May 7, 2025 • 41 mins
Before there was a SportsCenter… before ESPN became a juggernaut… there was George Grande—sitting behind a desk, ushering in a new era of sports television with some of the the very first words ever spoken on the network. But his story doesn’t begin there. He played alongside Tom Seaver at USC, interned for Vin Scully, called games for the Yankees, Cardinals, and Reds, and for 31 summers was the voice of baseball immortality as the host of the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies. He’s shared dugouts with legends, airwaves with icons, and memories with millions. This month, he shares them with us.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Mike Koser (00:47):
Before there was Sports Center, before ESPN
became worldwide, there wasGeorge Grande sitting behind a
desk, ushering in a new era ofsports television with some of
the very first words ever spokenon ESPN.
But his story doesn't beginthere.
He played alongside Tom Seaverat USC, called games for the
(01:07):
Yankees, Cardinals, and Reds,and for 31 summers was the voice
of baseball immortality as thehost of the Hall of Fame
induction ceremony.
He shared dugouts with legends,airwaves with icons, and
memories with millions.
And today, he shares them withus.
George Grande, welcome to LostBallparks.
How are you?
George Grande (01:28):
Good, Mike.
How are you, buddy?
Mike Koser (01:29):
I'm doing great.
Listen, thanks so much fordoing this.
I really appreciate it.
Let's go back um to a coolSeptember day in 1954.
You race home from school,heart pounding, and find your
dad already there.
He just made it back from work.
And the two of you settle in infront of the family TV just in
(01:50):
time to witness one of thegreatest moments in baseball
history.
George Grande (01:54):
Wow.
That's a pretty good job, Mike.
Yeah, it was one of the mostmemorable days of my life and
certainly of my baseball life.
It started me on a lifelongconnection to the number 24 and
to "say Hey kid ", Willie Mays.
My dad was sitting in hischair.
He was a high school teacher.
(02:15):
I got home, and lo and behold,um we had an antenna that got
the World Series back then, andum Willie made the the catch off
Vic Wertz.
And uh from that moment on,baseball, football, basketball,
(02:38):
hockey, wherever I played, Ialways try to get number 24.
Mike Koser (02:42):
You still live in that same house, right?
George Grande (02:44):
You got it.
Mike Koser (02:45):
That's incredible.
George Grande (02:47):
Yeah, it's uh it's pretty amazing.
My mom and dad uh this was uhjust a cottage in the woods, and
uh they moved in uh in the1940s.
I grew up here, uh, went toschool, moved away, worked in
Rhode Island, and we had a housein Rhode Island, Joanne and I,
and this house, though not somuch the house, but the land got
(03:08):
to be too much for my mom anddad.
So they moved into our house.
I moved into their house, andthat was 1975, and um still
here.
Mike Koser (03:18):
Do you remember the first time you walked into a
major league ballpark as a kid?
Where was that and what hit youmost about that experience?
George Grande (03:25):
Well, I remember I remember walking out of Yale
Field.
Um, we're in New Haven,Connecticut, and I remember to
me, Yale Field looked like abig, gigantic field after
playing on little league fields,and uh the Yale Field had an
old, and it still does, an olduh seating capacity behind it.
It's been redone now, it hasartificial surface, it's
(03:47):
beautiful.
But I remember walking thereand remembering what an
impression that made on me.
And then um my dad eventuallyuh took me to the Polo Grounds,
and to me, the Polo Groundslooked like uh an airport.
It was just gigantic.
And looking out, uh, we weredown the third baseline, and I
remember looking out to centerfield, and it seemed like it
(04:07):
went forever.
And after the game, we walkeddown on the field, and it it was
a moment and a memory.
In fact, I picked up a piece ofgrass, put it in my mouth.
Um, I think I still taste thatgrass.
Mike Koser (04:19):
Do you remember how you got into the polo grounds
that day?
Did you walk down the uh walkdown Coogan's Bluff or a long
time ago?
George Grande (04:27):
We were...
it took us forever to getthere.
We went with uh uh anothercouple of uh friends, and all I
remember is a lot of peoplejammed into each other.
And I do remember that thedifference though, you know, we
look at games today, and youknow, very seldom are people
dressed, but back then everybodygot dressed up to go to a ball
game, it's like you're going toa um, you know, a show or going
(04:49):
out to dinner.
It was certainly memorable.
Mike Koser (04:52):
Once you were old enough to drive, you'd make your
way to East Rock along the LongIsland Sound, drive up to the
mountain, sit at the top, tuneyour AM radio to baseball games
from across the Midwest andNortheast.
What voices do you mostassociate with those mountaintop
nights, George?
George Grande (05:07):
Uh, Mike, you do your homework.
You're right.
Um, there's a place called theEast Rock Park, big statue on
the top of it.
It's right along Long IslandSound in New Haven, Connecticut.
And we all all of us went therewhen we went parking with our
dates.
That was where everybody went.
Uh, you know, it was abeautiful view.
And yeah, I went theresometimes for that, but more
(05:28):
often than not, I drove up bymyself.
And because of the height, andall the games were on AM radio
back then, you could getPhiladelphia, New York, you
could get um the Yankees.
You could get Detroit.
You could get Baltimore.
(05:59):
You could get St.
Louis.
Harry Caray (06:13):
(Jack Buck) Good evening to you, Harry Caray.
Thank you, Jack.
Hello again, everybody.
All set to play baseball here.
George Grande (06:18):
It was amazing, and you just sit there and you'd
flip from one to another.
I had an old Jeep and I had a aradio that was a friend of mine
put it in the Jeep.
It was a giant radio, andpeople say, Why the heck do you
want a big radio like that?
Because it got all thosebroadcasts.
And you'd be up there and on anice, beautiful summer night,
(06:40):
you could sit there and flipfrom one to the other.
And it was pretty uh prettymemorable and one of the moments
that uh you remember forever,just sitting there looking out
at the stars and listening tothe stars broadcast games.
Mike Koser (06:53):
Yeah, maybe you didn't realize it at the time,
but all those guys sort ofserved as your professor in the
school of play-by-playbroadcasting.
George Grande (06:59):
You're not kidding.
Almost every one of them I gotto meet in different venues for
different reasons.
Some of them uh enlightened meuh with funny stories, others
touched my life.
You know, I was fortunately uhwhen I went to the University of
Southern California, my coachRod Dedeaux introduced me to Vin
Scully.
We used to play an exhibitiongame in January against the
(07:21):
Dodgers.
It was the Dodgers had aworkout at Dodgers Stadium, and
Rod Dedeaux and the O'Malleyfamily were very close, and we
would always be there for theirfirst workout.
And I'm out at shortstopgetting ground balls, and and
Rod uh the gray fox whistles forme to come in.
He says, uh, Vin, this youngman's interested in
broadcasting.
And uh he says, Well, give me acall.
(07:42):
And I did, and while I wasplaying at SC for the four years
I was there, not every game,but whenever I could, I'd be a
gopher for him.
I guess now they call itinternships.
Back then you were just agopher.
You swept up the booth, you gotthem coffee or tea, and you
ripped the wires, had big wiremachines, eight associated press
machine in the booth, and you'dkeep up on the scores for them.
(08:04):
So, you know, all of thoseguys.
Um, you know, uh Jack Buck, Igot to work with in St.
Louis, and certainly uh RedBarber was a mentor, and I got
to speak with him over the yearsand learned a lot about the art
of broadcasting.
Uh, I didn't really get to sitnext to him like I did with Vin.
And it was uh it was prettyspecial.
And of course, Ernie Harwellwas one of my all-time
(08:26):
favorites.
Ernie and Lulu.
Um, he would call me very oftenand ask me how things are
going, or I'd I'd make a homerun call and he'd he'd call me
the next day and say, That wasgreat.
And I say, What are you kiddingme?
You're calling me and tellingme that.
It was uh, you know, and lucky,Chuck Thompson.
I mean, so many great guys thatyou got to know little by
(08:46):
little over the years as people,not as broadcasters, as deities
in our profession, but aspeople.
And I mean, in my mind, there'sno greater human being, more
Christian a man than VinceScully.
I mean, I learned aboutbroadcasting, yeah, but I
learned more about how to be aman.
And like my dad, he was a veryspecial person.
Mike Koser (09:06):
In high school, George, after a weekend baseball
tournament in Cincinnati,you're at the airport heading
back to Connecticut when yourealize that you are just feet
away from one of the mostimportant figures in American
history.
And I don't think most of uswould have had the courage to do
what you did next.
George Grande (09:22):
Yeah, I you did you did your homework real well,
Mike.
Um, I don't know where you gotthat, but I I haven't talked
about it very often.
But um we had a traveling teamthat played in a tournament, and
some of the best tournamentswere down in Cincinnati, had
great youth baseball all the waythrough high school and
college.
And we're in a rain delay atthe airport.
This is the old Cincinnatiairport, it was a little rinky
(09:44):
dink airport, and we're sittingthere, you know, it's foggy,
it's rainy, all the flights aredelayed.
And there on the other side ofthe room was, you know, an
entourage of people hangingaround and talking.
And one of them was MartinLuther King, Dr.
King.
We're all standing around, andI just happen to go over and I'm
listening, I'm listening.
(10:04):
And he finally looks at me andsays, What are you doing?
And I said, Uh nothing, sir.
Uh, I'm here to play baseball.
I said, Would you come over andgive our team a pep talk about
teamwork?
And he came over, he walkedover, and he started to tell us
a story.
He said, Where are you boysfrom?
I said, We're from Connecticut.
He said, You know, when I was akid, I came up to Connecticut.
(10:26):
I used to pick tobacco there.
We'd come up for the summer andpick tobacco, and he told us a
couple of stories, and then andthen he touched our hearts by
telling us about just like youin baseball on this team, we all
have to work together.
We all have to help each otherto be better, help each other to
make our country better.
Um, and for me, that was uh amoment, a memory that uh is
(10:48):
indelibly marked uh in my heart,not just in my mind.
