Yes I remember those 76 Union promotions.
Back there in '64- '66 I was a Sandy Koufax/ Don Drysdale fan. Us guys in the neighborhood would raid the the local 76 station and collect those styrofoam antennae balls. We made up many games with those pills. I remember badminton baseball was one of them. I still have one of them someplace around here.
One of 76's promo's was a 45 single with Sandy on one side and Don on the other being interviewed by Vin Scully.
I had that 45 for years. But my mom threw it away sometime after I got married. Thanks mom. I found out about that when I met Don Drysdale . Actually he called me one night... "Is this Kurt?' Yes "This is Don Drysdale." Yeah. And I'm Sandy Koufax! "No this is really Don Drysdale! I saw one of your textures you did for my neighbor and I want you to do my house." Okay.
So I scrambled to find that 45 to get autographed. Thanks mom.
I did get 3 baseballs signed by him. And then he died about a week after I finished his house.
There are two factors in pace: the pace of the game playing (length between pitches), and the pace of the other stuff (pitching changes, mound visits, TV time outs, stepping out of the batters box).
While the pace of play is probably a bit slower than ever, it's the time spent on the non-baseball stuff that takes too long. Pitching changes kill the pace at the end. Cy Young averaged 8.12 innings per start. Steve Carlton was over 7 (picked as a Phillie fan), Justin Verlander is averaging 6.5 innings per start, and he's one of the "horses" in the league. The current Yankee starters this year....5.5 innings.
That's where the game goes from "paced" to slow. It's the non-baseball moments that Vin and others moan about.
and there is the replay.
why not eliminate some of the umping?
less arguing over balls and strikes.
Right, so when announcers complain about the length of a game, I'm confused, because if it's a good movie, do you wish it ended sooner? Pass a rule that no movies should be longer than 90 minutes? I'll bet Vin never moaned about a game taking too long.
There are two factors in pace: the pace of the game playing (length between pitches), and the pace of the other stuff (pitching changes, mound visits, TV time outs, stepping out of the batters box).
While the pace of play is probably a bit slower than ever, it's the time spent on the non-baseball stuff that takes too long. Pitching changes kill the pace at the end. Cy Young averaged 8.12 innings per start. Steve Carlton was over 7 (picked as a Phillie fan), Justin Verlander is averaging 6.5 innings per start, and he's one of the "horses" in the league. The current Yankee starters this year....5.5 innings.
That's where the game goes from "paced" to slow. It's the non-baseball moments that Vin and others moan about.
Location: Really deep in the heart of South California Gender:
Posted:
Aug 4, 2022 - 12:18pm
kurtster wrote:
Yes I remember those 76 Union promotions.
Back there in '64- '66 I was a Sandy Koufax/ Don Drysdale fan. Us guys in the neighborhood would raid the the local 76 station and collect those styrofoam antennae balls. We made up many games with those pills. I remember badminton baseball was one of them. I still have one of them someplace around here.
One of 76's promo's was a 45 single with Sandy on one side and Don on the other being interviewed by Vin Scully.
I had that 45 for years. But my mom threw it away sometime after I got married. Thanks mom. I found out about that when I met Don Drysdale . Actually he called me one night... "Is this Kurt?' Yes "This is Don Drysdale." Yeah. And I'm Sandy Koufax! "No this is really Don Drysdale! I saw one of your textures you did for my neighbor and I want you to do my house." Okay.
So I scrambled to find that 45 to get autographed. Thanks mom.
I did get 3 baseballs signed by him. And then he died about a week after I finished his house.
More than a team, my grandfather (and Scully) loved the game. The pace. The sounds.
Right, so when announcers complain about the length of a game, I'm confused, because if it's a good movie, do you wish it ended sooner? Pass a rule that no movies should be longer than 90 minutes? I'll bet Vin never moaned about a game taking too long.
He used to tell a story when he was a small boy about seeing a newspaper in the window of the Chinese laundry in his neighborhood. The Yankees beat the Giants 16-4. He immediately felt sorry for the Giants and became a baseball fan and a Giants fan right then.
Scully was one of the last connections to a time when baseball was a Northeast/Mid-West game. Multiple teams in Boston, St. Louis, Chicago, and Philly. Three in NY. The Mets/Yankees rivalry now isn't like the old ones...it's was more segregated (by geography). Fans could turn on an owner or a team quickly, and embrace the other side overnight. The Whiz Kids in Philly grabbed the city from the A's, who had been the better team for decades but did things to offend fans. My grandfather lived in Camden and spoke of swimming across the Delaware with friends to get to games in Philly. He was an A's fan who loved the Phillies the moment the A's left town.
More than a team, my grandfather (and Scully) loved the game. The pace. The sounds. When the MLB went on strike in 1994, my grandfather would listen to minor league games on the radio. He didn't know the players, but the game, on the radio, was how he spent his summers.
Now you can get revised betting lines after each pitch on your phone while you eat dinner. America's pastime is in the past.
I remember reading somewhat recently about him that he was a Giants fan when he was a kid - I hadn't known that. He had apparently grown up in northern Manhattan, near where the Polo Grounds used to be.
He used to tell a story when he was a small boy about seeing a newspaper in the window of the Chinese laundry in his neighborhood. The Yankees beat the Giants 16-4. He immediately felt sorry for the Giants and became a baseball fan and a Giants fan right then.
Back in the day, a team's broadcaster was just a radio announcer, not considered vital to the marketing, so Vin never really made huge money just on Dodgers radio/TV. He did all kinds of sports for TV, including golf and of course football. "The Catch" was his last football game; CBS had made it clear that Pat Summerall would always be their A-team so when Vin called that legendary game, he realized it was going to be the one people remembered so he told CBS that was his final NFL game.
