Latest / OneLegUpAlex Media / OneLegUpAlex Media Welcomes Acclaimed Sports Writer and Author Ken Davidoff (recorded 5-26-26)

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OneLegUpAlex Media Welcomes Acclaimed Sports Writer and Author Ken Davidoff (recorded 5-26-26) · OneLegUpAlex Media

0:02
Speaker 1: Here's your host, Alex Dearren. Very honored thanks to Steve
0:07
Speaker 1: Cohen to have all my line one now, Ken David Offen,
0:11
Speaker 1: you've probably read his work in the Post, in Newsday
0:14
Speaker 1: and elsewhere, and he's also written a great book called
0:17
Speaker 1: one hundred one Lessons from the Dugout, Ken David off
0:21
Speaker 1: I'm so honored that you joined one like up Alex
0:22
Speaker 1: Media today.
0:24
Speaker 2: Alex, I'm thrilled to be here. Thanks for having me,
0:26
Speaker 2: and congrats to the Knicks.
0:28
Speaker 1: I want to start with the Subway Series because I
0:29
Speaker 1: know you covered a lot of that over the years
0:31
Speaker 1: in your writing. Can you give us a couple of
0:33
Speaker 1: memories you know from the Subway Series?
0:35
Speaker 2: For sure, I was fortunate enough to cover the very
0:39
Speaker 2: first regular season games when the Yankees and Mets in
0:42
Speaker 2: nineteen ninety seven, and even I was twenty six years
0:47
Speaker 2: old that I had an old soul to be polite,
0:50
Speaker 2: and I was like, interleague play? Why are they doing
0:52
Speaker 2: interleague play? And then that first game, I think it
0:56
Speaker 2: was a Monday night game at Yankee Stadium, and all
1:00
Speaker 2: of a sudden you just had the vibrant crowd, Alex
1:03
Speaker 2: and all these let's go Mets chants, and let's go Yankees.
1:06
Speaker 2: And Dave Malichey of the Mets throws a gin and
1:10
Speaker 2: I was sold on day one. I was sold, like, Okay,
1:14
Speaker 2: now I'm a board interleague play.
1:16
Speaker 1: And now it's every day? Does that get a little overblown?
1:18
Speaker 1: You think, having it almost every day in every almost
1:21
Speaker 1: every game.
1:21
Speaker 2: Now, well, what has happened, Alex. You know, from going
1:25
Speaker 2: back to those was about the first fifteen years or
1:28
Speaker 2: so of untally played It was just kind of in
1:30
Speaker 2: these designated pockets at the schedule, and the everyday component
1:36
Speaker 2: was born of competitive fairness. Right, they switched to Houston
1:40
Speaker 2: Astros the American League, I'm sorry, from the National into
1:43
Speaker 2: the American leagues. That made it fifteen and fifteen, and
1:46
Speaker 2: that warranted necessary interleague play. And now in this new
1:51
Speaker 2: collective borning agreement that's expiring starting in twenty twenty three,
1:55
Speaker 2: every team plays every team, right, So those I understand
1:59
Speaker 2: your complaint, but I very much liked that the schedule
2:02
Speaker 2: is more fair and balanced than it used to be.
2:04
Speaker 1: And I tell you what, it makes the divisional game
2:07
Speaker 1: so much more important. Remember the Yanks to played the
2:09
Speaker 1: Red Sox nineteen times a yearanteam, Right, that's Braves now twelve. Right,
2:14
Speaker 1: I don't care what anybody said about April. It isn't
2:17
Speaker 1: a sprint anymore, marathon anymore. It feels like a sprint
2:19
Speaker 1: be cause of that, doesn't it.
2:21
Speaker 2: It certainly has changed with dynamic. Yeah, yeah, I see
2:24
Speaker 2: what you're saying there.
2:25
Speaker 1: You know, I love what it says about what baseball
2:27
Speaker 1: and football can teach us about the game of life.
2:29
Speaker 1: That's sort of the top of the book. And we
2:32
Speaker 1: are twenty five years removed and signed eleven, and I
2:34
Speaker 1: felt like that was our first real life example of
2:37
Speaker 1: baseball being you know, life being be really in baseball
2:40
Speaker 1: and all that. And we saw the players leading into
2:42
Speaker 1: that as well. And where were you at the time,
2:44
Speaker 1: And can you tell us some of those memories?
2:46
Speaker 2: Sure? Yeah, I was. I was working, I was with
2:49
Speaker 2: news Day and I was covering the Yankees. I was
2:52
Speaker 2: the Yankees beat writer, and that was I mean, I
2:55
Speaker 2: have very powerful memories of that, Alex. And the one
2:58
Speaker 2: I have cited a lot was Game five of the
3:02
Speaker 2: World Series when Scott Brocius hit the game tying home
3:05
Speaker 2: run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth
3:07
Speaker 2: and aint Yankees down too to tie that game. The
3:11
Speaker 2: emotions in that stadium were so powerful, and it wasn't
3:15
Speaker 2: just about, oh my god, the Yankees came back again.
3:18
Speaker 2: It was oh my God, like, we're finding such joy
3:21
Speaker 2: and relief in this baseball team after we've all been
3:25
Speaker 2: through so much. And that was one of two times
3:29
Speaker 2: in my career when I actually stood up, like in
3:31
Speaker 2: disbelief over what happened. And that was the most emotional
3:36
Speaker 2: I ever got in a press box.
3:39
Speaker 1: That's night Soriano hit the game winner.
3:41
Speaker 2: Right, because I'm exactly right.
3:43
Speaker 1: I was in mister simon Or suite jump around with
3:45
Speaker 1: his grandkids when that happened. I mean, it was just wow,
3:48
Speaker 1: pork night, you know what I mean, It just about
3:49
Speaker 1: you Fork. And of course that's you know that series,
3:53
Speaker 1: George W. Bush flies in and does the first pitch.
3:55
Speaker 1: I mean, to be in that stadium for that moment
3:58
Speaker 1: alone so powerful.
4:01
Speaker 2: So yeah, the President's first bitch was just epic. You know,
4:05
Speaker 2: it was just the emotions rising in that ballpark. You're
4:09
Speaker 2: exactly right, And yeah, in the way that whole series unfolded,
4:14
Speaker 2: and the fact that that Yankees team in that Yankees
4:17
Speaker 2: postseason is still cherished and beloved even though they wind
4:21
Speaker 2: up losing really speaks to that moment.
4:24
Speaker 1: I see you wrote about you're siding the ninety eight
4:28
Speaker 1: the greatest season chronicle for the Yankees. I mean you
4:31
Speaker 1: were around with the ninety eight year as well, so
4:34
Speaker 1: I want to do that in a little bit. But
4:35
Speaker 1: what are you doing now? Maybe people who read your articles,
4:38
Speaker 1: read your content, want to know what you're up to now.
