1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,520 This is Retro Sports Radio. Visit RetroSeasons.com for more sports history. 2 00:00:06,520 --> 00:00:11,400 Ernie, you've seen so many great players and moments in your 55 years in the booth from 3 00:00:11,400 --> 00:00:16,600 Jackie Robinson stealing home on your very first broadcast to Bobby Thompson shot her 4 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:21,800 around the world to Willie May's debut with the Giants in 51. There are a few others though 5 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:27,520 that help shape baseball history, aren't there? For example, Nolan Ryan had 7-0 hitters and 6 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:32,200 you were there for one of them. Oh yeah, that was a great moment. Nolan Ryan pitched a no-hitter 7 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:38,400 against the Tigers and not only pitched a great no-hit game, but he almost broke the strikeout 8 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:44,400 record and I think as a broadcaster I was concentrating as much on the strikeout record as 9 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:50,800 I was a no-hit performance. In the ninth inning, two out, nobody on, one out to go for Nolan. 10 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:57,560 Then Norman Cash comes to bat and he is sent back to the bench by the umpire. His bat is illegal. 11 00:00:57,560 --> 00:01:03,760 He comes up to bat with a new bat, pops to shortstop. Nolan gets his no-hitter and I asked 12 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:08,000 Norman after the game, I said, Norman, why was that bat illegal? What happened? He said, 13 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:11,440 well Ernie, we weren't hitting the guy and I certainly wasn't going to get a hit off him. 14 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:16,120 So I went in the clubhouse and I got a leg off the table and took it up there to bat against him. 15 00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:21,520 Well here's a very important last half of the ninth inning coming up. Nolan Ryan on the 16 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:27,680 verge of setting baseball in history. He is only three outs away from a no-hit shutout against 17 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:33,880 the Tigers and he is only three strikeouts away from setting the all-time major league record in 18 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:42,320 strikeout. Cash is struck out twice and bounce the second. One more out and Ryan has a no-hitter. 19 00:01:42,320 --> 00:01:49,920 It'll be the second no-hitter pitched against the Tigers this year. Norman getting a new bat 20 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:56,800 and I believe that's going to be tossed out. Luciano does not want him to use that bat. 21 00:01:56,800 --> 00:02:05,640 Been ruled illegal by the play dumpire. Oh Norman gets a new bat. There are two down in the 22 00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:12,040 ninth inning. Ryan cannot tie the major league strikeout record. He can tie Bob Fellows America 23 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:20,360 league record of 18 and the pitch to cash is a ball. Oh a curve ball breaking in only one strike 24 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:26,200 away from tying the American League strikeout record by Bob Feller. Here's the wind up. He pitches 25 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:35,040 swing and a pop fly back in the left field going back. He's there. Ryan has his no-hitter but he 26 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:42,200 does not tie the strikeout record. He is mobbed by his angel teammates as he comes off the mound and 27 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:49,160 it is a no-hit victory for the young man from Texas Nolan Ryan. Ernie one event that took the 28 00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:54,560 nation by storm was Hank Aaron's chase of Babe Ruth's career home run record. Being in the 29 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:59,920 American League and not in the national during the time that was going on what were your perceptions 30 00:02:59,920 --> 00:03:05,640 of Hank Aaron's pursuit. I was rooting for Hank to break babes record but I tell you it was a tough 31 00:03:05,640 --> 00:03:10,960 thing for Hank because he got a lot of abuse about it. A lot of people felt like the babe should 32 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:15,920 always be the home run king and I think maybe you know in a lot of people's minds he'll remain the 33 00:03:15,920 --> 00:03:22,280 home run king but Henry Aaron got a lot of abuse that he did not deserve and he went through with 34 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:28,920 it and I think did a tremendous job to keep his focus on baseball and finally break the record of 35 00:03:28,920 --> 00:03:37,720 Babe Ruth. Henry Aaron in the second inning walked and scored. He's sitting on 7 14. 36 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:46,840 Here's the pitch by downing swinging. There's a drive into left center field. That ball is gonna be 37 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:59,480 out of here. It's gone. It's 7 15. There's a new home run champion of all time and it's Henry Aaron. The fireworks are going. 38 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:18,280 Henry Aaron is coming around third. His teammate at home plate and listen to this crowd. 39 00:04:18,280 --> 00:04:30,840 The crowd is cheering. Henry Aaron the home run king of all time. You've had the opportunity to call 40 00:04:30,840 --> 00:04:37,400 baseball games that featured a lot of future Hall of Famers. How about Yogi Barrow? Yogi Barrow was one 41 00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:42,960 of the smartest guys ever met in baseball. A great friend and I really love the Yogi like everybody 42 00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:48,800 does and I was with him on the veterans committee and he came to that committee well prepared about 43 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:54,760 the other players that we're gonna vote on. He had great insight and I think his sayings are full of 44 00:04:54,760 --> 00:05:01,720 wisdom. You know he says it in a different way but he's a very wise wise man. I guess he's Yogi 45 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:07,200 Barrow. Yogi what about all these stories now we hear all these Yogi Barrow stories and some of them 46 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:13,140 are true some of Mark. How did all that get started? Well I don't know I think when I go to the 47 00:05:13,140 --> 00:05:18,440 bank was always mention my name on it you know Yogi said this Yogi said that. I guess the one you 48 00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:23,160 could really get the truth on is Joe Gargiard because you know we grew up with him. We know each 49 00:05:23,160 --> 00:05:28,880 other a long time he got pretty good idea. Well Yogi if you said all those things they say you said 50 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:33,080 you wouldn't be doing anything we're talking all your life would you? You're not kidding that's 51 00:05:33,080 --> 00:05:41,240 the truth. I don't know sometimes I say you know home my kids and my wife I'll say something they'll 52 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:46,920 say there's another one. What did I say you know and all that but but usually I don't I didn't say 53 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:52,040 all them things. Some are true and like you said some are false. What do you think Yogi Barrow 54 00:05:52,040 --> 00:06:01,840 would have done if he hadn't been a big league ball player? My gosh I couldn't tell you. I know I 55 00:06:01,840 --> 00:06:06,800 worked in the shoe factory when I was a kid before I started playing ball. Maybe I might have still 56 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:12,360 