Baseball Discourse

Michael Kay, Mel Allen When New York Yankees television broadcaster Michael Kay posted a tweet the other day of him sitting side-by-side with Mel Allen, it evoked memories of the time Allen came to Torrington, Connecticut, my home town. Allen was truly the only "Voice of the Yankees."  First on radio and then on television in the 1940s, 50s and early 60s, Allen got the assignment to call the big events, whether it be the World Series - which the Yankees were almost always in each season - the All-Star Game, the Rose Bowl or the Kentucky Derby for Fox's Movietone reels in theaters. Allen was everywhere.  How many people know, for example, that he and Ronald Reagan teamed up to co-host the Rose Bowl Parade television coverage in 1960?  Or that in the early 60s, that Mel called New York Giants football games on radio? But the New York Yankees were his first and some say only love.  And when the Yankees fired him in 1964 at the still relatively young age of 50 - for reasons the ball club never disclosed - it broke his heart.  Some say he was never the same person after that. This week, when Hartford Courant sportswriter Dom Amore, who once covered the Yankees on a daily basis for the paper, retweeted Kay's photo of Allen, it reminded me of the time Mel came to Torrington to speak to a packed house at the Knights of Columbus.  This was back in the day, when sports banquets were popular and affordable.  Hot Stove banquets were especially enjoyable, as people gathered on a cold night to hear a guest speaker talk baseball.  And on this cold night in February 1968, Allen - nearly four years removed from his Yankee gig - did not disappoint. Allen regaled the audience for 30 minutes with stories about baseball and his career.  I was at the event that night.  Fortunately, a future broadcast colleague - already getting a foothold in the business - had the foresight to have a reel-to-reel tape recorder rolling that night.  Years later, when I started working with Paul Pagano, I asked him if he still had the tape.  He not only had it, but gave me a cassette copy.  Of course, Mel's talk has gone digital.  I even donated a copy to the baseball Hall of Fame. His talk is what you will hear on the podcast, after I set the scene by putting that night and his career into context.  In this cold month of November, as the snow flies, hopefully a little baseball talk from a bygone era, from a Hall of Fame broadcaster, will help stoke the hot stove. Enjoy!

Michael Kay, Mel AllenWhen New York Yankees television broadcaster Michael Kay posted a tweet the other day of him sitting side-by-side with Mel Allen, it evoked memories of the time Allen came to Torrington, Connecticut, my home town. Allen was truly the only "Voice of the Yankees."  First on radio and then on television in the 1940s, 50s and early 60s, Allen got the assignment to call the big events, whether it be the World Series - which the Yankees were almost always in each season - the All-Star Game, the Rose Bowl or the Kentucky Derby for Fox's Movietone reels in theaters.   Allen was everywhere.  How many people know, for example, that he and Ronald Reagan teamed up to co-host the Rose Bowl Parade television coverage in 1960?  Or that in the early 60s, that Mel called New York Giants football games on radio? But the New York Yankees were his first and some say only love.  And when the Yankees fired him in 1964 at the still relatively young age of 50 - for reasons the ball club never disclosed - it broke his heart.  Some say he was never the same person after that. This week, when Hartford Courant sportswriter Dom Amore, who once covered the Yankees on a daily basis for the paper, retweeted Kay's photo of Allen, it reminded me of the time Mel came to Torrington to speak to a packed house at the Knights of Columbus.  This was back in the day, when sports banquets were popular and affordable.  Hot Stove banquets were especially enjoyable, as people gathered on a cold night to hear a guest speaker talk baseball.  And on this cold night in February 1968, Allen - nearly four years removed from his Yankee gig - did not disappoint. Allen regaled the audience for 30 minutes with stories about baseball and his career.  I was at the event that night.  Fortunately, a future broadcast colleague - already getting a foothold in the business - had the foresight to have a reel-to-reel tape recorder rolling that night.  Years later, when I started working with Paul Pagano, I asked him if he still had the tape.  He not only had it, but gave me a cassette copy.  Of course, Mel's talk has gone digital.  I even donated a copy to the baseball Hall of Fame.   His talk is what you will hear on the podcast, after I set the scene by putting that night and his career into context.  In this cold month of November, as the snow flies, hopefully a little baseball talk from a bygone era, from a Hall of Fame broadcaster, will help stoke the hot stove.   Enjoy!

So what if the New York Mets want Tim Tebow on the roster!  That's the topic of my latest episode on "The Baseball Beat." There has been some controversy stirred up on sports talk radio, since the Mets announced last week that Tebow, the former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL quarterback, would be assigned to the Mets AAA affiliate at Syracuse come spring.  New general manager Brodie Van Wagenen even hinted a great spring training could earn Tebow a spot on the big league roster come Opening Day 2019.  That really sent the opinion makers into a tizzy. On this podcast, I explain why the Mets are justified to consider Tebow for a big league spot.  

