Back When There Was Baseball

We are joined by  Steve   Kemp  this week. Steve was on his way to a very good career in the Major Leagues until an unfortunate eye injury curtailed it. He had a great college career at USC before being drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 1st round of the 1976 January Draft. Steve was up in the Majors for good with the Tigers in 1977 and it didn't take long for him to start hitting. His best year...

Rusty Gerhardt joins us on the podcast this week. Rusty was a left-handed pitcher that came out of Clemson University. He played in the Cape Cod League and in Alaska. Rusty was drafted in the 12th round in 1972 of the June Amateur Draft by the San Diego Padres. He only played one year in the Big Leagues for the Padres in 1974, but Rusty talks about his journey to the Majors as he was called up in...

John Boccabella  joins us this week. John played from 1963-1974 for the Cubs, Expos and Giants. He also played for Leo Durocher and Gene Mauch, legendary managers. Enjoy this trip  Back When There Was Baseball with John Boccabella.

Jim Colborn  is our guest this week. Jim played in the Majors from 1969-1978 with the Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers, Kansas City Royals and Seattle Mariners. His best year was 1973 with Milwaukee and he was an All-Star that year. He also had a solid year in 1977 with the Royals, but did not appear in the ALCS. Join us  Back When There Was Baseball with Jim Colborn.

We are blessed to have  Bob   Oldis join us this week on the podcast. Bob signed his first Major League contract in 1949 with the old Washington Senators franchise. Bob also played in the 1960 World Series and appeared in games 4 and 5 in Yankee Stadium catching in the latter innings. He finished his career in Philadelphia playing for Gene Mauch in 1963. He stayed on the Phillies staff as a coach...

Jack Heidemann joins us this week. Jack started his career at the age of 17 in the minor leagues and made his major league debut at the age of 19 in 1969 with the Cleveland Indians. Unfortunately, Uncle Sam called, and Jack had to delay his baseball career until 1970. Jack's career lasted through the 1979 season with his one year in St. Louis (1974) being his most productive. We look Back When The...

Who caught the first pitch in the Houston Astrodome? He is our guest this week and his name is  Ron Brand . The infamous game was on April 9, 1965, and was an exhibition against the New York Yankees. Ron started out with the Pirates before Houston selected him in the Rule 5 draft. He also played for the Montreal Expos who acquired him in the expansion draft. We venture  Back When There Was Basebal...

We are joined this week with one of the best defensive catchers in the game during the decade of the 1970s.  Terry Humphrey  is that individual and he played in the Big Leagues from 1971-1979 with 3 teams: Montreal, Detroit and California. When he joined the California Angels in 1976, he quickly became the catcher for Nolan Ryan and Frank Tanana upon their request. His best season was 1977 where h...

Gary   Waslewski  joins us on the podcast this week. Gary was a World Series starting pitcher in 1967. He started Game 6 of the 1967 World Series against the Cardinals' Dick Hughes. The Red Sox won Game 6, but Bob Gibson won Game 7 to give the St. Louis Cardinals the Series. Gary was one of the toughest luck pitchers of all-time. He had a record of 11-26, but a respectable 3.44 ERA while playing f...

Larry   Hardy  joins us on the podcast this week. Larry played from 1970-1979 with the Padres and Astros. He was called up to the Majors in 1974 with San Diego and ended the season with the rookie record for appearances by a pitcher with 76. Larry posted a 9-4 record that year with an ERA of 4.69. He bounced up and down from the Minor Leagues to the Majors for the remainder of his career and coach...

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

We are privileged to speak with  "Sudden" Sam McDowell  this week on  Back When There Was Baseball . Sam had a storied career, pitching from 1961-1975 in both the American and National Leagues. He was part of one of the greatest pitching staffs in the history of the game, the 1968 Cleveland Indians. All four starters had ERAs under 3, but Sam and Luis Tiant were under 2. Sam has a second story to...

This week's guest is  Jack   Hiatt .  Jack was a Major League catcher for 9 seasons, mainly with the San Francisco Giants. He broke into the Majors for the Los Angeles Angels in 1964. The Angels were in their 3rd season as an expansion franchise that year and they finished with a record of 82-80, which was unheard of for an expansion team during that time-period. Jack was traded to the San Francis...