And um, you know, people alwaysask me, what are the greatest
moments that you experienced inCincinnati?
And most of them want to knowabout broadcasting moments, and
there were great ones, but forme, that was at the top of the
list.
Meeting Martin Luther King Jr.
and the words that he gave tous.
And also during my tenurethere, I got to meet Rosa Park.
(11:11):
She was honored in downtownCincinnati one day.
I just happened to be walkingby Fountain Square and she's
waiting for a car to pick herup.
And I I realized who she was,and I sat there for 20, 25
minutes and talked to her aboutwhat she went through and what
life was like for her.
The the moments aren't alwaysfor all of us in sports, are
always on the field.
Uh, in fact, if I were to lista hundred special moments, more
(11:34):
than half of them would be inthe locker room, in the
clubhouse, in a quiet moment, oreven away from the ballpark
with somebody like a Rosa Parksor Martin Luther King Jr.
Mike Koser (11:45):
Yeah, amazing.
And as you mentioned, you hadthis great relationship uh with
Vin Scully.
During Vin's final year withthe Dodgers, you interviewed him
at Dodgers Stadium, but heturned the tables on you and
asked you a question.
What was it and what did yousay that day?
George Grande (12:00):
In fact, uh we would every time we go to LA or
he'd come to Cincinnati, I'dalways say, Can we sit?
He said, sure.
And we'd always talk about thethe Reds and the Dodgers
rivalries over the years andsome of the players that were
involved.
And we were in his booth atDodger Stadium, his back is to
the field, and I'm facing thefield, and I'm interviewing,
we're sitting there, and Ithanked him for all the things
(12:23):
he did.
And we talked a little bitabout the Reds and the Dodgers,
and and then he turns to me, hesays, Well, tell me, you know, I
I thank you for your commentsand and everything, but what
what was the most importantthing I taught you?
And I said, Well, I said, maybeit's not the most important
thing, but it certainly is amemorable thing.
I said, You told me he used tobroadcast some of the games with
(12:46):
Jerry Coleman, the great Yankeeinfielder who then later
broadcasts in San Diego.
Jerry would throw his arms upin the air all over the place,
and Vin would have usually teauh next to his scorecard and
sometimes some coffee orwhatever, whatever you happened
to be drinking.
And Jerry Coleman, in a one ofhis demonstrative moves after a
(13:06):
home run was hit, he knockedover the tea on the scorecard.
And so Vin said to me, he said,What I learned was if I'm gonna
drink something and have a teaon the with me, I'm gonna take
it and I'm gonna put it down bymy foot under me so that Jerry
wouldn't knock it over.
And that was something he didthroughout his career.
And as as he's saying that, thecameraman pans out, and there
(13:31):
is Ben's tea by his foot rightwhile we were doing the the uh
the interview.
So and you know, he laughed, Ilaughed.
It was uh what a great man.
I mean, we talked after heretired, and on the phone, he
sounded uh 110% every time.
But as we all know, he he hadsome health issues, and what a
wonderful person, wonderfulhuman being.
(13:53):
He raced the game, the greatestever to in our profession to do
baseball, but even moreimportantly, a wonderful person.
Mike Koser (13:59):
Speaking of scorebooks, let's fast forward
to 1989, your first year callingYankees games on TV, sitting in
the booth with uh your formerteammate at USC Tom Seaver and
the legendary "scooter" PhilRizzuto.
George Grande (14:10):
Hi, hello, and welcome to Yankee Stadium,
everybody.
And happy holiday to all of youon this 4th of July.
As you can tell, this is a veryspecial day for all of us here,
along with "the scooter" PhilRizzuto and Tom Seaver.
I'm George Grande.
At some point, I think yourealize that you've missed maybe
marking a strikeout somewherein your scorebook.
So naturally, you you turned toScooter for some help.
Take me through what happenednext.
(14:31):
Well, we would the three of us would do the
games.
The game would be sectioned offin three inning stints.
And sometimes I'd do all nine,and scooter would get three off,
or Tom would get three off.
So Scooter would go out andeverybody wanted to see Scooter.
So Scooter would leave and geta cup of coffee or whatever and
sit in the back of the booth orgo talk to some friends who
(14:52):
might be visiting.
Then he'd come back on thatday.
Scooter got up, left, then cameback, and then I got up.
And later in the game, I'mlooking and I missed one at bat.
For some reason, I hadn't putit on my scorecard when I had
gotten up to go to the men'sroom.
I think I went to the men'sroom and I looked down.
I said, Scooter, remember Fiskin the uh fifth inning for the
(15:14):
White Sox, what did he do?
And he looks down, he goes,Ooh.
I said, uh, and I said, What'sthe matter?
I said, and I look at hisscorecard and it says WW.
And I said, What's WW mean?
He says, "wasn't watching".
So and if you looked at hisscorecards, in fact, I kept a
scorecard.
I gave it to a friend of minewho wanted to make a copy of it,
(15:37):
and he never gave it back tome.
I got to get it back from him.
But every time he'd take acouple of innings off, there'd
always be a couple of WWs thatwere on his scorecard.
Mike Koser (15:46):
That's so great.
George, in 1979, you madehistory as the first, very first
person to host SportsCenter onESPN.
George Grande (15:53):
Welcome everyone to the ESPN Sports Center.
On this very desk in the comingweeks and months, we'll be
filling you in on the pulse ofsporting activity, not only
around the country, but aroundthe world as well.
If it takes an interview, we'lldo it.
If it takes play-by-play, we'lldo it.
If it takes commentary, we'lldo that too.
That's the way we'll functionfrom the ESPN Sports Center.
(16:16):
And we'll be filling you in onfurther updates as the broadcast
progresses.
Mike Koser (16:20):
Today we know the show is a spectacle,
state-of-the-art sets, high-techgraphics, but back then it was
a completely different story,especially on day one.
The studio was so bare bonesthat the windows weren't even
installed yet.
What do you remember about thatfirst broadcast?
George Grande (16:34):
Almost every moment of it.
I remember uh Chet Simmons andScotty Connell asked me to come
up because I had worked, theyhad seen me do uh the pre- and
post-game show to the Giants.
So uh Scotty, who I knew well,Scotty said, would hey, would
you come up, just do the firstshow?
I mean, no strings attached.
We need somebody that can moveon their feet, you know, because
(16:55):
we didn't know, uh, like yousaid, there were no glass on the
windows.
The all of our technicaloperations were coming out of
remote trucks.
So I went there just really todo the first weekend, Friday,
Saturday, and Sunday, and therewas no guarantees after that.
And they called Lee Leonard andthey asked, I said, you know,
why don't you try Lee?
Because Lee's, you know, he'sin between acts right now.
(17:18):
So Lee Leonard called me andsaid, Georgie, what's the story
with this place up inConnecticut in the boondocks?
And I said, Well, hey, Lee, youknow, let's go up, we'll have
some fun.
And who knows?
Um, so I picked Lee up and Idrove him there the day before.
And we drive up, I'll get off II-84 and drive into
Plantsville, and we drive up andthere's no driveways, there's
(17:40):
mud, and it rained.
The remote truck that was inthe back was tilting because it
sunk in the mud.
We knew what we were in for.
I remember that uh Bill Creasywas the man who produced the
show, and uh, we sat down and wewere supposed to have three
different live shots.
All the live shots fellthrough, and we had a bunch of
other things that that didn'tpan out.
So uh we sat there and BillCreasy said about five minutes
(18:04):
before the show, he says, Guys,I don't know what we're gonna
do, but good luck.
It was it was a kind of flyingmagic moment.
Mike Koser (18:11):
Yeah, flying by the seat of your pants, and just you
know, you had to make it work.
And by the way, that originalSports Center theme music that
you're hearing right here, sogood.
And to think about what ESPNhas become and to know that you
were there on day one.
What an incredible ride.
And and throughout that ride,you have crossed paths with some
of the game's all-time greatplayers.
(18:32):
For a few summers, you werepart of the broadcast team that
called the old timers classicsat RFK Stadium.
George Grande (18:40):
We've got a couple of guys in the dugouts
with us.
George Grande is in theAmerican League dugouts.
Thanks, Dan.
I have to be honest with you.
We've had about a 20 minutes ofa rain delay, and then the big
daily game all told about twohours of rain delay.
And all this was going on, andI went into the American League
Dugout and I had a chance totalk with some of these old
stars and Hall of Famers.
They're still ready to playbaseball.
(19:01):
It's gonna be an exciting day.
The likes of DiMaggio and therest are here.
And we're set, to take a lookat some great old-time baseball.
Mike Koser (19:08):
I was watching footage from the 1982 game last
night.
One by one, the Legends strollthrough the clubhouse, down the
tunnel, and onto the field forone more night under the lights.
Guys like DiMaggio, Hank Aaron,Stan Musial, Brooks Robinson,
Ernie Banks, Harmon Killebrew.
And then at 75 years old, LukeAppling steps into the box to
(19:29):
face Warren Spahn.
Do you remember that moment?
George Grande (19:32):
I I remember um, and I mean, this is old RFK
Stadium, and Luke Appling was umthe hitting instructor for the
minor leagues for the AtlantaBraves.
And Warren Spahn and Bob Fellerwere talking the night before.
We did a show the night before,and I said to Bob, and you
know, I had gotten to know Bobat the Hall of Fame, and same
(19:54):
thing with Sponnie.
I said, What are you gonna do?
Um, you know, is you you'regonna just have fun out there?
He says, Have fun, no.
So I'm gonna try to strikeeverybody out.
And Sponnie says, not me.
He says, I'm gonna have somefun.
And it played out that way.
But the thing you rememberabout that night was Luke
Appling steps up and WarrenSpahn was on the mound, and he
(20:16):
just threw a lollipop pitch, andLuke hits a home run over the
left field wall.
Announcer (20:26):
75 years old.
George Grande (20:28):
And he comes running around, and I mean, the
look on his face, you would havethought he just won the World
Series.
