August 6, 2025 • 48 mins
It’s been 50 years since Philadelphia’s Connie Mack Stadium was torn down—but thanks to longtime Phillies PR man Larry Shenk, "The Baron", it springs back to life in this episode. Larry spent decades behind the scenes with the Phillies, and his memory is an absolute time machine. A baseball encyclopedia. From the crack of the bat to the roar of the crowd in North Philly, Larry paints a vivid picture of what it was like inside one of baseball’s great lost ballparks. He also shares untold stories about the legends (Schmidt, Rose, Carlton) he worked with and the golden age of the game most fans never got to see. Sometimes the best storytellers aren’t the ones on the field—but the ones just beyond the dugout.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
(TV promo from the 1960's) NewPhillies Cap.
New Phillies caps will be givenaway on cap night, Monday, June
22nd.
And in honor of Father's Day,then we'll get a cap too.
And let's not forget Mom.
So on June 22nd, everybody inthe ballpark gets a Phillies cap
with a bright new Philliesinsignia on it.
(00:21):
In addition, you'll see theseason's first Twi-night double
hitter featuring the newPhillies and Gene Mauch's
Montreal Expos.
And between the games, acolorful Trobe string band will
provide musical entertainment.
So be sure you're at ConnieMack Stadium at 6 p.m.
on Monday, June 22nd.
See the season's firstTwi-nighter.
And remember, everybody in theBallpar k gets a new Phillies
(00:44):
cap.
And when we say everybody, wemean everybody.
Mike Koser (02:15):
Larry Shenk.
Can you hear me now?
Larry Shenk (02:18):
Yeah, I sure can.
Mike Koser (02:19):
Let me start with this.
I know growing up, you were aPhiladelphia Phillies fan.
And um so who were some of theguys that were in the broadcast
booth when you were a kid forthe Phillies?
Larry Shenk (02:30):
It was um By Saam was in there, and Claude Haring
were the two broadcasters.
Announcer (02:36):
Game audio
Larry Shenk (02:46):
Gene Kelly then became the Phillies broadcaster
in 50 because the A's and thePhillies decided they wanted to
have their games on radio.
Up until then, they were onlybroadcasting the home games.
And so by some, out of hisloyalty to the A's who gave him
the break, decided to stay withthe A's and the Phillies brought
in Gene Kelly.
Gene Kelly (03:07):
They crossed him up with uh what we've been
referring to as a sneakyfastball calling it tight near
the fist.
Mike Koser (03:13):
And those guys sort of brought it to life for you,
right?
Larry Shenk (03:16):
I mean, as a kid, uh yes, and uh I still like
radio because it leavesimagination with a long fly ball
to left field.
It leaves your imagination.
You don't see it.
And uh so I try to divide mytime between radio and TV these
days.
Mike Koser (03:30):
And I know back then you practiced your best
broadcast voice because for afew years the Phillies conducted
a junior Phillies broadcastcontest.
What year did you apply forthat?
Larry Shenk (03:40):
Yeah, 1957.
Mike Koser (03:42):
You were a finalist.
Yeah, I was they chose nine ofus.
No, there were eight of us,excuse me.
We each got to tape one inningat the ballpark, and then they
picked the winner out of that,and that person went on radio at
some point.
It was sponsored by AtlanticRichfield, the sponsors for the
Phillies broadcast.
I was from a little town incentral Pennsylvania, had a
(04:02):
pretty good Dutch accent.
Yeah.
And uh I called a pop-up flyball to right field that the
second baseman caught on theinfield.
So it I didn't do that well.
The year before me, 1956, a guynamed Andy Musser won the
contest.
And then went on to have a greatcareer in the booth with uh
with Richie Ashburn and HarryKalas for several years.
Larry Shenk (04:24):
He was from Harrisburg.
Right.
But when you tried out, how oldwere you at that point?
Uh '57.
I had just graduated from highschool the year before.
Mike Koser (04:32):
So then what a thrill to be able to go into the
press box at Connie MackStadium to do an inning of a
game.
Larry Shenk (04:38):
Yes, yes.
We went to the Drake Hotel inCenter City, Philadelphia, my
parents and I, and we had dinnerwith By Saam and Claude Haring,
and I don't forget who elsewas.
Then we went to the ballparkand we sat in the press box, and
uh they put us in a booth to doone inning, tape one inning,
which I did, and then we headedhome.
(04:59):
So it was it was a reallyexciting experience.
I had dreamed of being abroadcaster, but I couldn't
talk, which was a detriment, Ithink.
Um and you know, I grew up in asmall town, everybody knew
everybody there, and we wereabout two and a half hours from
the ballpark to Philadelphia.