4:41
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, Alex, I call myself retired primarily because
4:44
Speaker 2: it seems to annoy people. And I am an adjunct
4:48
Speaker 2: professor at the College in Beverly, Massachusetts. And then I
4:53
Speaker 2: came out with this book, as you mentioned, one hundred
4:55
Speaker 2: one Lessons from the Dugout, which I co wrote with
4:57
Speaker 2: a gentleman named Harley rope Part But really, what happened? Alex?
5:01
Speaker 2: Like I love reliving these old memories with you, but
5:03
Speaker 2: I have gotten to the point, like professionally, I could
5:06
Speaker 2: not write one more column about what's wrong with the Yankees,
5:09
Speaker 2: what's wrong with the Mets? You know, I chased down
5:12
Speaker 2: one more trade room or write about one more injury
5:15
Speaker 2: and all that.
5:16
Speaker 1: And you know I interviewed a colleague of yours. You
5:18
Speaker 1: have to become friends with Jim bomback over the years as.
5:20
Speaker 2: Well down back he owes me money. No, he doesn't.
5:25
Speaker 1: He's one of the great guys, and he's another big guy.
5:28
Speaker 1: And he connected because when mister Simoner passed, he interviewed
5:31
Speaker 1: me and put me in the paper about my connects
5:33
Speaker 1: with George Simon. So small world, you know.
5:36
Speaker 2: But yeah, Alex, I now remember you. I I didn't
5:39
Speaker 2: make the connection when when Steve put us together a BI.
5:43
Speaker 2: I fully remember you, and I salute you for for
5:45
Speaker 2: everything you've done.
5:46
Speaker 1: And my well, my dad passed a few years ago.
5:49
Speaker 1: Will you remember?
5:49
Speaker 2: Sorry?
5:50
Speaker 1: Sorry, Fox, you know all those years so yeahs. And
5:54
Speaker 1: you know when the stadium changed, even the press change,
5:56
Speaker 1: I mean you couldn't really it wasn't as open as
5:58
Speaker 1: it used to be in the New State. Yeah, very different.
6:01
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, that's that's industry wide and throughout all sports.
6:06
Speaker 2: I mean when I I always interax. When the Yankees
6:09
Speaker 2: traded for Roger Clemons in nineteen ninety nine, it was
6:12
Speaker 2: before the position players had reported to spring training, but
6:16
Speaker 2: they worked out across the street at the Hems Complex.
6:19
Speaker 2: You know all that, right, you know the Yeah, So
6:22
Speaker 2: they were all there and I just strolled into the
6:25
Speaker 2: like to the locker room in the Heins complex and
6:28
Speaker 2: I interviewed Jeter and Knoblock and I can't maybe somebody else,
6:33
Speaker 2: but like that would never happen now, like they wouldn't
6:36
Speaker 2: let me within fifty feet are there?
6:38
Speaker 1: Do you think the passion like everybody says, well, now
6:42
Speaker 1: the Boss is no longer here, the passion's not there
6:44
Speaker 1: as much? Or do you think it's still very much alive?
6:46
Speaker 1: We just haven't seen it yet because I haven't won
6:48
Speaker 1: in since two thousand and nine, or even two championships
6:51
Speaker 1: since two thousand alone.
6:53
Speaker 2: So the passion, but you mean from the Yankees fans
6:56
Speaker 2: are from the team or.
6:57
Speaker 1: Of bits are like they're not they're not really passionate.
6:59
Speaker 1: But I think Cashman still very much involved and still
7:01
Speaker 1: very much passionate about it.
7:02
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah, Look like you knew the Boss better
7:05
Speaker 2: than I did. And he was larger than life, right,
7:08
Speaker 2: and could be remarkably generous, But he was also a
7:14
Speaker 2: human hurricane, right, and it could be quite chaotic with
7:17
Speaker 2: him around, and that as a journalist that was challenging,
7:21
Speaker 2: you know, because you never knew what George was going
7:23
Speaker 2: to do from one day to the next. But yeah,
7:27
Speaker 2: I mean I always joke that if I have a
7:30
Speaker 2: run for president the United States. My top campaign on
7:33
Speaker 2: it animal will be anyone who says, you know, if
7:36
Speaker 2: the Boss were still with us, he would do this,
7:38
Speaker 2: that person gets arrested. That's that's my top campaign issue,
7:42
Speaker 2: because like enough, let the Boss rest in peace. And
7:46
Speaker 2: you know, and I think how Stein Munner has done
7:48
Speaker 2: a very admirable job as team owner.
7:52
Speaker 1: You know, you talk about the nineties teams and who
7:54
Speaker 1: you got to talk to over those years. I mean
7:56
Speaker 1: a lot of Hall of famers now as well, Mariano,
7:59
Speaker 1: Jeter and lessons from the dugout. I mean, let's start
8:02
Speaker 1: with Joe Tory there. What lesson did you learn from him?
8:05
Speaker 1: I mean he would do those media raps almost every
8:08
Speaker 1: day pre posted. And would you learn from him over
8:10
Speaker 1: the years covering him?
8:11
Speaker 2: Yeah, from Joe Tory, I learned the power of shrugging
8:15
Speaker 2: off a loss, no no matter how devastated, even if
8:18
Speaker 2: it was one of Mariano's three blown saves a season.
8:21
Speaker 2: Joe Tory had the same expression on his face when
8:24
Speaker 2: he he would talk to the media, and then you know,
8:27
Speaker 2: we would kind of still be in the clubhouse and
8:29
Speaker 2: you'd see Joe leap like he would be in his
8:31
Speaker 2: street codes and walk out to his car and just
8:34
Speaker 2: this placid look on him, like he if he walked
8:37
Speaker 2: out to his car and you will you know, I'd
8:39
Speaker 2: just woken up from a five hour nap. You would
8:42
Speaker 2: have no idea whether the Yankees won or loss that day.
8:45
Speaker 1: So found visits too. He'd always like stroll out there
8:48
Speaker 1: very good.
8:49
Speaker 2: Right. But but Alex, that was so powerful to the
8:53
Speaker 2: players because they saw that, they saw that nope, win
8:57
Speaker 2: or lose. Their manager was the same, and I think
9:00
Speaker 2: that speaks to a lot of the success that they
9:02
Speaker 2: had Yankees had.
9:03
Speaker 1: Under tour it And of course, you know, I just
9:06
Speaker 1: think he would he had that calm demeanor about him,
9:09
Speaker 1: and he never got ejected it much that I can remember.
9:12
Speaker 2: He got every guy I would say, average like two
9:14
Speaker 2: a season. You know, he was certainly no Aaron Boone
9:16
Speaker 2: or Girardi, but you know when he was something got
9:20
Speaker 2: got his uh you know, gotten his dander, he would
9:23
Speaker 2: he could go out there and get himself ejected. But yeah,
9:26
Speaker 2: you're right, he's certainly much calmer than than than other
9:29
Speaker 2: guys in.
