You had to be there.
The late Monte Stickles, ex-KGO sports reporter and 49ers player, once threw a chair at Dick Stedman, an Alameda writer.
Surreal? I was there to witness it. Later on we all laughed.
The "we" in this instance was a small army of broadcast reporters placed in the "Coliseum ghetto." It was made up of mostly radio broadcasters and a few TV people separated from the writers in the adjacent auxiliary press box.
The writers, including the beat reporters, were given prime viewing spots while us mere electronic morons were thrown in the section-3 housing division of the Oakland ballpark. All of us laughed a lot at the time--heck, this was the place to be for heaven's sake.
One time in 1984 when I was working as sports director for K-101 I had a chance to talk to Bob Costas. I remember it was a Friday night. Costas was in town to work the NBC Game of the Week the next day. That's right, Costas himself was in the Coliseum ghetto. Go figure.
Another few notables: Longtime Bay Area and ex-KNBR miker, Bruce McGowan. Bruce made everyone laugh with his incredible impersonations of various sports and non-sports celebrities. His rants were legendary.
Bob Fouts, the father of Dan Fouts and veteran ABC Radio Sports broadcaster was a ghetto regular. So was KGO's Rich Walcoff and KCBS' Bob Melrose. Yep, Melrose covered sports too.
You can't leave out Sam Skinner. The late "Big Sam" was a lovable pain in the tuchas, but he was part of the high and mighty Coliseum ghetto. Candlestick Park had the same seating scheme, but there it was more traditional: the writers were in the front row and us measly radio guys were one section up.
Like I said, you had to be there. A very definitive time, the late 80's and mid 90's covering sports...the A's, the Giants, the Raiders, the Dubs and the 49ers. Those were the days my friends.
Paging Ray Epsteen, Mac Hyman, Wynn Courier, Rob Navius, Lee Leonard, Dan Lovett, Gary Park, Wayne Walker--thanks for the stale hot dogs too.
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You think anybody will ever write about the Glenn Kuiper good old days? Nah.
ReplyDeleteGood times. Good guys who had actual talent and a sense of proportion whenever they were on the air. Wayne Walker I understand retired in his native Idaho and spends days watching his grandkids plyaing little league and pop-warner. It is he that I will always identify with those early Walsh/Montana teams.
ReplyDeleteHe always seemed to be smiling confidently, like the all-pro linebacker he was without making every game life and death. With Wayne, there was always the possibility of tomorrow.
Bob Fouts, Dan's father was the first homer 49er tv announcer as I recall. Met him at Kezar when my dad was still coaching at Poly HS.
Gary Park "Will, you're over-modulating.(after Will Clark went all four-letter word on him celebrating the 1987 finale to clinch NL WEST)
I always liked Bruce McGowan. He genuinely liked players and was about the nicest guy I ever heard. He knew baseball too. Than KNBR decided they had to go edgy with their talking heads. Which has lowered everybody's iq within distance of their transmitter.
Those were fun times! I remember Ray Epsteen taking a few of the stale hotdogs from the back of the press box and slipping into his Golden Gaters (The Bay Area's pro tennis team) bag. When asked why he was putting them there, Epsteen remarked: "I'm going to take 'em home and put 'em into the microwave later tonight and have a little snack!" This was a guy by the way, who was not poor and lived across the street from Al Davis. Ray, who used to sit in the very back row in the ghetto end of the press box also used to like to break up the monotony of a long game by suddenly shouting out "Ah, you can't beat fun at the old ballpark!"
ReplyDeleteWhenever the A's would make a pitching change in those days, the PA guy would play that song: "I can help," and Dick Stedman would wait until the words came along in the music and then yell out in a loud falsetto voice:
"I can help!"
Stedman, who also hated the Giants (maybe because they refused to credential him also used to revel when the scoreboard out in right field showed a Giants loss by saying: "The Giants lost! Alright!!!" And if you were smart, you didn't engage in any political banter with Dick because he was somewhere to the right of Attilla the Hun!
Onetime, I remember Rich leaving the press box to talk with a couple of lovely young lasses down in the stands, flashing his press credentials at them in an effort to gain favor. I'm not sure if the ploy worked or not!
We also used to have more than a few baseballs hit up into our 'Ghetto.' Over the years, I caught balls hit by Canseco, Lansford, Gallego, McGwire, Kingman, Lance Parrish, Dwight Evans, and many others.
One I also remember Boston beat writer Brian Fainaru came over to the Ghetto side of the press box and wrote his story while wearing nothing but his trousers and shoes, because an enraged Jim Rice (he was an irascible sort) had literally ripped Fainaru's shirt off him after the writer had the temerity to ask a question that offended Rice. Sam Skinner literally saved Fainaru from a fearful beating by stepping between the two of them and then sitting on Rice who angrily yelled out: "Get your fat ass off of me Sam!"
Mickey Morabito, the A's longtime traveling secretary also used to come sit in our section from time to time and tell us great stories about Mickey Mantle, Bill Martin, and other NY Yankee legends.
Another frequent visitor to the Coliseum Ghetto was the great Jo DiMaggio who used to quietly show up and sit in the back of the press box, with his buddy Frankie Crosetti, a longtime Yanks player and coach. On occasion, I would go over to Joe just to say hi and over the years we got to be good acquaintances so that one time I actually felt comfortable enough to ask him if we could do a radio interview. Surprisingly, he said "no Problem, sit down and let's chat," and I got to do a one on one interview with him. What a treat!