been in the shoe factory. Now you've been a player you've been a coach you've been a manager which 57 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:18,400 is the most fun in the big leagues playing? Playing is the best fun. Well coaching is too you know 58 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:22,640 you know you see these kids you know if you get some good ones you know make you happy and everything 59 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:33,000 and I enjoy this my 41st year now and I still enjoy it I think if I didn't want to do I don't 60 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:37,960 have to do it but I like it I can't wait till spring training comes along. What's the kick out of 61 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:42,240 coaching see young kids develop is that it? You know help out the catchers young catchers and 62 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:48,320 everything and it is it is good you know to see some young kids come along. Yogi what's the most 63 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:54,280 important thing a young catcher has to learn when he comes to the big leagues? Boy if they I know 64 00:06:54,280 --> 00:07:01,040 it they're hard to find now I know that we're looking for one over there ourselves and I don't 65 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:05,920 know I think the kids just don't want to do it no more they think it's a lot more hard enough for 66 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:12,440 it and I always try to tell us the best position to play you have a lot of fun you get to talk to 67 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:17,680 everybody up there and you're in the game more and everything we have one kid over here a kid 68 00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:23,800 named Greg Bijou we just signed on a seed and haul I don't know if you see him today but he 69 00:07:23,800 --> 00:07:28,520 really wants to play he's really got a lot of life and he takes choice for a young kid. What's 70 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:33,880 the secret of throwing for a catcher getting the ball off quick? Well I get I see a lot of 71 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:38,760 catchers today aren't they well I can't show it to you on here they seem like they catch the ball 72 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:44,080 first and then they throw it I always like to go up for the ball like an infielder did I say and 73 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:49,640 throw it because you get you know like an infielder you know I like to move on my right foot first 74 00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:56,440 into the ball and then you put something on it you get a lot of the catchers they they catch it and 75 00:07:56,440 --> 00:08:01,240 then they throw it throw like a lot of flat foot and everything they do all their movement after 76 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:05,560 they catch the ball instead of doing it while the ball's in flight mm-hmm a lot of them think 77 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:11,040 they say well the hitter is going to hit me you know if I start moving right and I try to teach 78 00:08:11,040 --> 00:08:18,160 you won't get hit I let him swing and I tell you won't you won't hit me sure and but it's it's tough 79 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:23,400 to do some of them I don't know like Dickie when he got a hold of me my gosh he worked my butt off 80 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:29,840 every day every day so you get used to you know I used to go home after work out and stand in front 81 00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:35,440 of a mirror mm-hmm to work on my footwork you know just to see how I was doing well it paid off for 82 00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:43,640 you I loved it I want everything to build a gentleman who pitched in Detroit Jim Bunning Jim 83 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:49,320 Bunning was a great guy I like Jim he was a very smart guy one of the first proponents of the 84 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:56,440 baseball union one of the strong proponents of it and he was a fine pitcher also and was later 85 00:08:56,440 --> 00:09:03,240 traded to Philadelphia where he pitched the perfect game against the New York Mets and then later on 86 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:09,400 as everybody knows he was elected to Congress from Kentucky and then after being a congressman he 87 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:14,520 moved over to the Senate and has been a very influential guy I got a sort of a kick out of Jim's 88 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:20,920 testimony when they had the big test about drugs and baseball and he made this epic speech about 89 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:26,800 cheating and baseball people should not cheat but I remember a game in Baltimore where he was scratching 90 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:32,600 the ball on his belt buckle and Billy Hitchcock the Baltimore manager collected about 10 or 12 91 00:09:32,600 --> 00:09:37,640 baseballs went to the umpire and said this guy is cheating but they didn't do anything about it but 92 00:09:37,640 --> 00:09:43,440 that's part of the game I think and I certainly excuse the senator for that sometimes it's all a 93 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:51,720 matter of perspective now some players have had careers interrupted by military service others 94 00:09:51,720 --> 00:09:58,240 more tragically and the first one that comes to mind is Roberto Clemente Roberto was a great guy he 95 00:09:58,240 --> 00:10:05,320 got his 3000th hit in the final year of his career and then that December the big disaster hit down 96 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:12,240 in Nicaragua and he wanted to help from his native Puerto Rico and he was sending supplies down 97 00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:18,000 there collecting them getting money for the folks who had been hit by this disaster and he 98 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:23,240 wasn't too satisfied because they were draining off some of the money so he got on the plane himself 99 00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:28,520 helped load the plane got on it and it took off and got no farther than a couple of hundred yards 100 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:34,880 before it fell into the ocean and Clemente gave his life for that cause so he did a lot more than 101 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:40,680 just played baseball but he was a sort of a misunderstood guy he was a guy that the Dodgers 102 00:10:40,680 --> 00:10:46,360 had signed and hidden away but then when Branch Rickey went to Pittsburgh he knew about Clemente 103 00:10:46,360 --> 00:10:52,640 and got him back into the spotlight signed him for Pittsburgh then he made his great hall of fame 104 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:59,440 career there holder of the longest consecutive game hitting streak in baseball history the Yankee 105 00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:05,160 Clipper Joe DiMaggio certainly was one of the superstars of baseball he had the celebrity 106 00:11:05,160 --> 00:11:11,800 status of a rock star and he had so much pressure put on him that he hit away from people and a lot 107 00:11:11,800 --> 00:11:18,440 of people thought he was different and cool but I found him after I got to know him and he got to 108 00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:24,800 know me a little bit that he was a quite warm and very responsive I did an interview with him and 109 00:11:24,800 --> 00:11:30,920 he talked about some of those great pressures put on him by the public and the celebrity that he had 110 00:11:30,920 --> 00:11:36,000 on the road for instance during the streak