Latest / WGBB Sports Talk New York / Baseball, Beats, and Beyond: Conversations with Jay Hook, Craig Anderson,, Peter Asher and Phil Villapiano

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Baseball, Beats, and Beyond: Conversations with Jay Hook, Craig Anderson,, Peter Asher and Phil Villapiano · WGBB Sports Talk New York

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Do not necessarily represent those of the staff, management or owners of wgbb.
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Live from the WGBB studios in Merrick, New York, this is Sports Talk New York.
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Good evening and hello again, everybody.
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Welcome welcome to Sports Talk New York on WGB here in Merrick, Long Island, New York.
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Bill Donahue here with you on this the 23rd day of August 2026.
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Our engineer Brian Graves is with us as always, and I'm happy you're here with us tonight, wherever you might be.
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We've got a special show for you tonight.
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Up first, we'll welcome in 1962 met pitcher Jay Hook.
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Following Jay, we'll chat with another member of Casey Stengel's staff.
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Back in 62, pitcher Craig Anderson.
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And following our 1962 Mets, we will switch gears as we do from time to time, we'll welcome in a very special guest.
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The great Peter Asher will join us to talk Beatles and many other topics.
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He'll be at the Paramount in Huntington on September 5th.
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More information on that coming up.
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After Peter, we'll get right back to sports with the great Oakland Raider linebacker Phil Villapiano.
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He's going to join us tonight.
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He's got a new book that we'll discuss and I think it's fitting that on the night we'll be talking about the Beatles that we evoke Ed Sullivan and say, we've got a really big show for you tonight, wgb.
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So sit back, relax, enjoy some great chat tonight on Sports Talk New York.
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And if you miss a show, don't you worry because they're all out on the website the next day and you can catch up at your leisure.
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Well, our first guest, not only a baseball player who is the answer to a great New York metrig question, he's got a master's degree in thermodynamics and he later became a professor of industrial management at Northwestern University.
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Like most of us, you never know.
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The gentleman was a peer of marvelous Marv Thornberry and Hot Rod Kinneil.
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And that trivia question, folks, was who was the hurler who won the first game in New York Mets history?
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And the answer is Jay Hook.
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Welcome to the show tonight, Jay.
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Thank you, Bill.
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Good to be here with you and your tires all worked out tonight.
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Huh?
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Yeah, everything's fine.
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I drove a tank here tonight, Jay, so I don't have to worry, right, Brian?
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Yeah.
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Now, Jay Casey, who is the old professor?
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You used to call you the professor.
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Yeah, he did.
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He did.
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It was long before I was a professor, too, but I was a professor.
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But anyway, the reason he did, Bill, was when I was going to grad school, I'd go to grad school each winter.
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You know, we had the season and played ball wherever we played, and I'd go back to get more studies.
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But anyway, the guys, over coffee, you know, the coffee breaks and everything, said, well, why don't we work out why a curveball curves?
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And so we did, and we worked.
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They said, well, you know, let's sketch it.
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Sketch.
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And we drew a ball and the angular velocities and the linear velocities and all this.
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And then there's a.
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There's a physical law called Berluli's law, which is why an airplane wings, lifts an airplane.
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Same.
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Same dynamic.
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And anyway, so I was at spring training and that first year of the Mets, and Casey said something about it.
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I was talking to a writer or whatever, and he saw that about that curveball, you know.
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Anyway, and we got back to New York, and I don't know if you remember a guy, Bob Lipsyth.
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Robert Lipsite, New York Times.
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With the New York Times.
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Right.
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And he came to me one day and said, jay, you know, explain to me why our curveball curves.
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And I did.
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And he dropped ball for him.
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And he wrote an article in the New York Times.
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I think he won 100 bucks for the best article of the month.
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And Casey must have seen that, you know.
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Yeah.
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Because one day I was at my locker talking to Bob Lipsey, and Casey walked over and he said, you know, a foot could only do what he knows.
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Yeah.
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Oh, Stangle.
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Yeah, we'll talk a little bit more about him, Jay, down the road here.
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We're speaking with Jay Hook tonight on Sports Talk New York.
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Now, the historic moment that we were talking about, it came after the team, I think they lost the first nine games of the 62 season.
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And then the Pirates.
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You're playing the Pirates at Forbes Field.
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I set the stage.
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Give us a little more insight on that day, Jay.
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Well, it was.
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It was.
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And we ended up.
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I actually have here in front of me a little Fox score kind of thing.
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And.
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And I was.
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It goes in inning by inning somehow, and.
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And it talks about the game.
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And I think they.
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If I think they had won a number of games, 10 in a row or something like that.
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I can't remember the number.
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But if they won another game, they would have set a record.
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If we'd have lost the game, we just set in the record.
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But anyway, and we.
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We did.
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We.
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We scored and we.
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We won the game nine to one.
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And actually, we.
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We scored two runs in the first inning.
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I read today when I was reading this thing.
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And then in the second, I drove in two runs.
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Yeah.
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Yeah, amazing.
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But anyway, we.
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We ended the game, it was nine to one, and.
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And there's a famous picture of Casey, you know, saying like, one and zero or something, you know, my record.
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And with a picture of me, I've got that big picture out in those.
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We've got another building on our farm, and I got it out.
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There is a huge picture.
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But Casey holding up, you know, 1 and 0.
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Yeah.
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Anyway, the more interesting parts after the game, you know, the writers, of course, wanted to talk to me and stuff like that, and so I stayed, you know, in the locker room and just talked to the writers, kept
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answering questions and everything.
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Well, anyway, it got later and later and later, and I was still talking to these writers, and everybody else was taking a shower and finishing and everything.
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And finally, you know, everybody left the locker room except for me and these writers, you know.
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Yeah.
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And finally.
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Finally, I got, you know, done with all that.
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They got done with me, I guess, and I went to take a shower and there was no more hot water.
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Oh, man.
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I jumped in the whirlpool and took a quick bath.
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And we were leaving that night, so we had to go catch a plane.
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So everybody else was on the bus.
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And I'm still in the locker room trying to get dressed.
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Yeah.
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And we finally got out, and we got a late start, and everybody was, you know, egging me on, you know, because it took so long.
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And then we flew to Cincinnati or somewhere like that that night.
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But I'll never forget Casey saying, jane, you stay here and talk as long as they want you to say, to answer questions or anything.
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I was just doing what Casey said.
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Right.
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There you go, folks, the story of the Mets first win from the pitcher who hurled it and can't do any better than that.
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Now, Jay, I wanted to ask you, going back a little bit, your second career start with the Reds, you were pulled from the game.
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You were thrown in, no hitter in the fifth inning, and they still pulled you, Right?
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Well, that was when I was a young kid.
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And actually, Bill, a fun thing was.
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I was watching the games last oh,.
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It must have been last September or something.
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And I was watching this kid from the Cubs, and he was throwing like 105 miles an hour in County Stadium in Milwaukee and in the same field, off the same mound.
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Anyway, I was studying engineering, and in the summers I would work for engineering companies and do what's called co op, you know, for the summer.
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Well, that summer, it was before I signed to play pro ball.
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I was playing for a liquor distributorship up in Milwaukee, Gellert's Liquor.
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And I would, you know, I was really having a good summer of winning a lot of games, striking out.
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A lot of guys could throw hard and, you know, a young guy.
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And one day a scout called me from the Cincinnati Reds, and he said, jay, we're looking at a guy we're thinking of signing.
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Would you come and throw batting practice to him?
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And I did, and it was in the southern part of Wisconsin somewhere, and he didn't hit the ball very well.
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So then the guy called me a couple weeks later and he said, hey, the Cincinnati Reds are coming to town.
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We would you come out and throw at County Stadium?
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And so they had a uniform for me and everything, and I went and I threw on the sidelines at County Stadium.
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And this would have been, you know, like in September or early September, probably, or late August.
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And after the game, I don't think that the manager was Bertie Kibitz or something like that.
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And he said, jay, up they wonder if you'll fly back to Cincinnati on the plane with them tonight and throw batting cracks to the Reds tomorrow down in Cincinnati.
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I said, gee, I can't do that.
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I got an engineering job, right?
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But I called the guy I worked for, and he said, well, Jake, you know, go ahead and do it.
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So I did, and I went down to Cincinnati and that night on the plane and threw batting cracks the next day in Cincinnati.
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And I'm just a kid, you know, and.
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And I, you know, but who's going to get.
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Dig in for batting practice when you got a kid throwing pretty hard, a little bit wild, you know, they're not going to dig in.
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And after the.
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After I throw to the guys, the manager, the general manager of the Reds said, jay, you're too young to sign a contract.
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Would your dad fly down here tonight?
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Oh, gee.
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And I don't know if he can fly down.
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He's got a small drugstore.
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Yeah, we worked it out.
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I ended up signing with the Reds that August after I'd done that, and because they came up general manager and some other Guys came up to the little town I grew up in, and my dad signed the contract
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and I signed the contract and I had a bonus.
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It was a bonus.
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And if you got a bonus bigger than 20,000 or something back then you had to go right in the major leagues.
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And so after I signed this contract, they said, well, okay, Jay, meet us in Cincinnati.
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And the rest of September of that year, I was with the Reds.
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I think I was 20 years old or something like that.
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Well, the last game of the season, we came into Milwaukee County Stadium, and we were on that same field that that young kid from Chicago was thrown at.
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But like a lot of years ago, and I threw for five innings, and all the guys I played with that summer at Sandlot Ball, when everything came to game.
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And they had a great.
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Team then, I mean, it was Eddie.
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Matthews and Hank Aaron and that whole group of guys, right?
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And anyway, I threw five innings and I hadn't given up a hit.
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And I came off the mound and the manager came up to me and he said, kid, you're too young to pitch a no hitter.
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I'm taking you out of the game.
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Yeah, that was.
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You're right, Jay.
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That was the immortal Bertie Tabitz.
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And who was the gm?
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Gabe Paul.
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Yeah, well, probably was.
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Yeah.
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So that's it, folks.
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Jay was too young to throw a no hitter, so they pulled him.
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Oh, man.
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Unbelievable.
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Jay Hook's with us tonight on Sports Talk New York.
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Now, there's another intriguing game that I want to mention to you.
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You were on the losing end of one of the rarest scoring feats in major league history.
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It was later in the 63 season, I think it was September 2nd, almost six years to the day after your debut.
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You go out and pitch against.
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I think you were with the Braves then, and you pitched against the Cincinnati Reds.
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And Pete Rose,.
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Right, that was with the Mets.
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Oh, right, yeah, you were with The Mets in 63, of course.
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How silly can I be?
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You face Pete Rose, the leadoff hitter in the game.
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Leading off the game, he hits a home run off you.
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But what happens the rest of the way, Jay?
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Well, I lost the game on the first pitch.
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Yeah, he hit a.
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It was an outside fastball.
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And I don't know if you remember the Polo Grounds, Bill, but.
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Oh, yeah, Polo Grounds, the lines.
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It was a old, like, football field, soccer field, and.
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And the lines were very short.
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I took 230, something like that.
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And center field was a long ways back there, you know.
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But Pete Rose came up and I had been with Cincinnati I knew Pete Rose, he was a young kid that came up with the Reds when I was down there.
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And anyway, the first pitch of the game I threw him an outside.
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He was batting left handed and I threw him an outside fastball.
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He hit it late, it came down right, just like Nick, the inside of the left field, you know, foul pole.
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Right.
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For a home run on the first pitch of the game.
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Well, I pitched the rest of the game.
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I lost the game one to nothing on the first pitch.
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What a shame.
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That's unbelievable.
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I think folks, that that was the first time that that happened in 30 years up to that point.
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That the lead off hitter that Bill.
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I think I read somewhere that it happened in the 1930s sometimes.
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Yeah, unbelievable.
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Pete Rose hits the first pitch over the fence and that was it.
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And Jay loses the game.
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One nothing.
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Only, Only the Mets, folks.
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Right, Jay.
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Well, another, another story about home runs at the Polar Grounds.
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And there were hardly ever any home runs hit in center field.
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Oh no.
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Right.
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And.
