Hold My Cutter
Rob King and the Symphony of Sports Broadcasting
When Pittsburgh's own Rob King drops by for a chat, you can bet the conversation will be as riveting as a game-winning home run in the bottom of the ninth. Sit back and absorb the wisdom of this sports broadcasting maestro, as he dissects the meticulous preparation that goes into each broadcast and the art of creating seamless on-air chemistry with co-hosts. As Rob peels back the curtain on the industry, he shares nuggets of wisdom from his mentor Mike Lang, giving us a playbook on how to navigate the peaks and valleys of sports commentary.
The journey through and the landscape of sports broadcasting began with a transistor radio and the crackling voices that painted the picture of legendary games. I share heartfelt stories from my youth, when my devotion to the Mets and Giants was as unwavering as a fastball down the middle. From childhood memories to the thrill of my father's shortwave radio bringing distant games to life, these experiences fueled my passion for the narratives that unfold on the field and behind the mic.
Join us as we honor the greats of the game, dissecting what it takes for a player to be immortalized in the Hall of Fame. Hear tales of my encounters with baseball icons like Dave Parker and the ever-controversial Pete Rose, as we scrutinize the balance between a player's peak performance and career longevity. We wrap up with a look to the future, speculating on the Hall of Fame trajectories of current stars and pondering the evolving criteria that will shape the legacies of tomorrow's sports heroes.
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!!!!
www.holdmycutter.com
When Pittsburgh's own Rob King drops by for a chat, you can bet the conversation will be as riveting as a game-winning home run in the bottom of the ninth. Sit back and absorb the wisdom of this sports broadcasting maestro, as he dissects the meticulous preparation that goes into each broadcast and the art of creating seamless on-air chemistry with co-hosts. As Rob peels back the curtain on the industry, he shares nuggets of wisdom from his mentor Mike Lang, giving us a playbook on how to navigate the peaks and valleys of sports commentary.
The journey through and the landscape of sports broadcasting began with a transistor radio and the crackling voices that painted the picture of legendary games. I share heartfelt stories from my youth, when my devotion to the Mets and Giants was as unwavering as a fastball down the middle. From childhood memories to the thrill of my father's shortwave radio bringing distant games to life, these experiences fueled my passion for the narratives that unfold on the field and behind the mic.
Join us as we honor the greats of the game, dissecting what it takes for a player to be immortalized in the Hall of Fame. Hear tales of my encounters with baseball icons like Dave Parker and the ever-controversial Pete Rose, as we scrutinize the balance between a player's peak performance and career longevity. We wrap up with a look to the future, speculating on the Hall of Fame trajectories of current stars and pondering the evolving criteria that will shape the legacies of tomorrow's sports heroes.
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!!!!
www.holdmycutter.com
well, we welcome you to another edition of hold my cutter coming your way here at burn by rocky patel, just a couple of blocks down the road from pnc park and just across the street where you see our guest, a whole bunch, and that is rob king, the longtime studio host. Uh, on pirates, baseball, penguins, hockey, he's really done it all. He's done play by play for just about every team in town. He is the cooperstown new york native.
Speaker 1:We call him the hall of famer because literally he is and it was rob king who decided to provide michael mckenry and me with this special edition. Rocky, the ecuadorian habano wrapper, the honduran and filler limited edition from the top 300 producing stores. That's the only way you can purchase this special edition. Rocky Patel Notes of wood, pepper, cocoa and cumin. It is a smooth smoke and so appropriate, mr Smooth. Now, michael, you work with Rob King a whole bunch more than I Wouldn't you describe him as Mr Smooth.
Speaker 2:It's kind of remarkable. I mean, how clean it is, how smooth it is, even the walk into the studio. It's almost in the same line every time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's why it's limited edition, everything you know we used to do the games inside during COVID, so we went inside the studio and called the game on monitors and we got a chance to see Mr Smooth, the Hall of Famer, and everybody just drops what they're doing when he walks into the studio.
Speaker 2:The king is here, yeah.
Speaker 3:What's the Paul Simon life? Why am I soft in the middle when the rest of my life is so hard? If it looks smooth on the air, I'm appreciative, because the rest of it feels like you're just like all of us, like you're just holding on and hoping Right.
Speaker 1:How much, Rob? How much goes into prep? We've had others on Hold my Cutter talk about prep, whether it be play by play, hosting, emceeing. How big a deal is the prep work for you? It's everything, Is it?
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's everything. I mean you have to be prepared, you know. I mean, look, we've all had experience, that helps. I mean, I'm sure that you feel like you're a better broadcaster now than you were when you started out, and same with you, right, you hope that you get better and improve, and so time, there's some things that only time can help. But preparing, I think you have to be prepared. You have to be factually correct. If you're, if you're doing what I'm doing, and then, um, from there, you hope to to make the people around you comfortable and you and you hope to get better.
Speaker 1:How important is that for you? By the way, to make people around you comfortable. It's the job.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and we do that by preparing. So you know Michael and I will talk, you know, not only leading up to the show but after the show is over. You know, the next day we'll exchange texts and messages, we'll talk to the producers that day We'll make sure everybody's on the same page, to the point to where you know you have backup questions, you know, should you need them. I remember when I first started out, something that really stuck with me was Bob Costas saying you know and he was talking more, I think play by play, but you only use about 40 percent of what you prepare. And so you know, knowing when to get that in there is one thing, but just knowing that you better have another 60 percent prepared on top of what you've already had prepared, knowing that you're not going to use it, but just in case.
Speaker 3:And Michael and I get into some fun conversations in which you know you'll pull something out, and sometimes it's listening to what Michael says too. Of course, that's a lot of it, but you prepare and then sometimes Michael will say something. Sometimes Michael will say something you think, well, that's kind of interesting and uh, I'm going to follow it up with this. So all the all those things come into to hopefully putting on a good show is uh Costas on your list of all time best in your mind definitely.
