Paul Dominick

full name: Paul Dominick
born Feb. 22, 1920, in Chicago, IL
died Dec. 22, 2007, in Mattoon, IL

1935

• On September 4th of this year, Paul Dominick was invited to sit on the Chicago Cubs' bench at Wrigley Field while the team played their game against the Philadelphia Phillies. How this situation arose varies in its details depending on the source. As his obituary in the Dec. 24, 2007, Mattoon Journal Gazette explained, "Paul grew up on Racine Avenue a block over from Wrigley Field. One summer he started sneaking in the back gate of the stadium to watch the Cubs practice." According to the Dec. 21, 1935, Parade of Youth, "Gabby Hartnett, Cub catcher, discovered Paul's 120 pounds near the Wrigley baseball field in Chicago one day when the team had just lost four straight games and was six games out for first place." The only problem with this claim is that the Cubs hadn't been six games back since July 20th, and they hadn't lost 4 in a row since July 5th. On September 4th, they were in 3rd place, and two and a half games back, and two days earlier (they didn't play on the 3rd), they had played a double-header, winning the first game and losing the second. It was the beginning of a 20-game home stand. The May 1, 1936, Fort Worth Star-Telegram explained that Paul "was first noticed lingering near the gate where the Cub players came down from their clubhouse to the playing field." As Paul himself told Parade of Youth: "Manager Charley Grimm wanted me to stay with him all the time because he was so sure I was lucky for him. I ate with the fellows and took showers with them. Mr. Grimm gave me a complete Cub outfit. I had a swell time, too, because most of the boys had to find a knot-hole in the fence to see the games, but I sat right in the very best place there was - on the bench." The November 9th Standard-Examiner of Ogden, UT, provided another variation: "He was standing out in front of a Chicago fire station last summer when Charley Grimm saw him...and picked him up and took him to the game."
• On September 5th, winning their second game in a row, the Cubs moved into 2nd place.
• On September 13th, winning their tenth game in a row, the Cubs moved into a tie for 1st place. At some point, manager Grimm decided that Paul was the team's good luck charm. Most of the newspaper coverage referred to him as their mascot, but they already had one of those and made a point of occasionally correcting people on that matter.
• On September 14th, after winning their eleventh game in a row, the Cubs had 1st place to themselves.
• On September 16th, the Chicago public schools reopened for the new school year. Unless Paul went to private school, then this would be the day he first missed the Cubs' pre-game practice, something that concerned the players and their manager. As his obituary in the Dec. 24, 2007, Mattoon Journal Gazette explained: "When school started in the fall Paul was not able to attend the practices and they started wondering where their 'Lucky Charm' had gone. They submitted an article in the Chicago Daily News asking if anyone knew who and where that little boy was. His mother read the article and notified the Cubs that it was Paul Dominick. From that day forward he became the mascot for the Cubs and a life long fan." So this throws some confusion into the mix, as the United Press reported on September 24th that Paul hadn't missed a game since September 4th.
• On September 17th, an Associated Press photo appeared in numerous newspapers, which carried variations on the following caption: "Rotund little Paul Dominick, shown here with Charlie Grimm, manager of the Chicago Cubs, is the club's latest Chicago recruit and has a steady spot on the players' bench as long as he keeps delivering. Since Paul started with the Bruins as mascot they have won 13 straight games and reached the top of the National League." This is the earliest instance I've found of Paul getting his name in the paper.
• On September 18th, the Associated Press reported the following: "Not overlooked in the Cubs' furious stretch drive was their newly-acquired mascot, whom the Cubs regard as a good luck charm. He is Paul Dominick, a 15-year-old youngster, weighing 119 pounds but only four feet tall. Since Grimm bought him a uniform two weeks ago and let him sit on the bench the Cubs haven't lost a game."
• On September 19th, the caption for another wirephoto explained that the Cubs planned to take Paul on their final 5-game road trip of the season. However, on the same day, the Associated Press reported the following: "The pudgy luck bringing mascot of the Cubs, four-foot tall Paul Dominick, isn't going with the team for the final five games of the year starting in St. Louis next Thursday (the 26th). Manager Charlie Grimm would like to take him, but figures the youngster might become ill or something to add to his worries."