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And one day we were playing the Braves again and the bases were loaded and Hank Aaron came up and Casey came out to the mound and he called, used to call me professor, as you said.
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Professor.
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Professor.
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Pitch him outside, make him hit at the center field.
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I think there'd only be like maybe one or two balls hit out ever in center field.
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And threw him a low outside fastball.
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He hit it about 460ft to center field for a grand slam home run.
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And then there was Casey's whole strategy shot to hell.
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Right.
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Oh boy.
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You know, it was a great, great place to play though, Bill, at that point in our life.
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Yeah, because the fans were absolutely terrific.
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The fans came to the games and one time.
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What was, what's that game they called?
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The Mayor's Trophy game, right.
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Yeah, against the Yankees.
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The Mets played the Yankees and the first year of that game and we went over there to play.
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We played at Yankee Stadium and I was out in the outfield and I think I was talking to Whitey Ford or something like that and they said, man, we can't, we don't understand how much noise there is in
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the stadium tonight.
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Of course, that was all our Mets fans.
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You know, they came at banners and they had all this other stuff and they were the greatest fans that could ever exist.
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And they cheered us on even though we were the worst team in baseball for a number of years.
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Right.
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They were so loyal and so cheering of the players, you know, trying to lift us up, I guess.
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But.
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But it was so funny that game.
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I Was on the mound and out of the upper deck came this bag that was smoking.
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It was a big brown paper bag, right, that was smoking and it was full of fireworks.
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They were going off and the bag came out, floated out of the upper deck and it came down and landed about halfway between the pitcher's mound and home plate.
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And man, the catcher and the umpire and the batter all ran back to the stands where there's no place for me to go, out into my home.
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Fortunately, I didn't get hit by any of the fireworks, But I thought, man, where in the world would this ever happen?
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Yeah, you're exactly right.
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And Jay Hook's with us tonight on Sports Talk New York.
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The fans were quite, quite supportive in 1962 for the Mets.
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Like Casey says in a famous video, the placards, the placards.
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You have to see the placards.
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They're over on the first base side.
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You look over a few innings later, they're over on the third base side, you know.
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And he went, he went on and on about the placards.
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And people still talk about that to this day.
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Just a magnificent quote from Casey now.
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Stingelise Jay, that was what Casey spoke, what people called it, but it really wasn't that backwards, was it?
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No, it really wasn't.
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Really wasn't.
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Casey was so quick witted and he'd be talking on a subject and he'd jump to another subject, you know, and so he had several different thoughts going at the same time, Just staggered together.
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What a show.
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One thing about fans, I got to tell you a quick story about one day I was getting the parts late, Polar grounds.
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And I think it was Ken Mackenzie.
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Didn't he go to Yale?
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I think, yeah, he lived down, you know, upper part of Manhattan island, you know, and he would ride the subway to the game.
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And we parked our cars usually alongside the stadium.
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And I walked around and I was going in the front and I see this line of kids come walking down the sidewalk and Mackenzie is in front of this.
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It must have been 30 kids.
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And they're chanting, mackenzie is the fink.
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Mackenzie is the fink.
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They're all talking.
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I said, what the heck's going on, Ken?
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You know, he said, well, they wanted me to start signing autographs when I was on the subway, but I didn't want to take the time to do that.
20:20
Yeah.
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And so they.
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And then they're all just following me, calling me a finger.
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Oh, boy, it's the funniest sight to see this, like a parade almost coming along Chanting and all in the same.
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All in the same footbeat and all that.
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And Mackenzie's in front of them.
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Ken Mackenzie, the Pied Piper.
20:40
Yeah.
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Not signing autographs.
20:42
Now, I mentioned earlier, Jay, about Marvelous Marv and hot Rod Kinneil, legendary 62 Mets.
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I remember in one of the Mets videos that you actually helped Marv put up his nameplate at the Polo Grounds over his locker.
21:01
You took some drafting classes, and you wrote up a little nameplate for him.
21:07
Well, what it was was I knew.
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I took that stuff in college.
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And anyway, he brought me the name tag from above his locker, and he brought me a felt tip pen.
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And he's the one that named himself Marvelous Marv.
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And he came over to me and he said, look, he said, you know, would you print Marvelous Marv on this thing?
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Well, I did.
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I wrote Marvelous Marv.
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Then he took that strip and he put it above, you know, slid it back in above the things above his locker.
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And when any of the writers came back in, the first thing they saw was Marvelous Marv in front of his.
21:45
Blocker, you know, and he gave himself that name.
21:49
Yeah.
21:50
Oh, that's amazing.
21:51
Yeah.
21:52
You know, he wasn't really as inept in his other years in Major League Baseball as He was in 1962.
22:02
He.
22:03
He was a pretty good ball player.
22:05
Well, you know, he.
22:06
I don't think he was a bad ball player at all.
22:08
You know, I think, you know, Casey used to give him a hard time and, you know, just teasing him.
22:15
And of course, after he put that sign above his locker, every time he'd do anything, the writers would come around.
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And comment on it.
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So he became Marvelous Marv.
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And then everybody said, well, he just named himself.
22:32
Was there any player playing for the Mets back in those days?
22:36
Any player that came in or you traveled to that you were really in awe of, Jay.
22:44
Well, there was a number of guys on that team that I was in awe, you know, Richie Ashburn.
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And.
22:51
They were really, you know, when the draft.
22:54
When things were drafted, I was with Cincinnati before I was drafted, you know, or purchased by the Mets.
23:00
Right.
23:00
And the Mets were new teams in 1962.
23:06
In fact, I just.
23:07
There's a guy up here where I live, and I have breakfast with him once in a while.
23:10
He's written a book about Ford Frick, commissioner of baseball.
23:14
And he would have been commissioner back then when the.
23:17
When the expansion went west, you know, and everything, and he was the one.
23:21
But anyway, it.
23:23
You know, it just.
23:24
It just became a different thing, you know, during that time.
23:28
And A lot more travel and.
23:31
But it expanded.
23:32
The other thing that I didn't know before I read this book was that he got the teams, they used to be all day games and they wanted to the population of people that came to the park, you know,
23:46
so they, they.
23:47
That was about that time, that night baseball came in.
23:51
I mean, it was earlier than when it was playing, but.
23:54
But it was during Ford Frick's time.
23:56
Yeah.
23:56
And.
23:57
And I realized that he had really instituted that change somewhere along as the commissioner of baseball.
24:04
And you know, the funny thing was, Bill, but I was the player rep for the Mets.
24:08
They voted me player rep.
24:10
The players did.
24:11
And, and I, I don't, I didn't remember a lot of stuff that was going on, you know, because it was happening between the owners of the teams and the commissioner and those kind of people.
24:23
And, you know, I mean, I'm very thankful for what, what got voted in because, you know, with different pension plans and all the other stuff that's.
24:33
We've had appreciated for a number of years, you know.
24:36
Yeah.
24:37
There are guys who played right now, Jay, not current guys.
24:42
I'm Talking about maybe 50s, 60s that are without a pension and there's a handful of them that still don't have a pension.
24:52
And it's a crime with all the money these guys are pulling in today, these guys shouldn't have to suffer for a little bit of money that they, they'd make through a major league pension.
25:05
Yeah, they go.
25:06
The minimum salary.
25:07
When I was, when I was signed, the minimum salary in the major leagues was 7,000 a year.
25:13
Yeah.
25:14
And now I think, what is it, 700,000 or 750?
25:18
Seven fifty, I think it is.
25:20
They make 7,000 a day, Juan Soto, guys like that.
25:26
Yeah, it didn't go into it at that.
25:29
Well, I shouldn't say it didn't go into it because I, when I signed, I, you know, I signed a bonus contract, so it was a little more than that.
25:37
But, but, you know, I thought, man, you know, a school teacher, when I signed, was probably making 3,800 or something like that.
25:44
4,000 maybe.
25:45
Yeah.
25:46
And, you know, so 7,000 didn't sound that bad.
25:50
No.
25:51
Jay, do you remember Mr.
25:53
Met back?
25:54
They brought in Mr.
25:55
Met, the rest was history.
25:58
Do you remember the first Mr.
25:59
Met?
26:01
I do because I was there, but, you know, I can't remember.
26:05
Was he there before?
26:06
Yeah, he was there because I think he was in the parade after the, after that win we had, and there was a parade back, you know, when they had that.
26:17
I Couldn't believe we had a parade.
26:19
Never been in anything before.
26:22
But I think Mr.
26:24
Matt was there that Monday.
26:26
Yeah.
26:27
I think they brought him out before the season when they had a parade.
26:31
I think they were in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
26:36
Casey Stangle and a couple of guys, Gil Hodges.
26:42
But the Mets in 62, Jay really had, as you mentioned, Richie Ashburn.
26:49
They had some great names on that team.
26:52
Yep.
26:53
Duke Snyder, you know, were some guys that I really looked up to, you know, because I was still fairly young guy, and there were guys that had been in the leagues, you know, for quite a while, and, you
27:06
know, they were kind of, you know, Richie Ashburn was a classy guy.
27:10
And, you know, interesting thing, Bill, you know, now there's a lot of stuff going on in professional baseball.
27:19
Statistical analysis.
27:21
Right.
27:22
Familiar with that term and what's happening with.
27:25
Every one of the clubs are hiring people.
27:28
Yeah.
27:28
Are great like that.
27:31
And you remember, I think it was.
27:34
I don't know what year it was, but when we had that 60th anniversary game for the New York Mets.
27:39
Yes, yes.
27:41
I think it was 12.
27:43
2012.
27:45
Yeah.
27:45
Something like that.
27:46
Yeah.
27:46
Anyway, anyway, I was having.
27:48
I was eating.
27:49
I go to breakfast with a bunch of guys in this little town where I live now.
27:53
I live on a farm.
27:54
But.
27:55
But I got a call from Jay Horowitz, and.
27:59
And I said, I better take this call in the back room, guys.
28:02
And so I went, and he said, jay, can you play in an Old Timers game?
28:05
Well, I was like, 85 years old.
28:09
Yeah.
28:10
I said, hey, I can't play a little Timers game.
28:12
He said, well, we got you throwing out the first pitch for the regular game.
28:16
Yeah.
28:16
I said, well, I'll work and I'll get some grandsons to help me.
28:19
You know, they can catch me here.
28:21
I can throw a little bit.
28:22
Yeah.
28:23
And.
28:24
And we, you know, it was.
28:26
It was so much fun going back, doing that kind of stuff that it really, you know, we went there and I think we had 28 of our family members.
28:39
Of course, it was out at Citi Field then, you know.
28:41
Right.
28:42
Well, one thing that the new owners and the new management, Jay.
28:46
Have really embraced, the alumni.
28:49
And that's one great thing to have guys like you back in the fold and visible and accessible to the fans like me and Jay.
28:59
It's been a real pleasure talking to you.
29:01
I thank you for taking time out of your Sunday evening to spend it with us here back in New York on Sports Talk New York.
29:09
I wish you and the family all the best.
29:12
And thanks again for coming on with us.
29:15
Oh, thank you.
29:16
I know.
29:16
I know you got Craig coming on because I talked to him about an hour ago.
29:20
Yeah, he's waiting in the wings.
29:22
Yes, sir.
29:24
Good.
29:24
All right, Jay, you take care.
29:28
Thank you, Bill.
29:28
And nice speaking with you.
29:30
And I'm glad you got your tires fixed.
29:32
You.
29:32
Yes, me too.
29:33
Thanks, Jay.
29:34
That's Jay Hook, ladies and gentlemen.
29:36
Up next on Sports Talk New York.
29:38
Welcome in another member of Casey Stengel's 1962 pitching staff, Craig Anderson.
29:44
So stick around, folks.
29:54
You're listening to sports talk new york.
29:57
Tune in every Sunday night at 8pm on long island's wgpp broadcasting on 95.9 fm and 12:40am or listen live online at wgb radio.com stay connected to sports talk new york on wgbb by following us on facebook, twitter and
30:14
instagram @wgbb.
30:17
Sports talk, you're listening to sports talk new york on long island's wgpb.
30:26
And now back to the show.
30:34
All right, folks, wel.
30:36
Welcome back.