We look back at the 1969 "Miracle Mets" this week with our guest  Rod   Gaspar .  Rod was the starting right fielder at the beginning of the season replacing Art Shamsky who was injured.  The Mets were 5 games behind the NL East leading Chicago Cubs on September 1 and made a furious run for the NL East crown down the stretch.  This was the first year of Divisional Playoffs and the Mets had to face...

Greg Harris  is our guest this week and is noted for pitching ambidextrously, which he accomplished in 1995 with the Montreal Expos. He pitched in the Majors from 1981-1995. Greg was not only a "jack of all trades" as a pitcher but was a decent hitter as well. Greg pitched for many ball clubs and was very effective.  In 1995 he got his chance to pitch from "both sides of the mound". Greg created a...

Jack DiLauro passed away on December 7, 2024.  We re-air this podcast in honor of him: Who has the New York Mets' 3rd best ERA with over 50 innings pitched with the club?  His name is  Jack DiLauro and he joins us this week.  Jack was a part of the 1969 "Miracle Mets" pitching staff.  He did not pitch in the postseason that year, however his 2.40 ERA helped the Mets get there.  Jack only played 2...

There was a commercial in the 1970s for Rolaids (antacid relief) which went viral: How do you spell relief? R-O-L-A-I-D-S. In 1976, Rolaids sponsored the Rolaids Relief Man awarded to the best relief pitcher in Major League Baseball. Our guest this week altered the commercial slogan which went, How do you spell relief: T-O-M-H-U-M-E.  Tom Hume  pitched in the Majors from 1977-1987. In the late 197...

Our guest this week is  Ron   Reed .  Ron is one of only 13 athletes to play in the NBA and also Major League Baseball.  He played for the Detroit Pistons for 3 years, coming out of Notre Dame, before deciding to focus on baseball.  Ron was a starting pitcher for the Atlanta Braves from 1966-1975.  After finishing up the 1975 season with the St. Louis Cardinals, he was traded to the Philadelphia P...

Mark Littell passed away on September 5, 2022.  We re-air this podcast in honor of him: Our guest this week is  Mark   Littell , relief pitcher with the Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals from the mid-1970s through the early 1980s.  Mark was involved in several great moments in baseball history.  He is unfortunately recognized as the pitcher who gave up the home run to Chris Chambliss in G...

Our guest this week on  Back When There Was Baseball  is the 1972 National League Rookie of the Year, pitcher Jon Matlack. Jon was a member of the 1973 New York Mets which made it to the World Series. He started four games in the 1973 postseason with an outstanding ERA. He pitched in both the National and American Leagues during his career. Jon Matlack is one of those pitchers who will surprise yo...

The 1975 World Series between the Cincinnati Reds and Boston Red Sox was voted as the best World Series in history. There is only one umpire remaining from that series and he is our guest this week on  Back When There Was Baseball .  Larry   Barnett  joins us and he talks about his storied career. Larry umpired from 1969-1999 which totaled 4,281 games. He umpired 4 All-Star games, 7 ALCS and 4 Wor...

Join us as we go  Back When There Was Baseball  to the 1970s and 1980s with our guest,  Johnny Grubb . Johnny played in the Majors from 1972-1987 with the San Diego Padres, Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers and Detroit Tigers. He was signed out of Florida State University and got to the Big Leagues in his 2nd season. Johnny hit .311 in his first full season with the Padres (1973). He was a solid pl...

Eric Soderholm  joins us this week. Eric played in the Majors from 1971-1980 with the Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers and New York Yankees. He had a career batting average of .264 with 102 home runs and 383 RBIs. Eric was a solid player at 3rd base for every team he played for. He had to sit out the 1976 season with a knee injury which led him to be a Designated Hitter in the lat...

Lenn Sakata  joins us on the podcast this week. Lenn was the 2nd Asian American to play Major League Baseball and his career spanned from 1977-1987. He was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers but played most of his career with the Baltimore Orioles. He was instrumental in the 1983 regular season which led to the Orioles World Series win over the Philadelphia Phillies. Lenn could play multiple positio...

Eric Raich  joins us this week. Eric played his college baseball at USC coming out of Compton, CA. He was involved in the middle of that great Rod Dedeaux run at Southern Cal where they won the National Championship in 1968 and from 1970-1974. Eric was drafted 1st overall in the 1972 MLB January Draft by the Cleveland Indians. He was a big pitcher standing at 6'4" and weighing between 240-250 lbs....