Other big names who came over to the ghetto end of the press box included Lou Brock, (in town when Rickey Henderson was breaking his stolen base record), Curt Flood (he worked for the A;s community relations department), former Tiger great and TV broadcaster Al Kaline and former Oriole great and announcer Brooks Robinson (two of the nicest guys you ever want to meet.)
Visiting broadcasters also used to stroll over to our end of the press box as Rich mentioned, including Mel Allen, who in the 1980s was doing some Yankee TV and also the voice of 'This Week In Baseball.' I had some good times talking with Mel who was as nice a guy as you could hope to run into. Me;s mood was also considerably brighter when he had a large paper cup filled with his favorite alcoholic beverage. Great memories, and some pretty good baseball too with the likes of Rickey, Eck, and Stew on the field!
As a long time fan when you were on KNBR it is good to hear from you. Are you on the air anywhere in the Bay Area? I kind of recall hearing a while back that you were doing behind the scenes work at Comcast.
DeleteGreat post Bruce. We miss you on the radio. Thanks for the memories.
DeleteI agree, Bruce was great. I used to hear him on KGOne once in a while, when I listened to that station. Always enjoyed when he got to host and when he did Giants pre or post game shows. I was disappointed when KNBR let both he and John Schrader go. I guess they really have no true reporters anymore. I assume it is much cheaper to have an $8.00/ hr. employee reading tweets and internet posts for news.
DeleteI loved watching Bruce when he was on that show with Ann Fraser.
DeleteThat was Ross McGowen, Anonymoose, so go soak in your walk-in tub.
DeleteSome of us not named, worked day and night, and took our job seriously in the press box, Rich. Not playing grab ass or making a ruckus when we entered the box. Just fellows who knew the game and understood the craft of radio broadcasting. Whether it was an interview with a play maker, or a close-quarters chat with an expert. In the last decade the press box has become a circus filled with a lot of folks just taking up room, while the rest of us work.
ReplyDeleteK-101 had a "sports director"? Sounds like a severely trumped up title!
ReplyDeleteEveryone thinks their prime was the "good old days".
ReplyDeleteWell that is the truth you've said here--in any walk of life.
DeleteWalker's last Bay appearance other than on Ted Robinson's 9er shows was when Dave McElhatton passed in 2010. Walker gave one of the eulogies. Park passed in 2009 somewhere in the Napa area.
ReplyDeleteAnd wasn't Bob Fouts given a lifetime aware of some kind, with a little help from his Hall-of-Fame son Dan?
A nod to the late Doug Murphy, who handled weekend sports for KPIX in the early 1980s. He pretty much did everything well.
ReplyDeleteThanks for nice thoughts. I work part time at KGO radio, doing sports updates from time to time, have been working the last two seasons on the Oakland Raiders pre and post game radio shows, and do a series of 'A-List Conversations' with Bay Area sports figures at the Throckmorton Theatre in downtown Mill Valley.
ReplyDeleteSo far we've had Vida Blue, Al Attles, Keena Turner,
Orlando Cepeda, Hank Greenwald, John Miller, Harry Edwards, Bob St Clair, George Atkinson, Gavin Newsom, and big wave surfer Grant Wasshburn join us for conversations on stage. This Wednesday night at 7:30pm, we'll be joined by former Dodger slugger Mike Marshall who is the new manager of the new minor league independent team in Marin County, the San Rafael Pacifics.
I worked for a small Christian station in Concord.... KFCB-TV42 back in the mid 80s. We used to videotape (I'm using dated words here) a program called "Bruce McGowan on Sports." He always did a great job on that show and was great to work with. When I left the Bay Area, I could still hear him from time to time on KGO and then on KNBR. He always was good on the radio...
ReplyDeleteit was a much simpler time. Now the press box is nearly empty because of the lack of jobs.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the A's can tarp the press box, you know, so it doesn't look so empty.
DeleteYou can add the Warriors to list of teams leaving Oakland.
ReplyDeleterich,
ReplyDeletedo you know what happened to JD Hayworth?....
10:19 sounds like a real grump. There are unfortunately some people who are in the press box who are not only dull and stolid, but have little personality. Sounds like this guy (or gal) was someone who resented anyone with a sense of humor. No question there was (and still is) a difference between the writers and broadcasters. Most of the writers seem to resent the electronic media (for whatever reason), and like to pull rank whenever they have the chance.
ReplyDeleteThey should lighten up! Sports is truly the 'toy dept. of life,' and is not like covering city hall or the cop shop, so be grateful you get to sit in the best house for free, get paid pretty nicely, and get to watch sports for a living. Life is short...but if you want to bitch and moan and complain...go ahead...! Just don't expect the rest of us to follow your sour example!
It was a pleasure to have worked in the pressbox with Bruce, Rich, Ben Moore, Dick Stedman, Ray Epstien, Ray DiAragon, Monte Stickles, Carolyn Burns, Joe Starkey, Ken Gimblin, David Glass and Hank and Doug Greenwald over the years. I also like what 11:29AM wrote it's too bad the electronic media didn't form an association somewhat like what the BBWA has
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