30:36
Welcome back to Sports Talk New York here on WGVB AM FM radio, live from beautiful downtown Merrick, Long Island, New York, usa, North America, Planet Earth, Milky Way galaxy.
30:51
And that's exactly where we are, right, Brian?
30:53
So no matter where you are, you'll be able to find us.
30:57
Well, our next guest, he was another member of Casey Stengel's Moundsman, one of the original mets selected from St.
31:04
Louis in the 61 expansion draft.
31:07
He's got some great stories to share with us.
31:09
So I'd like to welcome to Sports Talk New York tonight, Craig Anderson.
31:13
Craig, good evening.
31:15
Good evening.
31:16
Good evening.
31:17
Glad to be here again.
31:18
Glad to have you with us, Craig.
31:20
Now, I want to ask you, growing up in Washington, D.C.
31:24
in that area, who were your sports heroes as a kid?
31:29
Okay.
31:29
The Washington senator became my the team.
31:33
You know,.
31:37
Jackie Jensen, Mickey Vernon.
31:41
Yeah.
31:42
Pitchers, Camilo Pasquale.
31:44
Oh, yeah, we had, they had, they had pretty good team and they never want to won anything while I was growing up.
31:52
But we went to all went to.
31:53
A lot of games at Griffiths, right?
31:55
Is that where they played?
31:57
Yeah, that's correct.
31:58
Griffith Stadium, correct.
32:00
Yeah, correct.
32:01
I think that's the place.
32:02
Mantle hit one a mile out of that stadium and landed in somebody's front yard, I think.
32:09
Yeah.
32:10
Yes.
32:10
Yeah.
32:11
Yes.
32:11
It was over a 500 foot home run over the left field.
32:14
Something crazy.
32:16
I went to a game and saw DiMaggio hit three home runs in one game.
32:20
Wow.
32:20
I don't know whether that Was many things back then, but I, but I do remember that.
32:24
Yeah.
32:25
Now, Craig, you were placed by the Cardinals on their unprotected list and you were the eighth pick by the Mets and just behind Gil Hodges.
32:35
Now, Solly Hemis was the Cards manager back then and he may have had something to do with you.
32:43
He was a coach on the Mets after that.
32:46
He may have had something to do with you being picked by the Mets.
32:49
Do you think so?
32:51
I think so because after the Cardinal season and before, I was already committed to go to Puerto Rico to play winter ball there.
33:04
And he was, he was a guy who the Mets hired and, and then he came down to Puerto Rico.
33:14
He sat with my wife at the games.
33:16
So I know he was there looking at me, not necessarily Bob Gibson, who was on the team with me.
33:21
Right, but.
33:24
So I didn't know that.
33:25
You know, she didn't tell me that for a long time.
33:27
But anyway, yes, I think that had something to do with it.
33:31
And the three other guys, Hickman, Jim Hickman and two other guys all came from the Cardinals.
33:38
Yes, Jim Hickman.
33:39
Yeah, Jim.
33:40
Yeah.
33:41
He was a good Bobby Miller.
33:42
Bobby Miller too.
33:43
Yeah.
33:43
Okay, right handed Bobby Miller, righty Bob Miller.
33:47
Yeah.
33:47
Okay.
33:48
And we'll talk a little bit about Casey's differentiating between the Bob Millers.
33:54
Well, we'll talk about it now.
33:56
How did Casey differentiate between the Bob Millers?
34:00
Craig?
34:02
He had a hard time at first.
34:06
He would call the bullpen and eventually Ruffing would say, we have right handed Bob Miller and left handed Bob Miller.
34:15
He had to do it because Samuel didn't remember.
34:18
He didn't remember it at first.
34:20
Right.
34:21
So.
34:21
But the thing about Casey calling a bullpen, when he called the bullpen, whenever he called the bullpen, he didn't just say, roughing, give me Anderson roughing, give me hook, give me.
34:34
No.
34:35
Every time he called the bullpen, he'd go, who you got down there?
34:41
Ruffian told us who you got down there?
34:43
So he had to name all the guys sitting there.
34:46
Oh, geez.
34:46
Then after he named them all, he'd say, all right, give me a right hander.
34:52
Yeah, give me a left hander.
34:54
And that's how Roughing just shook his head.
34:57
So, yeah, yeah.
34:58
Folks may not know Craig.
35:00
Red Ruffing, hall of Famer Red Ruffing was the Mets pitching coach back in 1962.
35:06
Just like the, the batting coach was the immortal Rogers Hornsby.
35:11
So a lot of big names on that 62 ball club, but that was.
35:17
Yeah, that was a plan.
35:18
I Think to bring those guys in, big names.
35:20
Yeah.
35:21
To get the folks in, get after the Yankees.
35:24
Yeah, I'll draw the Yankees.
35:26
Right, exactly.
35:28
Now there was an amazing feat that you performed.
35:33
I think it was May 12th.
35:35
You guys are playing the Milwaukee Braves in a doubleheader at the Polo Grounds.
35:40
Now Roger Craig was pitted against Warren Spahn.
35:44
A pretty good matchup.
35:46
Now you came into that first game.
35:51
That's right.
35:51
I came in I think in the, in the eighth inning and maybe in the middle, I don't remember for sure.
35:57
Uh huh.
35:58
But I, but I pitched the eighth, let's just say part of the eighth and the ninth.
36:02
Right.
36:03
And they didn't score and we were losing one to nothing.
36:08
So we go to the bottom of the ninth and Spawn still pitching and he walks the first batter.
36:15
And I guess you have to look back on that and say that's how you lose games, lefty.
36:20
Right.
36:20
Well anyway, he walked the first guy and gets the next two guys out.
36:26
Probably struck him out or popped him up, I don't know.
36:29
Okay, so we got, we're down one nothing, two ounce man on first.
36:32
And Casey puts up Hobie Landreth, a left handed hitter to face squad.
36:39
Now I had no idea what was going, I had no idea what I didn't know about spine, but I found out later on that the left handed hitters actually hit him better than the right handed hitters.
36:53
Wow.
36:53
Okay, that's what I heard.
36:55
Okay, so he goes in there, I'm sitting in the boat in the dugout, figure, well it's one nothing and you know, who knows what's going to happen.
37:02
Bang.
37:04
Home run down the right, down the short right field side there.
37:07
Home run, 2 to 1, we win the game.
37:10
Wow.
37:11
But the left handed hitter, they brought it up a lot of times.
37:14
He put a left handed hitter against spot.
37:16
Well that's what we learned on later on that Tangle didn't know that.
37:20
He knew it more than we did.
37:22
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that was exciting.
37:24
That was, that was the first game.
37:26
Now Hobie Landreth, as Craig points out, pinch hit in that ball game.
37:32
Hobie Landreth was the first pick by the New York mets in the 1962 expansion draft.
37:38
He was a catcher.
37:40
And people ask Casey, why would you pick a catcher first?
37:43
He said, because if you have don't have a catcher, you're going to have a lot of pass balls.
37:49
That's right, exactly.
37:50
And somebody's got to catch the ball.
37:52
Exactly.
37:53
So I think that was the only home run that Hobie hit for The Mets was, was that one there?
38:00
Yeah.
38:01
The only home run in the Met.
38:03
Now it's a twin.
38:04
Bill, as I said in the second game of the double header against the Braves.
38:09
Tell us what happened.
38:10
It wasn't a pitchers battle.
38:11
The second game was not a pitchers battle.
38:13
No, not at all.
38:14
When I came into the game in the second game, the score was 7 to 7 and I pitched, I think one inning, the ninth inning and managed to hold them.
38:25
I.
38:25
Yeah, I had to get Aaron out.
38:27
I had to get, you know, had to get some pretty good guys out.
38:31
Yeah.
38:32
But I, Yeah, I did, but I had no idea with a 77 game what's going to happen.
38:41
And I didn't even think that we could would happen like the first game, but it did.
38:46
And this time it was the first hitter, Gil Hodges, he was the first hitter and he banged it right down the right center grandstand.
38:56
Pretty good shot.
38:57
This one was no fluke.
38:59
Yeah.
38:59
And boy, that was wild.
39:02
And I was in another heaven.
39:08
I was all over the place.
39:10
So I come out of the dugout and I said, my wife is sitting behind me.
39:14
So I said, I'm going to flash two fingers at her.
39:16
Yeah.
39:17
And I turned around, I looked at her and I flashed two fingers.
39:19
She already had two fingers up in the air flashing me.
39:23
So.
39:25
So there you go.
39:26
She had her head in the game, right?
39:27
Yeah, she was in the game.
39:29
That was a big moment.
39:30
I.
39:30
I never thought I'd get it.
39:32
Well, you never know when it's going to happen, but.
39:34
But it doesn't happen too often.
39:36
No, that was an amazing.
39:37
Glad it happened again because.
39:39
Yeah.
39:39
Against the Braves.
39:40
Craig Anderson with us tonight on Sports Talk New York.
39:43
Craig gets two wins, both wins in that doubleheader against the Milwaukee Braves.
39:48
I think that only two other Mets have accomplished that.
39:52
One was Willard Hunter, who people probably do not remember, and the other one people will remember.
40:00
Jesse Orozco was the other met to win two games.
40:04
Yeah, Hunter did it the next season.
40:06
He did it in 64.
40:08
Oh, okay.
40:10
I don't think he did it the same season.
40:13
No, I don't think so either.
40:15
I think it was another.
40:16
Yeah.
40:16
And then I don't think there's been too many lately in baseball.
40:20
I haven't.
40:20
May have been, but I haven't been noticing that too much.
40:24
No, I don't think so, Craig.
40:25
No, I don't think so either.
40:28
I looked up, I.
40:29
When I.
40:30
After that game, I.
40:31
I decided to look up and see how many, you know, pitchers have done it.
40:35
And I think when I did that back in the 60s.
40:37
There was about 29 guys, 28 or 29 guys had won a double header.
40:42
That's a lot.
40:43
I don't know.
40:43
Now there aren't as many double headers anymore.
40:46
See?
40:46
No, yeah, there's not an opportunity for a guy to do that.
40:50
Plus, with the way the pitchers are used today, very unlikely that it would happen.
40:55
Craig yeah, you're exactly right.
40:58
Now, do you have any favorite Casey stories you could tell us?
41:02
Craig?
41:04
Well, I have several.
41:07
The most classic one, I know some people have heard this, but the classic story happened in 62.
41:18
We I was in the bullpen and right.
41:20
Remember we sat on the field in the right center and I was in the bullpen and we were, we were playing the Cardinals and we were down two to nothing.
41:33
I think something like that.
41:35
And Throneberry, Marv Thornberry with two men on base, hits a ball down the right into deep right field.
41:44
If you remember, Polar Grounds was deep in right center.
41:47
Yeah.
41:47
And boy, he hit one into the corner.
41:49
Well, everybody's running, everybody's running, running, running, running.
41:52
Crowds, crowd about 50,000 people going crazy and we're going to bullpen.
41:58
Jeez, this is terrific.
41:59
Yeah.
42:01
So things calm down, he's on third base and the, I think it was the Cardinals, but I'm not going to swear to that.
42:07
The pitcher calls for the ball to, you know, go back to the pitching mount.
42:11
He steps on the mound, takes a stretch move and throws the ball to second base.
42:15
And the umpire calls him out, he missed second base.
42:19
Oh, boy, Stangle.
42:20
Stangle lost his cool.
42:23
And for one of the few times he not only got out of the dugout, he trotted out onto the field going after the second base umpire, you know, for making this call, right?
42:36
And while he, while he's heading towards that second base umpire, the first base umpire goes over to him and says, casey, I'm sorry to tell you this, but he missed first base too.
42:49
So Casey then, who was furious at that point, turns, he says, well, gosh darn it, I know he touched third because he's standing on it over there.
43:00
Right?
43:00
That's how that ended.
43:01
Oh, man.
43:02
There's a follow up to, there's a follow up to this story that this is what I learned this a few delay a few years later.
43:09
What happened Now, I probably was in the bullpen again on this one too.
43:13
The very first inning of the next day, I want to say the next day.
43:17
But it was very shortly after that incident.
43:20
Charlie Neal got up in the first inning and hit the home run.