• On September 20th, the International News Service reported the following: "He doesn't show at all in the box scores, but a very important cog in the Cub machine these last hectic days has been roly-poly Paul Dominick, the 15-year-old mascot. With that world's series bonus just out of reach, most of the Cubs have come down with a bad case of superstition and feel the need for something to keep their luck in. They've lit on Paul, who looks more like a teddy bear, being 15 and built like a pillow snatched in at the middle where his belt is. He joined up with the club strangely enough, the day the Phillies came to town and has watched them win all sixteen games since. Everybody on the team has come to believe his presence really spells luck and so they were a bit upset yesterday when Paul was still missing as gametime drew near. Paul had started back to school and the teacher wouldn't let him go early. He ruffed into the dugout just as the Cubs came to bat in the first. Galan the first man up smashed out a single that started a two run rally and paved the way for the 6-1 victory." The Associated Press had a different version of this story, in which Paul didn't get out of school until 3 p.m., and arrived in the third inning. After that, "all hands rubbed Paul's head for luck before letting him take his place on the bench." It's also apparent that the schools had reopened three days earlier. Paul reportedly went to Blaine School, but this was an elementary school, which seems a bit of a stretch for a 15-year-old.
• On September 22nd, the Cubs played the final game of their home stand. It was the 18th game in a row with Paul as their good luck charm, and it was their 18th straight win.
• On September 24th, the United Press published an article on Paul, which can be accessed by clicking here.
• On September 24th, the Standard-Sentinel of Hazleton, PA, reported the following: "Chubby Paul Dominick, who rode the Chicago Cubs' bench as mascot, while the Bruins ran up the season's longest string of major league victories, was left behind by Manager Charley Grimm, when the Cubs went to St. Louis for their crucial series with the Cardinals, 1934 world champions."
• On September 27th, the Cubs' winning streak reached 21 games, tying the major league record that they themselves (back when they were called the White Stockings) had set back in 1880. They played a double-header on this day, and clinched the National League pennant after winning the first game.
• On October 1st, the Associated Press reported the following: "The Cubs, confident and determined, boarded a special train for Detroit and the world series late Monday (Sep. 30th), minus their 'luck' mascot, Paul Dominick. Paul, the little fat boy who sat on the Cub bench thru most of their spectacular winning streak, was at the station to bid a mournful goodbye to his idols. They all rubbed his head for luck before boarding the train. In spite of the feverish interest in the club indicated by the 1,000 or more fans who stood in line at Wrigley field awaiting the opening of the ticket sales Tuesday (the 1st), only about 400 were at the station to cheer the Cubs away to the wars. A sudden downpour of rain apparently discouraged others." The United Press added the following: "Last to say goodbye and the most serious person at the station was the Cubs' 15-year-old mascot, Paul Dominick...Paul couldn't accompany his heroes to Detroit because he has to attend school...'Go get 'em, Mr. Grimm,' he said, brushing away the tears. 'I sure wish I could be there to give you luck.'"
• On October 2nd, the Cubs managed to win game 1 of the World Series in Detroit, but lost the second game on October 3rd. The teams then traveled to Chicago for game 3, which was won by the Tigers on October 4th.
• On October 4th, The South Bend Tribune (IN) reported the following: "Paul Dominick, who served as the Cubs' mascot during the National League champions' recent 21-game winning streak, will appear at the Vanity Fair cafe starting tonight and a theater engagement at the State-Lake on Saturday (the 5th)."
• On October 5th, game 4 of the World Series, played in Chicago, was won by the Tigers, giving them a 3-games-to-1 lead in the series. However, the Cubs kept their hopes alive on October 6th by winning game 5. After this, the series returned to Detroit.
• On October 6th, the Sunday News of New York published an article on Paul, which can be accessed by clicking here.
• Also on October 6th, an ad appeared in the Chicago Sunday Tribune for another appearance by Paul at the State-Lake Theater.
• On October 7th, the Detroit Tigers won game 6 of the World Series, giving them a 4-games-to-2 series lead, which won them the championship.
• Also on October 7th, The Detroit Free Press reported the following: "Paul Dominick, the Cub fat-boy mascot, has received so much publicity on the Cubs' winning streak that a promoter signed him for neighborhood theatrical appearances. So far, Paul says, he hasn't made a dime."
• On October 8th, the Associated Press reported the following: "Paul Dominick, 15, who played rabbit's foot for the Chicago Cubs during their stretch drive for the National League championship, has talents the ball players didn't suspect - he's an actor. Dominick appeared today on the stage of a loop theater in a skit explaining his adoption as the Cubs' mascot a month ago...Charlie Grimm, team manager, is his idol. Errors and strikeouts brought Cub players double criticism - from Grimm and from Paul. He did not accompany the Cubs to Detroit, where they lost the game that decided the world's series, but he heard a broadcast description of Goslin's winning hit. The boy has acquired a manager who wants to get a screen test for him."
