Radio Baseball Cards

Bowie Kuhn served as the 5th commissioner of Major League Baseball between February 4, 1969 to September 30, 1984. In 1972, baseball celebrated Jackie Robinson's contribution on the 25th anniversary. Kuhn remembers working with Robinson and his impact.

This episode originally aired August 9, 1987.

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Harmon Clayton Killebrew had a 22 year major league career, and retired as the career leader in home runs by a right-handed batter (the record has since been broken).

Killebrew became one of the American League's most feared power hitters of the 1960s, belting 40 homers in a season eight times. In 1965 he helped the Twins reach the World Series, where they lost to Don Drysdale's Los Angeles Dodgers. Killebrew had his finest season in 1969, hitting 49 home runs, driving in 140 runs, and winning the MVP Award. Killebrew led the league in home runs six times, in RBI three times, and was named to eleven All Star teams. As a result, he was nicknamed "Killer" - a portmanteau linking the first 5 letters of his last name with his legendary hitting ability.

With exceptional upper-body strength, Killebrew was known not just for home run frequency but also significant "tape measure homer" distance. He hit the longest measured home runs at the ballparks in Minnesota and Baltimore, and was the first of just four batters who cleared the left field roof at Detroit.

Despite his "Killer" nickname and his powerful style of play, Killebrew was in fact a quiet, kind man who was not much given to the partying lifestyle enjoyed by his peers. Asked once what he liked to do for fun, Killebrew replied, "Well, I like to wash dishes, I guess."

Killebrew never hit 50 home runs in a single season, but he did hit 49 homers in a season twice (1964, 1969). He hit the most home runs for any player in the 1960s. For his entire career, he hit 573 home runs (ninth best all time, most by an American League right-hander, and second in the AL only to Babe Ruth, as of 2005) and drove in 1,584 runs. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984, the first Minnesota Twin to be so honored.

Following his retirement, Killebrew was a television broadcaster for the Twins from 1976 to 1978, the Oakland Athletics from 1979 to 1982, the California Angels in 1983

George Howard Brett (born May 15, 1953 in Glen Dale, West Virginia), a third baseman, was the youngest of four sons of a sports-minded family which included his oldest brother Ken, a major-league pitcher who had pitched in the World Series in 1967 at 19 years old. Brothers John and Bobby had brief careers in the minor leagues. Although George was born in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia, the Brett family moved to the Midwest and later to El Segundo, a suburb of Los Angeles, just south of Los Angeles International Airport. George grew up hoping to follow in the footsteps of his three older brothers. He graduated from El Segundo High School in 1971 and was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the second round (29th overall) of the 1971 baseball draft. His high school teammate was pitcher Scott McGregor.

His 3,154 career hits are the most by any third baseman in major league history, and 15th all-time. Baseball historian Bill James regards him as the second-best third baseman of all time, trailing only his contemporary, Mike Schmidt. Brett was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1999, with what was then the fourth-highest voting percentage in baseball history (98.2%), trailing only Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, and Ty Cobb. In 2007, Cal Ripken Jr. passed Brett with 98.5% of the vote. His voting percentage was higher than all-time outfielders Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Stan Musial, Ted Williams, and Joe DiMaggio. That same year, he ranked Number 55 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was nominated as a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. Brett is one of four players in MLB history to accumulate 3,000 hits, 300 home runs, and a career .300 batting average (the others are Stan Musial, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron). Most indicative of his hitting style, Brett is sixth on the career doubles list, with 665 (trailing Tris Speaker, Pete Rose, Stan Musial, Ty Cobb, and Craig Biggio). Combining his superior hitting

Despite playing most of his 21 year career with Milwaukee, Hall of Famer Paul Molitor's favorite All-Star game memory was in his home town of Minneapolis/St. Paul. Few major leaguers come from that area, but for this All-Star game, Paul remembers how three local heroes shined.

This episode originally aired July 14, 1987.

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Among many firsts in Fred Lynn's career that lasted from 1974-1990, he's the first player ever to hit a grand slam in an All-Star Game. In this episode, he remembers when he realized what he did.

This episode originally aired July 1, 1987.

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Al Kaline never spent time in the minor leagues and played his entire career for the Detroit Tigers. His biggest thrill in the majors was fulfilling a life long dream of wearing a big league uniform

This episode originally aired April 20, 1987.

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Tommy Lasorda has always been known as a great ambassador to Baseball, and the long time manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He'll be the first to tell you that he was a quality Major League pitcher who shouldn't have been sent down to the minors in 1955. He remembers the bad choice the Dodgers management made in sending him down and who took his spot in the rotation.

This episode originally aired July 17, 1987.

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Don Newcombe is frustrated to watch baseball games today because he thinks that pitchers have lost control of the strike zone. Too often, a fight will break out because of an inside pitch. In the 1940s-1960s a pitcher wouldn’t think twice about hitting the batter. In this episode he defends his right to protect the plate […]

Lynn Nolan Ryan, Jr. (born January 31, 1947) is a former American right-handed pitcher who played in a major league record 27 seasons for the New York Mets, California Angels, Houston Astros, and Texas Rangers, from 1966 to 1993.

Ryan, a hard-throwing right-handed pitcher, threw pitches that were regularly recorded above 100 mph, even past the age of 40. The media tagged him, or more specifically his pitching, as "The Ryan Express" (a reference to the 1965 film Von Ryan's Express).

Ryan was an eight-time MLB All-Star, and his 5,714 career strikeouts rank first in baseball history. He leads the runner-up by over 1,000 strikeouts as of early in the 2007 season. The pitcher in second place as of early 2007 varies between Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson, who are both active and who are both over the 4,600-strikeout mark. Similarly, Ryan's 2,795 bases on balls lead second-place Steve Carlton by 962—walking over 50% more hitters than any other pitcher in Major League history.

Ryan is also the all-time leader in no-hitters with seven, three more than any other pitcher. He is tied with Bob Feller for the most one-hitters with 12. Ryan also pitched 18 two-hitters.

This episode originally aired September 11, 1987.

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Nicknamed "King Carl" by the fans and "The Meal Ticket" by his teammates, Carl Hubbell played his entire career for the New York Giants between 1928-1943. With a slow delivery of his devastating screwball, Hubbell recorded five consecutive 20-win seasons for the Giants (1933-37), and helped his team to three NL pennants and the 1933 World Series title.

In the 1934 All-Star game played at the Polo Grounds, Hubbell set a record by striking out in succession five batters destined for Cooperstown: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons and Joe Cronin. For the 50th anniversary of this legendary performance, Hubbell was on hand at the 1984 All-Star Game at the Giants' Candlestick Park in San Francisco to throw out the first pitch (a screwball of course).

Hubbell died due to injuries sustained in an auto accident in Scottsdale, Arizona at 85 years of age in 1988.

This interview, recorded during the Giants' 1987 Spring Training camp, features Hubbell talking about his first game in the Major Leagues and being inducted into the Hall of Fame.

This episode originally aired August 24, 1987, 44 years after his final game.

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