43:25
A solo home run.
43:27
So as.
43:28
Just as the ball goes out of the ballpark, Stengo gets out of the dugout, runs out onto the.
43:34
Where the dirt is, where we.
43:36
In the front of the dugout.
43:37
And Charlie.
43:39
Charlie's about to go to first base.
43:41
And Stengel goes, touch it.
43:45
And he goes to second base.
43:46
He goes, touch it.
43:49
And he goes to third base.
43:50
Touch it.
43:52
So that was here.
43:53
That was a follow up to the other one the day before.
43:56
He's telling his players, start touching the bases.
44:00
That's an important thing to do.
44:02
I didn't know about that because I was in the bullpen, but I heard about it later on.
44:07
Oh, gee.
44:07
Crazy.
44:08
Craig Anderson with us tonight on Sports Talk New York.
44:11
Now, any of the guys pull any pranks on Casey?
44:17
Okay, Roger.
44:20
Craig was a prankster at times.
44:23
And we were playing a doubleheader and he was going to pitch in the second game.
44:28
So we're playing the first game, singles in the dugout.
44:31
Roger's in the clubhouse.
44:33
Casey.
44:34
Casey, for some reason wanted to call the clubhouse.
44:38
So he calls and Roger picks up the phone.
44:43
And Roger, I think Roger said, who's this?
44:47
He said, this is Casey.
44:49
And Roger says, casey who?
44:51
And he slammed the phone back down.
44:53
Then he came out and told us that later on.
44:57
He must have had a fit.
45:00
Yeah, he was a kind of a laid back guy.
45:04
Plays funny jokes like.
45:06
There's one more I want to talk quickly.
45:08
Sure, go ahead.
45:09
I'm standing with him at home plate before the Giant game, and Willie Mays is coming out from center field.
45:16
Remember, we dressed in center field.
45:17
Right.
45:18
He's walking towards home plate on the field, and Roger is standing there.
45:23
We were chatting, and then he saw him coming.
45:26
And Roger does a move like there's a ball coming right at Willie.
45:32
Like a throne ball.
45:34
Yeah, you know, he's really.
45:36
He faked it beautifully.
45:37
He faked it beautifully.
45:41
He may have even said, watch out.
45:42
All of a sudden, Mae leaped up in the air at least 8ft to the right.
45:47
I never saw a guy leap eight feet in the air and go back down and then just jog into the dugout.
45:53
And Roger, we were breaking up.
45:55
I mean, there are certain guys like Willie, he was that quick, you know, to react.
46:01
Oh, yeah.
46:02
So I couldn't believe when he did that.
46:04
He was laughing and I didn't know, geez, what going on here?
46:07
Roger Craig, he was under.
46:11
He was a sleuthy guy.
46:12
He was good.
46:14
You wouldn't think Roger Craig would be a prankster the way how stoic he was as a manager and how serious.
46:22
Right.
46:23
He did it quietly and in the background.
46:25
That's what, that's how he did it.
46:27
Yeah.
46:28
Now, there's another story I want you to tell the folks about Craig.
46:32
Craig Anderson's with us tonight.
46:33
1960 Mets.
46:35
I'm just going to give three, three words, YOLO TANGO.
46:40
Okay?
46:41
This one found out later on because it, you know, this was.
46:46
They were.
46:46
Players were practicing.
46:48
But what happened is Elio Chacon was our shortstop, a Venezuelan shortstop, not too good on English, and center fielder was Richie Ashburn.
47:01
And so there was a pop up hit during a game, during a game.
47:07
And Roger, center field came running in and Helio's going out.
47:15
And they almost had a serious collision that kind of, the last second just fell away.
47:21
And it could have been really, really serious.
47:24
So Ricky was really concerned, so he said, elio, we gotta talk.
47:30
So they met the next day in the clubhouse or whenever.
47:33
And Elio probably had an interpreter there to help with this language.
47:37
He could speak some English.
47:38
All right, Elio tells, Rod, tells our center fielder that YOLO tango means I've got it right, YOLO tango, okay?
47:51
And they practiced that and then they went out and they hit pop fly in practice and they were hitting pop flies in YOLO Tango.
48:00
And also Risky can holler YOLO Tango also, right?
48:04
Because now you knew what to say.
48:06
Tell him.
48:07
Okay, now, now we're back to real games.
48:09
And you know, when is this incident going to happen?
48:14
Well, it probably three or four or five, whatever games later on.
48:18
Richie was in center field, Elio was in shortstop, and a high pop up came out like towards the center field.
48:27
The shortstop's going out towards like left center field, sort of.
48:31
Richie's charging in, Elio's charging out.
48:35
Well, at the very last second, Elio goes.
48:41
No, Ricky goes, Richie Ashburn goes.
48:45
YOLO Tango.
48:46
YOLO Tango.
48:47
And Elio goes down on the ground.
48:51
Down on the ground.
48:54
Things are looking real good, right?
48:56
There was one problem.
48:58
Frank Thomas came over from left field and smashed in the.
49:01
Ashburn knocked the ball out of his hand and the whole thing fell apart right there.
49:05
They practiced and Frank Thomas finished him off good and the play didn't work.
49:10
So that's funny now, probably wasn't funny then, but they did try to get that YOLO Tango.
49:17
Frank Thomas didn't know YOLO Tango, though, right, Craig?
49:21
So, yeah.
49:22
What the hell are they hollering?
49:23
Yeah, that blew the whole thing to shreds.
49:26
Yeah, Ashburn told that story.
49:29
It was a really arrived to hear him, because he was.
49:32
They did practice him early.
49:34
They did it several times.
49:35
They practiced to make sure that they had that right.
49:37
He was the MVP of the 62 Mets.
49:40
Richie Ashburn.
49:41
Yes.
49:42
Great.
49:44
How to handle this?
49:44
We're playing for the worst team and I'm the best player.
49:47
Yeah.
49:48
Hall of Famer, you may tell them.
49:50
Yeah, hall of Famer.
49:51
Yeah, you're right.
49:52
You're right.
49:52
And a good announcer later on with the Phillies, too.
49:55
Long time.
49:55
Yes, you're exactly right.
49:57
He used to mention my name often on this radio because I live down the road, see?
50:01
Ah, yeah.
50:02
Up the road.
50:03
Yeah, there you go.
50:05
Now, you had the distinction, Craig, of being the losing pitcher in the last game at the Polo Grounds.
50:13
Right, right, right.
50:15
Starting pitcher went about five innings and I made a mistake to the shortstop for the Phillies, a batter, and he got a double and they got a couple runs off me.
50:26
Yeah.
50:26
And so after.
50:27
After five, they took me out of the game.
50:30
Right.
50:30
And I think we.
50:31
We only scored one run, so if we gave up two or three, we weren't going to win too many games, I guess.
50:37
Exactly.
50:39
Well, anyway, I haven't thought about it too much, you know, being in the last game of the program, but I forgot I'm in New York.
50:47
I'm in New York with the Mets and the Met fans.
50:51
The fantastic Met fans, by the way.
50:53
Right.
50:54
Nine hundred and some thousand came to watch us play and they cheered us all season long and banners and parades and.
51:05
And then.
51:06
Yeah.
51:07
So at the very end of the season now, we had a little thing in the clubhouse for the last game of the 62 season.
51:15
And we had a little meeting in the clubhouse and Stengel came in.
51:18
He says, I want you players to take a poster and I want you to go out on the field with this sign that says, we love you too.
51:29
Mets fans.
51:30
Right.
51:31
And all of a sudden, all the veteran players said, well, that's no good.
51:36
I ain't that stupid.
51:37
No, I'm not going to do it.
51:40
Bull.
51:40
You know, it's what they call it.
51:43
They didn't say cuss words.
51:45
Yeah.
51:45
There's no way I'm going to run out there at a sign and do that.
51:49
Well, that didn't last too long because the younger players, including me and a lot of the younger guys, I'll do it.
51:57
We'll do it.
51:58
Hey, yeah, we owe that to the fans, you know, and all of a sudden it sort of changed everything, I think.
52:04
I think we had 17 guys eventually.
52:07
Now, who do you think was the.
52:11
Final the question mark.
52:12
Not the question mark, the exclamation point.
52:16
Who was the exclamation point?
52:19
There's a good trivia question.
52:21
I'll say, Casey, you are correct.
52:24
You win the contest.
52:25
There we go.
52:26
Casey Stengel came out there with the sign.
52:28
After we all lined up, he came out and walked the.
52:31
The end there.
52:32
We love you two Mets fans.
52:34
Exclamation point.
52:35
Casey Stengel.
52:36
Beautiful.
52:37
Did we feel good about that?
52:39
That became a tradition.
52:41
That became a tradition with the Mets.
52:43
They don't do it anymore, of course, but back through the 60s and 70s and maybe even the 80s, on fan appreciation Day, the Mets or Banner Day, I forget which one it was, the Mets would come out with
52:55
their own sign and it became a tradition every year.
53:00
That's good to hear.
53:02
I'm glad to hear that because they were.
53:04
They are the best baseball fans that I've ever been involved in.
53:07
And it happened to be on a losing season.
53:09
But that's special to me.
53:11
That's special.
53:12
And the players are the same way.
53:14
Jay said the same thing.
53:15
Jay Hook said the same thing about the fans.
53:18
Craig.
53:19
Yeah, yeah.
53:20
Now, quickly, in our final minutes, I want to ask you, you had a losing streak.
53:25
I think it was 17 straight games.
53:27
But the Mets later had another pitcher by the name of Anthony Young, who I think his streak reached 27 games without a win.
53:36
You sent him a note, though, didn't you?
53:40
Yes, I wrote to him.
53:41
I said, you know, Anthony, I.
53:43
I don't want you to break my records.
53:45
But he had already, you know, I didn't want you to break my record.
53:48
Right.
53:48
Because.
53:49
And then, you know what I wrote to him before he broke it, I think.
53:53
Yeah.
53:54
Said, I really don't want you to break my record.
53:56
You know, but, boy, he lost 10 more than I did.
53:59
Oh, yeah, he did.
54:00
But, you know, I think he was happy to hear something like that.
54:05
And I know he was trying.
54:06
I watched him pitch.
54:07
He was a good pitcher.
54:08
I watched him.
54:09
Yeah.
54:09
Not.
54:09
Not bad.
54:10
And it was really bad luck.
54:12
And that was a classy move.
54:14
Classy move by you, Craig, to send him a note.
54:18
Well, I truly felt.
54:20
And the same thing happened here with the Chicago White Sox.
54:24
Jay Hook and I both agreed.
54:25
We.
54:25
We didn't want to wish that on any other team.
54:28
Oh, right.
54:29
But if it happens.
54:30
Okay.
54:30
Yeah, yeah.
54:31
We.
54:31
We both.
54:32
And I think that came out in a couple of the articles, too, that we did not wish that to happen before it happened, but it happened anyway.
54:41
I guess on the very last night, we said we Maybe didn't say anything,.
54:46
But they did it, so.
54:48
Yeah.
54:48
Yep.
54:49
That's right.
54:49
One final note.
54:50
Quickly, quickly, Craig.
54:53
George Vesey of the Times wrote that Craig Anderson had said that it's better to be a has been than it never was.
55:03
Do you remember that, Craig?
55:05
I do.
55:06
Yes.
55:06
Yes, yes.
55:08
Very good writer.
55:09
And he stays in touch with us.
55:11
Oh, wow.
55:13
I mean, I think.
55:14
Is he still.
55:15
There was a son, Bessie, too.
55:17
Yeah.
55:18
Peter.
55:19
Peter, I think his name was.
55:21
Yeah.
55:22
Is Jim.
55:23
Is Jim still writing?
55:26
Jim Vesey?
55:27
I'm not sure.
55:27
Oh, I don't.
55:28
I don't.
55:30
Know either.
55:32
I'm hearing things occasionally, but Vessi could be a son, but it's okay.
55:36
I get you.
55:37
He was a very good writer.
55:38
He's a very good guy for the myth.
55:39
Yeah.
55:41
We remain friends over these years.
55:42
All year.
55:43
We stayed in touch periodically.
55:45
Yes.