It was the most remarkablemoment you could ever imagine.
And and Luke, to his credit,said you know, now maybe when I
go back, some of those youngkids will listen to me.
Look what I did.
Mike Koser (20:46):
Uh speaking of the Hall of Fame, you did have the
privilege for 31 years of beingthe Masters of the Ceremony at
the ball uh baseball Hall ofFame induction ceremonies.
George Grande (20:53):
Another guy who at one time held the record for
home runs by a catcher, anotherman who still is beloved
throughout the game of baseballtoday.
Let's welcome back Yogi, YogiBerra.
Mike Koser (21:06):
And you uh got to hear some of the game's great
legends share their stories.
Is there one speech that stillsticks with you?
George Grande (21:13):
Uh heck no.
Everyone, everyone.
And you know, like we talkedabout, uh, getting to know some
of the great broadcasters aspeople was certainly the most
important thing about my career.
But getting to know Hall ofFamers and their families for me
was the greatest joy of thoseyears in Cooperstown.
I mean, yeah, there was therewere great speeches.
(21:33):
Ozzie Smith, his great linefrom his youth coach, you know,
he almost paused with tears inhis eyes as he started to
deliver it.
He thought it was easy when hewas in high school and and
getting ready to go into thepros until his coach said, you
know, you're good, but you gotto be better than that.
He said,
Ozzie Smith (21:52):
Nothing is good enough if it can be made better,
and better is never good enoughif it can be made best.
George Grande (22:00):
And that stuck right in Ozzie (Osborne Earl's)
head, uh, and it's with himtoday.
You talk about Andre Dawsonsaying,
Andre Dawson (22:09):
I will never forget this day, and I will
never forget those who helpedmake it possible.
I will never forget that it wasmy love for the game that
propelled me and kept me goingwhen times got tough.
I will never forget that if youlove this game, it will love
you back.
George Grande (22:28):
You go down the list of so many great moments.
I I'll never forget the firstyear we did it at ESPN 1980, it
was Al Kaline got in, and here'shis mom and his dad in the
front row.
Al Kaline (22:39):
I never would have had that chance to prepare for a
career every boy dreams of.
Without the love and hard workof two people, my mom and dad.
George Grande (22:53):
And he starts to cry, and they start to cry, and
I'm sit sitting next to himlooking down, three of them
crying as he's trying to getthrough his speech because he
had so much love for his dad andwhat he taught him about the
game.
You know, Harmon Killebrew.
Harmon Killebrew (23:07):
I was born and raised in a little town in
Idaho called Payette, and when Iwas eight years old, my father
gave me uh my first baseballglove.
I'll never forget.
Uh we used to play a lot ofball out in the front yard.
My mother would say, Uh, you'reyou're tearing up the grass.
George Grande (23:27):
And his mom comes out and says, You wait till
your father gets home.
Father gets home, they'resitting at dinner.
And his father says, Hon, letme tell you something.
We're not growing grass, we'regrowing children.
Harmon Killebrew (23:39):
Harmon Clayton Killebrew Sr.
would be uh very proud today.
And uh I wish he were here,and.
Some somehow I I know he is.
Believe me, I know he is.
George Grande (23:54):
Maybe the greatest speech was one that
never happened, and and that wasBill Mazeroski.
Maz got up, started to speak,got about 30 seconds into his
speech.
Bill Mazeroski (24:04):
And I'm uh proud and honored to be going in to
the Hall of Fame on thedefensive side and mostly for my
defensive abilities.
I feel uh special.
Broke down and cried and sat down. He couldn't go on.
ad I went,
I introduced somebody else,and I went back.
(24:26):
I said, Maz, you want to tryagain?
He says, No, he says, I can'tdo it.
He said, But please just go upand thank my wife, my so I got
up and thanked Milene for him.
The moments, the memories, theemotion for all of those men.
Obviously, I didn't cover TedWilliams and Joe DiMaggio and
people like that, but then youwatch guys that you covered
(24:47):
through their whole career, likeOzzy Smith or like George
Brett, but then a list of thosegreat Hall of Famers leading to
Barry Larkin, who I was with forso long in Cincinnati.
And to see the emotion and tosee what they went through and
the the to watch them reach thatpinnacle for them and their
families.
And you got to know theirwives, their kids, you know,
their mothers, their fathers.
(25:08):
To me, that was um probably thegreatest part of that
experience was getting to knowall those people.
And I still still am in contactwith so many of those families
on a regular basis, just totalk.
And some of the the Hall ofFamers have passed, but I still
keep talking to some of thewives and kids uh with a smile
on my face and and happy that Iwas able to get to meet them.
Mike Koser (25:29):
Yeah, I'm curious, George, during those induction
weekends, was was there ever aconversation or a lunch or a
dinner, a moment where youthought, okay, did that really
just happen?
Was I really there for that?
George Grande (25:41):
Yeah, every single Hall of Fame weekend.
Yeah, I remember every Hall ofFame I would I'd sit with Warren
Spahn and we'd we'd just sitand talk on the veranda of the
Otesaga (hotel) about whathappened that year.
He always would bring one ofhis kids or grandkids with him.
You know, I I remember youmentioned uh Phil Rizutto and
and Tom Seaver.
(26:02):
I remember uh Tom and I weresitting having a glass of wine
uh the night before Phil Rizuttogot inducted, and I toasted
him.
I said, I said, 41.
I said, you and I are the onlytwo people that know what the
world is in for tomorrow whenScooter gets up there and starts
to talk.
And he was Scooter was great.
He was you know off off the offthe cuff.
Phil Rizutto (26:24):
I'm I mean, I'm so nervous about being up here
that I think it's likepsychosomatic.
My voice is if you can hear meand understand me, fine.
If not, you're lucky that Idon't have to go through all the
pennants and World Series thatthe Yankees want to be here til
next Wednesday.
George Grande (26:38):
His speech was was so entertaining.
Mike Koser (26:40):
Oh listen, that that speech is still talked about.
Phil Rizutto (26:42):
And the Leo the Lip, who was my type of manager,
the only thing was that hewould get on me every once in a
while in some of the WorldSeries, and he'd like to find
out something personal aboutyou.
Durocher's favorite with me inthe World Series was when I pop
one up, he'd say, home runningin an elevator shaft.
George Grande (27:02):
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, I think that was, I mean,it it was anyone that knew him,
you knew it was coming.
Uh, for anybody that didn'tknow him, you really got the
full view of who he was and whathe was.
And you know, that speech andthe Bob Uecker speech are two of
my most favorites, you know.
Mike Koser (27:16):
And by the way, the Bob, the Bob Ucker speech, you
got to hear it before anybodyelse the night before, at least
a little taste of it, didn'tyou?
Like a pre-game show.
George Grande (27:22):
Yeah, actually, it was about a it was about
three or three weeks before wewere, I'm doing the Reds games,
and we go every time we go toMilwaukee, I'd say, You, could
we do a pregame show?
Yeah, sure, George.
So he came into the our booth,which is right next to his booth
in Milwaukee, and he said, Isaid, could we do like a just
talk about the Hall of Famecoming up?
He said, Oh, you know what I'lldo?
(27:43):
I'll give you a little previewof what I'm gonna do.
And he got he gave us he gaveus the five, six-minute version
of what was about a 25-minutetalk.
Bob Uecker (27:52):
Of course, any championship involves a World
Series, the ring, the ceremony,the following season in St.
Louis at Old Busch Stadium, andwe were standing along the
sideline, I was in the bullpenwarming up the pitcher.
And when they call my name forthe ring, it's something that
you never ever forget.
(28:14):
And when they threw it out inthe left field, I found it in
the fifth inning, I think it wasit, wasn't it?
Yeah.
And uh once once I spotted itin the grass, man, I was on it.
I mean, it was it wasunbelievable.
George Grande (28:30):
And everybody in our booth was rolling in the
aisles.
I mean, we're all laughing, andyou knew we're finished, he
says, he said, I I think I'mready.
I think I'm in good shape,don't you?
And he was.
It was enjoyable speech.
It was unbelievable.
Mike Koser (28:45):
Hey, during your uh play-by-play career, you worked
for the Yankees, the Cardinals,17 years with the Reds.
George Grande (28:57):
He's the king of the Queen's City to night.
Mike Koser (29:00):
You called some games at some of baseball's
great old lost ballparks.
Uh starting with the AmericanLeague, tell me about the
American League ballpark that uhthat you love the most to
broadcast from.
George Grande (29:10):
You know, the old parks were the ones that that
really touched you.
I mean, I was blessed because Igot to broadcast in almost all
the old parks, and then I got tobe in the new parks too.
But every time we go someplace,I mean, Fenway Park means
something to me because, youknow, I grew up, you know, in
New England and I got to knowTed Williams, I got to know uh
(29:31):
Carl Yastrzemski and so manyother Boston Red Sox players and
front office personnel.
And I got to do the pre- andpost-game shows to the Red Sox
during that 1975 season on WMEXradio in Boston in the American
League.
Always will be somethingspecial for me.
The old Yankee Stadium,something very special.
When I I think of my favoritebroadcast booth for two reasons,
(29:55):
it was Detroit.
Mike Koser (29:56):
Tiger Stadium had a very unique position for the
visiting.
Team's broadcast booth.
George Grande (30:02):
Yes.
It hung underneath the pressbox.
You were about 40 feet fromhome plate, which you could hear
the catcher and the umpire.
That's the good news.
The bad news was rifle up therelike a bullet.
You remember Ernie Harwell usedto have a net in front of him
when he would do the games downthere.
(30:22):
So it was it was the mostunique place.
And I remember I'll neverforget when they closed the
stadium.
I went in early on the finalday on the Sunday and just sat
there for about an hour.
And Ernie Harwell came by andwe sat.
You know, I said, Ernie, tellme your favorite and most uh
touching memories.
And he went through a litany ofthe moments he remembered, and
(30:45):
I went through a litany of thesmall fraction of what he had.
