Back When There Was Baseball

Steve Grilli  joins us this week.  Steve came out of Gannon University and was signed as a free agent by the Detroit Tigers in 1970.  He worked his way through the Minors and made his Major League debut in 1975.  Steve stayed up with the Tigers through the 1977 season and was part of that magical season of 1976 where he was part of the pitching staff that included Mark "The Bird" Fidrych.  He is t...

Our guest this week is left-handed pitcher  Gary Lucas . Don't be fooled by Gary's record of 29-44, as Gary had a career ERA of 3.01 which was phenomenal considering he not only started, but also relieved during his career. He played in the Majors from 1980-1987 for the San Diego Padres, Montreal Expos and California Angels. Gary talks about his career and how tough the National League East was wh...

Our guest this week was considered by many who played for the Chicago White Sox as the best batting practice pitcher of all time.  Glen Rosenbaum  signed with the White Sox in 1955, but never made it to the Big Leagues despite a career record of 95-45. Listen to Glen, or "Rosie" as his teammates referred to him, talk about the reason Manager Al Lopez never brought him up to the Majors. Rosie also...

Tom Bruno  joins us this week.  Tom was a pitcher from 1972-1979.  He was childhood friends with Randy Poffo (the infamous Macho Man Randy Savage) and they played a lot of baseball together.  Tom was in the Kansas City Royals organization and was selected in the expansion draft in November 1976 by the Toronto Blue Jays.  After a disappointing season in Toronto in 1977, Claude Osteen helped resurre...

Bob Coluccio  is our guest this week. Bob played in the Majors from 1973-1978 with the Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago White Sox and St. Louis Cardinals. He is an interesting subject as he fell 35 games short of an MLB pension according to the pre-1980 rules. You will enjoy the stories Bob shares and we review the fact that he is another player that fell through the cracks. Take a trip  Back When There...

Our guest this week holds a special place in host Rex Naylor's heart.  Rex was presented a Wilson A2150 baseball glove at 10 years of age by his stepfather, with Chris Speier's autograph on the glove.  This inspired Rex to follow our guest this week,  Chris Speier 's career, and a fabulous career it was.  Chris got to the Majors in a hurry with the San Francisco Giants and played in the 1971 NLCS...

Our guest this week is  Billy   Sample . Billy came out of James Madison University and was drafted in the 10th round of the free agent draft in 1976 by the Texas Rangers. He was a career .270 hitter for the Texas Rangers, New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves. Billy is a mystery, since he was a very productive hitter and left the game in his early 30s which was rather young. He hit in the .280s his...

Frank Carpin  joins us this week.  Frank played baseball at Notre Dame and was signed into the New York Yankees organization in 1959.  The Yankees were known for their great farm system, but at this time (early 1960s) they stripped their coaches out and moved them up to the Big Leagues.  This story is how bad the Yankees farm system became which led to their mediocre performance during the CBS yea...

This is one of the most inspirational stories you will ever hear. The subject of our podcast today is  Bobby Bonner . He was a great prospect for the Orioles, drafted in the 3rd round of the 1976 MLB draft behind Cal Ripken, to replace Mark Belanger at shortstop. Unfortunately, due to an unbelievable set of circumstances and setbacks, Bobby never truly received an opportunity in the Big Leagues. H...

Bump Wills  joins us on the podcast this week.  Bump is the son of Maury Wills and had a successful career along with his father.  Bump signed his MLB contract with the Texas Rangers after playing for Bobby Winkles at Arizona State.  After only 2 years in the Minor Leagues, Bump made his MLB debut in 1977 and finished 3rd in the running for Rookie of the Year.  He played with the Rangers from 1977...

There are two MLB pitchers that were inflicted with polio that we know of. We had Rich Hand on this podcast a few weeks ago and now we have the second,  Gary   Ryerson . Gary talks about pitching with polio and doing so effectively. He was very close to enrolling at Arizona State, but accepted an offer from the San Francisco Giants. Gary pitched in the Majors and Minors from 1966 through 1976. Lis...

What a better way to celebrate baseball than to revisit the 1975 World Series between the Boston Red Sox and the Cincinnati Reds. With us is  Pat Darcy . Pat was on the mound when Carlton Fisk hit his infamous home run in Game 6 of this series. Pat shares his memories not only of that game, but of the culmination of the Reds first World Series victory under manager Sparky Anderson. He also discuss...

Who is the only person to officiate All-Star games in both MLB and the NBA? We have him as our guest this week and his name is  Jake O'Donnell . Jake is more noted for his outstanding NBA officiating career (1967-1995), but we are talking with Jake about his MLB umpiring career which spanned from 1967-1971. Jake was the second-base umpire in that momentous 1971 All-Star game held at Tiger Stadium...

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...