But when some group of guyswere going and they had an extra
(05:20):
ticket, I got a call, you know,and I would I would go along
with them.
My dad took me to my firstgame, which was, I'm guessing
it's '48 because we're playingthe Red Sox.
Announcer (05:30):
So let's go to Shibe Park in Philadelphia.
Larry Shenk (05:32):
And some guy was in right field for Boston named
Ted Williams, which didn't meana thing to me back then.
Mike Koser (05:38):
Wow.
Uh and uh and we walked in thevomitory, and all of a sudden
there in front of me was thisbig green field of baseball.
It's a memory I haven'tforgotten.
Yeah, I it was totally new tome.
Uh I'd never been there before,obviously, and it was from a
very small town, and now we'rein the city of Philadelphia, and
uh, you know, we're drivingdown the street, um 21st Lehigh
(06:01):
or Lehigh Avenue, I guess itwas, for off of Henry, and you
saw rows of houses and so forth.
It was not something I had seenbefore.
And uh we entered the ballpark.
I don't know where we parked inthose days.
There was limited parking.
I think what we had to, youwalked up the steps to get to
the upper deck, and you'rewalking in the concourse up
there, and then all of a suddenwe know we're in a section,
(06:22):
whatever it was, and you walkout through the exit or the
vomitory, as they call it, iswhat the real name is.
And there was this big greenbaseball field right in the
middle of the city.
It was it was beautiful.
I mean, the lights and allthat.
I don't remember much about thegame.
Um, my dad was an A's fanbecause the Phillies, when he
(06:43):
was growing up, were soterrible.
Uh, he was an A's fan, and andit turns out the A's left town
after the '54 season and thePhillies remained.
There was a spot on Henry Avenuewhere you could first catch a
glimpse of the Shibe Park lighttowers, right?
Larry Shenk (06:59):
Yes.
It was a memory that I alwayshad when we'd go to games in the
future.
And then later on, when I waswith the Phillies, we lived in
Roxborough and I drove in fromthere on Henry Avenue.
I don't know exactly where itwas, but you could see the
lights, the light towers, whichreally made me excited because I
was such a baseball fan.
Mike Koser (07:18):
As a kid, when you went to games at Shibe Park, you
try to get players' autographs.
Shibe Park gave young fans likeyou a good shot at securing one
with the way that the ballparkwas set up.
Larry Shenk (07:28):
Yes, the uh the the Phillies Clubhouse was on the
third base side, uh and theyplayers had to walk across the
concourse where the fans were toget to the uh tunnel to go down
to the dugout.
So kids would hang aroundthere.
I was one of them and trying toget autographs.
My hero at the time was DelEnnis, and I had a yearbook, and
(07:50):
he came out and I fumbled andfumbled to find his page, and
now he was gone.
Uh, and later on when I joinedthe Phillies and Richie Ashburn
got to know Richie, dealing withRichie, whenever he came out of
the clubhouse, he was walkingin amongst all the six foot four
pitchers, so you can never seehim or get to him.
So I mentioned that to him onetime.
(08:11):
He says, Oh, you're one of thelittle brats that was hanging
around all the time to getautographs.
Mike Koser (08:16):
There's a great uh Tommy Lassorda story in your
book about him waiting in theconcourse at Shibe Park, just
like you, hoping to get anautograph from uh from Buster
Maynard, who played for the NewYork Giants at the time.
Do you remember that story?
Larry Shenk (08:31):
Um, yeah, I don't know where I found that story,
but I did write that.
Uh and uh
Mike Koser (08:36):
because I think Tommy's like asking for an
autograph, and Buster justpushes him to the side.
Larry Shenk (08:45):
Yeah, six years later.
Yeah, and uh did he throw athim or something like that?
Mike Koser (08:50):
I think Tommy had a pretty good memory, and so he
hit Buster.
The first two pitches werebrushback pitches, the third hit
him, and it started a fight.
And I think afterwards youknow, Buster was like, What are
you doing?
And he's like, Well, you don'tremember me?
Yeah, you pushed meto the side.
Larry Shenk (09:06):
Tommy was a feisty little guy.
Uh I got to know him later on.
Uh my best friend in Myers townwas a pretty good catcher, and
the Dodgers were after him.
And Tommy lived in Norristown.
So my friend and I were goingto a game, and Tommy said, Why
don't you stop by the house?
So we did.
And Tommy was there and he wasgracious, and he gave us the
(09:28):
book, you know, how to playbaseball the Dodgers Way, which
was impressive.
And uh when he became when hemoved to Los Angeles, he sold
that house to Bobby Wine, whowas an infielder with us in the
60s.