But we, you know, I'll neverforget that moment of sitting
there looking out at TigerStadium and remembering what
transpired there before I evergot there and feeling sad that
it was going to be closed.
Ernie Harwell (31:02):
Baseball memories have come here to live and to
be treasure.
And you and I have been pullingto those memories.
We've dribbled the home runsand striking up the double
players from generation togeneration.
We've joined the joyous crowdand all of us, love this
old pace.
And it's closingtugs at our heart .
And like you, like a ll of us,I will cherish its memory.
(31:24):
I know that there's never beena corner like Michigan and
Trumble.
George Grande (31:29):
So in the American League, I'd probably,
you know, I'd list YankeeStadium, Fenway Park, and Tiger
Stadium as my three favorite.
Although, I mean, every park,whether it was the park, the
town, Joe Castiglione and Ialways uh talk, we match up.
What are your favoriterestaurants in Baltimore, in
Detroit?
You know, what Italianrestaurant did you go to here?
Or what, you know, so yeah, inthe American League, I'd list
(31:52):
those old ballparks as as beingmy favorites.
Mike Koser (31:55):
How about the National League?
Do you have one that stands outfor you?
George Grande (31:57):
You know, I mean, you talked about the polo
grounds.
I'll remember that as a just aflash, is a big screen picture
in my memory.
But certainly the for me, themost important one was Dodger
Stadium because that's where Iwent to school.
That's where I learned my tradewith Vin Scully.
That's where I spent so manymemorable nights, whether it was
(32:18):
in the press box or, you know,Tommy Lasorda was a mentor for
me my whole life, not just my mycareer.
Uh we were very close.
And he and Rod Dedeaux werebest friends.
He would come to our gameswhenever he could.
And he come, he and and Rodwent to every USC football game
for many years.
Um I would I'd put DodgerStadium at the top of that list.
Mike Koser (32:39):
One of the things I think I love the most about old
ballparks, I mean, it's not justthe structure.
The structures are great andhistoric, but it's the people
behind the structures, the ballboys, the organists, the ticket
takers, the clubhouse managers,um the folks who who make a
ballpark tick that make it runso smoothly.
(33:01):
And the there's and a lot ofthem are just a such characters.
One in particular that I thinkof that that you came into
contact with a lot was BernieStowe for the Cincinnati Reds.
He was the equipment managerfor the Reds for uh something
60-some years, going back to theball club's days at Crosley
Field, in fact.
And yeah, he I mean he was acharacter.
Do you have Do you have afavorite Bernie Stowe story?
(33:22):
Because I know you would uhbefore games, you and Bernie and
Cincinnati Reds legendarybroadcaster, the late Joe
Nuxhall, would sit in the dugoutand just talk before games
about life, about baseball,about whatever.
George Grande (33:37):
Oh, I would always uh I always joked, even
before I started doing games.
And I was for 17 years, ChrisWelch and I did the games
together, but I actually didgames with the Reds for 30 years
because I ended up 20 games ayear after I stepped back from
my my full-time job.
And even before that, startingin in 75, I got to know Bernie
and Joe Nuxhall's son, Kim, werevery close with the Nuxhalls
(34:02):
and the Stowes were likebrothers, and the families were
connected to each other.
Uh and we would, every time I'dwalk into the clubhouse, even
when I was at ESPN and coveringbaseball, I get there early.
I always get there like threeor four hours before the game,
go in the clubhouse and usuallytalk to the clubhouse guys.
You know, now it's Rick Stoweand Mark Stowe there, uh
(34:22):
Bernie's kids that are stillthere.
But I don't go in just becauseto me, those are the people that
make the game what it is.
You know, it's the trainers,the clubhouse guys, the PR
people, the travelingsecretaries, they're the ones
that you really become attachedto uh in the game.
No matter where you go, everysingle city and ballpark it has
(34:44):
those people that you want toget to know and be close with.
And back when I started, youknow, a meal for the players was
tuna fish salad and soup andcrackers.
So Bernie would make a tunafish salad, a big bowl of it,
and I'd walk in, I'd go, Here'sBernie, there's tuna fish salad
number 4,233.
And then next time, there'sBernie Stowe, tuna fish salad
(35:09):
number 4,543.
And we would laugh.
And I mean, now you have, youknow, they have chefs, you know,
it's it's amazing what theplayers get.
But back then it was it wassoup, crackers, and tuna fish
sandwiches.
And when it was done, it wasdone.
If you ate it all before thegame, you didn't have anything
after the game.
Now they have a pre-game,pre-game meal, post-game meal,
(35:30):
and it's all five-star stuff.
We would always, in my days inCincinnati, Joe Nuxhall would
come in, and Nuxie was great.
Nuxie's wife, Donzetta, triedto get him to stop smoking.
And Nuxie said, I'm not, I g Iguarantee you, I give you my
word, I'm not gonna buy anotherpack of cigarettes.
Well, we'd sit in the dugoutabout oh, maybe 1:30, 2 o'clock.
(35:52):
Bernie would come out, Nuxiewould come out, and lo and
behold, Nuxie would walk downthe the walkway to the dugout,
and on top of the bat rack was apack of cigarettes.
Now he didn't buy that pack ofcigarettes, but it miraculously
showed up.
So he got to have a cigarette.
We'd sit down there and we justtalk about life.
(36:14):
We talk about baseball.
We'd, you know, they'd remembermoments, they'd remember
people.
But those moments of sittingwith Bernie and sitting with
Nuxie are the moments that Icherish the most uh about at
being at the ballpark inCincinnati, whether it was the
old ballpark or the newballpark.
Mike Koser (36:33):
I'll get you out of here on this, George.
Not long before he becamecommissioner, uh, you had
breakfast with Bart Giamatti inNew Haven, Connecticut.
What did he share with you thatmorning?
I heard this not that long agoand it blew me away.
George Grande (36:46):
Um well, there's a history and a tradition uh
from our families.
My dad went to Yale and he wasin New Haven, Connecticut, and
my dad and uh Bart's dadestablished the first Italian
club at Yale University.
They had never had an Italianclub, and they were both
students at that time.
Um so we go back a long way.
(37:07):
Bart became president of Yaleeventually, and we developed a
friendship.
And when Bart became nationallypresident, and then when when
they didn't renew PeterUberoth's contract, he was going
to become commissioner.
And that was when the Pete Rosesaga had just started in 1989.
And we would we'd havebreakfast very often right next
(37:30):
to Yale, there's a place calledPatricia's.
It's a little breakfast shop onWhaley Avenue.
And we'd have coffee and sitand talk and reminisce.
And and I asked him, I said,what are you going to do about
Pete Rose when you take over ascommissioner?
He said, I'm said, I'm a bigPete Rose fan.
I love the way he plays thegame.
I think he represents on thefield everything that you know
we would want to haverepresented as a player.
(37:52):
But I mean, from what I see,we've got the goods he bet on
baseball.
And we all know, you do, I do,and they did back then, you
know, that from Judge Landis'sera, that the framed uh poster
that's on every single wall asyou walk into a clubhouse says,
if you bet on baseball, you'rebanned from the game forever.
(38:14):
Uh we all knew it, and he knewit.
But he said, I'm gonna give himan option.
If he admits to me he bet onthe game, I'll give him a
one-year suspension and it'll beover.
And he did.
He offered him that.
And Pete, you know, I mean,Pete was a uh great competitor,
but that urge of competition,you know, did him in in this
(38:36):
particular case.
He wouldn't admit and hewouldn't uh acknowledge the fact
that he did bet on the game.
It would have been over in ayear.
Mike Koser (38:42):
Can you imagine?
Like he would be in the Hall ofFame now.
Uh imagine the years of himmanaging the Reds, what that
would have been like.
Uh more involvement with thegame.
George Grande (38:51):
He made a mistake and he did bet on the game, and
he eventually admitted he beton the game.
But I never saw anybody thatplayed the game harder, that
when he was on the field, didmore to honor the game than Pete
Rose.
And I I feel bad down deepbecause we'll never be able to
see him stand up and give hisHall of Fame speech.
(39:12):
Right.
I mean, I I'd be I'd be withhim and we'd meet here or there,
and I did a couple of eventsfor him uh over the years, and
he said, I got my speechalready.
He says, I he says, I, youknow, and it would have been
spectacular.
And the other thing I think hewould have been spectacular at
was being a color commentatorand analyst in baseball because
(39:32):
he he knew the game, he's stayedup on the game.
When I was at ESPN during thestrike, I'll never forget I got
a call uh from Pete one night.
He says, George, you guys aregonna do during the strike,
you're gonna do minor leaguegames?
I said, Yeah.
He says, You got a schedule?
I said, uh we're you know, wejust do it week by week, but
I'll get you on it.
What do you want it for?
(39:52):
He says, some of these guys,I'm gonna be playing again.
Some of these pitchers I wantto know about them.
That was Pete.
And he gave a speech to Redsminor leaguers, which the Reds
were fined for.
This was after he was banned,that might have been the
greatest 40 minutes of a peptalk on how to be a major
leaguer.
It it's a it's a sad saga.
(40:14):
Uh he got what he deserved, butit's sad that um we'll never be
able uh to to see him stand upthere and tell some stories that
would have been, you know, wetalk about Scooter's speech and
Euchre speech and some of theother great speeches.
I think his speech might havebeen the greatest.
Um yeah.
He knew what to do and when todo it.
Mike Koser (40:34):
Yeah, George, listen, this has truly been an
honor for me.
Your stories, your voice, yourlove for the game, it all comes
through uh and bright colors.
Thank you for sharing yourtime, your memories, and your
heart with us today.
I know our listeners willtreasure this conversation as
much as I have.
So thank you.
Thank you so much for your timetoday, George.
I really appreciate it.
George Grande (40:52):
I do a lot of interviews and I've been doing
this for a long time.
You do your homework.
You got some stories that Ihaven't told publicly.