why we're pretty much left alone my roommate was 111 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:41,960 Gomez and because he did a great job of screening things and it wasn't the fault of the fans as 112 00:11:41,960 --> 00:11:46,840 much as they were well-wishers and at times they'd come knocking on a board on the door about two 113 00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:50,760 or three o'clock in the morning you know I'm just wanting an autograph to say hello or things of 114 00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:56,040 that sort and because we had other people that want to go I want you to go to banquets or lunches 115 00:11:56,040 --> 00:12:01,240 and breakfasts you know all those kind of things and I would have to say that was the pressure now 116 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:05,040 the thing that I did to escape most of all of that was to come to the ballpark about four 117 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:09,520 hours early so there was nobody at the park at that time and I just hung around the ballpark well 118 00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:13,320 is it true that when you were coming to the park in Cleveland on the day the streak was broken that 119 00:12:13,320 --> 00:12:18,400 the cab driver said that he thought the streak would be broken I thought all that stuff was 120 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:22,800 forgotten but I guess it's so true that's the truth and I was riding along with Gomez at the 121 00:12:22,800 --> 00:12:26,880 time and Gomez jumped all over me he just had the feeling he says he turned around he says Joe 122 00:12:26,880 --> 00:12:31,160 he says I just have a feeling that tonight is gonna be the night that they're gonna break your 123 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:36,280 streak and Gomez I could recall just jumped all over him you know and he kind of felt miserable 124 00:12:36,280 --> 00:12:39,880 about it because he told me later on he says you know he said that bothered me throughout 125 00:12:39,880 --> 00:12:44,400 that whole ball game and then the streak was broken but you started the brand new one didn't 126 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:48,680 you and that is correct but I must give a little credit there where it's due and I think more 127 00:12:48,680 --> 00:12:53,320 the great third basements is the one that really stopped it Kenny Calder who made two fantastic 128 00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:58,360 plays and I think only a man like him who played along the line that made the long throw is just 129 00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:03,520 nipping me bang bang just so like that you know but they had to come to one end at one time and 130 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:09,760 then there were a couple of guys whose last name began with G Charlie Garinger and Hank Green 131 00:13:09,760 --> 00:13:17,160 Berg Charlie Garinger was one of the real heroes of the Detroit baseball the mechanical man they 132 00:13:17,160 --> 00:13:22,680 called him there's so many great stories about Charlie I think one of the best that I like to 133 00:13:22,680 --> 00:13:29,320 relate is the fact he's the only Hall of Famer who did not attend his induction ceremonies because 134 00:13:29,320 --> 00:13:35,320 when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame it was the same year that he had decided to marry 135 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:42,360 his wife Joe and he had settled on a date it was going to be out in California arranged by 136 00:13:42,360 --> 00:13:48,160 Marv Owen and his wife so they'd set this date and it happened to be that when the Hall of Fame 137 00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:55,600 elected Charlie they picked the same date for the induction so Charlie decided it was more 138 00:13:55,600 --> 00:14:01,160 important to get married than it was to be inducted into the Hall of Fame of course he was inducted 139 00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:07,080 anyway but he just wasn't there but they used to say that he was a silent guy he was a great 140 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:13,840 personality a good storyteller and a wonderful person and then Greenberg Hank Greenberg was a 141 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:20,840 true hero in Detroit he was extra special because he fought prejudice just like Jackie Robinson 142 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:28,520 did later on and Hank went into the service twice not once in the World War two and gave a lot of 143 00:14:28,520 --> 00:14:34,480 his years that he could have been playing baseball to Uncle Sam he was a great slugger he missed out 144 00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:40,320 in the World Series in 35 because he broke his wrist in one of the first two games he didn't play 145 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:45,800 from then on and the Tigers suffered because of that but he also had a key home run when the Tigers 146 00:14:45,800 --> 00:14:51,440 won the pennant in 1945 against the St. Louis Browns when he first came out of the service and 147 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:57,000 then was one of the heroes of the 45 victory now you didn't broadcast any of the games this 148 00:14:57,000 --> 00:15:01,840 gentleman played in because he went into the Hall of Fame in 1942 but how about the Raja 149 00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:08,280 Rogers horns me I think I remember him best the managing in Cincinnati he had a very different 150 00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:12,600 way of removing a pitcher when he won't take the pitch out of the game he just looked down 151 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:19,640 on the bullpen and give a wave with his left arm he wouldn't even go out to get the ball and he 152 00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:25,480 didn't allow food he didn't allow anybody to drink water anything else in the clubhouse but he also 153 00:15:25,480 --> 00:15:32,640 had a great proclivity for the horses he loved the horses and he had his own tout to travel with 154 00:15:32,640 --> 00:15:38,360 the team when he was managing a Baltimore in the international league but he was all baseball and 155 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:42,640 you could sit there and talk for hours about baseball but if you started another subject he'd 156 00:15:42,640 --> 00:15:49,720 say forget it and walk away from you Bob Gibson one of the fiercest competitors that baseball 157 00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:56,920 is ever known he invented the glare I guess didn't he he was he certainly did Bob and he was Mr. 158 00:15:56,920 --> 00:16:03,200 intimidation there was nobody that he would knock down and he didn't even want to put up with his 159 00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:08,280 teammates you know one of the guys I forgotten who it was came over to say something to him and 160 00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:14,200 he said the only thing you know about pitching is you can't hit it get back to your position and 161 00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:21,000 he was a mean guy when he was on the field but a very intelligent guy and a great pitcher and when 162 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:25,560 you knew him off the field he was a terrific guy but when he was in uniform he was a great 163 00:16:25,560 --> 00:16:31,440 competitor comparable to Don Newcomb and we talked about absolutely Don Drysdale with the Dodgers 164 00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:35,400 they were all brushed back they'd stick it in your ear if you gave them a chance they do it 165 00:16:35,400 --> 00:16:41,480 they as they say knock down their grandmother if they had to trying for number 16 right now against 166 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:45,960 cash to break the record makes you set