Back When There Was Baseball

Larry Hardy joins us on the podcast this week. Larry played from 1970-1979 with the Padres and Astros. He was called up to the Majors in 1974 with San Diego and ended the season with the rookie record for appearances by a pitcher with 76. Larry posted a 9-4 record that year with an ERA of 4.69. He bounced up and down from the Minor Leagues to the Majors for the remainder of his career and coached for several years after his playing days. Larry was a coach for the Republican team in 2017 when the mass shooting occurred that injured Rep. Steve Scalise. Enjoy these insightful stories when we go Back When There Was Baseball.

Jim Gosger joins us this week. Jim played from 1963-1974 with the Red Sox, Kansas City/Oakland A's, New York Mets and Montreal Expos. He had the privilege to play for several managers including Johnny Pesky, Alvin Dark, Gil Hodges, Gene Mauch and Yogi Berra. Take this trip Back When There Was Baseball as Jim shares many memories and funny stories from his days in the Big Leagues.

We are privileged to speak with "Sudden" Sam McDowell this week on Back When There Was Baseball. Sam had a storied career, pitching from 1961-1975 in both the American and National Leagues. He was part of one of the greatest pitching staffs in the history of the game, the 1968 Cleveland Indians. All four starters had ERAs under 3, but Sam and Luis Tiant were under 2. Sam has a second story to tell, which took place after his playing career was over. Enjoy this outstanding interview with one of the best pitchers in the 1960s through the early 1970s.

This week's guest is Jack Hiatt. Jack was a Major League catcher for 9 seasons, mainly with the San Francisco Giants. He broke into the Majors for the Los Angeles Angels in 1964. The Angels were in their 3rd season as an expansion franchise that year and they finished with a record of 82-80, which was unheard of for an expansion team during that time-period. Jack was traded to the San Francisco Giants for Jose Cardenal in November of 1964. He played for the Giants through the 1969 season where the Giants finished in 2nd place each season. Enjoy this episode of Back When There Was Baseball as Jack talks about playing with the likes of Willie McCovey, Willie Mays, Orlando Cepeda, Juan Marichal and many others.

We look back at the 1969 "Miracle Mets" this week with our guest Rod Gaspar. Rod was the starting right fielder at the beginning of the season replacing Art Shamsky who was injured. The Mets were 5 games behind the NL East leading Chicago Cubs on September 1 and made a furious run for the NL East crown down the stretch. This was the first year of Divisional Playoffs and the Mets had to face the NL West champion Atlanta Braves. The Mets swept the Braves in 3 games, then went on to beat the Baltimore Orioles in 5 games to win the World Series. Listen to Rod Gaspar tell it like it was Back When There Was Baseball.

Greg Harris is our guest this week and is noted for pitching ambidextrously, which he accomplished in 1995 with the Montreal Expos. He pitched in the Majors from 1981-1995. Greg was not only a "jack of all trades" as a pitcher but was a decent hitter as well. Greg pitched for many ball clubs and was very effective. In 1995 he got his chance to pitch from "both sides of the mound". Greg created a 6-finger glove and was ready at all times to pitch from both sides. He finally got that opportunity in Montreal on September 28, 1995. We go Back When There Was Baseball to the 1980s through the mid-1990s with our guest, Greg Harris.

Jack DiLauro passed away on December 7, 2024. We re-air this podcast in honor of him:

Who has the New York Mets' 3rd best ERA with over 50 innings pitched with the club? His name is Jack DiLauro and he joins us this week. Jack was a part of the 1969 "Miracle Mets" pitching staff. He did not pitch in the postseason that year, however his 2.40 ERA helped the Mets get there. Jack only played 2 years in the Majors and was part of an unfortunate situation of being in the Detroit Tigers organization behind their great pitching staff even though he had a great record in their farm system. He was never invited to spring training with the Tigers. Jack shares some great stories as we go Back When There Was Baseball in the late 1960s through the early 1970s.

There was a commercial in the 1970s for Rolaids (antacid relief) which went viral: How do you spell relief? R-O-L-A-I-D-S. In 1976, Rolaids sponsored the Rolaids Relief Man awarded to the best relief pitcher in Major League Baseball. Our guest this week altered the commercial slogan which went, How do you spell relief: T-O-M-H-U-M-E. Tom Hume pitched in the Majors from 1977-1987. In the late 1970s through the early 1980s, Tom was one of the best closers in the game. He wasn't the hardest throwing relief pitcher, but he knew how to get guys out, which is the most essential part of pitching. Join us as we go Back When There Was Baseball to the cities of Cincinnati and Philadelphia with our guest, Tom Hume.

Our guest this week is Ron Reed. Ron is one of only 13 athletes to play in the NBA and also Major League Baseball. He played for the Detroit Pistons for 3 years, coming out of Notre Dame, before deciding to focus on baseball. Ron was a starting pitcher for the Atlanta Braves from 1966-1975. After finishing up the 1975 season with the St. Louis Cardinals, he was traded to the Philadelphia Philles. Starting in 1976 and lasting for the duration of his career (1984) he was an outstanding relief pitcher. In his 8 years with the Phillies, he appeared in 6 postseasons. We hope you enjoy this trip Back When There Was Baseball with Ron Reed.

Mark Littell passed away on September 5, 2022. We re-air this podcast in honor of him:

Our guest this week is Mark Littell, relief pitcher with the Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals from the mid-1970s through the early 1980s. Mark was involved in several great moments in baseball history. He is unfortunately recognized as the pitcher who gave up the home run to Chris Chambliss in Game 5 of the 1976 ALCS which allowed the Yankees to advance to the World Series. However, Mark was the winning pitcher in both ends of a doubleheader, was the winning pitcher the night Lou Brock got his 3,000th hit, and also surrendered Pete Rose's 3,631st hit, which set the National League record. He averaged 11 strikeouts per nine innings in 1978, which is a Cardinals record. Mark Littell had 4 outstanding seasons in a row: 1976/1977 (K.C. Royals) and 1978/1979 (St. Louis Cardinals). Mark shares some funny stories about his career as we look Back When There Was Baseball.