Um I've told them to friends orwhatever.
So
Mike Koser (41:02):
well, I appreciate that, man.
And uh
George Grande (41:04):
honor being with you.
Mike Koser (41:06):
All right, George, all the best to you.
Thanks, Mike.
See you at the ballpark.
Before there was Sports Center, before ESPN
became worldwide, there wasGeorge Grande sitting behind a
desk, ushering in a new era ofsports television with some of
the very first words ever spokenon ESPN.
But his story doesn't beginthere.
He played alongside Tom Seaverat USC, called games for the
(01:07):
Yankees, Cardinals, and Reds,and for 31 summers was the voice
of baseball immortality as thehost of the Hall of Fame
induction ceremony.
He shared dugouts with legends,airwaves with icons, and
memories with millions.
And today, he shares them withus.
George Grande, welcome to LostBallparks.
How are you?
George Grande (01:28):
Good, Mike.
How are you, buddy?
Mike Koser (01:29):
I'm doing great.
Listen, thanks so much fordoing this.
I really appreciate it.
Let's go back um to a coolSeptember day in 1954.
You race home from school,heart pounding, and find your
dad already there.
He just made it back from work.
And the two of you settle in infront of the family TV just in
(01:50):
time to witness one of thegreatest moments in baseball
history.
George Grande (01:54):
Wow.
That's a pretty good job, Mike.
Yeah, it was one of the mostmemorable days of my life and
certainly of my baseball life.
It started me on a lifelongconnection to the number 24 and
to "say Hey kid ", Willie Mays.
My dad was sitting in hischair.
He was a high school teacher.
(02:15):
I got home, and lo and behold,um we had an antenna that got
the World Series back then, andum Willie made the the catch off
Vic Wertz.
And uh from that moment on,baseball, football, basketball,
(02:38):
hockey, wherever I played, Ialways try to get number 24.
Mike Koser (02:42):
You still live in that same house, right?
George Grande (02:44):
You got it.
Mike Koser (02:45):
That's incredible.
George Grande (02:47):
Yeah, it's uh it's pretty amazing.
My mom and dad uh this was uhjust a cottage in the woods, and
uh they moved in uh in the1940s.
I grew up here, uh, went toschool, moved away, worked in
Rhode Island, and we had a housein Rhode Island, Joanne and I,
and this house, though not somuch the house, but the land got
(03:08):
to be too much for my mom anddad.
So they moved into our house.
I moved into their house, andthat was 1975, and um still
here.
Mike Koser (03:18):
Do you remember the first time you walked into a
major league ballpark as a kid?
Where was that and what hit youmost about that experience?
George Grande (03:25):
Well, I remember I remember walking out of Yale
Field.
Um, we're in New Haven,Connecticut, and I remember to
me, Yale Field looked like abig, gigantic field after
playing on little league fields,and uh the Yale Field had an
old, and it still does, an olduh seating capacity behind it.
It's been redone now, it hasartificial surface, it's
(03:47):
beautiful.
But I remember walking thereand remembering what an
impression that made on me.
And then um my dad eventuallyuh took me to the Polo Grounds,
and to me, the Polo Groundslooked like uh an airport.
It was just gigantic.
And looking out, uh, we weredown the third baseline, and I
remember looking out to centerfield, and it seemed like it
(04:07):
went forever.
And after the game, we walkeddown on the field, and it it was
a moment and a memory.
In fact, I picked up a piece ofgrass, put it in my mouth.
Um, I think I still taste thatgrass.
Mike Koser (04:19):
Do you remember how you got into the polo grounds
that day?
Did you walk down the uh walkdown Coogan's Bluff or a long
time ago?
George Grande (04:27):
We were...
it took us forever to getthere.
We went with uh uh anothercouple of uh friends, and all I
remember is a lot of peoplejammed into each other.
And I do remember that thedifference though, you know, we
look at games today, and youknow, very seldom are people
dressed, but back then everybodygot dressed up to go to a ball
game, it's like you're going toa um, you know, a show or going
(04:49):
out to dinner.
It was certainly memorable.
Mike Koser (04:52):
Once you were old enough to drive, you'd make your
way to East Rock along the LongIsland Sound, drive up to the
mountain, sit at the top, tuneyour AM radio to baseball games
from across the Midwest andNortheast.
What voices do you mostassociate with those mountaintop
nights, George?
George Grande (05:07):
Uh, Mike, you do your homework.
You're right.
Um, there's a place called theEast Rock Park, big statue on
the top of it.
It's right along Long IslandSound in New Haven, Connecticut.
And we all all of us went therewhen we went parking with our
dates.
That was where everybody went.
Uh, you know, it was abeautiful view.
And yeah, I went theresometimes for that, but more
(05:28):
often than not, I drove up bymyself.
And because of the height, andall the games were on AM radio
back then, you could getPhiladelphia, New York, you
could get um the Yankees.
You could get Detroit.
You could get Baltimore.
(05:59):
You could get St.
Louis.
Harry Caray (06:13):
(Jack Buck) Good evening to you, Harry Caray.
Thank you, Jack.
Hello again, everybody.
All set to play baseball here.
George Grande (06:18):
It was amazing, and you just sit there and you'd
flip from one to another.
I had an old Jeep and I had a aradio that was a friend of mine
put it in the Jeep.
It was a giant radio, andpeople say, Why the heck do you
want a big radio like that?
Because it got all thosebroadcasts.
And you'd be up there and on anice, beautiful summer night,
(06:40):
you could sit there and flipfrom one to the other.
And it was pretty uh prettymemorable and one of the moments
that uh you remember forever,just sitting there looking out
at the stars and listening tothe stars broadcast games.
Mike Koser (06:53):
Yeah, maybe you didn't realize it at the time,
but all those guys sort ofserved as your professor in the
school of play-by-playbroadcasting.
George Grande (06:59):
You're not kidding.
Almost every one of them I gotto meet in different venues for
different reasons.
Some of them uh enlightened meuh with funny stories, others
touched my life.
You know, I was fortunately uhwhen I went to the University of
Southern California, my coachRod Dedeaux introduced me to Vin
Scully.
We used to play an exhibitiongame in January against the
(07:21):
Dodgers.
It was the Dodgers had aworkout at Dodgers Stadium, and
Rod Dedeaux and the O'Malleyfamily were very close, and we
would always be there for theirfirst workout.
And I'm out at shortstopgetting ground balls, and and
Rod uh the gray fox whistles forme to come in.
He says, uh, Vin, this youngman's interested in
broadcasting.
And uh he says, Well, give me acall.
(07:42):
And I did, and while I wasplaying at SC for the four years
I was there, not every game,but whenever I could, I'd be a
gopher for him.
I guess now they call itinternships.
Back then you were just agopher.
You swept up the booth, you gotthem coffee or tea, and you
ripped the wires, had big wiremachines, eight associated press
machine in the booth, and you'dkeep up on the scores for them.
(08:04):
So, you know, all of thoseguys.
Um, you know, uh Jack Buck, Igot to work with in St.
Louis, and certainly uh RedBarber was a mentor, and I got
to speak with him over the yearsand learned a lot about the art
of broadcasting.
Uh, I didn't really get to sitnext to him like I did with Vin.
And it was uh it was prettyspecial.
And of course, Ernie Harwellwas one of my all-time
(08:26):
favorites.
Ernie and Lulu.
Um, he would call me very oftenand ask me how things are
going, or I'd I'd make a homerun call and he'd he'd call me
the next day and say, That wasgreat.
And I say, What are you kiddingme?
You're calling me and tellingme that.
It was uh, you know, and lucky,Chuck Thompson.
I mean, so many great guys thatyou got to know little by
(08:46):
little over the years as people,not as broadcasters, as deities
in our profession, but aspeople.
And I mean, in my mind, there'sno greater human being, more
Christian a man than VinceScully.
I mean, I learned aboutbroadcasting, yeah, but I
learned more about how to be aman.
And like my dad, he was a veryspecial person.
Mike Koser (09:06):
In high school, George, after a weekend baseball
tournament in Cincinnati,you're at the airport heading
back to Connecticut when yourealize that you are just feet
away from one of the mostimportant figures in American
history.
And I don't think most of uswould have had the courage to do
what you did next.
George Grande (09:22):
Yeah, I you did you did your homework real well,
Mike.
Um, I don't know where you gotthat, but I I haven't talked
about it very often.
But um we had a traveling teamthat played in a tournament, and
some of the best tournamentswere down in Cincinnati, had
great youth baseball all the waythrough high school and
college.
And we're in a rain delay atthe airport.
This is the old Cincinnatiairport, it was a little rinky
(09:44):
dink airport, and we're sittingthere, you know, it's foggy,
it's rainy, all the flights aredelayed.
And there on the other side ofthe room was, you know, an
entourage of people hangingaround and talking.
And one of them was MartinLuther King, Dr.
King.
We're all standing around, andI just happen to go over and I'm
listening, I'm listening.
(10:04):
And he finally looks at me andsays, What are you doing?
And I said, Uh nothing, sir.
Uh, I'm here to play baseball.
I said, Would you come over andgive our team a pep talk about
teamwork?
And he came over, he walkedover, and he started to tell us
a story.
He said, Where are you boysfrom?
I said, We're from Connecticut.
He said, You know, when I was akid, I came up to Connecticut.
(10:26):
I used to pick tobacco there.
We'd come up for the summer andpick tobacco, and he told us a
couple of stories, and then andthen he touched our hearts by
telling us about just like youin baseball on this team, we all
have to work together.
We all have to help each otherto be better, help each other to
make our country better.
Um, and for me, that was uh amoment, a memory that uh is
(10:48):
indelibly marked uh in my heart,not just in my mind.
And um, you know, people alwaysask me, what are the greatest
moments that you experienced inCincinnati?
And most of them want to knowabout broadcasting moments, and
there were great ones, but forme, that was at the top of the
list.
Meeting Martin Luther King Jr.
and the words that he gave tous.