9:30
Speaker 1: The dugout Ken. I feel like, because like I had
9:33
Speaker 1: that experienced Don manningly in the dugout when he was
9:35
Speaker 1: Melolin's manager. These guys just shoot the breeze if you
9:38
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna say shoot the chip, but yeah, shoot
9:40
Speaker 1: the breeze with you guy. It's that kind of intimacy
9:43
Speaker 1: in a sense of reporter, player, reporter, manager, report that
9:48
Speaker 1: you guys developed as beat writers over the years.
9:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, that's very true. Yeah, I mean I think
9:54
Speaker 2: that has changed a little bit over time, just because
9:57
Speaker 2: of the way society has evolved. But yeah, I definitely
10:02
Speaker 2: developed a nice relationship with a lot of those guys,
10:05
Speaker 2: and a lot of that was the time spent before
10:07
Speaker 2: the game in the dugout, in the clubhouse, and.
10:11
Speaker 1: Probably around the banking gage. I feel like a lot
10:12
Speaker 1: of conversations have taken place around there too.
10:14
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're right, you're right.
10:16
Speaker 1: So what lessons stood out to you wrote one hundred
10:18
Speaker 1: and one of them, But what lessons on this brief
10:21
Speaker 1: time that we have do you want to point out
10:22
Speaker 1: to us and the listeners?
10:24
Speaker 2: Yeah? So if I get if you just give me
10:26
Speaker 2: the privilege of explaining the book's premise. So it's it's
10:30
Speaker 2: one hundred and one chapters one or two pages each,
10:33
Speaker 2: and what we do is we break down the game
10:36
Speaker 2: into one hundred and one different elements and explain how
10:41
Speaker 2: those you can what you learn on the field, you
10:43
Speaker 2: can carry over to the rest of your life. So,
10:46
Speaker 2: like the easiest one to explain is chapter two the lineup,
10:51
Speaker 2: and what that is is, you know what happens if
10:53
Speaker 2: you're not in the lineup. You get to the field
10:55
Speaker 2: and you're not in the lineup. How are you going
10:58
Speaker 2: to react to that? You know, you're going to put
11:00
Speaker 2: your head down and let it ruin your day, or
11:01
Speaker 2: are you going to, you know, kind of toughen up
11:04
Speaker 2: and say, okay, well, now it's my job to be
11:06
Speaker 2: the best pench runner, pinch hitter, defenseer replacement I can
11:09
Speaker 2: be and win overt win more playing time for the
11:12
Speaker 2: next time, and now carry that over to the rest
11:15
Speaker 2: of your life. You know. And let's say, you know,
11:17
Speaker 2: this book is addressed to young people. It's written in
11:20
Speaker 2: their vernacular. Let's say that the young person wants to
11:23
Speaker 2: try out for the school play and they don't get
11:26
Speaker 2: the lead role, but they get the role with two lines.
11:29
Speaker 2: So go out there and crush those two lines and
11:31
Speaker 2: win more stage time the next time. So just just
11:34
Speaker 2: teaching those that value you can't.
11:35
Speaker 1: Be afraid of hearing no. You got to just let
11:37
Speaker 1: it build from that and just make it a yes.
11:40
Speaker 2: Right exactly.
11:42
Speaker 1: Well, you know, and let's go in real life example.
11:45
Speaker 1: Anybody who saw a fight hard to be in that
11:47
Speaker 1: lineup when they weren't in the everyday lineup that you
11:49
Speaker 1: could that stands out to you.
11:51
Speaker 2: Oh, that's an interesting question.
11:55
Speaker 1: Yeah, in the modern day, I'm looking at Volpi right now,
11:58
Speaker 1: and he's fighting to be in that lineup. Just yeah,
12:00
Speaker 1: he's fired up. And to see Cabby and him in
12:03
Speaker 1: the same lineup, I didn't think i'd see that day,
12:04
Speaker 1: but here we are. So I'm sure back in those
12:07
Speaker 1: when you were covering the team and you saw that
12:08
Speaker 1: scrappiness from someone else, that was like, all right, I'm
12:10
Speaker 1: gonna be in that every day lineup.
12:12
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, it stands out. And he had
12:14
Speaker 2: a very unfortunate post playing existence. Was Chad Curtis. If
12:18
Speaker 2: you remember Chad, Yeah, you can google him if you
12:22
Speaker 2: want to see what happened to him after he retired.
12:24
Speaker 2: But as a player, like no one you fought and
12:28
Speaker 2: scrapped harder to get on the field and stay on
12:31
Speaker 2: the field than Chad Curtis. Outfielder for the Yankees.
12:34
Speaker 1: So I'm not mistaking it. That big homer in the
12:35
Speaker 1: World Series.
12:36
Speaker 2: Right, walk off homer. That was Game three of the
12:39
Speaker 2: nineteen ninety nine Worlds Hereies against the Braves.
12:42
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I love I love scrappy. And then you know,
12:45
Speaker 1: talk about the lineup twenty years ago. A Rod bad
12:48
Speaker 1: in ninth and we never thought that day would cover
12:51
Speaker 1: that night.
12:53
Speaker 2: Yeah that was that did not work out well that way?
12:57
Speaker 2: Did he that night?
12:58
Speaker 1: Yeah? I think Tory put him right night. That was
13:00
Speaker 1: the most weirdest thing ever.
13:02
Speaker 2: The two thousand and six als DS Game four, Yeah,
13:06
Speaker 2: I don't remember it was, Yeah, it was six alds.
13:09
Speaker 1: If I can reminisce for a second, you don't have
13:11
Speaker 1: that rain out. The Yanks actually win that series. I
13:13
Speaker 1: think the rain out that year holds them. But it's
13:16
Speaker 1: just interesting dumble the lineup because I remember that one
13:19
Speaker 1: very vitid they are on batting ninth. But then you know,
13:22
Speaker 1: every day Jeter would be the consistent leadoff guy, and
13:25
Speaker 1: I've always said that you want the consistency at the
13:28
Speaker 1: top every game. I hate nowadays these guys are changing
13:31
Speaker 1: the line These managers change the lineup every day, different
13:34
Speaker 1: leadoff hit are based on analytics, Ken, we got to
13:37
Speaker 1: go back to the consistency of a guy being the leadoff,
13:40
Speaker 1: not who's on the mound from one day to the next.
13:44
Speaker 2: Oh gosh, that's interesting, Alex. I think I'd have to
13:46
Speaker 2: push back at you a little bit. I understand the
13:49
Speaker 2: value of having the same lineup every day, but you know,
13:53
Speaker 2: we just have so much more information than we used
13:55
Speaker 2: to have, you know, and it's just a matter of
13:59
Speaker 2: playing guys in position to succeed. So yeah, I think
14:04
Speaker 2: I think if Derek Jeter were on the Yankees now,
14:06
Speaker 2: he would still lead off every day, right prime Derek Jeter,
14:09
Speaker 2: he was that good, you know. But I think for
14:13
Speaker 2: a lot of these teams, you know, if you have
14:16
Speaker 2: a lefty hitter who just far better against righty hitters,
14:19
Speaker 2: and even right a hitter of certain types, you know,
14:22
Speaker 2: guys would throw more sliders, more splitters. Then I think
14:25
Speaker 2: it makes sense to use that data.