• On October 13th, The Billings Gazette (MT) reported the following: "Henceforth the Chicago Cubs will be oddities in baseball - ball players who place no trust in superstitious charms. Our Chicago correspondent reports that just before they beat the Tigers in the fifth game, Grimm's boys built a fire in the clubhouse and chucked in all their collection of pebbles, 'winning' shirts, rabbit feet and the like. They were also going to toss in Paul Dominick, their good luck mascot in their 21-game winning streak, but Grimm thought Paul might be useful as a bat boy and his life was saved."
• On November 8th, the Chicago Daily Tribune reported the following: "Paul Dominick, mascot for the Chicago Cubs during the 1935 season, left last night for Culver City, Cal., to begin work in motion pictures. Dominick will make his first appearance in a Hal Roach comedy on Monday."
• Also on November 8th, The Herald-Press of Saint Joseph, MI, shared the following tidbit: "That pudgy little mascot of the Chicago Cubs, Paul Dominick, has indeed landed in Hal Roach's movie gang."
• On November 9th, The Standard-Examiner of Ogden, UT, reported the following: "He was standing out in front of a Chicago fire station last summer when Charley Grimm saw him...The kid standing in front of the fire house was standing on the train platform today at the Ogden Union station, on his way to Hollywood to play with Hal Roach's Our Gang comedies - all because Grimm saw him that summer day, and picked him up and took him to the game...Today he was elated as he paced his 120 pounds up and down the station platform, accompanied by his sister Betty, 21. He loved basking in the smiles of the superstitious big fellows who are the players for Phil Wrigley's team. But more than anything else he has wanted to be a movie star. Today with a five-year contract in his pocket and only 780 miles more to go aboard the Union Pacific's Los Angeles Limited, Paul Dominick was getting close to his dearest wish - and the dream of a kid come true."
• Also on November 9th, The Salt Lake Telegram of Salt Lake City reported the following: "From school desk to ball club to Hollywood. Reads like a double play performed by the Chicago Cubs, whom Paul Dominick, a Salt Lake City visitor Saturday (the 9th), mascoted during the recent world's series. Paul passed through the city en route to Hollywood and a movie career. The 8-year-old boy, who mixed baseball and studies, is transferring the latter for a while to the movie capital, where he will play in Hal Roach comedies. He is accompanied on the Union Pacific Los Angeles Limited by his sister, Lucille Dominick, and manager, C. C. Hoover. Paul earned the name 'Luck Charm' Dominick when the Cubs won 21 straight games last season."
• On November 10th, Paul arrived in Los Angeles donning his Chicago Cubs uniform, and was greeted at the train station by Alfalfa (in his cowboy garb), Darla (during her blonde phase) and Buckwheat (in costume). As the Associated Press reported: "Paul was too excited to talk when he arrived. At the station to meet him were other youthful actors and actresses (members of 'Our Gang') who will be his associates. Paul's movie contract has already been signed and delivered to Hal Roach, producer."
• On November 11th, the Los Angeles Times reported the following: "Paul Dominick, mascot of the pennant-winning Chicago Cubs, arrived yesterday aboard the Los Angeles Limited to enter motion pictures. He was accompanied by his manager, Charles C. Hoover, and his sister, Betty Dominick. The mascot, who is 8 years of age, three feet and one-half inches in height and tips the scales at 120 pounds, is to be the fat boy of Hal Roach's 'Our Gang,' stepping into the shoes originally worn by Joe Cobb, who gained attention as a result of his seven years' association with the film gang."
• Also on November 11th, Paul's contract with Hal Roach Studios took effect. He initially worked in a film called Three On A Bench, which would have starred Jimmy Savo with the Our Gang kids in support. The shooting lasting for only a few days before the project was abandoned.
• On November 17th, as though reports of Paul being 8 years old weren't enough, The Sunday Times-Signal of Zanesville, OH, claimed he was six. Just to be clear, reports from months earlier stating that he was 15 were accurate.
• On November 23rd, Paul received his final check from the Roach studio, though it had triple the usual amount, suggesting that Roach was paying him for an additional two weeks without needing him around for those two weeks. His check was charged to production G35, which was the Our Gang short, Divot Diggers. On December 6th, Movienews of Chicago actually reported that Paul would be appearing in that short, which might be a pretty good indicator that he worked in it, but he didn't wind up in the finished product.
• On December 7th, the United Press reported the following: "Paul Dominick, the Chicago Cubs' fat mascot, who came to Hollywood to join 'Our Gang,' just couldn't act so Hal Roach sorrowfully let him go." His obituary in the Dec. 24, 2007, Mattoon Journal Gazette alternately explained it this way: "They were hoping that he could play the part of Chubby, but they decided that he was too old for the part."

