The Naked Truth : Cub Front Office Finds It Can’t, Uh, Bare to Look at Its Ballgirl Anymore

Holy Cow! Harry Caray made it, too. He’s in there. He’s in the September issue of Playboy. He’s pictured with his arms around the best looking Cubbie you’ll probably ever see--ballgirl Marla Collins.

“Yeah, but I got my clothes on,” Caray said.

Marla Collins doesn’t.

Yes, in her picture with Caray--the Chicago Cub broadcaster--she’s wearing her official ballgirl suit. But on adjacent pages, she’s wearing only her birthday suit.

The magazine hit the streets Tuesday, and it caused a major ruckus among team executives. On the front cover was the headline, “Chicago Cubs Ballgirl Marla Collins.” And inside, there she was with another headline, “Belle of the Ballclub.”

And then underneath was the subhead: “You’ve seen the Cubs’ beautiful ball girl, Marla Collins, in the friendly confines of Wrigley Field. Here’s more of her--unconfined.”

Then came the pictures.

She showed up for work as usual Tuesday but was called in for a meeting with the front office.

Turns out that she has run down her last foul ball.

They sent her home.

“I did not quit, and I was not fired,” she said later. “But I will no longer be here. It was--I don’t know how you say it--a parting of the ways? They wished me the best, and I wished them the best. They believe more, I think, in conservative ways. When it comes down to it, I think they’re pretty much a group of ultraconservative people.”

Still, no one knew of the front office decision. As game time neared Tuesday, several television mini-cams were parked behind the first base dugout--that’s where she normally sits--to get close-up shots of her. They waited and waited.

Finally, a member of the ground crew sat down. He wore long pants--she used to wear short shorts--and a Cub cap and a red shirt.

He was supposed to be Marla Collins.

People booed.

“I think that might have been part of the problem--that I was a little more popular (than the team),” Collins said. “Obviously, their job is to promote the team and not me. All of a sudden, I’m becoming a little too popular.” The Cubs discovered Collins five years ago when she was working a beer concession at Comiskey Park for the White Sox. They were changing things around at Wrigley at the time and decided they wanted a ballgirl. She accepted their offer.

But five years on the job got to be a little bit of a drag. She was getting married soon, and Playboy had approached her almost two years ago about some pictures. She said she felt the time was right. She asked Playboy to wait until after the season, but they pressured her. They said after the season would be too late.

They told her the September issue would be best time.

She didn’t know it would come out in July.