14:27
Speaker 1: What about and we'll get the next thing that they
14:30
Speaker 1: found a lesson to dug out. But this is such
14:32
Speaker 1: a passing part because I'm always we're always about riding
14:35
Speaker 1: the hot bat, right. If the guys in the light
14:37
Speaker 1: up and producing, why take them out from one day
14:39
Speaker 1: to the next. That's happening a lot.
14:41
Speaker 2: Too, Ken, Yeah, And I mean I think you know
14:44
Speaker 2: it's again, why is he hot? Is he hot because
14:47
Speaker 2: the team is putting it in position to succeed or
14:49
Speaker 2: is he hot because he's just hitting everything in everyone?
14:53
Speaker 2: And I think it's up to the team to assess that,
14:56
Speaker 2: you know, I mean, who's I'm trying to think like
14:59
Speaker 2: Paul old Schmidt, you know, like I I'm not sure
15:02
Speaker 2: Poul goles Musu to be playing every day no matter
15:04
Speaker 2: how hot he is, right he's he's up there at
15:06
Speaker 2: a hys and he clearly hits left these better hits righty.
15:09
Speaker 2: So even if he has a good day against a
15:11
Speaker 2: righty pitcher, I don't think that suddenly means you magically
15:14
Speaker 2: play him every day.
15:15
Speaker 1: Well, I love that you still follow in the game
15:17
Speaker 1: in law. You're not writing in any of the papers,
15:18
Speaker 1: You're still following it. And I'm sure you've seen Ben
15:20
Speaker 1: Rice come on the scene and still on the scene
15:23
Speaker 1: this year, so that's been fun as well. You know,
15:25
Speaker 1: one guy in the in that era though, that I
15:27
Speaker 1: could think of Speam two thousand and six was Bobby A. Bray.
15:30
Speaker 1: I loved his back. That Yankee lineup so good. Did
15:33
Speaker 1: you ever get a tend to talk to guys like
15:35
Speaker 1: Bobby and Bray?
15:36
Speaker 2: Oh? Absolutely, yeah. Yeah. Bobby was a nice man, quiet guy.
15:39
Speaker 2: Uh And you know in that Yankees team that was
15:42
Speaker 2: what six oh seven eight, you know, he wasn't looked
15:45
Speaker 2: to to be the man, you know, not not in
15:48
Speaker 2: the lineup and not in the clubhouse from the media.
15:50
Speaker 2: So he that was a good fit for him because
15:52
Speaker 2: he could really just blend in with the with the
15:56
Speaker 2: the who was on the team those years. I'm trying
15:57
Speaker 2: to think obviously a Rod and Jeter empisode, and like
16:02
Speaker 2: if Bernie was nearing the end, you know, he wasn't
16:04
Speaker 2: really looked to as the team spokesman or even as
16:07
Speaker 2: the savior. So that was a really good trade for
16:09
Speaker 2: the Yankees.
16:09
Speaker 1: And that five game sweep twenty years ago against the
16:12
Speaker 1: Red Sox, I'll never forget that.
16:15
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I was there. Yeah.
16:18
Speaker 1: I feel like life and money are being very evident
16:21
Speaker 1: right now in baseball because Wan's going to want to
16:24
Speaker 1: life for himself, so he goes and gets the better
16:26
Speaker 1: contract with the Mets. Is there any kind of lesson
16:30
Speaker 1: that we can learn from that? That maybe you even
16:33
Speaker 1: wrote about in the book.
16:36
Speaker 2: Completely you keep breaking, you keep coming in and out.
16:40
Speaker 1: Out how free agency just completely is changing all these
16:44
Speaker 1: teams because they're going for the money, not so much
16:46
Speaker 1: the loyalty to a team. It seems like sometimes.
16:49
Speaker 2: Yeah, I look, this is this lesson has written for
16:53
Speaker 2: kids primarily, so literally address free agency in the book.
16:56
Speaker 2: But uh, uh, you know one Soto that was an
17:00
Speaker 2: interesting case. I mean, he's I you know, it's on
17:03
Speaker 2: record that his you know, his family, you know that
17:05
Speaker 2: the Mets did a good job, you know, the Cohen's
17:08
Speaker 2: did a good job appealing to his family. Uh, And
17:12
Speaker 2: I like, I think we all wonder whether Sodo regrets
17:15
Speaker 2: his decision. So uh, you know, I'm just looking at
17:19
Speaker 2: my book and a chapter that might apply, And like
17:22
Speaker 2: chapter eighty five the coaches coaching when you need better advice,
17:26
Speaker 2: and sometimes even if you're a coach or another authority figure,
17:30
Speaker 2: sometimes they don't offer the best advice. And I wonder
17:33
Speaker 2: if SODA's family did not offer him the best advice
17:36
Speaker 2: in urging him to join the Mets.
17:39
Speaker 1: Well, I don't know that dynamic seems to be a
17:41
Speaker 1: little shaky right now, first does all right? I want
17:45
Speaker 1: to go to the coaching signs because when I was
17:48
Speaker 1: a kid, all I could notice up in Yankee Stadiums
17:50
Speaker 1: upper deck was the first base coach and third base
17:53
Speaker 1: coach giving all the signs. And I'm just kidding, I'm like,
17:54
Speaker 1: what are they doing on the gun? But as I
17:58
Speaker 1: got older and even did a little bit of third
18:00
Speaker 1: he's coaching for a rec league or whatever. Those signs matter.
18:05
Speaker 1: And I even look to what happened when, uh, wasn't
18:08
Speaker 1: it Phil Nea? Was it Phil Nevin at third base
18:11
Speaker 1: sending home? And he pretty much got ousted because of
18:14
Speaker 1: that move in Fenway in the wildcard game. And you know,
18:18
Speaker 1: those signs matter. Though I think it's the point where
18:20
Speaker 1: you were trying to say.
18:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, so you're referring to chapter eighty six. The coaches
18:24
Speaker 2: signs follow instructions. When not to follow instructions, you know,
18:29
Speaker 2: and to cold from the book, it's important to see
18:31
Speaker 2: the signs that follow instructions. Even if you don't agree
18:34
Speaker 2: with the leader's instructions during a team or group activity,
18:36
Speaker 2: you need to follow them. If it turns out badly
18:39
Speaker 2: because you did what you were told, it's the coach's fault,
18:42
Speaker 2: not yours. If on the other hand, you don't follow
18:45
Speaker 2: the instruction, the player goes wrong, expect to be benched.