And also during my tenurethere, I got to meet Rosa Park.
(11:11):
She was honored in downtownCincinnati one day.
I just happened to be walkingby Fountain Square and she's
waiting for a car to pick herup.
And I I realized who she was,and I sat there for 20, 25
minutes and talked to her aboutwhat she went through and what
life was like for her.
The the moments aren't alwaysfor all of us in sports, are
always on the field.
Uh, in fact, if I were to lista hundred special moments, more
(11:34):
than half of them would be inthe locker room, in the
clubhouse, in a quiet moment, oreven away from the ballpark
with somebody like a Rosa Parksor Martin Luther King Jr.
Mike Koser (11:45):
Yeah, amazing.
And as you mentioned, you hadthis great relationship uh with
Vin Scully.
During Vin's final year withthe Dodgers, you interviewed him
at Dodgers Stadium, but heturned the tables on you and
asked you a question.
What was it and what did yousay that day?
George Grande (12:00):
In fact, uh we would every time we go to LA or
he'd come to Cincinnati, I'dalways say, Can we sit?
He said, sure.
And we'd always talk about thethe Reds and the Dodgers
rivalries over the years andsome of the players that were
involved.
And we were in his booth atDodger Stadium, his back is to
the field, and I'm facing thefield, and I'm interviewing,
we're sitting there, and Ithanked him for all the things
(12:23):
he did.
And we talked a little bitabout the Reds and the Dodgers,
and and then he turns to me, hesays, Well, tell me, you know, I
I thank you for your commentsand and everything, but what
what was the most importantthing I taught you?
And I said, Well, I said, maybeit's not the most important
thing, but it certainly is amemorable thing.
I said, You told me he used tobroadcast some of the games with
(12:46):
Jerry Coleman, the great Yankeeinfielder who then later
broadcasts in San Diego.
Jerry would throw his arms upin the air all over the place,
and Vin would have usually teauh next to his scorecard and
sometimes some coffee orwhatever, whatever you happened
to be drinking.
And Jerry Coleman, in a one ofhis demonstrative moves after a
(13:06):
home run was hit, he knockedover the tea on the scorecard.
And so Vin said to me, he said,What I learned was if I'm gonna
drink something and have a teaon the with me, I'm gonna take
it and I'm gonna put it down bymy foot under me so that Jerry
wouldn't knock it over.
And that was something he didthroughout his career.
And as as he's saying that, thecameraman pans out, and there
(13:31):
is Ben's tea by his foot rightwhile we were doing the the uh
the interview.
So and you know, he laughed, Ilaughed.
It was uh what a great man.
I mean, we talked after heretired, and on the phone, he
sounded uh 110% every time.
But as we all know, he he hadsome health issues, and what a
wonderful person, wonderfulhuman being.
(13:53):
He raced the game, the greatestever to in our profession to do
baseball, but even moreimportantly, a wonderful person.
Mike Koser (13:59):
Speaking of scorebooks, let's fast forward
to 1989, your first year callingYankees games on TV, sitting in
the booth with uh your formerteammate at USC Tom Seaver and
the legendary "scooter" PhilRizzuto.
George Grande (14:10):
Hi, hello, and welcome to Yankee Stadium,
everybody.
And happy holiday to all of youon this 4th of July.
As you can tell, this is a veryspecial day for all of us here,
along with "the scooter" PhilRizzuto and Tom Seaver.
I'm George Grande.
At some point, I think yourealize that you've missed maybe
marking a strikeout somewherein your scorebook.
So naturally, you you turned toScooter for some help.
Take me through what happenednext.
(14:31):
Well, we would the three of us would do the
games.
The game would be sectioned offin three inning stints.
And sometimes I'd do all nine,and scooter would get three off,
or Tom would get three off.
So Scooter would go out andeverybody wanted to see Scooter.
So Scooter would leave and geta cup of coffee or whatever and
sit in the back of the booth orgo talk to some friends who
(14:52):
might be visiting.
Then he'd come back on thatday.
Scooter got up, left, then cameback, and then I got up.
And later in the game, I'mlooking and I missed one at bat.
For some reason, I hadn't putit on my scorecard when I had
gotten up to go to the men'sroom.
I think I went to the men'sroom and I looked down.
I said, Scooter, remember Fiskin the uh fifth inning for the
(15:14):
White Sox, what did he do?
And he looks down, he goes,Ooh.
I said, uh, and I said, What'sthe matter?
I said, and I look at hisscorecard and it says WW.
And I said, What's WW mean?
He says, "wasn't watching".
So and if you looked at hisscorecards, in fact, I kept a
scorecard.
I gave it to a friend of minewho wanted to make a copy of it,
(15:37):
and he never gave it back tome.
I got to get it back from him.
But every time he'd take acouple of innings off, there'd
always be a couple of WWs thatwere on his scorecard.
Mike Koser (15:46):
That's so great.
George, in 1979, you madehistory as the first, very first
person to host SportsCenter onESPN.
George Grande (15:53):
Welcome everyone to the ESPN Sports Center.
On this very desk in the comingweeks and months, we'll be
filling you in on the pulse ofsporting activity, not only
around the country, but aroundthe world as well.
If it takes an interview, we'lldo it.
If it takes play-by-play, we'lldo it.
If it takes commentary, we'lldo that too.
That's the way we'll functionfrom the ESPN Sports Center.
(16:16):
And we'll be filling you in onfurther updates as the broadcast
progresses.
Mike Koser (16:20):
Today we know the show is a spectacle,
state-of-the-art sets, high-techgraphics, but back then it was
a completely different story,especially on day one.
The studio was so bare bonesthat the windows weren't even
installed yet.
What do you remember about thatfirst broadcast?
George Grande (16:34):
Almost every moment of it.
I remember uh Chet Simmons andScotty Connell asked me to come
up because I had worked, theyhad seen me do uh the pre- and
post-game show to the Giants.
So uh Scotty, who I knew well,Scotty said, would hey, would
you come up, just do the firstshow?
I mean, no strings attached.
We need somebody that can moveon their feet, you know, because
(16:55):
we didn't know, uh, like yousaid, there were no glass on the
windows.
The all of our technicaloperations were coming out of
remote trucks.
So I went there just really todo the first weekend, Friday,
Saturday, and Sunday, and therewas no guarantees after that.
And they called Lee Leonard andthey asked, I said, you know,
why don't you try Lee?
Because Lee's, you know, he'sin between acts right now.
(17:18):
So Lee Leonard called me andsaid, Georgie, what's the story
with this place up inConnecticut in the boondocks?
And I said, Well, hey, Lee, youknow, let's go up, we'll have
some fun.
And who knows?
Um, so I picked Lee up and Idrove him there the day before.
And we drive up, I'll get off II-84 and drive into
Plantsville, and we drive up andthere's no driveways, there's
(17:40):
mud, and it rained.
The remote truck that was inthe back was tilting because it
sunk in the mud.
We knew what we were in for.
I remember that uh Bill Creasywas the man who produced the
show, and uh, we sat down and wewere supposed to have three
different live shots.
All the live shots fellthrough, and we had a bunch of
other things that that didn'tpan out.
So uh we sat there and BillCreasy said about five minutes
(18:04):
before the show, he says, Guys,I don't know what we're gonna
do, but good luck.
It was it was a kind of flyingmagic moment.
Mike Koser (18:11):
Yeah, flying by the seat of your pants, and just you
know, you had to make it work.
And by the way, that originalSports Center theme music that
you're hearing right here, sogood.
And to think about what ESPNhas become and to know that you
were there on day one.
What an incredible ride.
And and throughout that ride,you have crossed paths with some
of the game's all-time greatplayers.
(18:32):
For a few summers, you werepart of the broadcast team that
called the old timers classicsat RFK Stadium.
George Grande (18:40):
We've got a couple of guys in the dugouts
with us.
George Grande is in theAmerican League dugouts.
Thanks, Dan.
I have to be honest with you.
We've had about a 20 minutes ofa rain delay, and then the big
daily game all told about twohours of rain delay.
And all this was going on, andI went into the American League
Dugout and I had a chance totalk with some of these old
stars and Hall of Famers.
They're still ready to playbaseball.
(19:01):
It's gonna be an exciting day.
The likes of DiMaggio and therest are here.
And we're set, to take a lookat some great old-time baseball.
Mike Koser (19:08):
I was watching footage from the 1982 game last
night.
One by one, the Legends strollthrough the clubhouse, down the
tunnel, and onto the field forone more night under the lights.
Guys like DiMaggio, Hank Aaron,Stan Musial, Brooks Robinson,
Ernie Banks, Harmon Killebrew.
And then at 75 years old, LukeAppling steps into the box to
(19:29):
face Warren Spahn.
Do you remember that moment?
George Grande (19:32):
I I remember um, and I mean, this is old RFK
Stadium, and Luke Appling was umthe hitting instructor for the
minor leagues for the AtlantaBraves.
And Warren Spahn and Bob Fellerwere talking the night before.
We did a show the night before,and I said to Bob, and you
know, I had gotten to know Bobat the Hall of Fame, and same
(19:54):
thing with Sponnie.
I said, What are you gonna do?
Um, you know, is you you'regonna just have fun out there?
He says, Have fun, no.
So I'm gonna try to strikeeverybody out.
And Sponnie says, not me.
He says, I'm gonna have somefun.
And it played out that way.
But the thing you rememberabout that night was Luke
Appling steps up and WarrenSpahn was on the mound, and he
(20:16):
just threw a lollipop pitch, andLuke hits a home run over the
left field wall.
Announcer (20:26):
75 years old.
George Grande (20:28):
And he comes running around, and I mean, the
look on his face, you would havethought he just won the World
Series.
It was the most remarkablemoment you could ever imagine.
And and Luke, to his credit,said you know, now maybe when I
go back, some of those youngkids will listen to me.
Look what I did.