Speaker 3:I mean, uh, you know, so smart and so smooth and just so good Sounds familiar. I mean, I think he's fantastic, you know, and I think Mike Tirico today is fantastic, I think, I think you know, joe Buck, you know Jack Buck was outstanding, of course. Greg Brown, yeah, you can't forget.
Speaker 1:It's a legendary name I forget. Well, we'll have you back now, rob now that you said it, I was wondering, uh, waiting, I'm so okay.
Speaker 3:Get there, yeah, and I think, I think our town has been blessed and you know, it's interesting too that, um, you know, talking about time earlier, like you just have to put in a certain amount of time in a town, right, I mean there comes a time for you where you are no longer you know, and I don't know how you felt, I can't feel it for you, but you know saying, you know you're working alongside Landy Frateri, who got there before you and is obviously a well-known guy. And then you know, when do you sort of when do people say, hey, this is Greg Brown? You know, hey, he's been here 20 years, he may stick around for a while. We kind of like this guy. You know Some of that stuff, it just takes time.
Speaker 1:You just have to be patient. Well, I don't know if I've told you, I've told Michael the story about. I think we all have a Yoda, a mentor. Mine is Mike Lang, and Mike told me early on, a bit frustrated the first couple of years, when I was doing play-by-play and thought like, yeah, I thought this town would adopt me quicker I mean, after all, I've been here a long time and he said, ken, you've got to give it five years. Yeah, you do, you've got to give it five. And it was like clockwork. After five years I felt like, you know, maybe they're starting to accept me. So I don't know if the five-year plan worked for both of you. I think, michael, you suggested that that's been the case, that the city kind of embraced you right about that time.
Speaker 2:I moved here in year six. Believe it or not, I think, yeah, you start to feel maybe this is home. I'm not really sure exactly, but there is a feeling that you have that man cities embrace me, the teams embrace me and you just kind of feel something different. It does feel like home. So I would say that five, six-year range is almost perfect.
Speaker 3:What do you think, rob? How long do you think? I think that maybe even longer sometimes, depending on who you are. And I think that this town is, you know, very blessed. You know you've got Greg Brown, you've got Mike Lang, you've got Bill Hillgrove, and then you know the younger guys. It's just going to take, just going to take. It just takes time before the next wave. You know, 15, 20 years from now we'll be talking about, you know, joe Block and Josh Getzoff and Steve Mears, and it just that's. That's just the way it is. You put the time in.
Speaker 1:You put the work in, that's right. They will embrace you, yep.
Speaker 3:Do you like studio hosting or doing play-by-play more? I love it all or not equal, yeah, yeah, I mean I just love it. I love the work. I love the work, you know, with the specials that I put together and I think we may have. I don't know if we talked about that in the last podcast, but you know, really nobody rarely did anybody ever ask me to do any of them. Nobody asked me to do the first several that I did. And then finally they're like well, you know, maybe you want to take on this project, but mostly I just did them because I like doing them, I like telling those stories, I love doing the research you know.
Speaker 3:I mean I love doing the research, I mean I enjoy it. I love uncovering facts, I love linking stories together. But you know, if I'm calling a game like there's, but you know, if I'm calling a game like there's, you know, for that three hours there's nowhere on the planet that I'd rather be, you know? Um, so it, I think it depends a little bit upon the sport. You know, one of the things I love about baseball is baseball just unfolds at its own pace and it's a long haul, you know. And so you know you lose two or three games in a row. Okay, we're gonna win a couple games. Everybody loses two or three in a row. Football, it's like everything leads up to this one game and what's going to happen. And then you know hockey's sort of in between. I mean every sport's got its thrill. Every part of the job. I love every part of the job. I really do. I love it all.
Speaker 1:Who did you grow up rooting for? We've talked to you about growing up in Cooperstown, but who did you really grow up rooting for?
Speaker 3:I grew up in Westchester County. I think we talked about that last show. Until I was in seventh grade I was a die-hard Mets fan. Wow and Giants fan those are my two sports.
Speaker 1:Were most of your buddies that's why they were either the Jets or the Yankees.
Speaker 3:Mets or the Giants.
Speaker 2:The Giants seem random. That's on the other side of the planet.
Speaker 3:The New York Giants no. The New York football Giants no, no, no. It was the Mets and baseball, it was the Giants and football. Okay gotcha, I became a Knicks fan later on, sort of after that late high school.
Speaker 1:So they didn't. Really they weren't in. Although I love the NBA, weren't in my blood as much as football and baseball. Those are my two clear favorites. It was usually automatic with the Mets and Giants and it's the Jets and the Yankees.
Speaker 3:Um the uh well, the. Jets and the Nets seemed to like the.
Speaker 3:AFL-ABA thing used to but I think Yankees and Giants you'd find a lot of similar fans. My dad was a New York Giants fan and then they left town so he was a National League guy, so it was the Mets. And if you're the Mets, if you're a Mets fan, you can't stand the Yankees. Really, you just can't stand them. I mean every picture I have of him as a kid. I'm not wearing a Mets hat, I'm wearing a Red Sox hat because I hated the Yankees so I had to root for the Red Sox. They were kind of the American League team I rooted for because I couldn't stand the Yankees.
Speaker 3:But you know, I think because of those teams throughout the 70s, for the Mets it was all about pitching and defense and manufacturing runs. You know, what the Pirates did at the beginning of last season was like thrilling, like I. And it's so hard in today's day and age. You just have to hit the long ball. It's just the way the game is played. But watching every out matter and a stolen base and a bunt and a great defensive play cutting off a rally that's the kind of baseball I enjoy, because that's what I grew up watching. And what the Pirates did at the beginning of last year was just, I mean, I couldn't have. I could watch that kind of baseball forever. I mean you could take the three run home, or it doesn't. It doesn't excite me that much, you know.
