Back When There Was Baseball

Hector Cruz  joins us this week.  Hector signed his MLB contract at age 17 in 1970.  He came from Arroyo, Puerto Rico along with brothers Jose and Tommy.  His career spanned from 1970-1982 along with playing in Japan in 1983.  Hector talks about his journey to the U.S. with very little understanding of English.  He worked his way to the Big Leagues first appearing in 1973 with the St. Louis Cardin...

Pitcher  Rich   Hand  is our guest this week. Rich is one of only two pitchers in MLB history that played with polio (Gary Ryerson being the other). You will enjoy Rich's stories about playing for the Alaska Goldpanners with Bob Boone, Dave Kingman, Dan Pastorini (yes, the Houston Oilers quarterback) among many others. Rich had some solid seasons with Cleveland and Texas in the early 1970s. He was...

The time machine travels back to the 1980s to take a look at our guest this week,  Ted Power .  Ted had an interesting path to the Major Leagues, through amateur baseball and Kansas State University.  Ted ended up stuck in the mix with a lot of great young pitchers in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization, but on October 15, 1982 he got his break, being traded to the Cincinnati Reds.  His best year...

We have a Pennsylvania player today, but not one who played for the Philadelphia Phillies or Pittsburgh Pirates.  Paul   Hartzell  played high school baseball for Central Columbia High School near Bloomsburg, PA, then went on to Lehigh University. Paul made it to the Big Leagues for the 1976 season with the California Angels. He was part of that pitching staff which included Nolan Ryan and Frank T...

Balor   Moore  is our guest this week. Balor started his career on fire with an ERA under 1.00 in his first season in A ball in 1969. He got his first opportunity in the Big Leagues with the Montreal Expos in 1970 and had a really good season in 1972. Unfortunately, Balor gave up Mike Schmidt's (1972) and Mike Tyson's (1973) first home runs. Balor had a thrill of a lifetime when he threw a perfect...

Buzz Capra  joins us this week on the podcast.  Buzz was drafted by the New York Mets in 1969 while leading Illinois State to a Division II National Championship.  His career lasted from 1969-1977 and he had a part in some great seasons.  Buzz was a member of the New York Mets roster that made it to the 1973 World Series, losing to the Oakland A's in 7 games.  He was sold to the Atlanta Braves in...

If you are a long-time Phillies fan, you will remember our guest this week.  Len   Matuszek  joins us to discuss his career. Rex remembered Len's contributions in the last month of the 1983 season which culminated in a World Series appearance for the Phils. Len also had a solid 1984 season before being shipped to Toronto. He was a rare 2-sport athlete in college (Toledo) and came to the Phillies w...

It is rare that a player who played in every year during the decade of the 1970s is not recognized by either Rex or Steve, but our guest this week fits into that category.   Tom Griffin  joins us this week as we delve into his "mysterious" career.  When we looked at Tom's stats, we were left scratching our heads as to how a player with this much impact on the game went unrecognized by us.  Tom had...

Our guest this week is pitcher  Andy McGaffigan . Andy played in the Majors from 1981 through 1991. He has a career record of 38-33 with a respectable ERA of 3.38. Listen in as Andy discusses playing in the Division II World Series, how tough it was to play baseball in Montreal, along with what it was like being a relief pitcher and spot-starter  Back When There Was Baseball .

Today's guest is  Ken Tatum , relief pitcher 1969-1974. Ken played college baseball at Mississippi State and signed with the California Angels after college. The Angels brought him up to the big leagues in 1969 and he responded with a great season. He appeared in 45 games, saving 22 of them with an ERA of 1.36. Ken also finished 4th in the 1969 AL Rookie of the Year balloting. He was having anothe...

Phil Roof  joins us on the podcast this week.  Phil started his baseball career in 1959 signed by the Milwaukee Braves and lasted through the 1977 season.  He played for the Milwaukee Braves, Los Angeles and California Angels, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City and Oakland A's, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Sox and Toronto Blue Jays.  Phil caught one of the best pitching staffs in...

This week's guest is  Gary Neibauer . Gary pitched in the Majors from 1969-1973 for both the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies. Listen in as Gary discusses his career and playing with greats such as Hank Aaron, Orlando Cepeda, Phil Niekro and Steve Carlton. Gary also discusses that he was touted to be the Phillies second starter in 1972 before he suffered an injury that essentially ended hi...

Our guest this week is  Fred   Beene . Fred was in the Baltimore Oriole organization during their great years in the 1960s to early 1970s. He had trouble breaking into the Big Leagues until he was traded to the NY Yankees. He had two great years with the Yankees in 1972 and 1973, during the CBS years. If you don't remember Fred, you should, especially if you are a Yankee fan. This man was a very g...