Mike Koser (20:46):
Uh speaking of the Hall of Fame, you did have the
privilege for 31 years of beingthe Masters of the Ceremony at
the ball uh baseball Hall ofFame induction ceremonies.
George Grande (20:53):
Another guy who at one time held the record for
home runs by a catcher, anotherman who still is beloved
throughout the game of baseballtoday.
Let's welcome back Yogi, YogiBerra.
Mike Koser (21:06):
And you uh got to hear some of the game's great
legends share their stories.
Is there one speech that stillsticks with you?
George Grande (21:13):
Uh heck no.
Everyone, everyone.
And you know, like we talkedabout, uh, getting to know some
of the great broadcasters aspeople was certainly the most
important thing about my career.
But getting to know Hall ofFamers and their families for me
was the greatest joy of thoseyears in Cooperstown.
I mean, yeah, there was therewere great speeches.
(21:33):
Ozzie Smith, his great linefrom his youth coach, you know,
he almost paused with tears inhis eyes as he started to
deliver it.
He thought it was easy when hewas in high school and and
getting ready to go into thepros until his coach said, you
know, you're good, but you gotto be better than that.
He said,
Ozzie Smith (21:52):
Nothing is good enough if it can be made better,
and better is never good enoughif it can be made best.
George Grande (22:00):
And that stuck right in Ozzie (Osborne Earl's)
head, uh, and it's with himtoday.
You talk about Andre Dawsonsaying,
Andre Dawson (22:09):
I will never forget this day, and I will
never forget those who helpedmake it possible.
I will never forget that it wasmy love for the game that
propelled me and kept me goingwhen times got tough.
I will never forget that if youlove this game, it will love
you back.
George Grande (22:28):
You go down the list of so many great moments.
I I'll never forget the firstyear we did it at ESPN 1980, it
was Al Kaline got in, and here'shis mom and his dad in the
front row.
Al Kaline (22:39):
I never would have had that chance to prepare for a
career every boy dreams of.
Without the love and hard workof two people, my mom and dad.
George Grande (22:53):
And he starts to cry, and they start to cry, and
I'm sit sitting next to himlooking down, three of them
crying as he's trying to getthrough his speech because he
had so much love for his dad andwhat he taught him about the
game.
You know, Harmon Killebrew.
Harmon Killebrew (23:07):
I was born and raised in a little town in
Idaho called Payette, and when Iwas eight years old, my father
gave me uh my first baseballglove.
I'll never forget.
Uh we used to play a lot ofball out in the front yard.
My mother would say, Uh, you'reyou're tearing up the grass.
George Grande (23:27):
And his mom comes out and says, You wait till
your father gets home.
Father gets home, they'resitting at dinner.
And his father says, Hon, letme tell you something.
We're not growing grass, we'regrowing children.
Harmon Killebrew (23:39):
Harmon Clayton Killebrew Sr.
would be uh very proud today.
And uh I wish he were here,and.
Some somehow I I know he is.
Believe me, I know he is.
George Grande (23:54):
Maybe the greatest speech was one that
never happened, and and that wasBill Mazeroski.
Maz got up, started to speak,got about 30 seconds into his
speech.
Bill Mazeroski (24:04):
And I'm uh proud and honored to be going in to
the Hall of Fame on thedefensive side and mostly for my
defensive abilities.
I feel uh special.
Broke down and cried and sat down. He couldn't go on.
ad I went,
I introduced somebody else,and I went back.
(24:26):
I said, Maz, you want to tryagain?
He says, No, he says, I can'tdo it.
He said, But please just go upand thank my wife, my so I got
up and thanked Milene for him.
The moments, the memories, theemotion for all of those men.
Obviously, I didn't cover TedWilliams and Joe DiMaggio and
people like that, but then youwatch guys that you covered
(24:47):
through their whole career, likeOzzy Smith or like George
Brett, but then a list of thosegreat Hall of Famers leading to
Barry Larkin, who I was with forso long in Cincinnati.
And to see the emotion and tosee what they went through and
the the to watch them reach thatpinnacle for them and their
families.
And you got to know theirwives, their kids, you know,
their mothers, their fathers.
(25:08):
To me, that was um probably thegreatest part of that
experience was getting to knowall those people.
And I still still am in contactwith so many of those families
on a regular basis, just totalk.
And some of the the Hall ofFamers have passed, but I still
keep talking to some of thewives and kids uh with a smile
on my face and and happy that Iwas able to get to meet them.
Mike Koser (25:29):
Yeah, I'm curious, George, during those induction
weekends, was was there ever aconversation or a lunch or a
dinner, a moment where youthought, okay, did that really
just happen?
Was I really there for that?
George Grande (25:41):
Yeah, every single Hall of Fame weekend.
Yeah, I remember every Hall ofFame I would I'd sit with Warren
Spahn and we'd we'd just sitand talk on the veranda of the
Otesaga (hotel) about whathappened that year.
He always would bring one ofhis kids or grandkids with him.
You know, I I remember youmentioned uh Phil Rizutto and
and Tom Seaver.
(26:02):
I remember uh Tom and I weresitting having a glass of wine
uh the night before Phil Rizuttogot inducted, and I toasted
him.
I said, I said, 41.
I said, you and I are the onlytwo people that know what the
world is in for tomorrow whenScooter gets up there and starts
to talk.
And he was Scooter was great.
He was you know off off the offthe cuff.
Phil Rizutto (26:24):
I'm I mean, I'm so nervous about being up here
that I think it's likepsychosomatic.
My voice is if you can hear meand understand me, fine.
If not, you're lucky that Idon't have to go through all the
pennants and World Series thatthe Yankees want to be here til
next Wednesday.
George Grande (26:38):
His speech was was so entertaining.
Mike Koser (26:40):
Oh listen, that that speech is still talked about.
Phil Rizutto (26:42):
And the Leo the Lip, who was my type of manager,
the only thing was that hewould get on me every once in a
while in some of the WorldSeries, and he'd like to find
out something personal aboutyou.
Durocher's favorite with me inthe World Series was when I pop
one up, he'd say, home runningin an elevator shaft.
George Grande (27:02):
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, I think that was, I mean,it it was anyone that knew him,
you knew it was coming.
Uh, for anybody that didn'tknow him, you really got the
full view of who he was and whathe was.
And you know, that speech andthe Bob Uecker speech are two of
my most favorites, you know.
Mike Koser (27:16):
And by the way, the Bob, the Bob Ucker speech, you
got to hear it before anybodyelse the night before, at least
a little taste of it, didn'tyou?
Like a pre-game show.
George Grande (27:22):
Yeah, actually, it was about a it was about
three or three weeks before wewere, I'm doing the Reds games,
and we go every time we go toMilwaukee, I'd say, You, could
we do a pregame show?
Yeah, sure, George.
So he came into the our booth,which is right next to his booth
in Milwaukee, and he said, Isaid, could we do like a just
talk about the Hall of Famecoming up?
He said, Oh, you know what I'lldo?
(27:43):
I'll give you a little previewof what I'm gonna do.
And he got he gave us he gaveus the five, six-minute version
of what was about a 25-minutetalk.
Bob Uecker (27:52):
Of course, any championship involves a World
Series, the ring, the ceremony,the following season in St.
Louis at Old Busch Stadium, andwe were standing along the
sideline, I was in the bullpenwarming up the pitcher.
And when they call my name forthe ring, it's something that
you never ever forget.
(28:14):
And when they threw it out inthe left field, I found it in
the fifth inning, I think it wasit, wasn't it?
Yeah.
And uh once once I spotted itin the grass, man, I was on it.
I mean, it was it wasunbelievable.
George Grande (28:30):
And everybody in our booth was rolling in the
aisles.
I mean, we're all laughing, andyou knew we're finished, he
says, he said, I I think I'mready.
I think I'm in good shape,don't you?
And he was.
It was enjoyable speech.
It was unbelievable.
Mike Koser (28:45):
Hey, during your uh play-by-play career, you worked
for the Yankees, the Cardinals,17 years with the Reds.
George Grande (28:57):
He's the king of the Queen's City to night.
Mike Koser (29:00):
You called some games at some of baseball's
great old lost ballparks.
Uh starting with the AmericanLeague, tell me about the
American League ballpark that uhthat you love the most to
broadcast from.
George Grande (29:10):
You know, the old parks were the ones that that
really touched you.
I mean, I was blessed because Igot to broadcast in almost all
the old parks, and then I got tobe in the new parks too.
But every time we go someplace,I mean, Fenway Park means
something to me because, youknow, I grew up, you know, in
New England and I got to knowTed Williams, I got to know uh
(29:31):
Carl Yastrzemski and so manyother Boston Red Sox players and
front office personnel.
And I got to do the pre- andpost-game shows to the Red Sox
during that 1975 season on WMEXradio in Boston in the American
League.
Always will be somethingspecial for me.
The old Yankee Stadium,something very special.
When I I think of my favoritebroadcast booth for two reasons,
(29:55):
it was Detroit.
Mike Koser (29:56):
Tiger Stadium had a very unique position for the
visiting.
Team's broadcast booth.
George Grande (30:02):
Yes.
It hung underneath the pressbox.
You were about 40 feet fromhome plate, which you could hear
the catcher and the umpire.
That's the good news.
The bad news was rifle up therelike a bullet.
You remember Ernie Harwell usedto have a net in front of him
when he would do the games downthere.
(30:22):
So it was it was the mostunique place.
And I remember I'll neverforget when they closed the
stadium.
I went in early on the finalday on the Sunday and just sat
there for about an hour.
And Ernie Harwell came by andwe sat.
You know, I said, Ernie, tellme your favorite and most uh
touching memories.
And he went through a litany ofthe moments he remembered, and
(30:45):
I went through a litany of thesmall fraction of what he had.
But we, you know, I'll neverforget that moment of sitting
there looking out at TigerStadium and remembering what
transpired there before I evergot there and feeling sad that
it was going to be closed.
Ernie Harwell (31:02):
Baseball memories have come here to live and to
be treasure.
