Back When There Was Baseball

Former long-time Phillies broadcaster  Chris   Wheeler  joins us this week.  "Wheels" was behind the mic for 37 years of Phillies baseball which included their only 2 World Series championships (1980 and 2008).  The Phillies have only appeared in 7 World Series and Chris was a part of 5 of those events.  Wheels shares a lot of great stories from his time with the Phillies, which started in 1977, a...

We celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ten Cent Beer Night which occurred on June 4, 1974, in Cleveland. The game featured the visiting Texas Rangers, with manager Billy Martin, up against the home Cleveland Indians. Our guests are Steve Foucault and Tom Grieve who played for the Rangers, and Jack Brohamer and Dick Bosman who played with Cleveland. This was a promotion that went wrong. Streaking, wo...

We are privileged to host one of the best catchers in MLB during the mid-1970s through the mid-1980s.  Jim Sundberg  joins us to talk about his career. He came out of the University of Iowa and was told by a scout that he was not very good. That "insult" propelled Jim to become the best catcher he could be, and what a successful adventure that was. Jim played 16 seasons in the Majors (1974-1989) w...

We look back at the great Baltimore Orioles teams from 1969-1971 with our guest this week.  Eddie   Watt  was a valuable member of the Orioles pitching staff. He was a right-handed stopper coming out of the bullpen during those years with outstanding numbers. He had an ERA under 2.00 in 1969 and 1971. He also was 15-10 during those 3 years (1969-1971) which is outstanding for a relief pitcher. Edd...

We take a look back this week into the mid-1970s through the late 1980s with one of the best relief pitchers of that era.  Kent   "Teke" Tekulve  joins us to discuss his career which spanned from 1974-1989. He talks about how he was signed by the Pirates on a somewhat fluke situation. Teke had 3 years where he appeared in 90 games or more, with the final one happening when he was 40 years old as t...

We look back to the 1980s this week with our guest  Bob   Dernier . Bob started in the Phillies organization (1980-1983), then finished his career in Philadelphia (1988-1989). His career took off when he was dealt to the Chicago Cubs (1984-1987) where he was their leadoff man/center fielder. He led off the bottom of the 1st inning of Game 1 in the NL Playoffs (1984) with a home run against the San...

We have  Barry   Foote as our guest on the podcast this week. Barry was signed out of high school in North Carolina by the Montreal Expos. He had the privilege of playing for Gene Mauch while being the Expos starting catcher from 1974-1976. Barry was traded to the Phillies and was part of their NLCS run in 1977-1978. He then became a starter with the Cubs and later played with the Yankees during t...

We look back to the late 1960s to the early 1970s this week with former MLB pitcher  George   Culver .  George pitched in the Big Leagues from 1966-1974 with many teams and some great pitching staffs.  He was part of the great staff in Cleveland in 1967, Cincinnati in 1968/1969 and the Astros in the early 1970s.  George had a no-hitter in 1968 against the Phillies when he was with Cincinnati.  Tak...

Our guest this week was headed for the MLB Hall of Fame before a tragic injury curtailed his career. Listen as  Dickie Thon talks about coming into the Majors with the California Angels before being traded to the Houston Astros. He thrived in Houston before he was hit in the head with a pitch by Mike Torrez on April 8, 1984. Dickie played the rest of his career with impaired vision, which is unrea...

Our guest this week is former MLB relief pitcher  Steve   Foucault .  Steve is a very interesting subject in the fact that he became a relief pitcher in the Major Leagues but hadn't pitched since his Little League days.  Steve also never started a game in his minor or major league career.  He played in the Big Leagues from 1973-1978 with the Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals.  S...

Former MLB pitcher  Bill   Krueger  joins us this week on the podcast. Bill pitched from 1983-1995 with various ball clubs. This tall left-hander has a nice career record of 68-66 with a 4.35 ERA. Bill has a unique story as to how he started his MLB career after playing both basketball and baseball for the University of Portland. Bill went into broadcasting after his MLB career and covers the Seat...

We are pleased to have  Randy   Lerch  as our guest this week on the podcast. It is an honor for Rex as he was in the stands on September 30, 1978, when Randy started against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Three Rivers Stadium. Randy not only picked up the win on the mound, but he hit two home runs to lead the Phillies to clinching the N.L. East. He talks about that game along with his trials and tribu...

Former MLB outfielder  Leon   Roberts  joins us this week. Leon played in the Big Leagues from 1974-1984. He played in two domed stadiums as his home field during his career (The Astrodome in Houston and The Kingdome in Seattle). Leon talks about hitting in those stadiums and how he overcame an eye injury to have a career batting average of .267. He finished 6th in batting in 1978 with the Mariner...

