognized as a fine announcer. Wilson also called Chicago Bears football in the 1940s.
The Cubs were contenders when Wilson first began covering them and he is the last announcer to call a Cubs World Series game in 1945, but by the mid-1950s they were engaged in an annual battle with the Pittsburgh Pirates for last place in the National League. Following the 1955 season, Wilson signed with the Cincinnati Reds to do play-by-play on television. However, coincidentally or otherwise, Wilson died from heart failure in November, prior to the start of the 1956 season.