position the developers here's the pitch 167 00:16:50,280 --> 00:16:55,880 another great innovation for Gibson setting the new World Series mark 16 strikeouts in the game 168 00:16:55,880 --> 00:17:01,560 two down of an Anthony Horton the batter how do you compare or contrast them to say the finesse of 169 00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:09,160 sandy cofax I think cofax had so much natural ability he really didn't have to be as mean as 170 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:14,040 competitive as that he was a good competitor no question about it but I don't think he really 171 00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:20,040 had to brush back guys so much because his fastball was so effective that people probably had a sense 172 00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:26,840 of fear to some degree when they went up there anyway and he was just so good he mastered control 173 00:17:26,840 --> 00:17:32,440 after rather slow start in the big leagues but he learned control and once he got that fastball 174 00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:38,040 and his other pitches under control he was invincible one of the nicest people you'll ever 175 00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:44,200 meet and probably one of the most unassuming superstars you will ever find I think so and 176 00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:49,000 something that really doesn't go along usually with the big winner we usually think about the 177 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:56,840 mean guys and the competitors but he was just as you described him it is 946 p.m. 178 00:17:56,840 --> 00:18:07,480 two and two to harby keen one strike away sandy into his windup here's the pitch 179 00:18:16,760 --> 00:18:22,360 prince howell newhauser prince howell what a guy he was a young guy that was pitching a pro ball 180 00:18:22,360 --> 00:18:27,400 when he was in high school actually during the wartime with the tigers and he had a great fast 181 00:18:27,400 --> 00:18:33,320 ball a lot of good curves and he just blew down the opposition no question about that and there 182 00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:39,320 was a canard against the newhauser for a while among the voters for the baseball hall of fame that 183 00:18:39,320 --> 00:18:43,880 he was a wartime pitcher but he did a lot of winning when the guys came back you had a lot 184 00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:49,720 of great ballplayers in 46 47 and new house was still a brilliant pitcher in that time and I think 185 00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:56,440 he was one of Detroit's great heroes he had number six on his back and st. louis on the front of his 186 00:18:56,440 --> 00:19:03,960 uniform Stanley visual stand the man what a guy one of the most personable fellows you'll ever meet 187 00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:09,560 he always went out of his way to be a gentleman I've been on cruises with Stan and his wife and 188 00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:16,040 but we went on a cruise from new york on the qe2 down into the caribbean and we hit some rough 189 00:19:16,040 --> 00:19:22,440 weather around Cape Hatteras a lot of people got sick brookes Robinson's family got sick and Stan 190 00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:28,760 got sick and we got to st. Thomas he said forget it I'm flying back to st. louis he got off the 191 00:19:28,760 --> 00:19:34,600 ship and went home he had a great batting stance and when I worked in brooklyn all the brooklyn fans 192 00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:40,120 loved Stan they were the ones that gave him the nickname the man and you'd go to st. louis and 193 00:19:40,120 --> 00:19:45,720 right on the team bus maybe from the train station past sandlot baseball games and every kid you saw 194 00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:53,960 had to stand museal stance if you were a milwaukee braves fan it was spawn insane and pray for rain 195 00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:59,720 yeah all the warren he was a great left hander warren spawn won more games than any other left 196 00:19:59,720 --> 00:20:04,920 hand pitcher he was a fabulous pitcher who really got his start a little bit late because he'd been 197 00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:11,480 in the service he was in the battle of the bulge and Casey stingle made a drastic mistake when 198 00:20:11,480 --> 00:20:17,000 he was managing warren spawn before the war warren was in spring training and casey wanted to move 199 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:22,520 a guy back from the plate with a fastball and he didn't do it and casey said well you know if you 200 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:26,600 don't have guts enough to do that you're going back to the miners so they sent him back to the 201 00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:31,560 miners and here's a guy came to be a great war hero in the battle of the bulge a little mistake 202 00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:38,680 of identity there I think this man's baseball trading card is the most valuable in all the land 203 00:20:38,680 --> 00:20:45,560 honus Wagner you know all honus of course despite rumors to the contrary I did not see honus wag 204 00:20:45,560 --> 00:20:51,160 the play but I knew all honus because when I was in the dodgers we'd go into Pittsburgh and 205 00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:56,360 honus would sit on the bench and I love to sit there with him and he'd chewed him back and he'd 206 00:20:56,360 --> 00:21:01,400 tell these terrible jokes you know that everybody would laugh at in respect of the great honus 207 00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:07,400 Wagner because he was a very old man at that time but they said that he was a greatest shortstop of 208 00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:12,760 all time at least throughout most of baseball some of those opinions might have changed now but 209 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:17,480 we said that you could roll a barrel through those bow legs but you couldn't get a ground ball through 210 00:21:18,120 --> 00:21:24,680 they said that no one would ever own the Boston Red Sox fans like the splendid splinter Ted Williams 211 00:21:24,680 --> 00:21:31,320 did the man who came the closest though Gerolya Stromsky yes sir triple crown winner great guy 212 00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:37,000 and he could hit and field and do everything had a great spirit too and he was an interesting 213 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:43,080 personality he was a bear down guy but I like Carl a lot got along good with him I knew his father 214 00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:48,920 father had been a potato farmer out on Long Island outside of New York Carl sort of came up the hard 215 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:54,520 way but he made the hall of fame and certainly deserve it and like you said Bob there's no question 216 00:21:54,520 --> 00:22:03,800 that he's one of the real icons at Fenway Park well Ernie with all the athletes that you've had 217 00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:07,960 the privilege of seeing there've been a lot of teams that have accomplished a lot of things 218 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:12,440 but is there one that stands out among all the rest that you would consider maybe your 219 00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:19,160 top team of your seven decades I think my top team would be the Yankees of 1961 and I think 220 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:24,920 what made the Yankees so good was they had great depth and they had good pitching Whitey Ford was 221 00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:30,680 a bellwether the staff but what I remember about them is that they had three catchers 222 