1979 marks the 45th anniversary of the great game between the Cubs and Phillies. The date was May 17, 1979, the location was Wrigley Field in Chicago, and the wind was blowing out at 17-18 miles/hour. Both starting pitchers (Phillies - Randy Lerch, Cubs - Dennis Lamp) only last 1/3 of an inning and the score was 7-6 after the 1st inning was completed. The teams combined for 50 hits of which 11 wer...

June 23, 2021 marked the 50th anniversary of one of the greatest achievements in not only Philadelphia Phillies, but also MLB history.  Rick   Wise pitched a no-hitter on that Wednesday evening in Cincinnati while also hitting 2 home runs. Later in that same season, he recorded 32 consecutive outs in a game vs. the Chicago Cubs (September 18, 1971). We were fortunate to have Rick talk about that n...

Ken Berry  joins us on the podcast this week. Ken played in the Majors from 1962-1975 and was considered one of the best defensive center fielders of that era. He won two Gold Glove Awards (1970 and 1972) and was an All-Star in 1967. You have to wonder why he wasn't awarded more Gold Gloves when you look at his statistics. Ken played his entire career in the American League with the Chicago White...

Lou Klimchock  is our guest on the podcast this week. Lou played in the Majors from 1958-1970 with the Kansas City A's, Milwaukee Braves, Washington Senators, New York Mets and Cleveland Indians. He was a good utility infielder during most of his career and finally got a chance to play regularly with Cleveland in 1969. Lou talks about getting labeled back in the day and how it affected his career....

We are going back into the mid-1960s through the 1970s this week with our guest. You should remember  Jim Rooker  as a Pittsburgh Pirate, but he actually started in the Detroit Tigers organization as an outfielder, then converted to a pitcher. Jim shares some great stories during his career with the Tigers, Kansas City Royals and Pittsburgh Pirates. He was pivotal in the 1979 World Series by pitch...

Our guest this week is one of the best switch-hitting power hitters of his time period.  Ken Singleton  joins us this week to talk about his illustrious career. Ken's MLB career spans from 1967-1984 with 3 teams: New York Mets, Montreal Expos and Baltimore Orioles. Ken hit 246 HRs and had over 1,000 RBIs (1,065). He also hit .282 during his career with 4 seasons over the .300 mark. Ken Singleton i...

We are joined this week by former Major League right-handed pitcher  Glenn Abbott . Glenn pitched in the Big Leagues from 1973-1984. He came up in the Oakland A's organization when they won 5 straight AL West titles (1971-1975) and 3 World Series (1972-1974). He was selected by the Seattle Mariners in the 1976 expansion draft and played with Seattle from 1977-1983, where he played for the Mariners...

Our guest this week was in the game of baseball for five decades.  Mark Wiley  talks with us, not only about his playing career, but also his coaching and administrative career. Mark was not highly touted out of high school but had a great college career at Cal Poly Pomona and was drafted in 1970. He threw a ton of innings as a young minor leaguer and developed some arm problems, which hindered hi...

Rich Nye  joins us this week on the podcast. Rich was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 14th round of the 1966 draft out of Cal-Berkeley and it didn't take him long to make it up to the parent club. He talks about his time with the Cubs and manager Leo Durocher. The Cubs were contenders when he pitched for them in the late 1960s. Rich left baseball and became a veterinarian specializing in exotic...

Tom Satriano joins us this week on the podcast. Tom was an original Los Angeles Angel in 1961, signed out of USC's baseball program. He played in the infield as well as catcher throughout his MLB career (1961-1970). The Angels were an expansion team, but quickly played .500 or better baseball and were competitive throughout the 1960s. Tom talks about his career, along with some of his teammates an...

Former MLB pitcher  Dick Stigman  joins us this week. Dick was a left-handed pitcher from 1954-1967. He is most remembered for his stint with the Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins. Dick had a career record of 46-54 with a 4.03 ERA. But the stat that jumps out is that he started 119 games in his career and completed 30 of those games. Dick also was part of the Minnesota Twins 1965 World Series...

Clay Dalrymple  joins us this week.  Clay played in the Majors from 1960-1971 with the Philadelphia Phillies and Baltimore Orioles. Clay was part of the Phillies collapse in 1964 and also part of 3 World Series teams with the Orioles from 1969-1971.  He reflects on these years and also playing for managers Gene Mauch and Earl Weaver.  Clay threw out almost 50% of the base runners that attempted to...