Category: Interviews
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Adios El Tiante
I was lucky to meet Luis Tiant many times, because he was so easy to meet if you were around the Red Sox. He was not shy of the public, and was one of most outgoing and friendly people I’ve met in professional baseball. The first time I met him was when I took a…
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My 2004 Interview with Jim Bouton
Perhaps it’s a bit macabre, but the thing that motivates me to dig out my old notes and interview transcripts from 2000-2005 is when a player or coach I interviewed dies. I suppose it is inevitable that a bunch of middle-aged and older men I talked to ~20 years ago would be reaching the ends…
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That Time I Interviewed Yogi Berra
I interviewed Yogi Berra in 2004 when I was working on my book The 50 Greatest Yankees Games. I might still have the cassette tapes of the interviews I did for the book somewhere but I’m honestly not sure. Of the players I interviewed for that book, several have passed on: Tommy Byrne, Tom Tresh,…
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So Long Lefty, So Very Long
In honor of Randy Johnson retiring today, I’m re-posting this interview I did with him during Spring Training 2006. He sat in a chair while I stood on my feet and he was still almost as tall as I was. He was one of the figures in that clubhouse you rarely saw the Yankees beat…
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May 12 2009: Goodnight Professor
Given that Boston has just laid to rest one of its icons in Dominic DiMaggio, I thought I’d share with everyone some excerpts from an interview I did with him back in 2003, back when the Sox story was always one of heartbreak. We talked about a lot of heartbreakers in the interview, by necessity.…
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October 17, 2008: Goodnight, Tom Tresh
What follows is an edited transcript of my interview with Tom Tresh, done in Spring Training 2004. So who was Tom Tresh? He was the Derek Jeter of his generation of home-grown Yankees. In his rookie season, 1962, he won the shortstop starting job out of spring training as Tony Kubek had to leave for…
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September 21, 2008: This Time Last Year
Following last week’s post about September 22, 2007, in which I had arrived at the press box at 9am, following a 14 inning night game the night before, and then didn’t leave until nearly 9pm because of rain delays and another extra inning affair, what follows is the account of what I did during the…
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December 23, 2007: Goodbye, Lefty
I just heard the news that Tommy “The Wild Man” Byrne passed away. I visited him in March of 2003 and spent a couple of hours at his home talking baseball and in particular recapping that hreatbreaking Game Seven he pitched against Johnny Podres in the World Series. Since Phil Rizzuto died, I’ve been thinking…
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August 26, 2007: Family Feud (Interview with Dom DiMaggio)
“I woke up this morning from a dream that Dominic DiMaggio had passed away. I’m certain this is my brain still working through the loss of The Scooter in recent weeks. I never had a chance to interview Phil Rizzuto, but I did interview Dom DiMaggio not that long ago. So I thought I’d share…
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May 17 2006: Tall Cold One (Randy Johnson Interview)
“Randy Johnson has struggled of late, so I thought it would be worth revisiting a conversation that he and I had at the end of spring training. Given Johnson’s toughness as a competitor, the problem is more likely mechanical than mental… (interview follows)”