00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:37,160 Elston Howard Johnny Blanchard and Yogi Berra and all three of those guys could catch play first base 223 00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:42,280 or left field and I don't know how many home runs they had among them but it was a whole bunch of 224 00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:48,120 home runs plus the Yankees just had a good team they knew how to play the game they had great 225 00:22:48,120 --> 00:22:54,440 defense and they had heavy hitting and I'd have to say the 61 Yankees would be my best team 226 00:22:54,440 --> 00:23:02,040 I've got a picture that was taken of the Yankee dugout and I think it was right before 227 00:23:02,760 --> 00:23:08,360 one of the World Series games because it had the starting line up that day with Skyron Richardson 228 00:23:08,360 --> 00:23:15,880 Kubeck who was third base Boyer was third base you're right um Elston Howard 229 00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:21,720 Mickey Mantle Roger Maris and the picture that day was Art Dittmer and Art gave you the picture 230 00:23:21,720 --> 00:23:27,800 yeah and and also Casey standing there but he's in a in a shirt and tie no good yeah great and 231 00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:33,560 Terry Ralph Terry was on that but the art pits that day so it was made of that day started by 232 00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:39,160 that great and he autographed for me and gave it to Ernie we've talked about the influence that 233 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:44,280 Paul Richards had on you and the other managers of the teams that you've worked for let's go back 234 00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:49,240 and talk for just a second and maybe you can give us a little inside to some of these guys that you 235 00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:54,680 had a especially close relationship with how about Bert Schotten? Bert Schotten was a fellow from 236 00:23:54,680 --> 00:24:00,120 Bartow, Florida he was a fisherman he loved the fish he played ball in the National League played 237 00:24:00,120 --> 00:24:05,640 with the Cardinals and some other clubs and he was very close to Branch Rickey when Leo DeRosha 238 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:10,840 was suspended by the commissioner Rickey called his old pal down there in Bartow to come on up 239 00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:19,640 and manage the Dodgers and he came up in 47 and stayed through 48 Leo came back and eventually went 240 00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:25,480 over to the Giants but Bert Schotten was a very laid-back guy one of the few managers that did 241 00:24:25,480 --> 00:24:31,320 not wear uniform he'd wear pair slacks and he'd wear a Dodger jacket and he lived at the same 242 00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:37,320 hotel I did the Bossett Hotel when I broke in with the Dodgers in 1948 and I used to 243 00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:41,960 ride out to the ballpark with him after I got started with the Dodgers usually with Bert and 244 00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:47,960 with the relief pitcher Hugh Casey and he was a very wonderful gentleman he didn't get excited one 245 00:24:47,960 --> 00:24:53,240 way or the other you get on the train after the game it might be a very tough loss or it might be 246 00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:58,600 a brilliant victory and you really couldn't tell the difference by the manner of demeanor of Bert 247 00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:05,080 Schotten. Now you also had the opportunity in Detroit of working with two managers who had made 248 00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:10,600 their name possibly with other teams a guy who still owns the Major League record for being 249 00:25:10,600 --> 00:25:17,640 fired the most times by the same owner the Brad Billy Martin. Yeah Billy Martin was quite a guy 250 00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:22,040 Billy came into the Tigers he'd debounced around a little bit he'd been a great player and he'd 251 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:28,520 managed it Minnesota when he came to the Tigers he was very popular at first but as my mom used to say 252 00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:35,000 he wore out his welcome Billy had a proclivity for after he got started and establishing himself 253 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:40,760 in a job he began to carpet the other people in the organization especially his bosses and it 254 00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:46,600 never seemed to work because you don't criticize your bosses are too heavily. Sparky Anderson who 255 00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:51,480 had managed the big red machine in Cincinnati to world championships. Sparky was a big guy no 256 00:25:51,480 --> 00:25:56,760 question about that he had managed Cincinnati to the world championship he was a choice of 257 00:25:56,760 --> 00:26:03,320 Jim Campbell when the Les Moss was fired Sparky came in actually Les had a record around 500 258 00:26:03,320 --> 00:26:08,600 but it was a chance to get Sparky who'd been out of work and Jim felt like if he didn't strike 259 00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:13,720 then that somebody else would come in and get Sparky and Sparky had sort of a five-year plan 260 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:18,840 and actually it worked because after five years the Tigers had a championship team. Sparky now 261 00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:24,200 walked a lot when we got to be good friends we'd get up every morning and we'd walk for about an 262 00:26:24,200 --> 00:26:29,800 hour we talked a lot about baseball a lot about life and I think I learned a lot from Sparky he 263 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:36,040 was pretty smart he was an old used car salesman who knew how to close the deal you know and he 264 00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:43,720 could read the minds of his players and get the most out of them. Charles Dylan Stingle KC named 265 00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:50,600 after the town he came from he was a failed dentist he wanted to be a dentist and he couldn't make it 266 00:26:50,600 --> 00:26:55,960 and he came to the National League he played for Brooklyn and he played for the Giants and 267 00:26:55,960 --> 00:27:02,040 he was a pretty good ball player but he was always a clown at Brooklyn he doffed his cap one time 268 00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:08,600 and a bird flew out he hit a homerun in the polo grounds playing for the Giants against the Yankees 269 00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:15,400 and lost his shoe running home is inside the park homerun then he became a manager first at Boston 270 00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:21,000 with the Braves and he was a terrible manager because they had a terrible team somebody said 271 00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:25,560 the best thing that ever happened to the Braves was when Casey got hit by a cab and broke his leg 272 00:27:25,560 --> 00:27:31,400 and couldn't manage anymore but then he went to the Yankees and he became a genius and later on 273 00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:37,080 was a great manager with a met but he was a kind of a guy you know you'd ask him what time it was 274 00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:46,600 and he'd tell you how to build a watch I'm not sure that I made my question clear 275 00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:53,560 I'm not sure I'm gonna answer yours perfectly I was asking you sir uh 276 00:27:55,480 --> 00:28:01,160 why it is that baseball wants this bill passed I would say I wouldn't know but I would say the 277 