1936

• On August 22nd, the Chicago Cubs played against the Cincinnati Reds in a 60th anniversary exhibition game using the rules that were in place during 1876, the inaugural year of the National League. Most, if not all, of the players donned handlebar moustaches, as did good luck charm Paul Dominick. By this time, he was wearing glasses.

1937

• On April 20th of this year, the Cubs lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates on their Opening Day. As revealed in the Chicago Daily Tribune, Paul was still the Cub mascot.
• On April 23rd, the Associated Press reported the following: "It won't be good news to seven National League clubs to learn that Paul Dominick, mascot for the Cubs during that 21-game winning streak in 1935, is back on the job."
• As of September 23rd, Paul was still the mascot on the day the Cubs were eliminated from the pennant race.

It seems apparent that Paul's status as the mascot of the Chicago Cubs ended after the 1937 season. Surely, with the team winning another pennant in 1938, he would have been mentioned in the local newspapers, and yet there's nothing to be found during that year. In fact, there's very little information about Paul Dominick in the archives of newspapers.com after 1937, with the main item being his obituary from 2007. This provides some additional details about his entry into Cubs history in September 1935, but not a whole lot of post-1937 info. We do learn that he remained a Cubs fan for the rest of his life, that he was a member of the Our Lady of the Snow Catholic Church in Chicago, and a member of the Moose Lodge in Chicago, and that he retired at some point (probably during the '80s) from the Boye Needle Factory in Chicago. No spouse or children are listed among his survivors, so presumably he remained single all his life.

Paul Dominick's payroll history

The following is a list of Paul's very brief history at the Roach studio, with the amounts he was making each week.

• Nov. 16, 1935 - 50.00 charged to prod. F9 (Three On A Bench)
   For some reason, the name Arthur Guerin is written in next to Paul's entry in the ledger.
• Nov. 23, 1935 - 150.00 charged to prod. G35 (Divot Diggers)
   Paul didn't wind up in G35, but could possibly have worked in it. The dollar amount might be a case of consolidating three weeks' worth of pay and showing him the door.

See anything that needs changing? Contact me at BtheW@aol.com.

© Robert Demoss.

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