Speaker 3:So, so them, and then the you know the giants um, I love that. Uh, you know guys like harry carson and uh, lawrence taylor was just, I mean, I mean, I think, your all-time favorite football player. Yeah, I mean, I think he was voted um as the best defensive player. Um, they did a, they did nfl did the rankings when they had their anniversary. I think he was the number one defensive player, and I think Jerry Rice was number one overall, and then Lawrence Taylor, you know, but, but we did, by the way, the other team that I rooted for, because the Mets had virtually no chance of winning, as luck would have it, my father had a shortwave radio and he would get pirates games out of Pittsburgh. Come on, yeah, he would, and so I would listen to the pirates, and, and the pirates, of course, were great in the seventies, you know. So, so in May, when the pirate, when the Mets season is just about over, right, I mean now you're looking around.
Speaker 3:You got to root for somebody you know, and so, uh, that somebody was, uh, was the pirates. I mean, now you're looking around, you got to root for somebody you know, and so that somebody was the Pirates. I loved rooting for them.
Speaker 1:What made your dad tune into the Pirates? What was it? You know?
Speaker 3:Why did he? Yeah what was it? The Pirates? He just thought the shortwave radio was just like the coolest thing of all time.
Speaker 1:So he'd be like tune into games too.
Speaker 3:You know, you get the BBC but for some reason, and I don't know why, the Pirates were a team. He.
Speaker 1:I don't know, clear maybe than the other stations, whatever, yeah, I mean well, yeah, you had that huge signal, of course, and that's one of the great, I miss.
Speaker 3:You know it's a silly thing to miss, but you know you'd listen, you'd be driving around and you'd have that. You'd have that you know the tuner and you'd be trying to get the AM.
Speaker 1:Perfectly On the little, a little transistor radio, trying to get that signal perfectly, yeah, and the wave would oh yeah, right, there's a foul ball. Wait a minute and there's a drive.
Speaker 3:That is so right. So that's 100% of the money. So you had KMOX in St Louis. You can get everywhere, and at night you could get KDKA radio. I mean you could get it all up and down the eastern seaboard and up through the northeast. But I remember driving. I was driving to college and I had this old beat-up Volkswagen. I think it was a Volkswagen Diesel Rabbit. It was either that or my Pinot, I can't remember. Diesel.
Speaker 1:Rabbit, it might have been my Pinot, one of the two.
Speaker 3:Or a diesel rabbit. So when the car would go over like 57 miles an hour it would just start shaking uncontrollably. And, of course, no speed. You didn't have where you can automatically set your speed, which I use all the time now, and it goes cruise control. So I was listening to Nolan Ryan pitching a no-hitter and I'm driving and I'm trying to go 57 miles an hour.
Speaker 2:I have to go 57 because Hooperstown to St Louis is 1,000 miles.
Speaker 3:It's like a 17, 18-hour trip. So I'm like driving and Nolan Ryan I pick him up in Ohio is down in Texas and he's pitching a no-hitter. I mean we might have been pitching against Cleveland, I don't remember, but I'm listening, so it had to be the Cleveland station then. Maybe I don't know, but again it's at night.
Speaker 1:It?
Speaker 3:I don't know how technology works, but you can't get anything. In am during the day, but at night it's like you can get every station.
Speaker 1:That was the cool thing about that back in the day, Not only to tune in, but the discovery that you'd get from wow. I'm getting this station in Dallas of all places, Absolutely.
Speaker 3:And then so you're listening and you're like, well, I need a ball game. You know, I need something to keep me going. I'm like, oh, nolan Ryan, fourth inning, he's got a. You know, hasn't given up a hit yet. I'm like, this is great and it fades out. And you're looking for another station and now it starts to get late in the game and I'm like, oh my gosh, and I'm listening and I've got to. And then you know, like you said, it's like strike one, and they're letting the gnat sound and go. You know, like, and then you're like, and I'm looking, oh, I'm going 42, I'm in the right lane. God, I've got to get up to 57. Here I am, I'm going up to 57, and I'm listening and I'm listening.
Speaker 2:I bet he is leaning like this.
Speaker 3:I was listening and then like 30 seconds would go by and I'm like that's not Nat's sound.
Speaker 1:I lost the signal. Oh no, You're tuning in. Yeah, sometimes that sound was. You didn't know it was fans the crowd.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's right Exactly.
Speaker 1:Is that the crowd or is?
Speaker 3:that static, exactly, yeah, exactly. So my trek across Ohio and I think he lost it with maybe one out in the ninth. Oh my gosh, he got me across the state of Ohio, you were locked in so way to go.
Speaker 1:Nolan Ryan, thank you, I appreciate it.
Speaker 3:Did you ever meet by? Oh no, I've never met him, but you know when I used to go down and do and I think you probably feel the same way like it would take a lot for me to be starstruck at this stage of my career. You've interviewed and met so many famous people. Muhammad Ali starstruck.
Speaker 2:That put you back. Yeah, when I met him I was like, whoa, he's got me in the boxing. You're in the circumstance Boxing Hall of Fame. Yeah, he shows me a lot of the highlights.
Speaker 3:So Don King was. So the Boxing Hall of Fame is in Canistota and I was working in Syracuse and I used to love boxing. I'd go down to the Boxing Hall of Fame. There'd be like nobody there, I mean, you know nobody. No media covering it, wasn't that hugely attended at the beginning. So I'd be sitting there with Carmen Basilio and Gene Fulmer and they literally I'd do my interviews and then I'd just be like you know, tell me about, uh, you know, such and such a fight, and they'd be telling me stories and I'd be like it was great, it was, it was phenomenal. So a couple of years Sugar Ray Leonard went in. It got very. That drew a big crowd.