55:45
That's wonderful.
55:46
Well, Craig Anderson, and I'm glad to.
55:49
Stay in touch with you and your great show and I appreciate you having me on.
55:53
And we'll have to try to think of some news stories down the road.
55:57
Yeah.
55:57
Well, we'll have you back.
55:59
You are much more than a has been, Craig, to us here in New York.
56:03
It's been a pleasure speaking to you.
56:05
I thank you for taking time out of your Sunday night to spend it with us up here in New York.
56:10
I wish you all the best.
56:12
Stay well and I'll stay in touch with you.
56:14
Thank you very much.
56:15
Thank you for having me.
56:16
That's Craig Anderson, ladies and gentlemen.
56:19
Yes.
56:19
Yes.
56:19
Let's go.
56:20
Metz.
56:23
After this, we will switch gears when we return and talk to the legendary Peter Asher on Sports Talk New York.
56:29
So stick around, folks.
56:35
Foreign,.
56:39
You are listening to Sports Talk New York.
56:42
Tune in every Sunday night at 8pm on Long Island's WGBP, broadcasting on 95.9 FM and 12:40am or listen live online at wgbbradio.com stay connected to sports Talk New York on WGBB by following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
57:01
@WGPB sports talk.
57:06
You're listening to Sports Talk New York on Long Island's wgpb.
57:11
And now back to the show.
57:20
All right, folks, welcome back.
57:21
We're back with Sports Talk New York on WGBB Radio here in Merrick, Long Island, New York.
57:28
Well, right now we're gonna switch gears as we do on occasion.
57:32
We've been known to do this to bring on a musical guest or an actor, and we're going to do that right now.
57:38
Our next guest, a guitarist, singer, manager and record producer.
57:42
And also Radio host.
57:44
You can hear him on Sirius XM.
57:46
He came to prominence in the 1960s as a member of the duo Peter and Gordon, before going on to a real great career as a manager and record producer, helping to foster the careers of people like James Taylor
58:00
and Linda Ronstadt, among others.
58:03
He is coming to Long Island.
58:04
He will be at the Paramount up in Huntington on September 5, along with the Fix and Colin Blundstone.
58:13
I'd like to welcome to the show tonight Peter Asher.
58:16
Peter, good evening.
58:18
Good evening.
58:18
Thank you so much.
58:19
Great intro.
58:20
I was getting nervous there for a minute because spirits are not my strong point.
58:23
Luckily, you switched gears at the last minute.
58:26
That's what we do.
58:27
Much to my relief.
58:30
We have the ability to change and pick a musical guest every so often, and that's what we're doing tonight.
58:37
Our audience is in tune with that and really enjoys it.
58:41
So I want to ask you, Peter, when somebody refers to you as a legend, what does that mean to you?
58:49
Old.
58:52
I think that's what.
58:53
If you added it all up.
58:54
That's about what it means.
58:55
I think it means you've kept on doing what you're doing for quite a long time and seem unwilling to give up, which is true in my case.
59:02
I have no intention of retiring, so I think that usually can earn you the legend tag.
59:09
So it's a mixed blessing, I suppose.
59:11
Got you okay now.
59:12
But I like the idea of it.
59:14
Thank you.
59:16
Musical influences.
59:20
Gosh, everything.
59:21
I mean, I grew up in a very classical household.
59:24
My mother was a classical oboe player.
59:26
She taught in various orchestras and was the senior professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
59:31
And my father was an amateur pianist and a Gilbert and Sullivan fan and all that kind of stuff.
59:36
So I was surrounded by music my whole life.
59:39
And then when I heard American music, along with the rest of the youth of Britain in the 60s, we just fell in love with all of it.
59:47
We fell in love with folk music, Woody Guthrie and rock and roll and R and B, and just thought this was the best thing we'd ever heard, and Elvis and everything else.
59:57
So suddenly my affection for music, my enjoyment of music, suddenly switched to being everything, you know, anything American, essentially.
1:00:06
People forget that, that that's what the whole British Invasion was about.
1:00:09
The weirdest part is that we successfully fell in love with your music completely, all your music, and then tweaked it ever so slightly and sold it all back to you.
1:00:21
Kind of a miracle of economics.
1:00:24
Interesting.
1:00:24
Yeah.
1:00:25
That's a great way to put it, Peter.
1:00:26
Now, I have to ask You.
1:00:28
Because I've been wondering about this for a long time, listening to your show, and feel like I know you.
1:00:35
What was it like to be living with McCartney at the height of Beatlemania, at your family's home there in Wimpole Street?
1:00:43
What was that like having him in the house?
1:00:45
When people are crazy, it was odd,.
1:00:48
You know, it was strange, but.
1:00:50
But the thing to remember was we were both incredibly busy, so we didn't really have much time to stop and think about what it was like.
1:00:58
And we weren't home that much.
1:00:59
We were both on the road.
1:01:01
We were just doing regular little gigs in London.
1:01:04
He, of course, started to do all these fabulously huge gigs all over the world and go to America to do the fellowship and the whole thing.
1:01:12
So I would say, above all, busy would sum it all up.
1:01:16
But it also was a bit strange because this is the same building on Munfah street where my father used to see patients.
1:01:24
And so they didn't know what this weird gaggle of young female fans were sitting in the street and hanging around our doorbell when they'd arrived to go to the doctor.
1:01:36
It was a bit strange for them, too.
1:01:38
Wonderful.
1:01:38
Now, what did it take for you to become an artist in the first place, Peter?
1:01:44
I suppose my friendship is Gordon, in a way.
1:01:46
I mean, I love music, and I, by this time, persuaded my parents to get me a guitar and I would learn a few chords.
1:01:56
So I suppose that's what got me into music, to become a professional musician was, I think, because I met Gordon, we both liked each other and got on well and started singing and playing together just for the fun
1:02:08
of it.
1:02:09
And then, guess what?
1:02:10
Somebody heard us and thought we sounded okay and signed us up.
1:02:13
So we signed to EMI Records, the same label the Beatles were on.
1:02:16
So.
1:02:19
That was extraordinary.
1:02:20
And I suppose that's what it took for me to become more than just an amateur.
1:02:25
Is Gordon and a record company.
1:02:27
Interesting.
1:02:28
Okay, we're speaking with Peter Asher tonight on the show.
1:02:32
I want to talk to you about the two people we mentioned earlier.
1:02:36
Linda Ronstadt once said that working with you gave her the ability to think in a much more organized and deliberate way.
1:02:46
Oh, that's nice.
1:02:48
I hope that's true.
1:02:51
I tend to like things quite organized and neat and tidy when it's applicable.
1:02:57
So I consider that a compliment for sure.
1:03:00
And I enjoyed working with Linda so much because she is full of great ideas, but could jump around a bit, you know what I mean?
1:03:08
Couldn't necessarily present the ideas in a wholly coherent and.
1:03:13
And you had to figure out exactly what she meant, but it was always a great idea at the heart of it.
1:03:19
So I think one of the things that people Linda had worked with before didn't do was pay attention to her enough, particularly since at that time, of course, in that era, the idea that someone could be incredibly beautiful
1:03:32
and an amazing singer kind of precluded them from actually being brilliant as well, because it just was too much to ask for.
1:03:40
But that is Linda to a T.
1:03:41
She's.
1:03:42
She's exceptional in every way.
1:03:45
Her voice, herself, her ideas.
1:03:49
And, you know, she still is, to this day, one of my best friends and a remarkable woman.
1:03:56
Now, she didn't write songs, as we know.
1:03:58
Peter, how did you, as a producer for Linda, find a common denominator for the covers that she did?
1:04:07
It was a mixture, you know, I invented some.
1:04:10
I mean, I thought of some.
1:04:12
Linda thought of some other friends and musicians, friends of hers, like Kenny Edwards, who played bass with her.
1:04:18
It was brilliant, had ideas.
1:04:20
And so we all listened to each other's ideas and decided what we thought would work.
1:04:25
And it's not the case that I was certainly not Svengali, and Linda was not somebody I manipulated and said, now do you sing this dear at all?
1:04:38
Far from it.
1:04:39
She had very bold and defined ideas as to what she wanted to sing, and all I did was enable her to sing what she wanted to.
1:04:50
Nice.
1:04:50
Good to know.
1:04:51
Now, you guys had a hit with you're no Good.
1:04:54
We remember, of course, you're no Good.
1:04:56
And on that was a player by the name of Andrew Gold.
1:05:00
And we remember Andrew with such hits as Lonely Boy.
1:05:05
And how do you remember Andrew?
1:05:08
Peter as an absolute genius.
1:05:10
He was an extraordinary musician, you know, I don't know if you know who his parents were, but he came from good musician stock, it has to be said.
1:05:19
His father was Ernest Gould, who wrote a million great movie scores, including Exodus, which he struggled to remember.
1:05:27
And his mother was Marni Nixon, the one who sang for Natalie Wood and Deborah Carr and all those incredible actresses in all those movies were sworn to secrecy that she hadn't sung for them, but she did.
1:05:40
So he came from remarkable predecessors, and as a result of that, presumably, genetically speaking, he could therefore pick up any instrument, play it immediately, learn how to play it, play brilliantly, stuff on it, guitar, piano, whatever, and was
1:06:00
a great singer and a great songwriter, and he wrote that song Lonely Boy, which I had the good fortune of producing as well, and I just fell in love with the song.
1:06:10
Yeah, interesting that you mention all that, Peter, because I was unaware of his pedigree, about his parents, and about Andrew Gold's ability to.
1:06:20
As a musician, as you mentioned.
1:06:22
It's wonderful that you brought that out for the audience.
1:06:25
I think that's great.
1:06:26
Now, James Taylor, of course, a legendary singer, songwriter.
1:06:32
How did you get involved with James?
1:06:35
Well, you have to go back to in the 60s when Peter and Gordon toured America.
1:06:41
We were given a backup band by whoever the local promoter was.
1:06:45
If we'd be in your area, somebody there would say, okay, we've hired your band for you, and we've given them your albums to learn, you know, And.
1:06:53
And one of those bands was a band called the King Bees.
1:06:56
And the guitarist player in that band was a guy called Danny Korchmar.
1:06:59
Oh, yeah.
1:07:00
And I got to know him because he was in our backup band on this particular tour.
1:07:04
And he and I became such good friends that we remained friends even after the Peter and Gordon touring era was over.
1:07:12
And at that time, James, Danny, subsequently was in a band in New York called the Flying Machine with his childhood friend James Taylor.
1:07:23
He and James had been friends on Martha's Vineyard Island.
1:07:25
They'd spent summers there together, and they actually used to play and sing together when they were 12.
1:07:33
So when James decided to go to quit the band King Bees, which broke up, he decided he wanted to go to London.
1:07:41
And Cooch said to him, look, I have a friend in London who used to play with me, who I used to play with.
1:07:47
Danny, Peter Asher.
1:07:49
You should look him up.
1:07:51
You know, he's okay.
1:07:53
So that's how I got a phone call out of the blue from somebody called James Taylor, who introduced himself as a friend of Danny Kortrama's.
1:08:00
And I said, great.
1:08:01
Any friend of Danny's is a friend of mine.
1:08:03
Please come over and have dinner.
1:08:05
He did.
1:08:06
He played me a tape.
1:08:07
I went crazy.
1:08:08
He picked up my guitar, played a couple more tunes.
1:08:10
I went even more crazy.
1:08:12
And I said, this is insane how good you are.
1:08:14
I think you're amazing in every way.
1:08:16
A singer and a songwriter and a guitar player.
1:08:20
And I just happened to have got this brand new job set of A and R for Apple Records, which I had.
1:08:27
And I said, you know, I can sign people.
1:08:29
Would you like a record deal?
1:08:31
And he said, yes, please, I'd love one.
1:08:32
And that was that.
1:08:34
That's how it happened.
1:08:35
That was really pretty much the conversation because I said, you know, I can sign people to this new label.
1:08:40
Are you interested?
1:08:41
And you.
1:08:41
Yes, you bet.
1:08:42
Then I told him whose label it was.
1:08:44
He was a bit Disconcerted.
1:08:46
Yeah, exactly.
