Saturday Night Radio Comfort Food: Marty Lurie and Bruce Jenkins Schmooze Baseball on KNBR --When We Really Need It

Marty Lurie

YOU KNOW I LIKE MARTY LURIE, the Bay Area's "Mr. Baseball", here's proof.

Baseball is a joy, much like it's a joy for some of you. Many of you in fact and now that baseball is MIA, due to the Coronavirus pandemic,  it's a lonely summer --among other things.

Which brings me back to Lurie and his fantastic show on Saturday night on KNBR; you don't have to love baseball to love this program. It's more than just baseball but yeah, baseball is its zeitgeist --and that's more than OK with me.

Lurie loves to schmooze. He has a virtual rolodex of friends and celebrities on his show which usually runs pre-game but since there's no baseball, Lurie's been broadcasting a five-hour marathon from 6-11 PM. His interviews are stellar. He can walk the walk and talk the talk. He's buddy, buddy with Willie Mays. That's pretty cool. He gets good interviews and knows how to ask great questions.

One of my favorite segments involves Marty's weekly schmooze with Chronicle Sports columnist, Bruce Jenkins. It's usually about a half hour long, and 99 percent of the time, a half-hour too short. Jenkins, who does a master job writing about baseball and NBA basketball, is a great storyteller; moreover, he's terrific interacting with Lurie. Two guys in a bar talking sports devoid of artificial sound; just intelligent conversation and a good vibe sounds almost like a cliché but it absolutely fits Jenkins and Lurie.

It's just the right ingredient to an old-fashioned virtue: sincerity and genuine laughter on a Saturday night works well. And it especially works well when the two men sound like they're having fun.Like Jenkins and Mr. Baseball.

Checkmate.

Bruce Jenkins/SF Chronicle photo

Get out the pizza and beer and listen up because if you don't, you're wasting an otherwise boring weekend night.

415 Media Exclusive: KNBR/Cumulus on Hook for $13M to SF Giants --No ''Act-of-God' Clause in '18 Broadcast Deal

415 MEDIA EXCLU--KNBR ON HOOK FOR $13 MILLION!

In 2018, then Cumulus bigwig, Dave Milner negotiated a contract extension with the SF Giants and KNBR.

It extended an already solid, wildly successful relationship between the franchise and its flagship station, including streaming its broadcasts.

But, as 415 Media has learned, the contract failed to include an "Act-of-God" clause, typically something in the contract, any business contract, for that matter, that would affect the broadcasts, in this situation.

The Coronavirus crisis has curtailed all the four North American sports, including baseball.

With baseball not being played and MLB in hiatus, Giants' games on KNBR are non-existent and now, KNBR is on the hook for $13 Million to the team. So unless the Giants want to play nice, KNBR/Cumulus will have to pay the team the money.

That's a lot of money to sniff at; it comes at a time when there's a lot of nasty economics at the 50K-watt AM all-sports outlet. This development won't help matters.

I'm making calls around the city and following up; I will update any new information obtained. Suffice to say, this is one for the ages.

Stay tuned.

Larry Baer Is The Most Powerful Sports Media Person In The Bay Area; Secret $10M Bonus Looming; Controls All Avenues Of SF Sports Media

 If there were any doubt as to who's the single-most powerful figure in the Bay Area sports circle, it's all gone now.

Larry Baer, the Giants President and CEO, has quietly built up a superstar network of local business, political and social leaders with the focus being centered on the franchise's financial heath and overall well being.

It's impressive to say the least and with the Giants headed to their third World Series in five years that vast cachet of clout that Baer has established within his own inner circle only gets more pronounced.

Speaking of such, how's this for starters: Baer stands to receive a whopping $10M "service" bonus from the Giant's partners if the team wins another title and they're the odds-on favorite against the Kansas City Royals.

That's a 10 MILLION! bonus. That doesn't take into account Baer's multi-million dollar salary but the Giants are making mountains of money, more money than you can imagine with a waiting list of corporate sponsors, a sold-out season ticket base, and a nearly paid-for waterfront ballpark palace that is the envy of all Major League Baseball partners.

Baer's influence extends from the Giant's TV partnership; its cable affiliate, (and limited owner, Comcast), all the way to KNBR, with an extraordinary say on virtually all commercial broadcasts and beyond. Baer oversees all of that and then some and before anything gets hitched, Baer must see it and OK it. You'd be surprised to know just how much cachet and clout Baer carries, it's gargantuan and it's only going to get bigger and bigger.

Have you seen those frequent crowd shots of Baer schmoozing with some celebrities from the music, entertainment or political world? Baer works the room very well; the Giants are flush with cash and sitting on millions in profits and Baer is the captain of the ship. The next time you plunk down a hundred bucks for a few polish dogs and panda hats, a beer or two, Larry Baer says thank you.

He should.

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