Speaker 3:When Don King went in, he wanted all of his fighters up there. So I was in the actual hall where they have the boxing. I think they have boxing gloves at the place. It's been a while and across the floor I see Muhammad Ali Come on and I'm like, oh my gosh, that's Muhammad Ali, that's, that's Muhammad. It's amazing. And he, he, you know he was in the early stages of Parkinson's and he, but he did this sort of I don't. I still don't know how this happened or why it happened, but he saw me from across the room and there was you know, there's 60, 70 people in the room and he just made a beeline straight toward me and, like everybody, got out of the way and I'm like like wait, is he coming?
Speaker 1:to me and he walks right past you to go to somebody. That's what I thought.
Speaker 3:But he walked right up to me and I'm like, and I'm like champ, and he's like, I know what to say. So I'm like hey champ, like he hasn't heard that three trillion times there's an original line. Hey, champ, I was so starstruck. So then he pulled out a little sheet. What was that like? Oh, it was phenomenal. He pulled out a little piece of paper and on it was, you know, he signed one side of it and on the other was discrepancies in the Bible and verses I should read in the Koran or something, just a little piece of paper, and I was like, wow, it was incredible.
Speaker 3:I'll tell you another one. Sorry, I'm going on here.
Speaker 1:No, I'll keep watching.
Speaker 3:So I was in. When I was working in St Louis I was an intern at a TV station and Stan Musial comes in and Stan Musial is going to do an interview, and now he's one of the first really famous guys that I'd met. I once did a card show in Cooperstown where it was my job to drop, pick up at the airport and drive around. I'll get back to Sam usual in a minute. Okay, it was early. Win Lou Burdette. Oh my gosh, eddie Matthews, warren spawn a little bit. I think Whitey Ford was in and out of that I was 18, 18, 19. So I would be like, I'd be like, I'd be like, I mean, it was like, yeah, these are the first really famous guys.
Speaker 2:I've run Were you in the Diesel Rabbit.
Speaker 3:No, no, I was given a van.
Speaker 2:I was given a van to pick them up at the Utica Airport, so I'm picking them up at the Utica Airport.
Speaker 3:It's about a 45-minute trip to Pittsburgh or to Cooperstown and they're going to be taken care of for this. Uh, these baseball cards signings. So I'd be, you know, I'd drive them in and I'd be like, okay, be cool, be cool. And I'd be, like you know, early when I'd be like, how's your flight, mr win? Yep, okay, are you comfortable? Who's the hardest hitter you ever faced? You know who's the best team? I wore him out for the questions the whole way.
Speaker 3:so that was so. That was my first introduction. So now I'm an intern, intern, you know, several years later, and Stan Musial comes in, I'm like, oh, stan Musial, who, by the way, criminal. You talk about underrated players of all time. If there's an inner circle of the Hall of Fame with 15 guys, stan Musial's in there. I mean he's.
Speaker 3:And the fact that you know the 100 greatest team he had to be added to it is a joke. I mean, there was a legitimate discussion at the time. He was contemporaries, almost straight-up contemporaries, with Ted Williams, who was the better player. But now Ted Williams, his star. As it sometimes happens, his star has risen. Fine, I have no problem with that, but the fact that Stan Musial hasn't risen with him, you're right.
Speaker 3:I mean seven, seven time batting champion mvps. Why do you think that is? It's well, probably being in st louis was part of it. The superior fielder, the superior base runner, um, you know, just a great, great teammate. And the guy won seven batting championships and hit 475 homers and more doubles than just about anybody.
Speaker 3:Anyway, so there he is, so, stan Musial, and I'm like, wow, hi, mr Musial. And oh, no, you know, call me Stan, and blah, blah, blah, and I'm talking to him and somebody said, hey, if you ask him, he'll pull out his harmonica. And I was like do you play? I understand you play the harmonica. And he's like, do I? Pulls it out? Played, take Me Out to the Ballgame on the harmonica. So I'm still and I'm waiting and I'm like this is great, I'm waiting to get the tap. Hey, bring them on down here. You know they were getting set up for him.
Speaker 3:And he goes do you have a dollar? And I'm like is Stan Mus? I give him a dollar and he's talking to me the whole time and blah, blah, blah, and I'm not really paying attention. He's telling me different things and all of a sudden he hands me back. He's folded the ring. He folded the dollar into a ring, a little ring like this, like he can put it, and he gives it back to me and I still have it. I still have those little ring that stan musial made for me out of a dollar bill. I mean, you know, wait, wait. So he took my dollar.
Speaker 1:And created this ring out of a dollar, you know what do they call that?
Speaker 2:Like origami, yeah origami, it's an origami thing he made a ring with my dollar.
Speaker 3:And I'm like, wow, I still have that ring. Wow, that is neat, you got to bring that. And I guess the final way we got started on the Starstruck thing. But the final thing, my sister's a big NFL fan, my younger sister a big NFL fan and also enjoyed Dancing with the Stars. Now there's a show I could never be a TV executive because when I heard about the premise of the show I'm like that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. And of course, it's the biggest show of all time.
Speaker 3:I'd be the executive saying no, that one's not gonna fly. I'd be. I'd be glad I've been fired. Um, anyway, uh, we were, we were um having, uh, we're down at the the mary of the new golf tournament.
Speaker 3:Uh, you know, when he had the fundraiser for the mary louis foundation, uh, down at, uh, joe hardy's place, um, uh, mystic rock, and you know, you play with these guys and you're playing with grant fuhrer and all these other famous athletes and they couldn't be nicer and they know the deal. They're supposed to look after their foursomes. Right, we're media guys, but we got the pass because because of our association with, uh, with airing the games, but most of the they know, when I, the first year I was there, jordan was there, charles barkley was there and these guys you'd look over and there'd be Michael Jordan teamed up with his four guys and they'd be smoking a cigar and having a drink or whatever, and just the four of them talking, or the five of them, michael Jordan. They really knew how to do this right. So kudos to Mario, of course, and kudos to all the stars that he brought in for these things Dan Jansen, grant Fair, vince Coleman, coleman, a couple years, he's a very good golfer.
