Life At The Ballpark

On this episode you'll hear stories from a former Cardinals' pitcher and current broadcaster who achieved the rare feat of going to the post season in his first two seasons in the big leagues and even winning a World Series.  He share his perspective on the historic 2005 NLCS playoff game #5 as Minute Maid Park went silent when Albert Pujols homered off the Astros' Brad Lidge.   

  On this episode you'll hear stories from  a 30 year broadcast veteran with the Houston Astros and member of that team's Hall of Fame, who as a boy growing up in central Missouri was mesmerized by the sounds of baseball on the radio and in 1964 followed his favorite team The St. Louis Cardinals through one of baseball's most bizarre seasons with t hree teams tied for first place one week to go.  ...

This podcast with Rick Hummel was recorded during Spring Training 2019.   I'm reposting at the news of his passing because of how elequontly he reflects on his life.  You'll hear Rick share about his love for baseball and how he became a sportswriter.   You'll hear about his receiving the phone call informing him that he had been elected the the writer's wing at the Baseball Hall of Fame, the year...

Tom Ackerman, sports director for KMOX that has covered the St. Louis Cardinals for over 50 years.  Tom shares about how his dad took him to Cardinals' games as a kid and encouraged him to pursue his dream of sports broadcasting.   

 On this episode, you'll hear stories from a Hall of Fame sportswriter who has covered the St. Louis Cardinals for 50 years, through 7 World Series and 20 postseasons. You'll hear "The Commish's" opinions on the new rules in baseball, such as the pitch clock, bigger bases, and defensive shift restrictions.   The Hall of Fame sportswriter also reminisces about a couple of Cardinals' Hall of Famers...

Sports Columnist Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post Dispatch shares his thoughts on the Cardinals' lineup as we begin the 2023 baseball season.    How will rookie Jordan Walker impact the club?    Is the starting rotation strong enough to compete?    Can the fact that they are moving guys around at various positions actually be a strength?    Ben also reflects on last season's impact of future...

On this episode, you'll hear stories from the son of Hall of Fame broadcaster Harry Kalas of the Philadelphia Phillies, who is now the voice of the team he grew up rooting for as a kid, the Houston Astros. Todd shares stories about growing up around the Astrodome while his dad called games when the Astros began play in 1965. Harry Kalas was honored with the Ford C. Frick award as lead play-by-play...

Bill Mercer is the original announcer for the Texas Ranger. He also called games for the original Dallas Texans in the old AFL which eventually became the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Dallas Cowboys, including the Cowboy's first Super Bowl.  Bill shares behind-the-scenes stories from the earliest days of the Texas sports world. You'll hear Bill talk about what it was like to announce the historic C...

Bill Mercer was doing a newscast at Noon on Dallas radio station KRLD when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in downtown Dallas on November 22nd, 1963. For the next several days Bill was one of the critical radio and television reporters at the Dallas police headquarters when Lee Harvey Oswald was brought in. In this podcast, Bill shares the story of being the first person to tell Oswald...

Tim Hagerty is the play-by-play announder for the San Diego Padres' AAA affiliate in El Paso, TX. Tim shares some of the most bizarre stories in baseball history.  In this episode you'll hear about a frantic call to the police from The Lake Erie Crusher who reported a missing head. That's right, a missing head.  The day the New Orleans Pelicans' official mascot Henry the Chimpanzee got loose and c...

In this episode of Life at the Ballpark you'll hear from 3rd generation baseball "Lifer" Mike Berger.  Mike is currently a scout for the Milwaukee Brewers and previously was a Farm Director. He's played in every baseball league other than the American and National League. He was also offered the manager's job for the Florida Marlins but turned it down because he thought he wasn't ready for that le...

What does it take to persevere through the ups and downs of life? How do you make it in business through the setbacks that can leave you discouraged and feeling like giving up? In this episode, you'll hear from Mike Capps who's watched many young baseball players come up through the Minor Leagues during his 22 seasons announcing over 3,000 games for the Texas Rangers AAA team, the Round Rock Expre...

Rick Hummel shares a wrap-up of the 2022 Spring Training for the Cardinals. Plus he shares his conversation with Albert Pujols and his concerns about returning to the Cardinals and how he'll be received by the club.  Hear about the misunderstanding that started Rick's relationship with Lou Brock on the wrong foot and how they resolved it and built a great relationship. There are so many great insi...

St. Louis Cardinals' fans will enjoy this conversation with St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Ben Frederickson as he shares stories about the Cardinals' offseason moves including a managerial change, the drama of the lockout, resigning Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright, and then the explosive news of signing future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols. --------- Catch these other episodes about the St. Lou...

Take a walk through the 60-year history of the Houston Astros with veteran broadcaster Bill Brown, author of " Houston Astros' Golden Era " along with co-authors Mike Acosta and Phil Boudreaux. You'll hear about everything from the expansion franchise Colt 45's in 1962, to reaching the World Series in 3 of the last 5 years. Bill and his co-authors talk candidly about the best and worst trades in t...

Syndicated radio personality and author Brant Hansen shares his love for baseball and the impact it has had on his life growing up on the Autism spectrum.   Batting averages and wins and losses weren't just statistics for him, they became a refuge to escape a chaotic family situation and helped him develop a passion.  Once dreaming of becoming a play by play announcer for the Cardinals, life's twi...

Clint Hurdle played in the big leagues for 10 years and managed another 17 with the Colorado Rockies and Pittsburgh Pirates. Hurdle began his professional career on a Sports Illustrated cover heralded as the "next big phenom".   That unwanted and unexpected spotlight helped create enormous expectations that led to personal struggles.  As a first time manager Hurdle led the Colorado Rockies to thei...

Robert Ford has been doing radio play by play for the Houston Astros since 2013, when Astros were in the process of losing 100 games three years in a row.    The team followed that with three consecutive 100 win seasons in the same decade, the only team to ever do that.    Robert shares about growing up a Mets' fan in the Bronx where all the other neighborhood kids were rooting for the Yankees.  H...

The veteran of 40 years covering MLB shares insights on the Cardinals' upcoming season and tells stories from his 30 books about Cardinal legends like Ozzie Smith, Jack Buck, Albert Pujols, and Red Schoendienst.    

Ben Frederickson shares his perspective on the trade that brought Nolan Arenado to the Cardinals.  Perhaps the best trade in Cardinals' history?   Ben assesses the Cardinals strengths and weakness as they prepare for Opening Day 2021.   He also shares about how the pandemic affected baseball last year, and the importance of signing Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina for another season.  

Anne Rogers is one of a handful of female beat writers for MLB.com. She spent several seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals and is in her first with the Kansas City Royals.      In this episode, we talk about Anne's interviews with women in baseball sharing the significance of the hiring of MLB's first female general manager Kim Ng as General Manager of the Miami Marlins.     John Frost's co-host t...

Chicago Cubs & ESPN Play-by-play commentator Jon "Boog" Sciambi joins Life at the Ballpark to share stories about his career in the broadcast booth including with his encounters with the Phillie Phanatic, working with Rick Sutcliffe, and the one time he gave poor advice to Chipper Jones who let Boog know while he was still at bat. 

KMOX Sports Director Tom Ackerman joins Life at the Ballpark to share some unique stories about St. Louis Cardinals' legends. Tom also revisits the time when his father passed away during his high school years and then receiving a call from Bob Costas who went through a very relatable situation.

Cardinals broadcaster Mike Claiborne joins John Frost to tell stories and reminisce about Cardinals legend and Hall of Famer Lou Brock. 

Los Angeles Dodgers historian Mark Langill joins John Frost on the latest episode of Life at the Ballpark