00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:08,360 reason why they'd want it passed is to keep baseball going as the highest baseball sport 278 00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:14,360 that has gone into baseball and from the baseball angle I'm not going to speak of any other sport 279 00:28:15,080 --> 00:28:19,800 I'm not in here to argue about other sports I'm in the baseball business it's been run cleaner than 280 00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:24,600 any baseball business that was ever put out in the hundred years at the present time 281 00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:31,080 Leo DeRosher he was very volatile he would be up one time and down the other and he'd 282 00:28:31,080 --> 00:28:37,080 had feuds with the writers and he and his wife had feuds and he had feuds with everybody 283 00:28:37,080 --> 00:28:42,440 Leo had come off the streets of Connecticut in the boyhood where he hung around the pool halls and 284 00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:48,040 he became a pretty good ball player sort of a no-hit great fielding shortstop and then later 285 00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:53,480 made himself a manager but I think the great thing about Leo is he instilled a certain amount of 286 00:28:53,480 --> 00:28:59,080 confidence in his players that no other manager that I've ever been with could do somehow they 287 00:28:59,080 --> 00:29:04,840 would really go to battle for Leo because they figured that he'd figure out a way as much as he 288 00:29:04,840 --> 00:29:11,160 could to win the game for them some of the players didn't like Leo some of them liked them a lot 289 00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:15,320 but whether they liked him or didn't like him they did play hard for him 290 00:29:18,040 --> 00:29:22,040 just as there were characters who manage teams I guess there were characters who own the teams 291 00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:28,040 too and the first name that pops up is the colorful Bill Vec oh yeah Bill Vec was certainly a character 292 00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:33,800 he was a maverick the establishment didn't like Bill Vec very much because he went against the 293 00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:39,720 grain a lot he's a fellow that introduced the immediate Eddie Goodell into baseball and he 294 00:29:39,720 --> 00:29:45,400 played against the Tigers and Bill Vec got that idea from a story by James Thurber you could look 295 00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:52,760 it up and it turned out to be one of the outstanding events in baseball history Bill also had a lot 296 00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:58,440 of good ideas he would make three or four speeches a day to try to promote baseball he had a tough 297 00:29:58,440 --> 00:30:03,160 time with the Browns because they couldn't draw the Cardinals were always the number one team there 298 00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:09,400 with Cleveland uh Bec did a lot better he won the pennant there went to Chicago he would sit off 299 00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:15,000 ball night and talk baseball and he had a wooden leg that he uses his ashtray you know he'd smoke 300 00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:20,600 cigarettes he was a chain smoker and he'd flip the ashes in a little hole in his wooden leg 301 00:30:20,600 --> 00:30:26,760 but uh he was a great personality and he was always reading he loved to read books he loved 302 00:30:26,760 --> 00:30:31,480 literature and he was a great guy to talk to i really love Bill Vec. 303 00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:37,720 Speaking of innovators Charles O. Fenley. Yeah Charlie O was quite a guy and again here was a guy 304 00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:43,080 that the establishment didn't like because what Charlie O did he proved when he went to Oakland 305 00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:48,360 that he could have a winner or the front office had consisted of himself his brother and a couple 306 00:30:48,360 --> 00:30:55,080 other guys whereas all the established franchises had a table of organization that included a couple 307 00:30:55,080 --> 00:31:01,480 of hundred people and Charlie was doing it all by himself and Charlie had a young african-american 308 00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:07,960 guy that looked like Hank Aaron and they called him the hammer and hammer would go down and get 309 00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:13,480 the lineups and bring them up to us then he'd talk to Charlie and sit in the booth with Charlie 310 00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:20,280 and he turned out to be MC Hammer the great rock star some of the guys at Oakland Reggie Jackson 311 00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:26,120 and some of the others gave him seed money to start his outfit and he became a superstar in the music 312 00:31:26,120 --> 00:31:31,960 world. The shipbuilder George Steinbrunner. I like George a lot he's always been good to me and I think 313 00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:37,400 he's good for baseball I know he's got some detractors but I like to see a guy who has a passion 314 00:31:37,400 --> 00:31:43,000 that George Steinbrunner does he wants to have a winner and he does almost anything he can to get 315 00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:48,520 it he's a pretty hard guy to work for he goes through managers like you know most people go 316 00:31:48,520 --> 00:31:54,440 through socks and underwear but he's a very smart baseball man and I think when he got Joe Torrey 317 00:31:54,440 --> 00:32:00,040 it was really a smart move my good friend Arthur Richmond made that suggestion a lot of people 318 00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:04,680 didn't want Torrey to come he didn't have much of a record but he turned out to be the perfect 319 00:32:04,680 --> 00:32:13,000 manager to work with George Steinbrunner. Now the commissioner's office without mentioning every 320 00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:17,480 commissioner and talking about each one of them one stands out because of a decision that he had 321 00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:23,720 to make and that was a Bartlett Giamatti and the Pete Rose case what did he face what was the big 322 00:32:23,720 --> 00:32:29,080 problem as you saw it? I think the big problem that the commissioner had at that time was what 323 00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:35,000 to do with Pete because the Dowd report claimed that Pete had bet on baseball and in that case 324 00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:41,400 of course he should be banned from the game but Giamatti had a press conference and he made a sort 325 00:32:41,400 --> 00:32:47,480 of a compromise with Pete in the press conference Giamatti said that Pete will be suspended for 326 00:32:47,480 --> 00:32:53,480 one year then he'll have a right to come before us and see about the suspension but in the meantime 327 00:32:53,480 --> 00:32:59,640 we've all agreed that nobody will address the question of whether Pete bet on baseball or not 328 00:32:59,640 --> 00:33:05,960 and then about a week or two later Giamatti had a press conference and he said to the press well 329 00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:13,240 everybody knows that Pete bet on baseball so it sort of clouded the issue at that time and then 330 00:33:13,240 --> 00:33:21,720 Giamatti died soon after that and Fay Venson took over and it created a very gray area for a long 331 00:33:21,720 --> 00:33:28,680 time with Pete Rose and my own feeling was that I really wasn't sure Pete maintained that he didn't 332 00:33:28,680 --> 00:33:35,720 bet on baseball the report said he did but we didn't know about the authenticity of the report 333 00:33:35,720 --> 00:33:41,400 and I was in Pete's corner really I felt like he had a great record in baseball