1:08:48
Now, Danny Korchmar, Peter.
1:08:50
There's an example of the show switching gears.
1:08:54
At one point, I had Danny on the program.
1:08:56
So the audience is great.
1:08:59
He always looks at me to be controversial, to say he can be relied upon to have people go, what?
1:09:06
He's brilliant at this stuff.
1:09:07
A great interview.
1:09:08
He really was.
1:09:10
Now, Elton John, you produced, I believe, a disc of covers for the reissue of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.
1:09:19
Correct.
1:09:21
How did that come out?
1:09:22
And how was working with Elton?
1:09:25
I've known Elton for a long time.
1:09:27
We've never really learned together much.
1:09:28
I mean, we did do a couple of things.
1:09:30
I produced a Randy Newman album of a musical, Faust, Faust.
1:09:36
And Belton played a British angel, as he should in that musical.
1:09:43
So I got to work with him then, and we've known each other for a long time.
1:09:47
So I was actually sitting at this very desk, I am now, when the phone rang one morning.
1:09:53
And the voice, the other end, said, hi, Peter, it's Elton.
1:09:59
Which is a good way to start the day.
1:10:01
And I said, really?
1:10:03
And he told me he wanted me to produce, to executive produce this whole album of covers, and in many cases, produced the individual covers themselves.
1:10:13
People like Ed Sheeran, who I'd never worked with, obviously, and was an admirer of.
1:10:17
So I got to produce Ed for that album and a lot of other great people as well, and he put me in charge of it and seemed happy with the results.
1:10:25
So the album did very well.
1:10:28
Nothing bad comes from Elton John, Peter.
1:10:30
That's for sure.
1:10:31
That is.
1:10:32
That is for sure.
1:10:32
He's a genius.
1:10:33
We're speaking with Peter Asher tonight on the program.
1:10:36
Now, as a producer, Peter, is there any particular record that you're most proud of?
1:10:45
Well, I think you're no Good would have to be on there, because working with Andrew was a pleasure and an honor, and he contributed hugely to the record.
1:10:53
But I felt that we had some really good ideas on that.
1:10:56
And all the guitar stuff he and I sat up all night doing, I mean, he played it, I helped him think of it, and he did a remarkable job.
1:11:06
So that would be one of them.
1:11:11
Fire and Rain, Hard to Beat, one of James greatest songs.
1:11:17
And then I got to produce a version of You've Got A Friend with him, you know, which is Chris Carol's song.
1:11:26
James ended up having the big hit single, and Carol had the monster hit album with Tapestry.
1:11:31
So it was a success all round.
1:11:34
That's a significant song.
1:11:35
My wife and I saw Beautiful last night.
1:11:39
Wonderful show about.
1:11:41
Is it on the Road or Something.
1:11:43
Where did you see it?
1:11:44
It's just a local theater company out here on Long Island.
1:11:47
Yeah, and it was really excellent.
1:11:51
It really brings out what a genius Carol was.
1:11:55
Even Jerry was wonderful with her, too.
1:11:59
But as you say, Tapestry.
1:12:02
I remember Peter as a kid going to the beach here on Long Island.
1:12:07
We have beautiful white sand beaches on the Atlantic Ocean.
1:12:11
And those were the days of transistor radio.
1:12:14
And I'm sure you remember that every beach towel that you'd walk by had WABC in New York playing It's Too Late.
1:12:23
You could walk down the beach and hear it from every towel on the beach.
1:12:28
Had that on the radio and just shows you Carole King, her genius.
1:12:35
Correct.
1:12:36
It's really, really true.
1:12:38
She's right.
1:12:39
Well, how about having your picture on Rolling Stone, Peter?
1:12:45
How did that feel?
1:12:47
Yeah, I mean, they called and said, we'd like to do a story on you for Rolling Stone.
1:12:52
And I said, wow, thank you very much.
1:12:55
And they said, well, it's one other thing.
1:12:57
We might consider making it a cover, but only if you can bring James Taylor and Linda Ronset at the same time to the photo session.
1:13:05
Oh, boy.
1:13:05
Shall we do with Annie Leibovitz?
1:13:07
So usually I'm quite sort of diffident in the way I advise artists what to do.
1:13:13
As I would have said, we've been offered this cover.
1:13:16
And what do you think?
1:13:17
And can you possibly be free by next Monday or whatever it was, doing this session with Annie Leibovitz.
1:13:25
But instead of which, I have to admit, I kind of went, do I want to be on the COVID of Rolling Stone?
1:13:29
Absolutely, yes.
1:13:31
So you will come.
1:13:33
You must come.
1:13:34
I beg you to come to the photo session with me and get me on the COVID Which is what they did.
1:13:39
Yep.
1:13:39
And the rest, they say, is history.
1:13:40
Now, who were you looking at?
1:13:43
Go ahead, Peter.
1:13:44
No, sorry.
1:13:45
I was going.
1:13:45
Speaking of history, what were you going to say?
1:13:48
I was going to say, who were you looking up to in order to gain experience and get into the business.
1:13:58
In terms of a record producer?
1:13:59
I guess I had the privilege of watching George Martin a couple of times.
1:14:05
But I don't know, really.
1:14:07
I mean, I learned from all the greats of the business in terms of record companies.
1:14:11
Mo Austin, Ahmed Ertigan, Clive Davis, you know, all tragically no longer with us.
1:14:20
But, I mean, I certainly learned a lot from them in terms of the business of music and how much determination it took to succeed and cause an artist to succeed as well.
1:14:31
You see, Peter, this is why you're a legend.
1:14:35
We had to explain this to you.
1:14:38
That's why you're a legend with all the names you've worked with.
1:14:42
I mean, it's just amazing.
1:14:44
It's a pleasure to have Peter Asher on the program tonight with us.
1:14:48
Now, the work you've done for movies, Peter, even cinematic work with the movies.
1:14:55
Tell us a little bit about that.
1:14:59
Yeah, I've done a number of songs for movies.
1:15:03
Somewhere out There, I guess, might be one of the big ones with James Ingram and then the duet with.
1:15:15
My mind.
1:15:15
Sorry, I was trying to think of something, but I've done a few songs back from movies and.
1:15:25
And it's great when you get off with a cool song and just, you know, like, I did that thing with Cher and Peter Sotera that was a big hit.
1:15:34
And one of my favourites, actually, was the version of it's in His Kiss I did with Linda onset for Mermaids, which was interesting because that was the number one hit in the rest of the world, but not a
1:15:46
hit at all in America.
1:15:47
I don't know what I did wrong, but America didn't like it.
1:15:50
Or else probably.
1:15:51
I'd like to think the record company did something wrong.
1:15:54
Yes, I would go along with that one, Peter.
1:15:57
That was a wonderful song.
1:16:00
Do you have to like a movie or at least read the script to be involved with it?
1:16:05
No.
1:16:06
No.
1:16:07
Okay.
1:16:07
No.
1:16:07
I mean, I read the movies always.
1:16:11
Or watched them if they were finished, you know, or watched a version.
1:16:15
But.
1:16:16
So the movie's important, of course, to the overall picture.
1:16:19
But to be honest, if I just hear a song, I'm thinking about, what's the best way for this singer to do this song?
1:16:26
I don't really care what they do with it.
1:16:28
Okay.
1:16:29
Peter Asher is with us tonight on the program now.
1:16:33
When you came back, working on the stage as an artist again, Peter, what prompted you to come back, pick up a guitar and start playing again to an audience?
1:16:45
Well, there's a couple of aspects to that.
1:16:48
Gordon and I, you know, didn't ever have a big breakup, but we did stop working together gradually.
1:16:53
He wanted to make a solo album.
1:16:55
I wanted to start producing records.
1:16:57
And it was actually Paul Schaeffer and his wife Kathy, who phoned me up and said, we're doing a benefit for Mike Smith from the Day Clock Five.
1:17:07
And Kathy, Paul Schaeffer's wife, suggested that he tried to get Peter and Gordon back together.
1:17:14
This was after we'd been apart for 27 years.
1:17:18
And he called me up and I kind of went, you know, if we're ever going to do It.
1:17:21
This would be a good occasion.
1:17:23
We know Paul will have an amazing band.
1:17:26
It'll be in New York.
1:17:27
It was at B.B.
1:17:27
King's, you know, And I called Gordon up and he said yes.
1:17:32
And so we did it.
1:17:33
We had to rehearse for a week or so to make sure we could sound like a reasonable facsimile of ourselves at that point.
1:17:39
And.
1:17:41
But it worked out.
1:17:42
And when we realized how important some of that music was to some people, you know, they measured their lives by it to some extent.
1:17:51
And kind of that was their song, you know, and all that stuff.
1:17:54
We'd look out in the audience and someone could, you know, some woman was crying and stuff because of the memories it brought back.
1:18:01
And I went, oh, this is kind of cool.
1:18:04
So we got off of some other gigs.
1:18:08
Gordon and I took them, and we're glad we did because he died just a couple of years after that.
1:18:14
And at that point I had to decide, well, does that mean I'll never sing those songs again or tell these stories again?
1:18:19
And I decided, no, I'll figure out a way to incorporate them into a live show.
1:18:26
So that was my next move.
1:18:28
And that brings us nicely to the fact that I'm playing that live show somewhere in your neighborhood before too long.
1:18:33
That is correct.
1:18:34
Peter will be appearing at the Paramount.
1:18:38
You guys know where that is?
1:18:39
Up in Huntington.
1:18:41
Huntington to you, Peter, on Saturday evening, September 5th.
1:18:48
And then we're doing New York itself as well.
1:18:50
Right.
1:18:51
Where are you playing in New York?
1:18:53
Do you know, Peter?
1:18:54
Yes, I do.
1:18:55
It's that place, the ethical.
1:18:57
Whatever it's called.
1:18:58
Hold on, I'll tell you the idea.
1:19:01
Adler hall at the New York Society for Ethical Culture.
1:19:04
I know it sounds weird, like it sounds like school, but it's actually a really cool place.
1:19:08
I went there, I saw Chris Seeley and some musicians there, and they did at one point, they were broadcasting Prairie Home Companion there during the period, you know, after.
1:19:17
What's the.
1:19:17
No longer doing it and just leaving.
1:19:20
It's a cool place.
1:19:21
It's a nice concert.
1:19:22
All a couple of thousand, and we're looking forward to it.
1:19:26
And who else is on the bill with you that night, Peter?
1:19:30
Exactly.
1:19:30
It's a triple act bill.
1:19:31
It's really interesting because it's Colin Blundstone, who, of course, was the singer in the Zombies.
1:19:37
Rod Argent is not well and couldn't join him.
1:19:40
So he says they've called it the Voice of the Zombies.
1:19:42
And he said he is one of the great singers and his voice is completely intact, sounding amazing.
1:19:48
And Then the headliner, I guess we're all supposed to be headliners.
1:19:52
But the show is going to be closed by the Fix, who I have very fond memories of from the 80s.
1:19:57
So it's kind of a multi decade show with various varieties of British rock and roll for your tasting pleasure.
1:20:08
And what can folks expect from you that night, Peter?
1:20:13
I'll do the hits, you know, as is customary, and I'll tell some stories, as many as I can squeeze in.
1:20:19
I mean, obviously with three of us on, we're going to do slightly shorter individual shows.
1:20:23
We could bore everyone to death.
1:20:24
But I will make sure that, you know, I tell some stories that people are interested in hearing and sing some songs that they are insistent upon my singing.
1:20:36
Even the ones that like very much like Lady Godiva.
1:20:39
Oh yeah.
1:20:41
I mean it's okay, but it's one of those ones if you don't sing it, someone goes, why didn't you sing that?
1:20:46
Because it's some people's favorite song.
1:20:49
But I don't.
1:20:50
But I swallow my pride and sing it anyway.
1:20:53
Because even though it's a silly song, it is a funny song and an entertaining hit.
1:20:58
Good man.
1:20:59
Yeah.
1:21:00
Now also, Peter, you have a Special event upcoming October 31, 2026.
1:21:07
Folks may like to know.
1:21:09
This is going to be held at Abbey Road Studios, folks in London.
1:21:13
What's going to happen, Peter?