I remember reading somewhat recently about him that he was a Giants fan when he was a kid - I hadn't known that. He had apparently grown up in upper Manhattan, near where the Polo Grounds used to be.
Back in the day, a team's broadcaster was just a radio announcer, not considered vital to the marketing, so Vin never really made huge money just on Dodgers radio/TV. He did all kinds of sports for TV, including golf and of course football. "The Catch" was his last football game; CBS had made it clear that Pat Summerall would always be their A-team so when Vin called that legendary game, he realized it was going to be the one people remembered so he told CBS that was his final NFL game.
He wasn't just the last of the greats, he was alone at the top and will be forever. When I listen to Giants broadcasts, once or twice a year someone will be ill and not be able to work the game, leaving only one person in the booth—there are usually two and often three. Vin worked alone. 82 games at home, plus select west coast games every year, he did the entire broadcast: play by play, color, Vin's stories, and never lost the thread of those stories that might run across several innings. "Deuces wild here, with two on, two out, score tied two to two" or any other combination of twos, two strikes, two balls, two outs, he never missed a deuces wild moment. Seems like a tiny thing, but it gets your mind into the crevices of the game, waiting and watching for an alignment of the numbers. He kept a 3-minute egg timer hourglass... be sure to mention the score before the sand runs out, turn it over and restart the timer. When the Giants played the Dodgers, I usually put the Dodgers broadcast on, just to hear what he had to say about the world, life, and the Giants players. Always positive, even when we were terrible, or the Giants were great. When the Giants weren't playing, I'd watch Dodgers home games just to hear Vin.
I kinda grew up with Vin a little bit way back when. Like you, I was a Giants fan first and they are still my national league team. When they came down south to play the Dodgers or the Dodgers went north I would try and listen to Scully on the radio night games. Back then the Dodgers broadcast on KFI, the mighty clear clear channel 50,000 watter in SoCal. Could get it on anything. By then I had a little bit better clock radio. They had a promotion going on with Union 76 gas stations and the Dodgers where if you had an orange ball on your car antenna, iffen your license plate number was picked you would call in to claim a prize, tickets and what not. The Giants would broadcast on KSFO and all's I had to listen to at night was my little build your own Remco crystal radio with that little ear piece to listen to at night. I had a hard time getting KSFO on it so instead I mostly listened to KGO at night with a local sportscaster Ira Blue who used to broadcast live from the Hungry I every night.
When I moved back east here, Scully became a national broadcaster as well and hearing him was like having a piece of home with me even far away. He was just so folksy and I say that with the warmest of thought. A real pro as you mention. I don't know if I remember the egg timer or not but it makes complete sense upon hearing you mention it. As I acclimated into the A L here, all that sorta faded away with the absence of N L baseball and not seeing the national broadcasts on Saturdays much anymore. Nevertheless, he was the bar that I compared everyone else sense with.
We have had some great broadcasters here in Cleveburg. Our local version of Scully was a guy named Joe Tait, who passed just a couple of years ago. He did the Indians for a few years but he was the voice of the Cavaliers, I believe from day one until he retired about 6 or 7 years ago. Like Scully, he worked alone his entire run. He called a great game and fine tuned it for the owner back then, Gordon Gund, who was blind. He painted a wonderful picture. When the Cavs sucked he would say so and compliment the opponent just as much as well.
Remembering Scully I have to think of Dodger Stadium just as much. It was one of the most beautiful stadiums I have ever been to. More like a park than anything else. So peaceful and pastoral and I can't help but think how relaxing it is just to be there and how it must have had an impact on Scully with it being a wonderful place to be regardless of anything else. A true Oasis in the middle of that rat race which seemed oh so far away when you were there. In contrast, the Big A where the Angels played was so concrete and steel and sterile in comparison. Candlestick was way better than the Big A. Got to experience them all when they were pretty much new. Chavez Ravine / Dodger Stadium is the best. Fitting that Scully was there, too.
He wasn't just the last of the greats, he was alone at the top and will be forever. When I listen to Giants broadcasts, once or twice a year someone will be ill and not be able to work the game, leaving only one person in the boothâthere are usually two and often three. Vin worked alone. 82 games at home, plus select west coast games every year, he did the entire broadcast: play by play, color, Vin's stories, and never lost the thread of those stories that might run across several innings. "Deuces wild here, with two on, two out, score tied two to two" or any other combination of twos, two strikes, two balls, two outs, he never missed a deuces wild moment. Seems like a tiny thing, but it gets your mind into the crevices of the game, waiting and watching for an alignment of the numbers. He kept a 3-minute egg timer hourglass... be sure to mention the score before the sand runs out, turn it over and restart the timer. When the Giants played the Dodgers, I usually put the Dodgers broadcast on, just to hear what he had to say about the world, life, and the Giants players. Always positive, even when we were terrible, or the Giants were great. When the Giants weren't playing, I'd watch Dodgers home games just to hear Vin.
Location: On the edge of tomorrow looking back at yesterday. Gender:
Posted:
Aug 2, 2022 - 7:48pm
KurtfromLaQuinta wrote:
Another bummer.
I remember when he retired. He popped up as a sports newsman on a TV station in Los Angeles.
He was a WAY better player than a sports guy on TV.
I agree. But the stories he would sit tell and that laugh. Man he could put a smile on anybodyâs face.
Another bummer.
I remember when he retired. He popped up as a sports newsman on a TV station in Los Angeles.
He was a WAY better player than a sports guy on TV.