he made the most of 334 00:33:41,400 --> 00:33:47,640 his ability he was a great player on the field he had the most hits he did all kind of things 335 00:33:47,640 --> 00:33:53,800 he was a team man he won a lot of big games and I was for him but then when his book came out 336 00:33:53,800 --> 00:34:00,760 my opinion changed because he said in his book that he did bet on baseball and it looked like to 337 00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:06,840 me he was saving the confession for a money-making proposition and I think a lot of people that were 338 00:34:06,840 --> 00:34:12,520 in Pete's corner at that time turned against him as far as getting into the Hall of Fame and of 339 00:34:12,520 --> 00:34:18,920 course the Hall of Fame is independent from baseball but they cannot put anybody in who suspended 340 00:34:18,920 --> 00:34:25,960 from the game so it's not a question of putting Pete in at any point now until he is reinstated 341 00:34:25,960 --> 00:34:31,320 the suspension is over and he's eligible to go to the Hall of Fame now whether he will or not 342 00:34:31,320 --> 00:34:36,840 I don't know but right now my opinion is that he probably should not be in it is this the same 343 00:34:36,840 --> 00:34:42,520 scenario that Judge Landis had with Shulish Joe Jackson well with Shulish Joe they actually had a 344 00:34:42,520 --> 00:34:49,640 grand jury trial the White Sox players were exonerated in court but Landis had been put in 345 00:34:49,640 --> 00:34:57,000 and given extreme power so he decided even in the face of the exoneration he would suspend these 346 00:34:57,000 --> 00:35:03,720 eight White Sox players who were on trial and Joe Jackson was one of them and a lot of people felt 347 00:35:03,720 --> 00:35:09,560 it was unfair because Joe had hit about 375 in the World Series and it was hard to put a finger on 348 00:35:09,560 --> 00:35:14,200 a guy whether he had thrown a game or not and there were all kind of rumors back and forth 349 00:35:14,200 --> 00:35:21,400 but baseball needed a strong hand at that time and Landis stepped in and did the job and banished 350 00:35:21,400 --> 00:35:27,240 all of them from baseball and then the Ted Williams later on you might remember put on a campaign 351 00:35:27,240 --> 00:35:33,000 to get Joe Jackson reinstated and elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame and I was in favor of that 352 00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:37,480 I thought Joe had paid his penance you know he'd been suspended he couldn't play against the 353 00:35:37,480 --> 00:35:43,640 professional players all his lifetime and his life had practically been ruined by this and why not 354 00:35:43,640 --> 00:35:53,000 honor him even if you did after he died. Now you've also had the privilege and pleasure I'm sure of 355 00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:59,960 working with and around and across the field in some cases from some great broadcasters 356 00:35:59,960 --> 00:36:06,680 Russ Hodges. Russ Hodges was a people kind of a guy. Soddler like Harry Carey was later without 357 00:36:06,680 --> 00:36:11,880 the flamboyance of Harry he was the guy sitting in the bar with his best pal and they were talking 358 00:36:11,880 --> 00:36:18,120 about baseball and he had sort of a down-the-middle easy style very easy to get along with he'd worked 359 00:36:18,120 --> 00:36:24,200 at Chicago and at Charlotte and Washington with Arch McDonald and all over the place but he was a 360 00:36:24,200 --> 00:36:29,400 real professional he came to the Giants from in New York where he had worked with Mel Allen so he'd 361 00:36:29,400 --> 00:36:34,360 been around and he knew baseball and was very very popular announcer. 362 00:36:59,640 --> 00:37:08,280 Then there's the man who saw everything from the cat bird seat. That was a great red barber who 363 00:37:08,280 --> 00:37:13,640 along with Mel Allen was one of the first of two to go in the Hall of Fame they were inducted in 364 00:37:13,640 --> 00:37:20,680 the same year. Red was a real pioneer that all of us owe a great deal to because he took baseball 365 00:37:20,680 --> 00:37:27,320 from a game where the station told the announcer to go out buy yourself a scorecard and broadcast 366 00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:33,400 the game he was far from that he was a true reporter and it was very tough working for Red 367 00:37:33,400 --> 00:37:39,000 because he was a task master he wanted the very best and I think it was great for whomever 368 00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:45,160 worked with Red that he was demanding. He had all these southern expressions in Brooklyn and he 369 00:37:45,160 --> 00:37:50,920 had a great advantage that Mel also had of coming into New York and being the first big league 370 00:37:50,920 --> 00:37:56,680 announcer that the people of New York had ever heard because big league baseball was not broadcast 371 00:37:56,680 --> 00:38:00,200 in New York until 1939. 372 00:38:27,080 --> 00:38:45,960 And then as distinctive as Red's voice was the man you just mentioned how about that Mr. Mel Allen. 373 00:38:45,960 --> 00:38:51,240 Well Mel Allen was a voice of baseball no question about that because of his affiliation with the 374 00:38:51,240 --> 00:38:56,600 Yankees and they were always in the World Series and Mel Allen did all the World Series so he got 375 00:38:56,600 --> 00:39:03,720 more national acclaim I think than anybody he had great enthusiasm he had a deep resounding voice 376 00:39:03,720 --> 00:39:09,000 and he had a terrific passion for baseball I think his whole life was wrapped up in baseball 377 00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:14,600 never married and he lived with his mom and dad and everything that he did was wrapped up in his job 378 00:39:14,600 --> 00:39:21,320 he did the Rose Bowl for NBC he did the World Series and he did a lot of big events and he also 379 00:39:21,320 --> 00:39:28,840 did the newsreels and was a guy who started a second career after the Yankees fired him in the 1960s 380 00:39:28,840 --> 00:39:33,960 he was out for a couple of years and then Joe Reichler working for the commissioner got Mel a 381 00:39:33,960 --> 00:39:41,080 job on this weekend baseball and he made a completely new career for many many years as the voice of 382 00:39:41,080 --> 00:39:45,960 this weekend baseball a lot of younger fans probably never heard him broadcast the game but they know 383 00:39:45,960 --> 00:39:51,560 all about Mel Allen. Mickey Mantle at bat with a count of one ball no strikes left-handed pitcher 384 00:39:51,560 --> 00:39:56,680 Chuck Stobbs on the mound Mickey Mantle a switch hitter batting right-handed digs in at the plate 385 00:39:56,680 --> 00:40:02,920 here's the pitch Mantle swings there's a tremendous drive going into deep club field it's going going 386 00:40:02,920 --> 00:40:09,320 it's going over the bleachers and over the side atop the bleachers into the yards of houses across 387 00:40:09,320 --> 00:40:16,440 the street it's got to be one of the longest home runs I've ever seen hit how about that. A gentleman 388 00:40:16,440 --> 00:40:24,200 whose tenure in Los Angeles rivals yours in Detroit Vince Scully. Vince Scully I think is the best 389 00:40:24,200 --> 00:40:29,800 baseball announcer that ever came along I think he's fantastic he had the good fortune they're 390 00:40:29,800 --> 00:40:35,240 going to LA with a good team nobody'd ever heard a big league announcer at that time and the city 391 00:40:35,240 --> 00:40:41,960 of automobiles and transistors and everybody had to listen because the Coliseum where the Dodgers 392 00:40:41,960 --> 00:40:47,560 played was such a bad place to see a ball game you really needed a radio description to go along 393 00:40:47,560 --> 00:40:53,880 with it but in addition to that he just had great talent and always did have he broken a very young 394 00:40:53,880 --> 00:41:00,120 he was about 22 I think when he started and my real claim to fame Bob is the fact that he took my 395 00:41:00,120 --> 00:41:06,760 place on the CBS roundup for football when I was switched to another game Red Barber had to give 396 00:41:06,760 --> 00:41:12,200 Vinny his