1:21:15
It's pretty unusual actually.
1:21:16
We're going to do a gig in Studio 2 at Abbey Road.
1:21:19
So we're setting it up, you know, for setting it up with like 100 seats and the PA, great PA system and all this stuff and getting ready to bring my own show which is longer than the one I'm
1:21:31
doing in part of the multi act show.
1:21:36
And again the stories will be a bit longer and more extensive and there's a lot to talk about and people will be able to experience what it's like to play music and listen to music actually in the legendary
1:21:49
Studio 2 at Abbey Road.
1:21:51
So we're only selling 100 tickets, so I'm afraid they're quite expensive because they're the necessity of it.
1:21:58
Abbey Road doesn't come cheap.
1:22:01
But we promise to do our very best to make it worth your while.
1:22:04
I think it's going to be amazing fun because it's something that I don't think has ever been done before and I've done a lot of work in Abbey Road.
1:22:11
The first record ever produced was in Abbey Road Studios back when it was just called EMI Studios.
1:22:17
And of course Peter and Gordon's first recording session there was the one that included World Without Love.
1:22:23
So it's a significant factor in my musical career, and I will try to explain that convincingly to the audience what.
1:22:31
A unique and special event that is, folks.
1:22:34
You can learn more about that the website Peter.
1:22:39
That's PeterAsher.org PeterAsher.org and you'll find information on all the stuff I've been talking about.
1:22:47
And of course, you can hear Peter on Sirius XM with his wonderful show on the Beatles.
1:22:54
From me to you.
1:22:56
How did you get involved in radio, Peter?
1:23:01
When they started, they'd been talking about starting a Beatles channel on SiriusXM for ages.
1:23:07
But there were various things they had to sort out, like money and stuff to get all the rights of the songs and so on and all that stuff.
1:23:15
But eventually they did.
1:23:17
And when they did, apparently one of the people on their short list for people who thought they'd like to do a show was me.
1:23:24
So I was very flattered.
1:23:27
I checked with Apple and, you know, thereby, of course, with the Beatles themselves to make sure this request was coming from them rather than just from fans.
1:23:39
And I didn't want to do anything that they didn't approve of or agree with the Beatles or Apple because I have a very good relationship with all of them.
1:23:48
And so they said, yes, and I said, okay, that's great.
1:23:53
So I do one a week.
1:23:55
I mean, I no longer, to be quite honest with you, I don't necessarily do all new ones.
1:23:59
I mean, I've done close to 400 now.
1:24:03
Wow.
1:24:05
And I do every now and then people thank me very much for some show that I did last Tuesday.
1:24:11
I loved last Tuesday's show, and I have to admit that it was one I taped like three and a half years ago, but I can't remember what I talked about.
1:24:20
So they often tell me what the show is actually about.
1:24:23
But people don't seem to mind whether it's an old one or a new one.
1:24:26
I mean, I make sure that the supply of new ones get in there enough so that it isn't all reruns.
1:24:32
But you're equally as likely to hear something I did a few years ago or something I'm doing at the moment.
1:24:38
I've had a lot of cool guests, too.
1:24:40
Yes.
1:24:41
So it's been fun.
1:24:42
I really enjoy doing it.
1:24:45
The Beatles know no boundaries as far as people's taste, Peter.
1:24:49
That's for sure.
1:24:50
Well, Peter Asher, it's been an honor and a pleasure being with you tonight.
1:24:54
I thank you for taking time out of your Sunday evening To spend it with us back east again, folks.
1:25:00
September 5th at the Paramount.
1:25:02
Tickets still available to see Peter here on the island.
1:25:06
And we wish you all the best.
1:25:07
Peter, thank you so much.
1:25:09
Indeed.
1:25:10
It's been a pleasure talking to you and I enjoyed myself very much.
1:25:14
Wonderful.
1:25:14
Good questions.
1:25:15
Thank you very much.
1:25:16
Well, that's Peter Asher, ladies and gentlemen.
1:25:19
Up next on sports talk New York, we'll talk with the great linebacker from the Oakland Raiders, Phil Villapiano.
1:25:25
Stick around, folks.
1:25:32
It.
1:25:57
Now.
1:26:02
You are listening to sports talk New York.
1:26:05
Tune in every Sunday night at 8pm on Long Island's WGB broadcasting on 95.9 FM and 12:40am or listen live online at wgpbradio.com now back to the show.
1:26:25
All right, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, Sports talk New York.
1:26:31
We're back.
1:26:32
WGB radio, AM FM on your radio dial.
1:26:36
Anyone still have a radio?
1:26:38
Brian, do you have a radio?
1:26:40
No.
1:26:40
Yeah, see, talking to myself here.
1:26:44
A Marconi device.
1:26:45
Anyone out there?
1:26:46
You listen in your car via the web.
1:26:50
Or you can get us on the free tunein app.
1:26:52
Just tune in to wgbb very easy.
1:26:57
It's Long Island's oldest radio station With Long Island's oldest host, which is me.
1:27:04
Well, we're heading into the home stretch.
1:27:06
Tonight we'll bring in our first football guest of the season.
1:27:11
No, no, no.
1:27:12
It's not Geno Smith.
1:27:14
Let's find out who it is.
1:27:15
Our next guest, two time all pro, four time pro bowl selection.
1:27:21
He's a super bowl champion for the Oakland Raiders.
1:27:25
He has a new book out from our buddies out at triumph books in Chicago.
1:27:29
It's titled just tackle, baby.
1:27:31
Welcome to sports talk New York.
1:27:33
Tonight, Phil Villapiano.
1:27:35
Phil, good evening.
1:27:38
Hey, Bill.
1:27:39
Thank you.
1:27:40
I like your introduction.
1:27:42
That was a very good introduction.
1:27:46
I'm glad you like it, Phil.
1:27:47
Yeah.
1:27:48
Just for you.
1:27:50
There you go.
1:27:52
That was good.
1:27:53
Makes me feel good.
1:27:55
And Dino Smith, how do you like him?
1:28:00
No, no, no.
1:28:03
I think I seen enough of him last year.
1:28:06
Oh, boy.
1:28:07
Well, as a jet fan, Phil, I'm afraid I'm going to have to see more of him.
1:28:12
And until.
1:28:13
Right, Brian?
1:28:14
Yeah, I don't.
1:28:16
As we spoke about on the phone earlier this week, Phil, I don't know who's running the show out there in Florham park, but they don't have it all together because the guy was the worst rated quarterback in the
1:28:31
NFL last year.
1:28:33
And they went out of their way to get this guy.
1:28:35
So it's like.
1:28:38
It's like pouring gas on a Fire.
1:28:42
Yeah, that's.
1:28:42
That's really crazy.
1:28:44
And you know, I.
1:28:46
If we, if we bounce back to the Raiders for a second.
1:28:50
Yeah.
1:28:50
You know, I think the Kirk Cousins with our brand new Mendoza, you know who I absolutely love him and his coach last year, watching college, you know.
1:29:10
Yeah, that was, that was some show they put on week after week and then they win it all.
1:29:17
So I think, you know, Gino's gone, but I think the Raiders for the first time in a long time, got themselves a starter and a backup.
1:29:32
Yeah, we might.
1:29:34
You know, I saw the other day where all I got to do is win over six, you know, over six games.
1:29:44
Yeah.
1:29:44
I could win a bet.
1:29:46
So I may be making that bet.
1:29:49
The jets haven't had a starter and a backup since Joe Namath and Al Woodall.
1:29:55
How do you like that?
1:29:58
Al Woodall.
1:29:59
Great.
1:30:00
And do you remember the other day I was trying to explain to somebody when Joe Namath got drafted and he.
1:30:12
I think he.
1:30:14
Did he get like 200,000?
1:30:18
Yeah, they gave him a big signing bonus.
1:30:20
Yeah.
1:30:21
And it was like the whole world went crazy.
1:30:26
And I said, yeah, that's.
1:30:30
And then didn't they also draft.
1:30:33
Was it Terry Hanratty?
1:30:35
Right.
1:30:38
Didn't they get two quarterbacks?
1:30:40
Yeah, they did.
1:30:41
I forget who it was.
1:30:43
Hanratty went to Pittsburgh.
1:30:46
Yeah, but did he go to Pittsburgh immediately?
1:30:52
I don't know.
1:30:53
Geez, you got me.
1:30:54
I'm gonna have to look that one up later.
1:30:58
I got a feeling that the jets got them both.
1:31:01
It wasn't Babe Pirelli, was it?
1:31:05
No, Babe.
1:31:07
Babe Pirelli, tie in guy too.
1:31:12
I like that.
1:31:13
Now I want to ask you, Phil, your draft.
1:31:17
Remember your draft, you had to wait it out, right?
1:31:20
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that was.
1:31:23
Those were the days when, you know, there was no time limit.
1:31:31
I think it could have gone on for a month if they wanted it to.
1:31:35
And I remember when I got drafted, I was out in Bowling Green and I had all these teams calling me and I thought, sure, I was going to go in the.
1:31:48
You know, maybe if it was a total luck job at first, definite second or third, I would be disappointed fourth or fifth.
1:32:03
So anyway, by the time the Raiders called me, it was like 7:30 at night.
1:32:10
And I was like.
1:32:13
Plus I was drunk by that time because I had.
1:32:17
I had gotten.
1:32:18
I went to the Senior bowl, which was only two weeks earlier, and we won.
1:32:23
So I got like $2,000, which was the most I ever got paid for anything.
1:32:31
And anyway, I bought all the fear, I bought the submarines, I had all the People at my place.
1:32:37
And when the phone finally rang and it wasn't my mother, but she called about six, ten times, you know.
1:32:45
And then when they finally, finally I get.
1:32:49
The phone rang and I picked it up and it was the Oakland Raiders.
1:32:57
And I was so excited because Ron Wolf was on the other end.
1:33:02
And before we hung up I said, can you just tell me what heck was I.
1:33:10
And he goes, second round.
1:33:13
And I'm talking 7:30 at night.
1:33:16
And they started at 9 in the morning.
1:33:18
Wow.
1:33:19
And I said, well, what took you so long?
1:33:24
Why, you know, now they move it along now, but back in those days they didn't care how long it took.
1:33:32
Nah, that's rough.
1:33:33
Yeah.
1:33:35
We got the great Phil Villapiana with us tonight on Sports Talk Talk New York.
1:33:39
Now, the Giants have a culture.
1:33:42
If the jets have a culture, I'm not sure I want to know, but definitely the Raiders have a culture.
1:33:49
Describe that for us, Phil.
1:33:53
Well, you know, I don't want to say it's changing.
1:33:59
Unbelievable.
1:34:00
It hasn't changed already, but I think, you know, when I went there in 1971, oh my God, it was, you either win or you, you're gone.
1:34:16
You're gone.
1:34:16
I mean, between Al Davis and John Madden, if you would, if you weren't going to contribute, if you, you know, you weren't, if you didn't play Raider football, which I think you're talking about, the culture is right.
1:34:32
It was, it was, it was just like those uniforms.
1:34:38
It was black man and Al Davis, John, Matt.
1:34:42
They didn't care anybody if anybody liked them.
1:34:46
They were going to play Raider football, which was, you know, you win or you get out of here, you know.
1:34:54
Yeah, I, you know, Bill, my, my whole life, and this is very weird, I had, I played at Asbury Park High School in New Jersey, right down the coast from you.
1:35:12
And Asbury park was a group for biggest, biggest as you could get in those days.
1:35:21
Trenton, Perth Amboy, Union, you know, these are big towns, big schools and Asbury was that way.
1:35:34
It was almost Raider football and I, but it was, it was close as I could have gotten and I just enjoyed that football.
1:35:49
That was do or die, you know, I love playing football for Keith and I went to Bowling Green and Don Malan, the greatest coach and he was a great coach and Bowling Green was a great program.
1:36:08
But it wasn't nasty enough for me and I wanted more.
1:36:16
I.
1:36:16
You know what I mean, Bill?
1:36:17
Yeah.
1:36:18
I wanted what I wanted it to be, you know, every time they want to feel, you don't Win.
1:36:25
Get out of here.
1:36:26
You can get cut.