So what if the New York Mets want Tim Tebow on the roster!  That's the topic of my latest episode on "The Baseball Beat." There has been some controversy stirred up on sports talk radio, since the Mets announced last week that Tebow, the former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL quarterback, would be assigned to the Mets AAA affiliate at Syracuse come spring.  New general manager Brodie Van Wagenen even hinted a great spring training could earn Tebow a spot on the big league roster come Opening Day 2019.  That really sent the opinion makers into a tizzy. On this podcast, I explain why the Mets are justified to consider Tebow for a big league spot.

As we approach this important Election Day, 2018, did you know that Willie Mays once ran against Don Drysdale for President of the United States?  And that Mickey Mantle and Casey Stengel once squared off in a U.S. Senate race?  They did.  And in this edition of "The Baseball Beat," I will explain what's up with that?

Donie BushCan you imagine, if they had sports talk radio in 1927? Owen "Donie" Bush was the manager of the 1927 National League pennant winning Pittsburgh Pirates. The former big league shortstop was in his first year as manager of the Bucs and he guided them to the NL crown, but they lost in four games to arguably the greatest club in baseball history, the '27 Yankees. These were the New York Yankees of Ruth and Gehrig.  In the fourth game of the series, trailing 3-0 in the seventh inning, the Pirates put runners and first and second with nobody out.  Up stepped one of the game's great hitters, Lloyd Waner.  Bush had this future Hall of Famer bunt instead of swinging away.  The strategy was heavily criticized by one of the game's greatest managers. In my latest edition of The Baseball Beat, we learn the manager who let Bush have it and speculate on what would have happened, if we had sports talk radio in 1927. #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own Mailchimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */ Subscribe to our mailing list* indicates required Email Address * First Name (function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';fnames[1]='FNAME';ftypes[1]='text';fnames[3]='ADDRESS';ftypes[3]='address';fnames[4]='PHONE';ftypes[4]='phone';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true);

Donie Bush Can you imagine, if they had sports talk radio in 1927? Owen "Donie" Bush was the manager of the 1927 National League pennant winning Pittsburgh Pirates. The former big league shortstop was in his first year as manager of the Bucs and he guided them to the NL crown, but they lost in four games to arguably the greatest club in baseball history, the '27 Yankees. These were the New York Yankees of Ruth and Gehrig.  In the fourth game of the series, trailing 3-0 in the seventh inning, the Pirates put runners and first and second with nobody out.  Up stepped one of the game's great hitters, Lloyd Waner.  Bush had this future Hall of Famer bunt instead of swinging away.  The strategy was heavily criticized by one of the game's greatest managers. In my latest edition of The Baseball Beat, we learn the manager who let Bush have it and speculate on what would have happened, if we had sports talk radio in 1927.

As we enter the climax of the election season, I have to look back at that famous philosopher: Yogi Berra.  How often, especially down the homestretch of a campaign, did a politician quote Yogi?  "It's never over, until it's over!"  "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." Between the World Series - Berra owns numerous World Series records that last to this day - and the campaign season, including those never-ending political ads - I got to thinking about Yogi the other day and the two times I interviewed him. In my latest podcast, I share those interviews. As for those endless and imbecilic political ads?  Yogi might say, "It's never over, even when it's over."

In 1983, while broadcasting baseball games for the Kinston Blue Jays of the Carolina League, I had the chance to interview Buck Leonard, one of the greatest baseball players. Leonard was a Negro League star on the Homestead Grays from 1934 to 1950. He was also a teammate of the great Josh Gibson. Both he and Gibson would be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972. In 1999, The Sporting News ranked him number 47 among the 100 greatest players to play baseball. Leonard was 75, when I interviewed him. We talked about his career, Jackie Robinson and so much more. Leonard died at the age of 90 on Nov. 27, 1997.

Who would have thought, when I was growing up in the 60's, that I would someday have the chance to interview Mickey Mantle.  But there I was, in 1980, doing just that, interviewing the great New York Yankee. Mantle comes to Winsted Back in the day baseball players or retired baseball players would augment their income by making the rounds, speaking at banquets.  Mantle was no exception.  And so it was, 12 years after announcing his retirement, Mantle paid a visit to Winsted, CT, where he was the guest speaker at a banquet to raise funds for youth baseball leagues. Mantle did not disappoint that night, proving to be an entertaining speaker, regaling his audience with one funny story after another.  The Mick had the reputation of being moody, but on this night he was in a great mood, from the moment I interviewed him before the banquet, until after the event. It's fair to say that Mantle's visit to northwest Connecticut some 38 years ago, was a grand slam.