Speaker 3:Oh my gosh, really yeah, really good. So very cool stuff, but again, like I said, not really starstruck. So I'm like we're talking to these guys, this is great. So it's a little buffet luncheon and Emmett Smith gets his lunch and he can't find his group. He can't find his group.
Speaker 3:And he's looking around he can't find his group and he looks down and we're dining with Grant Fuhrer and he goes hey, do you mind if I have lunch with you guys? And I'm like, no, yeah, sit down. And then I was like about 30 seconds later I was like, well, that's kind of funny, actually, like I'm sorry.
Speaker 2:Emmett.
Speaker 1:This is a private party. No, I can't. She's like Emmitt Smith from.
Speaker 2:Dancing with the Stars. I said, yep, yep, that Emmitt Smith, that Emmitt Smith. He was the one I had lunch with.
Speaker 3:So yeah, fun stuff, that's great. Believe me, it has been so much fun my career. I've just had a blast.
Speaker 1:And this is out of left field, but just curious to know do you remember anything about shaking Muhammad Ali's hand? Anything unique stand out about that handshake. I about that handshake.
Speaker 3:I was thinking about that. Thank you for that question. It was. It really was. I really was starstruck and it really was sort of out of body. I mean. I just it was like he almost, it was almost like he walked away and you're like, did that really happen? You're looking at that picture of the Korean, the real reason I ask is because I.
Speaker 1:The real reason I ask is because I you know, boom Boom Mancini was from Youngstown, ohio.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, ok, and so he threw out a ceremonial first pitch one time back at Three River Stadium and having me on the field, and I shook his hand. I'll never forget it. How soft and it was like you could. It was bizarre and I wondered do all boxers have this soft hand? Not a tough. I thought he was going to crush it. I thought it would be like a mallet no, just a very soft, I wonder. To this day, I wonder, do all of you would have remembered that? Or did he crush your hand when he shook your?
Speaker 2:hand no I remember he was out of body. I was out of body, I really was, I was out of body, how about?
Speaker 1:who was the? Do you have like a best interview you've ever done on air? You know anything come to mind.
Speaker 3:There were, and again early on when I. You know, when I talk about these famous athletes, I mean the more, the longer I was in Pittsburgh, the more I mean, you know, you're sitting down with, you know, mario Lemieux, and you're sitting down with Brian Trottier, and you're sitting down with all these famous Hall of Famers, mark Recchi and Rick Tockett, another guy who I think belongs in the Hall of Fame, all these famous players, bill Mazeroski, and you're like I'm like Dick Grote. I mean I'm calling games with Dick Grote. I'm like how cool is that? I called a game with him at Madison Square Garden that Pitt won in overtime in a Levance fields, uh, buzzer beater, and they honored dick grode at halftime and I felt blessed enough to call him a, a friend. Yeah, I mean just uh, all these guys.
Speaker 3:I think the one that always sticks out for me was dave parker. I mean he just was. You know, I didn't know what to think. Um, I went up to, we went up to his house in Ohio and we did. I mean these were hour and a half interviews, I mean the Chuck. You know, most of them were an hour and a half. Even Teak was an hour and a half. Chuck Tanner was two and a half hours, oh yeah.
Speaker 2:Like one question. Yeah, we got to change tapes.
Speaker 1:Chuck, you could have done for another five hours he was phenomenal.
Speaker 3:But you know, when you don't grow up, when you grow up a big sports fan like I said, I like the Pirates because the Mets, especially because the Mets were terrible and you see from afar a guy who doesn't have a great reputation with the media, whose own fans are throwing things at him, and you're thinking, boy, this must be, this must be kind of a bad guy. So I go up there and he's like, yeah, you can come up and interview me. And I'm like what am I going to get? Like, am I going to get up there? And I'm going to turn around and be like, well, that was a waste of time, you know.
Speaker 3:And he couldn't have been nicer, extremely funny. You cannot be funny and not be intelligent. He was obviously very smart and he was just quick-witted. And his teammates I don't think I've ever, ever in my life, done more of a gone in with some trepidation and come out thinking, oh my gosh, wow, I mean you talk about preconceived notions being completely wrong. And again, not from just from reputation. And his teammates loved Dave Parker, absolutely, thought he was the greatest Every time he brought up Willie Starge on the 79 Pirates. Hey, willie was the leader. Don't forget about Dave Parker To a man. Don't forget about Dave Parker. And they loved his humor, they loved how hard he played the game. Um, they loved his leadership, they loved and, of course, phenomenal. We talked about this a lot. He should be in the hall of fame. Yeah, um, just a phenomenal player.
Speaker 1:Michael. So, as Rob knows and you may know also, but but Parker every routine ground ball ran as hard as he could. I love it and, rob, I know you've seen enough footage of him. But what I remember about Parker is even the most frustrating ground out or pop-up or drive to the wall. He would turn at first base and he would stand there and most players will take their helmet, rip it off, fire it toward the dugout, slam their batting gloves down. He would, the bat boy would come over and stand there waiting and he would patiently take off that helmet, hand it to the Bat Boy, take off each glove and put it in there with class. I thought that is unbelievable, respecting the Bat Boy's job.
Speaker 3:Yeah, teague told me a great story about Dave Parker. He said one day their wives had gotten together to do something so they carpooled into the stadium. They left a little early. In those days, those guys, you talk to those 79 guys they could not wait to get to the stadium. They left a little early In those days, those guys, you talk to those 79 guys they could not wait to get to the stadium. They couldn't wait because it was always Garner and Parker would be doing something and Foley would be involved and somebody would be off Rip it on each other. Bert Bly Levin would be in the mix. All these guys going crazy.