18:48
Speaker 2: They are rare but important times when you should disobey
18:51
Speaker 2: the coach or another person in charge. You know, if
18:53
Speaker 2: someone tells you to do something you know is wrong
18:55
Speaker 2: because it's dangerous against your parents or teachers' rules are
18:58
Speaker 2: different from what you know, okay, you should refuse and
19:01
Speaker 2: report that person to your parents or another adult you trust.
19:07
Speaker 1: And let me tell you, parenting in today's game is
19:10
Speaker 1: so different at the little league level. I don't know
19:12
Speaker 1: if if you're around the game that much on the
19:14
Speaker 1: little league side, but I know that umpires don't want
19:16
Speaker 1: to ump anymore because parents are being too overbearing. Where
19:19
Speaker 1: did that start.
19:20
Speaker 2: Again, Well, I think it started a long time ago.
19:23
Speaker 2: I certainly think it's been heightened in these social media
19:27
Speaker 2: age right where and for whatever reason. Yet just just
19:31
Speaker 2: the sense of entitlement, you know, and and lack of respect.
19:35
Speaker 2: And it's funny my book tour here, I have visited
19:38
Speaker 2: a couple of little leagues that are perfectly nice and fine,
19:41
Speaker 2: So you know, I don't think it's quite the healthcape
19:44
Speaker 2: that it's portrayed to be. But we certainly do have
19:47
Speaker 2: room for improvement.
19:49
Speaker 1: I think you're also pointing is that it's about accountability
19:52
Speaker 1: in the game, right. I mean, we go, we see
19:54
Speaker 1: all these guys in their press conferences saying it was
19:56
Speaker 1: the ubs fald or even sometimes the guys go to
19:59
Speaker 1: out their own manager. I mean, have we become a
20:04
Speaker 1: sport of entitlement more than accountability right now? Like no,
20:08
Speaker 1: I deserve to get that call type of mentality.
20:11
Speaker 2: I'm not sure that's unique to baseball, either you know,
20:14
Speaker 2: or even went sports. But yeah, I mean our chapter
20:17
Speaker 2: eighty three is the umpire accept responsibility for all the
20:21
Speaker 2: rules and the importance of doing that in all walks
20:23
Speaker 2: of life. But yeah, I understand what you're saying, and
20:28
Speaker 2: I really.
20:28
Speaker 1: Love some of this. I love that you've picked the
20:30
Speaker 1: different pitches these guys are, like the fastball to change
20:33
Speaker 1: at the curveball, and made a chapter out of it.
20:35
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't think many would think to dissect
20:40
Speaker 1: every pitch like this, So walk us through at the fastball.
20:42
Speaker 2: Let's go through that, right sure? For sure? So yeah,
20:45
Speaker 2: this was I should credit my co author Harley Rotbar,
20:50
Speaker 2: who's a retired pedatrician and longtime parenting expert. He really
20:55
Speaker 2: kind of designed the framework of this. Yeah, so the
20:58
Speaker 2: fastball is go with your that's chapter seventy Go with
21:01
Speaker 2: your strengths, be yourself, you know, when it's obvious that
21:04
Speaker 2: you throw a fastball, throw a fastball better than yourself,
21:07
Speaker 2: and play you know, the same thing in any walk
21:09
Speaker 2: of life, like, don't try to be too smart sometimes,
21:12
Speaker 2: you know, just go go with what got you there.
21:14
Speaker 2: And in chapter seventy one, to change up spontaneity and
21:17
Speaker 2: the value of changing it up again in any walk
21:21
Speaker 2: of life, you know, get your parents a gift when
21:23
Speaker 2: they're at least expecting it, right, that would be nice.
21:26
Speaker 2: And then the curveball mood swings get help you you're
21:29
Speaker 2: not alone. That's chapter seventy two. And that is the
21:32
Speaker 2: idea of sometimes life throws you a curveball and you
21:36
Speaker 2: have to deal with that that you know, those curveballs,
21:39
Speaker 2: and there are ways to help you cope when life
21:42
Speaker 2: throws your curveball, right. I mean, you know, we both
21:44
Speaker 2: experienced loss. We both lost our dads apparently, and so
21:49
Speaker 2: there's you know, there's ways to help cope with that. Absolutely. No.
21:54
Speaker 1: I love that you're gearing list to work kids as well,
21:56
Speaker 1: because I look, I was on a few baseball clinics
21:58
Speaker 1: over the last few years, and I do love seeing
22:01
Speaker 1: that baseball is alive and well in new sports and
22:03
Speaker 1: it needs to be. I mean, this game, even for
22:06
Speaker 1: those visibilities, this game builds character. I really I often feel.
22:10
Speaker 2: That, oh, I agree with you, and that's the whole
22:13
Speaker 2: premise behind the book. Any people have said to me,
22:15
Speaker 2: couldn't you do this with any book? And I say yes,
22:18
Speaker 2: But I do think baseball and softball are uniquely apt
22:22
Speaker 2: for this premise, And ironically, I think it's because they'd
22:26
Speaker 2: play at at slower pace than the other sports, right,
22:29
Speaker 2: And for all the grief that baseball gets from that,
22:32
Speaker 2: that does give you these little brief moments of contemplation
22:36
Speaker 2: that I think allows these lessons to sink in. That
22:39
Speaker 2: it's harder in a basketball game when they're just sprint
22:41
Speaker 2: them back and forth the whole time, or hockey when
22:43
Speaker 2: they're skating back and forth the football when they're calling
22:46
Speaker 2: signals the whole time. So I think baseball is great
22:49
Speaker 2: for that.
22:50
Speaker 1: Ken And I also think the game pushes you to focus,
22:52
Speaker 1: because when you're a left field, right field, centerfield, you
22:55
Speaker 1: can't be picking the daily lions.
22:56
Speaker 2: We see.
22:58
Speaker 1: Now you got to be focused with every pitch because
23:00
Speaker 1: you never know, and that probably also builds life skills too,
23:05
Speaker 1: that focus, the ability to just focus on the batter
23:07
Speaker 1: and not get distracted. And as we all know, kids
23:10
Speaker 1: would because they have ADHD all this stuff, all this
23:13
Speaker 1: tugend span is like reduced. So to be able to
23:15
Speaker 1: focus on a baseball field isn't accomplishment, I think.
23:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, we actually have a chapter that's called Shortstop and
23:22
Speaker 2: right Field, which is chapter forty nine. You know, make
23:26
Speaker 2: the most of every chance, beat expectations, and the idea
23:29
Speaker 2: with right field stereotypically is where you put your your
23:33
Speaker 2: worst player right but a right field or it can
23:34
Speaker 2: actually get plenty of action. I can speak to that
23:37
Speaker 2: because I've played my share of right field back in
23:39
Speaker 2: my little days, So the idea will always be prepared
23:42
Speaker 2: no matter where you are.