And you and I have been pullingto those memories.
We've dribbled the home runsand striking up the double
players from generation togeneration.
We've joined the joyous crowdand all of us, love this
old pace.
And it's closingtugs at our heart .
And like you, like a ll of us,I will cherish its memory.
(31:24):
I know that there's never beena corner like Michigan and
Trumble.
George Grande (31:29):
So in the American League, I'd probably,
you know, I'd list YankeeStadium, Fenway Park, and Tiger
Stadium as my three favorite.
Although, I mean, every park,whether it was the park, the
town, Joe Castiglione and Ialways uh talk, we match up.
What are your favoriterestaurants in Baltimore, in
Detroit?
You know, what Italianrestaurant did you go to here?
Or what, you know, so yeah, inthe American League, I'd list
(31:52):
those old ballparks as as beingmy favorites.
Mike Koser (31:55):
How about the National League?
Do you have one that stands outfor you?
George Grande (31:57):
You know, I mean, you talked about the polo
grounds.
I'll remember that as a just aflash, is a big screen picture
in my memory.
But certainly the for me, themost important one was Dodger
Stadium because that's where Iwent to school.
That's where I learned my tradewith Vin Scully.
That's where I spent so manymemorable nights, whether it was
(32:18):
in the press box or, you know,Tommy Lasorda was a mentor for
me my whole life, not just my mycareer.
Uh we were very close.
And he and Rod Dedeaux werebest friends.
He would come to our gameswhenever he could.
And he come, he and and Rodwent to every USC football game
for many years.
Um I would I'd put DodgerStadium at the top of that list.
Mike Koser (32:39):
One of the things I think I love the most about old
ballparks, I mean, it's not justthe structure.
The structures are great andhistoric, but it's the people
behind the structures, the ballboys, the organists, the ticket
takers, the clubhouse managers,um the folks who who make a
ballpark tick that make it runso smoothly.
(33:01):
And the there's and a lot ofthem are just a such characters.
One in particular that I thinkof that that you came into
contact with a lot was BernieStowe for the Cincinnati Reds.
He was the equipment managerfor the Reds for uh something
60-some years, going back to theball club's days at Crosley
Field, in fact.
And yeah, he I mean he was acharacter.
Do you have Do you have afavorite Bernie Stowe story?
(33:22):
Because I know you would uhbefore games, you and Bernie and
Cincinnati Reds legendarybroadcaster, the late Joe
Nuxhall, would sit in the dugoutand just talk before games
about life, about baseball,about whatever.
George Grande (33:37):
Oh, I would always uh I always joked, even
before I started doing games.
And I was for 17 years, ChrisWelch and I did the games
together, but I actually didgames with the Reds for 30 years
because I ended up 20 games ayear after I stepped back from
my my full-time job.
And even before that, startingin in 75, I got to know Bernie
and Joe Nuxhall's son, Kim, werevery close with the Nuxhalls
(34:02):
and the Stowes were likebrothers, and the families were
connected to each other.
Uh and we would, every time I'dwalk into the clubhouse, even
when I was at ESPN and coveringbaseball, I get there early.
I always get there like threeor four hours before the game,
go in the clubhouse and usuallytalk to the clubhouse guys.
You know, now it's Rick Stoweand Mark Stowe there, uh
(34:22):
Bernie's kids that are stillthere.
But I don't go in just becauseto me, those are the people that
make the game what it is.
You know, it's the trainers,the clubhouse guys, the PR
people, the travelingsecretaries, they're the ones
that you really become attachedto uh in the game.
No matter where you go, everysingle city and ballpark it has
(34:44):
those people that you want toget to know and be close with.
And back when I started, youknow, a meal for the players was
tuna fish salad and soup andcrackers.
So Bernie would make a tunafish salad, a big bowl of it,
and I'd walk in, I'd go, Here'sBernie, there's tuna fish salad
number 4,233.
And then next time, there'sBernie Stowe, tuna fish salad
(35:09):
number 4,543.
And we would laugh.
And I mean, now you have, youknow, they have chefs, you know,
it's it's amazing what theplayers get.
But back then it was it wassoup, crackers, and tuna fish
sandwiches.
And when it was done, it wasdone.
If you ate it all before thegame, you didn't have anything
after the game.
Now they have a pre-game,pre-game meal, post-game meal,
(35:30):
and it's all five-star stuff.
We would always, in my days inCincinnati, Joe Nuxhall would
come in, and Nuxie was great.
Nuxie's wife, Donzetta, triedto get him to stop smoking.
And Nuxie said, I'm not, I g Iguarantee you, I give you my
word, I'm not gonna buy anotherpack of cigarettes.
Well, we'd sit in the dugoutabout oh, maybe 1:30, 2 o'clock.
(35:52):
Bernie would come out, Nuxiewould come out, and lo and
behold, Nuxie would walk downthe the walkway to the dugout,
and on top of the bat rack was apack of cigarettes.
Now he didn't buy that pack ofcigarettes, but it miraculously
showed up.
So he got to have a cigarette.
We'd sit down there and we justtalk about life.
(36:14):
We talk about baseball.
We'd, you know, they'd remembermoments, they'd remember
people.
But those moments of sittingwith Bernie and sitting with
Nuxie are the moments that Icherish the most uh about at
being at the ballpark inCincinnati, whether it was the
old ballpark or the newballpark.
Mike Koser (36:33):
I'll get you out of here on this, George.
Not long before he becamecommissioner, uh, you had
breakfast with Bart Giamatti inNew Haven, Connecticut.
What did he share with you thatmorning?
I heard this not that long agoand it blew me away.
George Grande (36:46):
Um well, there's a history and a tradition uh
from our families.
My dad went to Yale and he wasin New Haven, Connecticut, and
my dad and uh Bart's dadestablished the first Italian
club at Yale University.
They had never had an Italianclub, and they were both
students at that time.
Um so we go back a long way.
(37:07):
Bart became president of Yaleeventually, and we developed a
friendship.
And when Bart became nationallypresident, and then when when
they didn't renew PeterUberoth's contract, he was going
to become commissioner.
And that was when the Pete Rosesaga had just started in 1989.
And we would we'd havebreakfast very often right next
(37:30):
to Yale, there's a place calledPatricia's.
It's a little breakfast shop onWhaley Avenue.
And we'd have coffee and sitand talk and reminisce.
And and I asked him, I said,what are you going to do about
Pete Rose when you take over ascommissioner?
He said, I'm said, I'm a bigPete Rose fan.
I love the way he plays thegame.
I think he represents on thefield everything that you know
we would want to haverepresented as a player.
(37:52):
But I mean, from what I see,we've got the goods he bet on
baseball.
And we all know, you do, I do,and they did back then, you
know, that from Judge Landis'sera, that the framed uh poster
that's on every single wall asyou walk into a clubhouse says,
if you bet on baseball, you'rebanned from the game forever.
(38:14):
Uh we all knew it, and he knewit.
But he said, I'm gonna give himan option.
If he admits to me he bet onthe game, I'll give him a
one-year suspension and it'll beover.
And he did.
He offered him that.
And Pete, you know, I mean,Pete was a uh great competitor,
but that urge of competition,you know, did him in in this
(38:36):
particular case.
He wouldn't admit and hewouldn't uh acknowledge the fact
that he did bet on the game.
It would have been over in ayear.
Mike Koser (38:42):
Can you imagine?
Like he would be in the Hall ofFame now.
Uh imagine the years of himmanaging the Reds, what that
would have been like.
Uh more involvement with thegame.
George Grande (38:51):
He made a mistake and he did bet on the game, and
he eventually admitted he beton the game.
But I never saw anybody thatplayed the game harder, that
when he was on the field, didmore to honor the game than Pete
Rose.
And I I feel bad down deepbecause we'll never be able to
see him stand up and give hisHall of Fame speech.
(39:12):
Right.
I mean, I I'd be I'd be withhim and we'd meet here or there,
and I did a couple of eventsfor him uh over the years, and
he said, I got my speechalready.
He says, I he says, I, youknow, and it would have been
spectacular.
And the other thing I think hewould have been spectacular at
was being a color commentatorand analyst in baseball because
(39:32):
he he knew the game, he's stayedup on the game.
When I was at ESPN during thestrike, I'll never forget I got
a call uh from Pete one night.
He says, George, you guys aregonna do during the strike,
you're gonna do minor leaguegames?
I said, Yeah.
He says, You got a schedule?
I said, uh we're you know, wejust do it week by week, but
I'll get you on it.
What do you want it for?
(39:52):
He says, some of these guys,I'm gonna be playing again.
Some of these pitchers I wantto know about them.
That was Pete.
And he gave a speech to Redsminor leaguers, which the Reds
were fined for.
This was after he was banned,that might have been the
greatest 40 minutes of a peptalk on how to be a major
leaguer.
It it's a it's a sad saga.
(40:14):
Uh he got what he deserved, butit's sad that um we'll never be
able uh to to see him stand upthere and tell some stories that
would have been, you know, wetalk about Scooter's speech and
Euchre speech and some of theother great speeches.
I think his speech might havebeen the greatest.
Um yeah.
He knew what to do and when todo it.
Mike Koser (40:34):
Yeah, George, listen, this has truly been an
honor for me.
Your stories, your voice, yourlove for the game, it all comes
through uh and bright colors.
Thank you for sharing yourtime, your memories, and your
heart with us today.
I know our listeners willtreasure this conversation as
much as I have.
So thank you.
Thank you so much for your timetoday, George.
I really appreciate it.
George Grande (40:52):
I do a lot of interviews and I've been doing
this for a long time.
You do your homework.
You got some stories that Ihaven't told publicly.
Um I've told them to friends orwhatever.
So
Mike Koser (41:02):
well, I appreciate that, man.
And uh
George Grande (41:04):
honor being with you.
Mike Koser (41:06):
All right, George, all the best to you.
Thanks, Mike.
See you at the ballpark.
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