Speaker 3:So Parker sees a bunch of kids playing baseball you know, I don't remember where Teague said it was and Parker said let's stop off and play ball with these guys. And Teague's like are you sure it's amazing? And Parker goes yeah, come on, let's go, man. So Dave Parker and Kent DeColvi played pickup ball with these kids on the way to the office. How about that? I mean, just Talk about an all-timer, just an all-timer. And then you know, when you think about as long as we're on the topic of Parker when you think about, like you know him playing, I mean, you know, he got a broken jaw in the collision with Stearns right and then now he's wearing a helmet with a face guard on it so he can get back sooner Basically a football helmet. They went to the Steelers equipment people to have that done.
Speaker 3:He had bad knees to begin with and he did everything on the baseball field that we say we want our guys to do. You've got to play hard, you've got to run out every ball. If there's a guy at home plate, you've got to run him over. You've got to do whatever you can to try to help your team win. You got to play hard. And he plays on AstroTurf with bad knees and has a decline and yet still has other pop-up great seasons. And his greatness during his prime was, I mean, he was the best in the game. And to see a guy like that to me not get in the Hall of Fame, I think Dave Parker belongs because he did all those things. He wasn't DHing, he wasn't playing on grass, I mean, he was. He was doing all these things to me. I think you sometimes, and then you look at today's metrics and well, his on-base percentage wasn't high enough. You think chuck tanner was saying, hey, dave, I try to work out a walk up there this time.
Speaker 2:Or was he saying punish the baseball. You know, I mean come on that's what would say.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you can't use today's metrics to judge yesterday's players, Unless by doing that you can elevate a guy.
Speaker 2:You have to add hey, listen, this is an overlooked guy here.
Speaker 3:Maybe he was a little better than we thought. But to say you know, yeah, different things were asked of players in different eras.
Speaker 2:Like the batting average mattered, hits mattered. They didn't think about walking. No, they didn't. They didn't want to get the first baseball walk, they wanted to hit. I mean, you talk to guys from the 70s. They wanted to punish the baseball in a different way, but they wanted to win the bat. No-transcript, and there's no question. They wanted to get to the ballpark, because when you get that close it gets special.
Speaker 1:Well, it was also, as you said, a different game. That was when the leagues were different, that's when they never no interleague play. The National League hated the American League.
Speaker 3:No free agencies. You could keep your team together. No free agency, that's right.
Speaker 1:National League East teams couldn't stand each other, the rivalry, the Pirates and the Phillies and the teams. In the 70s the Reds were dominant, the big red machine and the lumber company. Was there an interview or a moment that disappointed you? A meeting with someone that stands out? I know you hate to do it, but it's interesting.
Speaker 2:He's going through the Rolodex. Yeah, I am going through the.
Speaker 1:Rolodex, a little bit I say it because when you talked about how, because you're not starstruck, but there are times when it's so deflating when you meet someone who you kind of held to a high level on a pedestal and then you meet them and I I bring that up because in the uh 94 all-star game, during the uh celebrity softball game, whatever it was we were working for kdka am and they did shows all throughout the day during all-star week festivities and our job was to go around and interview the guys as they were taking batting practice, the legends of the game, and two guys that man I just really thought were Hall of Famers in my mind at the time certainly Dave Kingman and Reggie Jackson, and maybe it was just a bad day Kingman had a bad reputation.
Speaker 3:Yeah Well, I mean, this was probably less about maybe says less about the player than about the circumstances, but I was in Cooperstown and I was working in Syracuse and I went to, I did a show on you know just sort of baseball, but a big segment was on the Negro Leagues. You know just sort of baseball, but a big segment was on the Negro Leagues. So I went up to and, oh, you talk about some great interviews. You know some of the Negro League, oh man, oh geez, some of the Negro League players. Yeah, I get it, those guys are incredible. Oh, I cannot believe his name is escaping me. He was the guy that he was the spokesman for the Negro Leagues and currently Bobby Kendrick.
Speaker 1:No, no, no, he passed away a few years ago. Buck O'Neill, oh Buck O'Neill.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so. So all the guys were phenomenal. Buck O'Neill, you talk about a guy who stood head and shoulders above.
Speaker 1:When I finished interviewing with him.
Speaker 3:I was like whoa, you walk away talking to him.
Speaker 1:You're like, you feel better about yourself.
Speaker 3:You just brought so much joy. That's awesome. He was sensational.
Speaker 2:What makes that happen?
Speaker 3:Well, first of all, you just got a feeling like this is a better human being than you are. You know what I?
Speaker 2:mean yeah, I mean just without meaning to be Just pure joy.
Speaker 1:Oh he just, I was like you know, loved people, the, just the love of everything.
Speaker 3:Love, I guess, is maybe what comes to mind yeah, yeah, and the things he talked about that the players had to go through, and you know the dignity I mean talking about. You know, listen, listen, I remember he said something we had to be. You know people were like you know he'd be talking to other black players and they'd be like, hey, we can play with those white guys. You know we're just as good as Aaron and Buck O'Neill. So that's not good enough. You have to be better, morally, ethically, everything. The pressure on these guys just to fit in, at that time of segregation, you just couldn't fit in. You couldn't. You had to be up here. Um, he, he was sensational. So I went back to cooperstown and I was talking to a bunch of um other guys. You know bob feller and some other guys.
Speaker 1:He, he's a little cranky oh, he was a little cranky. He was cranky but about very angry that he wasn't still playing. You know, at 90 he could still bring it and he, uh, so, uh.
Speaker 3:So I'm talking to these guys about their experiences with the negro leagues and a friend of mine remember, I'm from cooperstown, I'm working in syracuse and this friend of mine comes over and she says hey, pete rose is signing autographs across the street. Do you want to interview him? Well, I, you know, I left syracuse, like after the 11 o'clock on on 11 o'clock news at 11 30 on Friday night and it's now, like you know, five o'clock Sunday afternoon and I'm going back into work on Monday and I got to put the show together. I'm spent. It's been a long weekend. I'm like I don't really need to. There's really no reason for an interview with Pete Rose. I really don't need him. She's like no, no, come on over and talk to me.