23:44
Speaker 1: Yeah, I love tim on the book. And then going
23:46
Speaker 1: back to your journalistic experiences right field. Who is synonymous
23:50
Speaker 1: with right field together is number retired Paul O'Neill. Yeah,
23:53
Speaker 1: it was a couple of anecdotes about Paul because he
23:56
Speaker 1: was a fiery guy to be around and also a
23:57
Speaker 1: really nice guy to be around at the same time.
24:00
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, what was funny about paul was, you know,
24:04
Speaker 2: most guys don't want to talk to you when they're
24:06
Speaker 2: in a slump. Paul O Neill loved to talk to
24:09
Speaker 2: you when he was a slump. It was almost like
24:11
Speaker 2: it was like a you know, free therapy for him.
24:14
Speaker 2: You know, he could talk through it. But if he
24:16
Speaker 2: was hot, then you're like, oh, don't you know, don't
24:19
Speaker 2: mess with you know, success, And then then he didn't
24:21
Speaker 2: want to talk to you about how how well he
24:23
Speaker 2: was hitting.
24:25
Speaker 1: What's one of the will I have you for these
24:27
Speaker 1: three minutes here? What's one of the most sentimental and meaningful,
24:32
Speaker 1: memorable columns that you ever wrote that like sticks with
24:34
Speaker 1: you forever.
24:37
Speaker 2: Wow, that's a really good question, and I think what it?
24:41
Speaker 2: You know, I just was rereading a column, so you know,
24:45
Speaker 2: I think you know, also wrote about the Mets and
24:47
Speaker 2: the other other major league teams. So the Mets had
24:50
Speaker 2: this legendary UH player at the outset of their existence
24:54
Speaker 2: named Ron Hunt. If you look him up, he was
24:56
Speaker 2: pretty good. He still owns the single season record from
25:00
Speaker 2: most hit by pitch in a season nineteen seventy one
25:03
Speaker 2: with the Montreal so was he got hit fifty times
25:05
Speaker 2: Alex fifty times in one season. So I wound up
25:08
Speaker 2: becoming friends with Ron. And when the two you know,
25:12
Speaker 2: Yankee Stadium in Chase Stay and both shut shut down.
25:15
Speaker 2: In two thousand and eight, Ron asked the Mets could
25:19
Speaker 2: I have two seats from Chase stating because Ron has
25:22
Speaker 2: at farm in Missouri and he has seats, you know,
25:25
Speaker 2: from a lot of the stadiums where he played, including
25:28
Speaker 2: Saint Louis and Cincinnati and Montreal. It's pretty cool. I've
25:31
Speaker 2: been to his farm. And he asked the Mets for two,
25:35
Speaker 2: and the Mets said, well, if you pay for two,
25:37
Speaker 2: you can get to and he said, f you I paid.
25:40
Speaker 2: You know, I busted my hub for you guys. You
25:42
Speaker 2: can't give me two seats. Blah blah blah. So I
25:44
Speaker 2: wrote a story about that, and I just thought it
25:48
Speaker 2: was like a fun little story. I don't thought it
25:50
Speaker 2: amounts anything, but a fan in Long Island I was
25:55
Speaker 2: with Newsday read that and the fan said, oh, I
25:58
Speaker 2: purchased four seats from Shea Stadium, so I have an
26:01
Speaker 2: extra pair. I'll give my extra pair to Ron Hunt.
26:05
Speaker 2: And this fan she mailed it to Ron Hunt in Missouri,
26:08
Speaker 2: from Oyster Bay to Missouri. And at the time, this
26:11
Speaker 2: woman was in her mid to late eighties, but very vibrant,
26:16
Speaker 2: very active, and she and Ron Hunt became like the
26:19
Speaker 2: closest of friends from the story I wrote. And then
26:22
Speaker 2: she passed away. Her name was Louise, Louise Paluso, and
26:27
Speaker 2: she passed away about ten years later in her late nineties,
26:31
Speaker 2: and I wrote a story. I went to her wake,
26:34
Speaker 2: and I just wrote a story about the impact that
26:37
Speaker 2: Louise and Ron Hunt had on each other. And I'm
26:41
Speaker 2: very proud of that calm because it was just a
26:42
Speaker 2: difficult It wasn't about you know, it wasn't about strategy
26:46
Speaker 2: or contracts. It was just about the human relationships that
26:49
Speaker 2: this great game creates.
26:51
Speaker 1: All right, I do a lot of adaptability. And you
26:54
Speaker 1: mentioned Newsday in New York Post. I have to say,
26:57
Speaker 1: when I started seeing your name of the New York Post,
26:58
Speaker 1: I'm like, what happened?
26:59
Speaker 2: What made I'm sorry? What was the question about.
27:06
Speaker 1: That switch from Newsday to New York Post if you wanted?
27:08
Speaker 2: Sure?
27:09
Speaker 1: Heerious about that?
27:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I made that switch in twenty twelve, and
27:14
Speaker 2: uh yeah, the New York Post approached me and I
27:17
Speaker 2: have to be honest, Alice, it was pretty much bigger platform,
27:20
Speaker 2: bigger salary. It was a pretty easy decision. I enjoyed
27:24
Speaker 2: my time at Newsday, but to beat Frank at that period,
27:27
Speaker 2: that was when the Dolans were more involved in running
27:32
Speaker 2: news there. Now it's Patrick Dolan who's you know, really
27:35
Speaker 2: just lets the lets them do their thing at Newsday.
27:38
Speaker 2: But back then it was James Dolan was more involved
27:41
Speaker 2: and it was not really a happy place at that
27:44
Speaker 2: juncture in time. So I did jump to the post,
27:47
Speaker 2: and no regrets over that move. I love my ten
27:50
Speaker 2: years at the post.
27:51
Speaker 1: I mean, look at the stab you guys had with Sherman,
27:54
Speaker 1: You Mike Bacarrovet on the show before as well. So
27:58
Speaker 1: I always love reading you guys, and it is great
28:01
Speaker 1: to finally reconnect after many years. Right, it feels like
28:04
Speaker 1: forever at this.
28:05
Speaker 2: Point, I know, I mean, you're a big rain of
28:07
Speaker 2: grown But yeah, yeah, another guy who owes me money, I.
28:11
Speaker 1: Should say, yeah, no, very close.
28:14
Speaker 2: To kitting again, kidding again, I.
28:17
Speaker 1: For sure every day he keeps the balls.
28:19
Speaker 2: Alive, so you know that, Oh my god, does he ever?
28:22
Speaker 1: We need those kinds though, because sometimes the younger kids
28:25
Speaker 1: will not understand it. So yeah, and I was there
28:30
Speaker 1: right right on the front line.
28:31
Speaker 2: Ye know.
28:32
Speaker 1: All right you mentioned the Mets though, and you know
28:34
Speaker 1: it was going to the Hall of Fame this year,
28:35
Speaker 1: Bobby b So.
28:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, on Saturday, anybody VS. Story as you said, Yeah, yeah,
28:42
Speaker 2: I mean Bobby I first met in nineteen ninety six
28:46
Speaker 2: when he took over the Mets, because at that time,
28:48
Speaker 2: I was still what they called like a backup beat writer,
28:51
Speaker 2: so I was splitting my time between the Eighties and Mets.
28:54
Speaker 2: And I mean he's just as advertised, right, just incredibly
28:59
Speaker 2: high entered and so intelligent and not afraid of confrontations
29:03
Speaker 2: with anybody. But yeah, I really got to know Bobby
29:08
Speaker 2: very well over the years, and there are just so
29:12
Speaker 2: many funny Bobby V's stories. And I remember, you know,
29:16
Speaker 2: so by the nineteen ninety nine season, I was really
29:19
Speaker 2: focused on the Yankees Yankees beat writer. But you know,
29:21
Speaker 2: the Mets fired three of Bobby's coaches during a series
29:25
Speaker 2: at Yankee Stadium. So they had a Sunday press conference.
29:29
Speaker 2: Was Sunday night games like Sunday, like four pm. They
29:32
Speaker 2: had a press conference with Steve Phillips and Bobby Valentine
29:35
Speaker 2: announcing these firings, and Bobby was just so unhappy with
29:39
Speaker 2: the moves and did not hide it. It was really
29:42
Speaker 2: just like you couldn't believe what you were seeing. And
29:46
Speaker 2: then they went. I think Bobby made a proclamation that day.
29:48
Speaker 2: I think they were like at the fifty five game
29:50
Speaker 2: mark and they're like twenty seven and twenty eight, and
29:52
Speaker 2: Bobby so, well, if the next fifty five games go
29:54
Speaker 2: the same, I should be fired. But they wound up, like,
29:57
Speaker 2: you know, going dominating and having a great season. That's
30:00
Speaker 2: that's when they made it the game seven six of
30:02
Speaker 2: the NLCS.
30:03
Speaker 1: And I believe that the year Al Lighter had the
30:05
Speaker 1: one the shutout in Cincinnati.
30:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, yep, in Game one sixty three. That's right.
30:10
Speaker 1: So man, we could go all all day with these stories,
30:13
Speaker 1: you know, and of course they're actually doing a disguised night.
30:16
Speaker 2: At the I know.
30:19
Speaker 1: Great, But you mentioned ninety nine and I know ninety
30:22
Speaker 1: eight was called a team of the decade and all
30:25
Speaker 1: that the centry of the century as well. But to repeat,
30:31
Speaker 1: did the Yankees make it look easier? Do they have
30:33
Speaker 1: to fight for that repeat? I mean, what was that
30:34
Speaker 1: journey like that?
30:36
Speaker 2: The ninety nine season was very turbulent. If you remember,
30:39
Speaker 2: Alex Joe Torre got diagnosed with cancer prostate cancers from
30:43
Speaker 2: training and then Don Zimmer was you took over as
30:48
Speaker 2: interim manager, but he was struggling physically and no Stotomeyer
30:51
Speaker 2: had cancer but kept that private. And then during the season,
30:56
Speaker 2: I think Scott Brochios, Luis Soho, and paul'neil all lost
30:59
Speaker 2: their dad at all towards the end of the season.
31:02
Speaker 2: So and there, Yeah, they wound up winning I think
31:05
Speaker 2: ninety nine games that year, ninety eight ninety nine, but
31:08
Speaker 2: there were definitely moments of doubt, especially after that magical
31:13
Speaker 2: ninety eight season. So yeah, if you look at the
31:15
Speaker 2: final standings, they look pretty darn good. Yeah that relative
31:19
Speaker 2: to the prior season. That was a pretty dramatic run
31:23
Speaker 2: to the championship.
31:24
Speaker 1: And I feel like nothing builds character amongst the teams
31:28
Speaker 1: than the road trip. So any fun road trip stories
31:30
Speaker 1: and are they referenced in this book. I mean, look,
31:33
Speaker 1: visiting dugout's a little different than the home dug out
31:35
Speaker 1: because they've literally got a bond going from hotel to
31:38
Speaker 1: the ballpark and then doing whatever else.
31:40
Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, not so much in the I mean we
31:43
Speaker 2: do have a chapter about the playing at home, which
31:47
Speaker 2: is let me see ificking fun that that would be.
31:53
Speaker 2: I can't find it now, but you know we have
31:55
Speaker 2: a chapter about home games and playing at home. But
31:59
Speaker 2: you know, again this written for kids, so not not
32:02
Speaker 2: quite the same. But yeah, I mean I got to
32:04
Speaker 2: travel on the road a lot with the Yankees in particular,
32:09
Speaker 2: and that really does help you help you build relationships
32:13
Speaker 2: because you know, show that you show the player, like
32:16
Speaker 2: if I'm here with you guys in Kansas City or Milwaukee,
32:19
Speaker 2: like I'm not messing around, you know, I'm here to
32:22
Speaker 2: cover the team and to really to know the most
32:24
Speaker 2: I can.
32:26
Speaker 1: I was just at the Ford C. Frick and actually
32:30
Speaker 1: the Scribesman and Mikesman wing of the Hall of Fame
32:34
Speaker 1: this past weekend actually in Cooperstown. Yeah, Arry and all that,
32:39
Speaker 1: But I want to ask you this mentor to you
32:42
Speaker 1: or you know someone that inspired you growing up to
32:44
Speaker 1: be in this business.
32:46
Speaker 2: Mentor to me, Bob Clappish. I don't know if you've
32:48
Speaker 2: had the privilege of getting no clap at all. Yeah,
32:51
Speaker 2: Bob and I worked together at the Bergen Record in
32:54
Speaker 2: the was at the Midtal late nineties until two thousand
32:57
Speaker 2: and one when I left the record for news Day,
33:00
Speaker 2: and Clapp was just you know, he had already been
33:04
Speaker 2: done so many seasons and had so much experience and
33:07
Speaker 2: so many relationships. So I loved watching him work and
33:11
Speaker 2: how comfortable he was with the players in particular. And
33:15
Speaker 2: then he was just so good to me and letting
33:18
Speaker 2: me know, you know, he would read my stories and say, ah,
33:20
Speaker 2: you know I would have gone on a different direction here,
33:24
Speaker 2: you know, or hey, what you wrote today was really good.
33:26
Speaker 2: So he was an excellent mentor.
33:29
Speaker 1: And I mean, I know you're you're a few years removed,
33:32
Speaker 1: but anybody that's come to you for advice and then
33:35
Speaker 1: and mentoring, you know, the next generation, what's your role
33:37
Speaker 1: in that?
