Gump Worsley

I’ve collected sports cards almost my entire life. In elementary school it started as a way to fit in with the other kids. We didn’t watch sports at our house so me and my brother picked our teams based on our favorite colors. Mine was blue so “my teams” were the Minnesota Twins, Orlando Magic and Dallas Cowboys. As an adult I rediscovered sports cards as a get rich quick scheme (it didn’t work out).

Now, I’m entering my third phase of card collecting, one where I appreciate cards not for their value or collectability but rather the vintage art style that I can’t get enough of and the stories of some of the weirdos that played the game.

Recently I was looking through some 1969-70 Topps Hockey cards and I came across the above cartoon on the back of a Gump Worsley card. Weird facts about players isn’t an unusual sight on cards but I knew there had to be something more here. I did a little searching and discovered that the Canadiens were travelling to Los Angeles via Chicago on November 26, 1968. The initial part of the flight experienced some turbulence, which proved too overwhelming for Worsley. Upon landing at O’Hare Airport, he made the dramatic decision to leave the team, informing Jean Béliveau that he was retiring. He then took a train to return back to Montreal.

I found this article in the Dec 8, 1968 issue of the Star Tribune talking more about this.

The inevitable conclusion that emerged from the Gump Worsley case is that the jet age has overtaken big-time professional athletics. Worsley has been consigned to a month’s leave of absence to rest his nerves Which he claimed were shattered by fear of airplane travel. The Montreal goalie had asked his employers if he could, in effect, become a part-time player by riding trains. The Canadiens had no alternative but to refuse him with the explanation given by general manager Sammy Pollock: “We move as a team and play as a team.” So Gump was told to take & month off and undergo some treatment to cure his allergy to the airways. The implication was clear enough–it Worsley’s condition did not improve, then he was through in a Montreal uniform.

Hockey’s oldtimers, who roamed the NHL in the leisurely splendor of Pullmans before expansion dictated a more rapid method of transportation, followed the news of Worsley’s troubles realistically. “I’ve always admired Worsley,” sald King Clancy, Punch Imlach’s veteran assistant at Toronto. “He’s a funny little guy, but I don’t have to point out that he’s one of the top goalies. “I suppose what it comes down to is that a club would have to decide how badly they really needed him before making a decision on any special arrangements. It’s impossible to run & club that way.”

From what I’ve read Gump was an interesting fellow and he’s on my list to learn more about in the future.