Speaker 1:He'd love it, it'd be great you know, I'm like, well, maybe I could, but she was a wonderful person.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, you know, come on over to be great, you know. So I'm like okay. So I was like, well, maybe I can use the soundbite from him. Yeah, for the news, I I don't, really I don't need him for this knee. I mean, what does he know about the negro league players, really, you know. So he didn't play against him.
Speaker 3:So I got over there and I waited and I waited and I waited and the whole time I'm like, oh, I just, I just, I just want to go home and I just want to go. I got work to do. When I get back, I got a huge show to put together, you know. So I waited and then finally he was, he was finished, and he said I said, hey, pete, can we grab a quick word? And he's like, well, I said, hey, pete, can we grab a quick word? And he's like well, I got to go to the airport. You should have got me, you know, 45 minutes ago. So really, pete, and you know me well enough to know that my temper doesn't snap too often.
Speaker 3:My family might disagree with that. But I just said, you know, and he was like you know, and I just said, you know what, I don't care, I don't, and I didn't maybe use the most polite language. I just said I don't care if I interview you or not, I really don't care. And he was like, oh well, hang on a second here, let me. So that was, that was six hours. I was like, well, that was kind of. And I was like, okay. So then I did the interview and he was fine, he was fine, I mean it was like two minutes of an interview that I didn't even want to do anyway.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and of course I asked him. You know why didn't you, why didn't you admit to it? To the game and that you know, and that's the thing too with with again my opinion on Pete Rose If he had just said hey, I made a mistake. We have an almost endless ability in this country and maybe it's a human condition to forgive people who made mistakes.
Speaker 3:Forgive if you said hey, I made a mistake. You know, like my my own personal opinion and I I don't. I mean, I was never a pete rose fan. I know steve blast always talks glowingly about pete rose, I was never a fan.
Speaker 3:I I thought um, you know, the running down to first base was there's one thing, when dave parker hits a ground ball to thought, you know, the running down to first base was there's one thing when Dave Parker hits a ground ball to second and sprints because if the guy drops it right he could be safe or he could put a little pressure on him. If you draw a walk and sprint down to first, that's just drawing attention here. That's my opinion, anyway. So I don't care about Pete Rose one way or the other, but I think that you know a solution would be put him in the Hall of Fame as a player and ban him for life for baseball, as he is banned for life. So he shouldn't be. If you gambled on the game, you know you go back to 1919. I mean, any game loses its integrity if there's the whiff of players or coaches gambling. But as a player, probably the player in the Hall of Fame and the guy banned from baseball, do you?
Speaker 2:have a personal standard for who should be in the Hall of Fame. No, I mean, I think he's passionate about this. I mean it varies.
Speaker 3:It varies from guy to guy. I mean, you know, you know I've I offer like Tony Oliva. To me it is criminal that he had to wait that long to get in the Hall of Fame, absolutely criminal. I think if you talk to the players that played against Tony Oliva, they would have told you that in that 8, 9, 10-year stretch probably 9-year stretch he was the best player in the American League. The best player, mvps, all-star games, batting titles. He could run. He had bad knees but he could still run. You know he got a late start. He came over from Cuba. He was an incredible player.
Speaker 3:Didn't get the numbers Like you talk about, dave. I would have loved to have seen Dave Kingman get 500 home runs because that guy had no business being in the Hall of Fame. Bad teammate, from what you hear and I don't know. I don't know Dave Kingman, but you know I watched him play as a Mets fan Awful fielder, not a good base runner, couldn't hit for average. He could do one thing and that was it. He's not a Hall of Fame player. But we fall in love with the numbers. I think the numbers are great and, if you want to, if somebody achieves something over a course of their career. I have no problem with that person being in the Hall of Fame, that's great.
Speaker 3:But why is it that, for example, sandy Koufax, we talk greatest left-handed pitcher of all time? Why did Sandy Koufax, who quit at his prime but had what five or six great years, right and phenomenal, I mean, you know, the best years maybe in history. But he got to retire and we just assumed the best years were ahead of him. Okay, but to retire, and we just assumed the best years were ahead of him, okay, but but his reputation wasn't sort of besmirched as dave parker's was, because of the period, inevitable period of decline. What if he'd hung around? What if sandy koufax had one year he'd gone. You know, uh, 12 and 8, and then the next year he goes, you know 7 and 13, and then, well, hang on, I think I found something now. You know, now he's 7 and 7, and the next year he's he's, you know, seven and 12 again. And all of a sudden you're like you're looking at him. Well, he was good for four or five years, great for four.
Speaker 3:And now, what yeah he he, he got to he got to, he got to quit with no period of decline, and be in the hall of fame and be and I have no problem with that why afforded to Tony Oliva? Tony Oliva was sensational. Look up his numbers Sensational, for nine seasons Sensational, and yet he had to wait until a couple years ago to get in the Hall of Fame. I'm glad he was still alive, right?
Speaker 1:Don't you think longevity should be rewarded more than it is? Yes, as well.
Speaker 3:I think it all should be rewarded. Yeah, I agree. So, like you know. So when I think of hockey, mark Reckie belongs in the Hall of Fame. He's in the Hall of Fame. He had a long, great career. Rick Taka, to me, is kind of like a Dave Parker type. He played, he was a sensational player. For a short stretch of time he literally made himself a new great player. He fought his way into the NHL and then he became really good. Along the way he got improved and got better and then, because he played, you know, who do you want? Well, I want a right winger that can protect Mario. I want a right winger that'll drop the gloves if he needs to. I want a right winger that makes sure Mario doesn't get in any trouble. Oh and, by the way, I want him to finish too right and I want him to be a great leader. Let's see how many guys are like that in the league. Well, there's Rick Tockett and there's I don't know who else.
Speaker 3:And now, because he plays so hard, I think he's got bad shoulders and stuff. He goes through a period of decline and he put up very, very good numbers but he's not in the Hall of Fame. So he's kind of in between the guy who's a no doubter and the guy who put up great numbers over the course of a career. But I don't think if a guy was great for a stretch of time, I think that deserves a lot of consideration.