first job and that was broadcasting a game in Boston and he did a good job and then 397 00:41:12,200 --> 00:41:19,160 when I left the Dodgers to go to the Giants Red Barber called and by the way Vinny's mother said 398 00:41:19,160 --> 00:41:25,000 Red Skelton called but it was Red Barber and he offered Vinny the job to do the Brooklyn Dodgers 399 00:41:25,000 --> 00:41:41,880 and he's been there ever since he's a magnificent announcer then there was the cowboy from Wyoming 400 00:41:41,880 --> 00:41:47,960 who ended up behind the mic in Fenway Park in Boston that's Kurt Gowdy the great basketball 401 00:41:47,960 --> 00:41:53,560 player who became a very versatile announcer he could do baseball football basketball he could 402 00:41:53,560 --> 00:41:58,520 do everything he might not have been the very best in each one but I think as far as overall 403 00:41:58,520 --> 00:42:04,600 versatility you'd have a hard time matching Kurt Gowdy I work with Kurt quite a bit most of the 404 00:42:04,600 --> 00:42:11,080 time on CBS and he was always on the telephone he was a great businessman and he took care of 405 00:42:11,080 --> 00:42:16,200 business with all his radio stations while he was broadcasting and he loved to do the American 406 00:42:16,200 --> 00:42:23,160 sportsman on TV and I know that he went out with a lot of great celebrities and being Crosby and 407 00:42:23,160 --> 00:42:28,600 Phil Harris pulled a big joke on Kurt because of the situation they had on American sportsman 408 00:42:28,600 --> 00:42:33,800 they were always kidding about always having a phone and they did a show from a duck line 409 00:42:33,800 --> 00:42:39,000 and in those days they didn't have a cell phone they gave Kurt a real phone to use in the duck line 410 00:42:39,640 --> 00:42:45,800 account one and one to Williams everybody quiet now here at Fenway Park after they gave him a 411 00:42:45,800 --> 00:42:51,960 standing ovation of two minutes knowing that this is probably his last time at bat one out nobody 412 00:42:51,960 --> 00:42:57,240 on last of the eighth inning jack fisher into his wind up here's the pitch William swings and there's 413 00:42:57,240 --> 00:43:04,520 a long drive to deep right that's all his time and it is gone a home run for Ted Williams in his last 414 00:43:04,520 --> 00:43:10,200 time at bat in the making league well Ernie there's one broadcaster who was not known as a play-by-play 415 00:43:10,200 --> 00:43:18,120 man but you had a long and very nice association with Paul Kerry Paul Kerry was one of my many 416 00:43:18,120 --> 00:43:23,160 great partners I had a lot of partners and all of them were good but I'd have to tip my hat first 417 00:43:23,160 --> 00:43:29,720 to Paul Kerry because we were together longer with him than any other partner that I had Paul and I 418 00:43:29,720 --> 00:43:37,480 existed together about 18 years as a tiger announcers and I think Paul Kerry had the best sports voice 419 00:43:37,480 --> 00:43:42,840 of anybody I've ever heard the people around Michigan said it was the voice of God but the 420 00:43:42,840 --> 00:43:48,680 problem with working with Paul was he made everybody who worked with him sound like a soprano but I 421 00:43:48,680 --> 00:43:54,440 was able to overcome that he had a good grasp of the game he'd come from Michigan he grew up here 422 00:43:54,440 --> 00:44:01,320 he knew all about tiger history and Paul was just such a wonderful guy to work with and so accommodating 423 00:44:01,320 --> 00:44:08,600 and he had an extra duty in the last 15 or 16 years of working with me when the station decided 424 00:44:08,600 --> 00:44:14,200 that they would not use an engineer that Paul Kerry would not only have to broadcast but he would 425 00:44:14,200 --> 00:44:20,520 have to do the engineering the only outfit in the major leagues that did not have an engineer so 426 00:44:20,520 --> 00:44:26,520 that was an added burden but he did it and did it well he was such a professional and such a great 427 00:44:26,520 --> 00:44:32,520 guy I really have to pay tribute to Paul Kerry well it's my pleasure now for the last time for 428 00:44:32,520 --> 00:44:37,480 play-by-play unless we go into extra innings to introduce a man who's meant so much to me in 19 429 00:44:37,480 --> 00:44:43,080 years we just couldn't do it without him I've gotten a lot of accolades and a lot of attention 430 00:44:43,080 --> 00:44:50,600 much of it I didn't deserve and I have to share more of it with him than he knows Paul Kerry 431 00:44:50,600 --> 00:44:57,720 Ernie thank you very much for those thoughts it has been an absolute joy for 19 years to have 432 00:44:57,720 --> 00:45:04,440 shared a tiger radio booth with you and it's now coming to an end the Tigers finishing off the 433 00:45:04,440 --> 00:45:09,240 season here in Baltimore but they've got a big five to one lead is milk Tyler the league's off 434 00:45:09,240 --> 00:45:14,280 the fourth inning all they had a couple of pitches there's a third and it's a two one count on milk 435 00:45:15,000 --> 00:45:20,040 and then you have the first member of first and second generation major league baseball 436 00:45:20,040 --> 00:45:25,800 broadcasters first let's talk about Jack Buck or Jack Buck was a guy that everybody took to he 437 00:45:25,800 --> 00:45:32,280 had a nice easy style he had a sardonic kind of a wit about him he was great at the cardinal games 438 00:45:32,280 --> 00:45:37,000 he was a big fan of Harry Heilman he grew up in Cleveland and used to hear Heilman do the tiger 439 00:45:37,000 --> 00:45:42,920 games he came to st. Louis to work with Harry carry and then when Harry left jack became the big 440 00:45:42,920 --> 00:45:47,960 guy and was there for years and years and everybody loved jack buck and he was on monday night 441 00:45:47,960 --> 00:45:53,640 football too and the thing I remember best about jack in his closing years there I was broadcasting 442 00:45:53,640 --> 00:45:59,400 a game at bush stadium in st. Louis and I was back at the batting cage and jack buck came up to me 443 00:45:59,400 --> 00:46:03,960 and said dirty there's only one good thing I can think about you is that you never die young 444 00:46:03,960 --> 00:46:08,360 hey look at the way he's limping that's impossible for him to come out and bat in 445 00:46:08,360 --> 00:46:14,760 and we have a big three two picks coming here from eckersley gibson swings and a flying ball 446 00:46:14,760 --> 00:46:21,240 to deep right field this is gonna be a home run unbelievable a home run for gibson in the 447 00:46:21,240 --> 00:46:34,040 Dodgers and won the game five to four well he saw his son move into broadcasting but another man who 448 00:46:34,040 --> 00:46:39,960 saw his son and his grandson come into the business is the aforementioned harry carry 449 00:46:39,960 --> 00:46:45,080 oh that was amazing too that three generations who had broadcast in the big leagues the only time 450 00:46:45,080 --> 00:46:51,560 it's ever happened and harry I think was probably the outstanding personality among all baseball 451 00:46:51,560 --> 00:46:58,440 broadcasters he was flamboyant he loved baseball he really did and deep down his heart he was always 452 00:46:58,440 --> 00:47:03,400 such a fan he was quite critical of the players and they'd get on his case sometime but it didn't 453 00:47:03,400 --> 00:47:09,640 bother him he would say what he felt should be said and he said it in a very author david manner 454 00:47:09,640 --> 00:47:15,640 and he was a great showman and I think the best thing that ever happened in any baseball broadcast 455 00:47:15,640 --> 00:47:22,200 his career was what happened to harry carry when he began to sing the seventh inning stretch take me 456 00:47:22,200 --> 00:47:27,320 out to the ball game that was a bill veck production you know he talked him into it but harry took 457 00:47:27,320 --> 00:47:33,960 that to the cubs and it reached a great fulfillment at wriggly field and they still do it all in 458 00:47:33,960 --> 00:47:43,960 tribute to harry carry 459 00:48:04,840 --> 00:48:13,960 yeah 460 00:48:13,960 --> 00:48:17,960 When it's a shame for it 461 00:48:17,960 --> 00:48:25,960 I will return to our happy old ball game 462 00:48:25,960 --> 00:48:50,960 I will taste it