33:39
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I mean I I you know, it's hard
33:41
Speaker 2: for me to say who I've you know, mentored, because
33:44
Speaker 2: that person might come back to you and say, no, no, no,
33:46
Speaker 2: he didn't mentor me. But I've certainly tried to pay
33:49
Speaker 2: it forward and to help young people, you know, especially
33:52
Speaker 2: if I became one of the old guys in the
33:55
Speaker 2: press box, you know, I certainly tried hard to help
33:59
Speaker 2: younger people, and to be frank, particularly younger people. I
34:02
Speaker 2: saw the way that conducted themselves, and I appreciated that
34:06
Speaker 2: and I would try to help them.
34:08
Speaker 1: I do feel like there's a professionalism that's sort of
34:10
Speaker 1: been lost amongst the younger generation. But it's up to
34:13
Speaker 1: you know, the guys who've been there to reinsill it
34:16
Speaker 1: to kids. And I think that's what you're trying to
34:17
Speaker 1: do with this book for sure. All Right, I can't
34:20
Speaker 1: let you go without asking a John Sterling story, because
34:23
Speaker 1: I mean, he just passed. You were involved with the
34:26
Speaker 1: Yankees for many years, Yeah, for you experienced a lot
34:29
Speaker 1: of time with him. Favorite Sterling memory.
34:32
Speaker 2: Yeah, I shared this on my Facebook count I knew
34:35
Speaker 2: John quite well because the Post did like they would
34:38
Speaker 2: sponsor a half inning for a couple of seasons, so
34:41
Speaker 2: I got to spend a half inning with John and
34:42
Speaker 2: Susan and just all all the travels. So one of
34:45
Speaker 2: my favorite John stories is, you know, I mentioned Alex
34:48
Speaker 2: that I had kind of gotten burned out professionally, and
34:50
Speaker 2: so it was at the end of the twenty twenty
34:52
Speaker 2: one season, the last season I covered, and if you
34:55
Speaker 2: remember that season, the Yankees kind of squeaked into the playoffs.
34:59
Speaker 2: The last week the season, they played the Tampa Bay
35:01
Speaker 2: at home and lost the first two and then won
35:04
Speaker 2: the last one. I think it was one nothing. So
35:06
Speaker 2: that Friday night game, I wrote a column and the
35:09
Speaker 2: way I started the column was like, damn Yankees. And
35:12
Speaker 2: then I made a reference. I said, hey, you know,
35:14
Speaker 2: I thought when I wasn't there when that Broadway show
35:17
Speaker 2: opened in nineteen fifty five, But wasn't it the other
35:19
Speaker 2: teams fan saying damn Yankees and now their own fans
35:22
Speaker 2: are saying damn Yankee. So that was the joke I
35:24
Speaker 2: was going with. And so then the next morning, the
35:27
Speaker 2: Saturday morning day game, and I wut, look again, I
35:30
Speaker 2: was feeling burned out, like I got just got grind
35:33
Speaker 2: through today, and John seeks me out in the press box.
35:36
Speaker 2: You know, he says, I read your column and I
35:39
Speaker 2: am old enough that'd been there for the nineteen fifty
35:41
Speaker 2: five opening of Damn Yankees. And I went to it
35:44
Speaker 2: and like he's just it was such a John thing
35:46
Speaker 2: to say and do, and it's gem like I just
35:49
Speaker 2: really smiled. And John just brought so much joy to
35:54
Speaker 2: the press box. You know. He was eccentric, as has
35:56
Speaker 2: been documented, and very unique, but just when he had
36:01
Speaker 2: like when he had something to say, it was often
36:05
Speaker 2: very positive and energizing.
36:09
Speaker 1: It was always kind to us. And you know, the
36:12
Speaker 1: old same setup For those who don't remember, the Presgate
36:14
Speaker 1: was literally where the players were all working same exit
36:17
Speaker 1: and it was just it was a Camari with that,
36:19
Speaker 1: you know, with everybody coming out of the same place.
36:21
Speaker 1: Now it's all different stadium, Which brings me to my
36:24
Speaker 1: last question. Are you still around the ballparks? I mean,
36:27
Speaker 1: I know you don't write, but are you still around
36:28
Speaker 1: the ballparks as much?
36:30
Speaker 2: Oh? No, not anywhere as much. No, I try to
36:32
Speaker 2: frankly out, so I try to limit my time. I've
36:35
Speaker 2: been there a little more this season, plugging my book
36:38
Speaker 2: and then handing out some signed copies. But no, I
36:41
Speaker 2: kind of made the point I saw other writers quit
36:44
Speaker 2: and then be at the ballpark constantly, and I said, like,
36:48
Speaker 2: I'm not going to be one of those people. I'm
36:50
Speaker 2: just going to go on with my life and let
36:52
Speaker 2: these the people still there just do their job.
36:56
Speaker 1: All right. The biggest lesson, the biggest take away from
37:01
Speaker 1: one hundred one lessons from the dugout would.
37:03
Speaker 2: Be, I think, Alex, the biggest takeaway I hope it
37:06
Speaker 2: is that these are games that, of course you play
37:09
Speaker 2: to win and you want to succeed and help use
37:14
Speaker 2: the game as a platform to help your life. But
37:16
Speaker 2: I just want like people to know like there are
37:19
Speaker 2: more than one way to win and more than one
37:21
Speaker 2: way to succeed. So even if you're not the best player,
37:24
Speaker 2: even if you don't win, you know, if you learn
37:27
Speaker 2: lessons that can help you with the rest of your life,
37:29
Speaker 2: if you make friends that hold in the rest of
37:32
Speaker 2: your life, then it has been a successful venture for you.
37:36
Speaker 1: There you go, Ken David Off, thank you so much
37:38
Speaker 1: for joining. I'd love to have you back on since
37:40
Speaker 1: it sounds like you're still following the game even from Afar.
37:43
Speaker 1: You're still into it, so maybe the season progresses. I
37:45
Speaker 1: see the Yanks right now as we record up for
37:47
Speaker 1: nothing versus the Royals. I mean, we're always following in
37:50
Speaker 1: real time here at one look at alex Media. So
37:52
Speaker 1: what ID love to have you back on is the playoff,
37:53
Speaker 1: Push and Beyond keeps us alive here.
37:56
Speaker 2: So yeah, Alice, it's a thrill to be with you
37:59
Speaker 2: and any I'm not sure we ever formally met, but
38:01
Speaker 2: I certainly know who you are and I'm you know,
38:03
Speaker 2: in awe of everything you have accomplished and really just
38:06
Speaker 2: just throw you know, privileged to join you here. And
38:09
Speaker 2: if you see bound back into or a groan, just
38:11
Speaker 2: tell them you know that they get both owe me money.
38:14
Speaker 2: Send them this.
38:14
Speaker 1: Link directly, all right. Always a pleasure, great to meet
38:19
Speaker 1: with you, and let's do this again soon at onely
38:21
Speaker 1: got Alex Media.
38:22
Speaker 2: Sounds great, Alex, thanks for your time