Speaker 1:On the subject of greatness Hall of Famers, there is going to come a time. I think that Andrew McCutcheon's name is going to at least come up. Do you think that if he puts aon's name is going to at least come up?
Speaker 3:do you do you think that if he puts a solid year together in 2024, that I'd like to see him, man, I was really hoping he'd make it the all-star team this year. Remember there was some talk, hey, maybe he could make the all-star team, because those are the things that ultimately are going to be valued. And again, you know, if you're a good player on a bad team, sometimes you accrue some of these awards and you have to look at OK, do these awards mean he was really an elite player? I'd like to see him have and I think he can. I think he can have a couple more pop up years. I think he's, if he gets it. And again, you talk about numbers, you talk about longevity. He has a couple pop up years, maybe makes another all-star team, gets himself to 2,500 hits I mean starting to, you know, click through these milestones. I think he could be an awfully interesting candidate. What do you think? Fort?
Speaker 2:yeah, we, we've talked about it because we looked at it in five-year stretch.
Speaker 2:He, he was one of the best in baseball, yep, and if you start talking about the Parkers and different things, but that longevity, he's had his decline, he's had his injuries and if he can have, you know, one or two, you know above average, well above average years where he's flirting with the all-star and he's getting talks and I think too, if he can get you on a team with the buckos and make it to the playoffs, deep in the playoffs, I think that'll help cause, because when you think about the black and yellow, you think about Andrew McCutcheon.
Speaker 2:I think the last person you probably think about is probably Barry Bonds. So I think when you put it all together, he's got a shot, especially if you look at the guys that are up now with the Hall of Fame, because you're not going to see the 20 years very often anymore. You're not going to see guys that throw 200 innings, that play 162 games. You're just not going to see it. It's a different game. I hope it comes back around, that old school mentality comes back. But I think that's going to help him early on, because he played almost every single day for five years and played very, very well.
Speaker 1:If you look at the center fielders that are in there, you could definitely make an argument that his numbers are better than a handful of center fielders already in the Hall of Fame. And if you look at a guy like Joe Maurer no disrespect, he was just put in McCutcheon's numbers are better. People have argued with me that, well, he was a catcher. Well, not really. He was a catcher for a little while, but he was a first baseman DH for much of his career. So I don't know. I think he's, I think there's a good chance, in my opinion, down the road that he could be. And I also ask this question, rob and Michael, when McCutcheon came back last year in our lifetimes, is there anything that you can compare it to in sports where a player put a 10-year stretch of strong numbers, including MVP, gold, glove, all-star games, leaves, not of his own accord, and then returns a handful of years later as a free agent to that team that traded him? I don't think there's any.
Speaker 1:I've tried to look at it. I asked Mike Lange about it. I think he mentioned Mark Recchi, but Recchi put a handful of decent seasons together with the Pirates, then years with the Penguins and then went through a lot of years with a lot of different teams, came back and had a decent stretch with the Penguins, but I can't think of anybody that actually did this. Our producer last year I was talking about this on the air during a game and our producer, adam Elmore, said to my headset what about Ken Griffey? Ken Griffey left as a free agent. He left the Mariners because he wanted to be closer to his family. Signed as a free agent with Cincinnati and then returned and his career was over, really, with the Mariners. I just can't think it's so unique.
Speaker 2:I'm not saying that's the case.
Speaker 1:I'm not saying that's the case for the Hall of Fame. This is a different subject, but again, I just think you mentioned Recchi's name and that's what?
Speaker 2:Well, here's a question for you guys If not him, who would be the next Pirate? You have Bonds, you have Parker, you have some guys that Leland goes in this summer, of course, but as a manager.
Speaker 3:Murtaugh should be in the Hall of Fame. Yeah, Murtaugh should be and again if he managed the Yankees, he'd be in the Hall of Fame, andy Murtaugh.
Speaker 2:That shouldn't matter, of course, it shouldn't matter.
Speaker 3:It shouldn't matter it shouldn't matter, but it does, but it does.
Speaker 1:Well, the fact that he beat the Yankees matters, because I think they've held a grudge ever since that New York mindset. To this day, you go to spring training games and there are still people, older people. When they find out that we're with the Pirates, they look at us like you jerks. You're the organization that beat us in 1960.
Speaker 2:Boo-hoo Hold a grudge, get over it, turn the page.
Speaker 3:One of the greatest lines for me that I ever got out of an interview was Ducky Schofield, who's a backup shortstop and middle infielder on that 60 team, stepped in when Dick Grote got hurt in September that year and really played well for him. You know the Yankees are like everyone in New York and the Yankees you know Mickey Mantle was crying in his dugout or or his locker after the game. After game seven. They were convinced they were the better team. They went in 16 to one and then losing four to three, and then they're winning. You know 13 to two and then they're losing. You know six or seven, to say whatever.
Speaker 3:All the one run game, the run differential told you right, yeah, and Dickie Schofield said we could have played them all winter and we'd have won one more game than they did, and I'm like that is beautiful man.
Speaker 1:That is beautiful.
Speaker 2:That's great. That's all that matters.
Speaker 3:That's it Find a way to win. I mean, andrew McCutcheon is the most important player in this city in baseball in 30 years and I really, really hope he retires as a pirate. He's around the team. He becomes for future generations what you know Bill Mazeroski and Dick Grote and Teak and all these players that we see at these events. I hope that's who he becomes. I hope he stays here with his family and I hope that that's you know years from now. That's who Andrew McCutcheon becomes, along with Neil Walker.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Neil Walker too. Yeah, yeah, amen to that. We'll keep this conversation going. We'll have you back.
Speaker 2:Yes, are we done already?
Speaker 1:For now.
Speaker 2:Okay, all right.
Speaker 1:Stick around, join us for the next episode of Hold my Cutter.