Jim Price passed away on August 7, 2023.  I conducted this interview with Jim in April of 2021.  We are re-airing this as a tribute to his life and career.   Jim   Price  is our guest this week. He is currently the color analyst for Detroit Tigers radio broadcasts and has been announcing for almost 30 years. Jim was a member of the 1968 World Series Champion Detroit Tigers. He came out of Hershey...

Bob Lacey  joins me on the podcast this week.  Bob was drafted by the Oakland A's in 1972 at the start of the A's dynasty.  Bob made it up to the parent club roster in 1977 after the team was dismantled.  Bob had some really good years on the mound for the A's from 1977-1980 when they were rebuilding.  You have to look at not only a player/pitcher's statistics, but on what type team they played on...

Pitcher  Dick   Bosman  is our guest this week on the podcast. Dick had a very good MLB career on mostly poor teams. Dick was the Washington Senators opening day pitcher for four consecutive seasons and that says something! He threw a no-hitter for the Cleveland Indians on July 19, 1974 against the powerful Oakland A's. He then finished his career with the three-time World Champion A's. Listen as...

This week, we are going back to the 45th anniversary of "Birdmania". For those who don't remember, this was in 1976 with Mark "The Bird" Fidrych setting Tiger Stadium in a frenzy with his pitching performance and antics on the mound. Fidrych passed away in 2009, but we have his personal catcher, Bruce Kimm, to talk about that magical season of 1976 for the Detroit Tigers and "The Bird". Kimm caugh...

Pitcher  Danny   Boone was the lightest pitcher to pitch in MLB history.  He is listed in the stats at 5'8" tall and 150 lbs.  Dan will relate that he was closer to 130 lbs.  Dan is a descendant of THE Daniel Boone.  His first name is Danny, even though MLB, along with other statistical websites, list it as Daniel.  Danny started out in the California Angels farm system in 1977.  He got his chance...

Our guest this week is  Frank   DiPino . Frank pitched with several teams and was very effective, mostly through the 1980s. He started out with Milwaukee and unfortunately was traded before appearing in the 1982 World Series. He then played with Houston and was traded in the middle of the 1986 season before he was able to appear in the NLCS against the N.Y. Mets. Frank played effectively in the le...

Our guest this week is  Ron Stone , former Philadelphia Phillies outfielder from 1969-1972.  Ron started his career in the Baltimore Orioles organization, then was chosen by the Kansas City A's in the Rule 5 MLB draft in 1966.  He played 26 games for the A's and had good numbers, but the A's sent him back to the Orioles in July of that same year.  He was blessed to be traded to the Phillies in 196...

We go back in the time machine this week to the late-1960s through the mid-1970s with our guest  Bobby Valentine .  You should recognize that name, but maybe as an MLB manager.  We focus on his playing career this week.  Bobby was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1968 as the 5th overall pick.  He was sent to rookie ball in Ogden, Utah, along with teammates Bill Buckner, Tom Paciorek, and Stev...

We are privileged to have long-time American League umpire Al Clark as our guest this week. Al umpired from 1976-2001 and was a member of the umpiring crew in the 1978 AL East one-game playoff in Fenway Park between the Red Sox and Yankees (the famous Bucky Dent HR game). Al also umpired in the 1983 and 1989 World Series. You will not want to miss his discussion of that 1978 playoff game and the "...

There were only three players in MLB history that started the year in the Minor Leagues and made the MLB All-Star game.  Our guest his week, Bill Dawley , was one of them.  Bill started in the Cincinnati Reds farm system in 1976 and finally got his shot in the Big Leagues when traded to the Houston Astros.  He had a good 3-year stint with Houston from 1983-1985 compiling a 22-13 record with 21 sav...

We are discussing utility infielders on today's podcast. When you think of utility infielders in the 1970s era,  Jack   Brohamer comes to mind. Utility infielders are a special breed. They do not play every day. They are asked to pinch hit, pinch run and also enter a game in the latter innings for defensive purposes. These players come into a game cold and are asked to perform at the highest of le...

Our guest this week is  Juan   Berenguer,  better known as  Senor Smoke ,  El Gasolino , the  Panama Express,  or  Pancho Villa . Juan was the first Panamanian baseball player to win a World Series, and he won two (Detroit 1984 and Minnesota 1987). He started with the New York Mets in the late 1970s but became an outstanding relief pitcher for the Twins and Braves toward the latter part of his car...