1:36:28
You know, I love winning.
1:36:30
And when I went out to, oh, oh, my God, I got more than I can handle.
1:36:39
Yeah.
1:36:40
Oh, my God, it was.
1:36:42
It was real football.
1:36:46
Al Davis just liked to see you playing in the soup in the Senior bowl with a black eye.
1:36:52
He did?
1:36:53
Yeah.
1:36:54
I think, you know, it reminded him of the Raider guy with the patch over his eye, you know, hey, Bill, how about this?
1:37:04
I hadn't run down.
1:37:06
I kick off, you know, in a long time, probably.
1:37:10
I was a sophomore in college.
1:37:12
And then I'm in the.
1:37:13
In the Senior bowl, and we're going to kick off and I'll be sprinting down and I am going to explode the, you know, the four guys, whatever we used to call that when they're.
1:37:29
They're coming up together and they're like a giant wall.
1:37:33
And I get in there and.
1:37:35
And I ran right into this giant tackle elbow.
1:37:40
Oh, my God, I couldn't even see the whole first series.
1:37:48
I came up to Phil, and I think it was Greg Slough tells our linebacker coach, hey, you gotta go look at Phil's eye.
1:38:00
And the guy came over to me and he looked at me, you all right?
1:38:07
I said, yeah.
1:38:08
He said, good, because we have no backups.
1:38:12
Don't worry about me, baby.
1:38:14
I'm ready to play.
1:38:15
Yeah.
1:38:15
I mean, it was dumb hit and I got a beautiful picture here in my house with my eye was like 99% shut.
1:38:28
And then after the game, I get to meet Al Davis, and he took a.
1:38:33
Like it to me.
1:38:33
I met a bunch of tackles that day, which was a lot of fun.
1:38:38
You like that?
1:38:39
I just love the Senior bowl because that was another one of those do or dies, man.
1:38:46
If you don't play well, you're probably not going to get drafted.
1:38:50
You're not going to get drafted by it anyway.
1:38:53
So you had to play.
1:38:54
You had to play hard.
1:38:56
Now, let's talk about what everybody wants to hear, Phil.
1:39:01
The Immaculate Reception, as it's come to be known.
1:39:06
You were assigned to your buddy Franco Harris on that play.
1:39:12
Go ahead, tell us what happened.
1:39:15
Oh, man.
1:39:16
I mean, we were so excited.
1:39:22
I'm talking, you know, as much as I love Darrell Lamonica, Darrell, that year, which was 1972, he just.
1:39:36
I guess it was.
1:39:38
It was the end of Darrell.
1:39:40
He could throw the ball.
1:39:42
He was a big, strong, great leader, great guy, but he just.
1:39:48
I don't know what happened to him.
1:39:51
And he either could throw a bomb or it'd be three and out.
1:39:56
And, man, I Remember playing defense for him and it was ugly.
1:40:02
They go on the field, zip, zip, zip, defense, defense.
1:40:06
We go right back out there.
1:40:08
Yeah.
1:40:08
So anyway, Kenny, Kenny goes in late in the fourth quarter because Darrell didn't do anything all day.
1:40:18
And Kenny does a bootleg.
1:40:20
Oh my God.
1:40:21
And then he goes all the way because I think we shocked Pittsburgh, you know, because we put up, we put a quarterback in there who did something besides throw incompletions.
1:40:34
So anyway, Snake does that beautiful thing, they get the ball back and maybe 30 something seconds on the.
1:40:42
And I mean, I'm in the huddle and I'm only a second year guy and I knew I, you know, our Raider defense, we weren't nice guys.
1:40:55
And I remember being in the huddle, just saying, no battle leaves, don't panels.
1:41:01
They had 80 something yards to go.
1:41:03
Yeah.
1:41:04
And then, and then, you know, we called this.
1:41:09
Oh, oh, this was really cool.
1:41:11
We worked all, all week.
1:41:14
We took two linebackers, it was me and Gerald Irons, and we took the two runners, okay, the two backs.
1:41:22
Back in those days, they always had two backs.
1:41:25
A fullback and a tailback.
1:41:28
And then we took the runners and then we made like this Dolemore, you know, we thought it was so cool and we practiced on it.
1:41:38
We say, no, Pittsburgh, they're not going to recognize this.
1:41:42
This is going to be such, you know, something shock them, you know.
1:41:48
Anyway, I drew Franco, so he comes out of the huddle, he comes to my side.
1:41:54
Gerald Byers takes Frenchie Fuqua on the other side.
1:41:59
So now, like I said in the huddle, no penalties.
1:42:05
No penalties.
1:42:07
And they took, you know, naturally took the snap.
1:42:12
I mean, you.
1:42:15
Let's start out with this, Bill.
1:42:17
Let's see how many penalties we could see Pittsburgh doing on one play.
1:42:24
Everybody on the line of scrimmage held our guys.
1:42:28
So that was, let's say that's four holding penalties.
1:42:32
Bradshaw runs out of the, Runs out of the, the pocket.
1:42:38
Franco, who I'm stuffing.
1:42:41
Usually, you know what you do, Joe?
1:42:44
You go in and you grab the guy like I should.
1:42:48
I mean, which I did.
1:42:49
I grabbed Franco and you pull them in close and then the ref doesn't know who's holding who, but he's not getting out of the backfield.
1:42:59
But I remember just telling everybody in idle, no penalty.
1:43:05
I held him a little bit, but that wasn't a real penalty.
1:43:10
So they got four penalties, I got none and we got none.
1:43:15
Now I let him go and all of a sudden he starts running down the field and I'm like shocked like what's this guy doing?
1:43:24
He's trying to look good on film for the coaches.
1:43:28
Like, he's not, you know, I mean, the game, as far as Frank Myers was concerned, his game was over.
1:43:38
He's not doing anything.
1:43:40
So he starts running down the field.
1:43:42
I'm running right alongside of him, and I see the ball when Bradshaw threw and it was over, over, you know, like, to the center field.
1:43:54
I left Franco, man, I was feline.
1:43:57
Wait for that.
1:43:58
You know, maybe I could help on his tackle.
1:44:00
Yeah, I see.
1:44:01
I see fate come up, nail Fuqua right in the back.
1:44:09
The ball smashes off Fuqua.
1:44:12
And it came right at me, but it was way over my head.
1:44:18
And I'm thinking, okay, no big deal.
1:44:23
I spin.
1:44:25
I see Franco.
1:44:26
Oh, my God, I just left him.
1:44:29
And here he is bending down low, Bill low.
1:44:35
Real low.
1:44:36
Matter of fact, he trapped the ball.
1:44:40
He trapped the ball, you know.
1:44:42
Yeah.
1:44:43
But nobody could see it.
1:44:44
And there was no.
1:44:46
There was no instant replay in those days.
1:44:50
Right.
1:44:51
So now he drops the ball, and I spin, and I can make a play on them, except they're tight end dives in the back of my legs.
1:45:07
And I remember almost.
1:45:09
Almost falling, but I pulled myself out of the fall.
1:45:13
But, you know, Frago had already drafted, and then he took off, so he was gone and on his way down the sideline.
1:45:26
And Jimmy Warren had a shot at him, but Franco was a little too big for Jimmy, so they scored.
1:45:34
And.
1:45:35
Yeah.
1:45:35
And, you know, Franco and I, we talked about that all the way up the day before he died.
1:45:45
Wow.
1:45:45
And it was so fun.
1:45:47
Franko and I, we became very good friends.
1:45:50
We got to know each other.
1:45:52
And, you know, you said before, I played four Pro bowl games, Michael Pro with about 10 of them, what a player.
1:46:02
Great player, great guy, great athlete.
1:46:06
And we, you know, we had this.
1:46:10
We did many, many booster crust dinners together, big Italian American dinners, all kinds of dinners.
1:46:19
And we developed our own little show with immaculate reception.
1:46:26
And if I.
1:46:27
By the time it was over, Bill, Frank, Franco, one night, he said, we were in Pittsburgh at this big.
1:46:38
Industry.
1:46:39
Dinner for transportation, and Franco all of a sudden couldn't remember anything.
1:46:46
So all of a sudden, he can't remember if he chopped it or recorded or not.
1:46:53
Yeah.
1:46:53
So I said, wait a minute.
1:46:55
If you can't remember, I can't remember.
1:47:00
Tatum is dead.
1:47:02
I'm the only one that really knows what happened.
1:47:05
Yeah.
1:47:05
I am of the authority.
1:47:09
And you dropped the ball, and the Raiders should have won that game.
1:47:13
So anyway, he went to his grave.
1:47:17
Grave, telling people he can't remember.
1:47:22
Oh, geez.
1:47:22
I don't know how he couldn't remember.
1:47:25
There's the eyewitness.
1:47:26
Phil villapiano watches it.
1:47:28
Watches Franco Harris trap the ball.
1:47:31
And the steelers win.
1:47:33
Amazing story, folks.
1:47:35
What do you think, Phil?
1:47:38
It was crazy.
1:47:39
You know, I had a girlfriend back in cubanville, Ohio.
1:47:45
You know, she's a bowling green girl.
1:47:47
Her father was so.
1:47:50
Oh, huge steelers fan.
1:47:52
And I kept messing with him, you know, because this was only my second year in the league at the time.
1:47:59
And, oh, my God, I remember my rookie year.
1:48:05
We go there on George landis birthday.
1:48:09
Yeah.
1:48:10
And the steelers beat us.
1:48:13
And, you know, my girlfriend's father was so excited.
1:48:19
And then we come back there, and the next year, the immaculate reception happened.
1:48:24
I'm like, wait a minute.
1:48:26
This ain't right.
1:48:27
You know,.
1:48:31
If I look back right now and think about where I had the most fun playing and met the most nice people, it was Pittsburgh.
1:48:45
I really, really enjoyed playing there.
1:48:48
I mean, those games were vicious, vicious games.
1:48:53
I mean, the hitting was another level above a real game, you know, And I just love those type of games.
1:49:01
And, you know, it seemed when we went there, something always happened bad to the raiders.
1:49:09
I mean, John, I remember one game we were.
1:49:14
I think it was 74, and we go in there and it is freezing.
1:49:21
I'm talking about freezing.
1:49:24
The astroturf was like a brick, and it was so cold.
1:49:30
And they went where we had cliff branch running.
1:49:36
Nobody could cover cliff and Freddie kalinikov.
1:49:40
And they wet the whole field down on the outside.
1:49:46
So it was their running game because our passing game, we couldn't even throw the ball because our guys would falling down all the time.
1:49:57
And I mean, they messed with us, we messed with them.
1:50:01
Made for great football.
1:50:04
Well, Phil, we gotta run.
1:50:07
Oh, Bill, I want to talk.
1:50:09
Yeah.
1:50:10
Will you come back, Phil?
1:50:12
I'll come back anytime.
1:50:14
Hey, let's.
1:50:15
Let's see if the raiders win a couple games or the win a couple games this year.
1:50:19
All right?
1:50:20
We'll get in touch with you during the season, Phil, and we'll talk some raider football.
1:50:26
I got so many other things to ask you.
1:50:27
Well, Phil, it's been a pleasure.
1:50:29
I thank you for taking time out of your Sunday night to be with us up here on long island.
1:50:34
The book again, folks, is just tackle, baby.
1:50:37
From triumph books in Chicago by Phil villapiano.
1:50:41
Thanks again, Phil.
1:50:42
We'll talk to you soon.
1:50:44
Thank you very much, Phil.
1:50:46
Have a great football season, Phil.
1:50:48
Will do.
1:50:49
Well, that'll do it for me.
1:50:50
Tonight on sportsville.
1:50:51
Talk New York.
1:50:52
I'd like to thank my guests Jay Hook, Craig Anderson, Peter Asher and the mineral Phil Villapiano, my engineer, Brian Graves, and of course, you guys for joining us.
1:51:04
I'll see you Next on Sunday, September 6, at 8pm Eastern for more Sports Talk New York.
1:51:10
Till then, be safe, be well.
1:51:13
Bill Donahue, wishing you a good evening, folks.
1:51:17
The views expressed in the previous program did not necessarily represent those of the staff, management or owners of wgbb.