Mike Koser (09:41):
Yeah, shortstop.
Larry Shenk (09:42):
nd Bobby and I became good friends with the
Phillies, and I spent many atime at his house having parties
and so forth.
It's an amazing story.
And Bobby Wine still lives inthat same house.
So Bobby's up in my agebracket, he's 80, he'll be 87 in
September.
We're separated by five days, Ithink it is.
Mike Koser (10:02):
And he still lives in Tommy Lassorda's house, which
of course is now his house.
Yeah, that's crazy.
Larry Shenk (10:06):
Yeah, yeah.
And so I got I knew Tommy well,and then I became the PR guy
with the Phillies, and we dealtwith the Dodgers and saw Tommy
quite often.
And Tommy, I remember he toldme one time that he well, he
didn't tell me, but he braggedthat he bled Dodger blue.
And I told him, I said, Tommy,I guarantee you, if you cut your
(10:27):
finger, you will bleed PhilliesRed.
Mike Koser (10:32):
Hey, let's talk about the clubhouse, Larry.
The clubhouse at Connie Mackit was small, wasn't it?
I mean, unlike today, there wasno fancy spread of food or
beer.
I don't even think there weredoors on the on the toilets.
Larry Shenk (10:43):
Uh that is correct.
And there weren't many of them.
The the shower area was small,the the lockers were all metal.
You had a metal stool that theplayers sat on.
The trainer's room, you went upa narrow set of steps to a
second level.
I'm sitting in my living room.
My living room was bigger thanit was back then.
Uh and there was one trainer,and there was one whirlpool.
(11:05):
That was about it.
Uh, I don't remember any foodat all.
Mike Koser (11:09):
In the middle of the summer, that had it had to be
stifling hot.
Larry Shenk (11:12):
And they wore those flannel uniforms, too.
Mike Koser (11:15):
Uh, in 1963, you began work as a sports writer
for the Wilmington News Journal,and work took you, of course,
to Shibe Park.
By that time, it had beenrenamed Connie Mack Stadium.
Your first day, April 9th,1963, happened to be someone
else's first few days on thejob.
Larry Shenk (11:31):
Yes, I was a uh I was a reporter at Wilmington.
They sent me to cover theopening day, which was I thought
was great.
That was the ninth, as youmentioned.
Four days later, I was gettingmarried, but I thought going to
the Phillies game was moreexciting.
And um, I was in the press box,and on the third base side
where the broadcast booths wereat uh at Connie Mack Stadium was
(11:53):
Richie Ashburn, his first gameas a broadcaster with By Saam.
Announcer (11:57):
Next pitch to him, high and outside, ball two.
Larry Shenk (12:00):
We were playing the Cincinnati Reds.
Well, we were, it wasn't weback then.
Uh they were playing theCincinnati Reds, and that was
Pete Rose's first road game.
So I saw Pete on the field andI went up to him and introduced
myself, and I said, I hope we'rearound this game a long time,
and he just kind of looked atme.
Mike Koser (12:20):
Yeah, talk about predicting the future.
You called that one.
Both you and Pete enjoyed longhistoric careers um and
developed quite a workingrelationship too, which we'll
talk more about in a second.
But back to Connie MackStadium, the press box, there
was a small kitchen in the pressbox, right?
I mean, really small.
Larry Shenk (12:38):
Yeah, it was about the size of my bathroom, I
think.
And we we had two options everynight a hot dog or a ham and
cheese sandwich.
That was it.
And uh we were playing the Ithink we were playing one of the
New York teams one time, mighthave been Brooklyn.
And Dick Young, who was afamous columnist for the New
York Daily News, went up to theguy in the press box in our
(13:01):
kitchen and said he liked a hotdog.
So the guy in the kitchenhanded him a paper plate with a
hot dog on it.
Dick Young said, Where's theroll?
My kitchen friend said, Youdidn't ask for a roll.
He was kind of kind of a crudeolder person, and that's the way
it was.
And it was just Connie MackStadium was a great ballpark.
(13:25):
The playing field wasspectacular.
It was one of the best playingfields in baseball, but the rest
of it was really antiquated, itwas dirty.
We had an elevator that tookyou from the ground level to the
press box, but it held fourpeople.
And if you were going to gofrom the ground level up to the
press box, you didn't do it veryoften.
You made sure that you weregonna make a one trip if you
could and not go up and downbecause it was so hard to do
(13:47):
that.
Yeah.
Um pretty good sightlines forthe fans because they've been
around so long, but not muchparking at all.
The place was dirty and smellyand so forth.
But you know, it it was it washeaven for me because I was a
big Phillies fan.
And when I was working for thePhillies, you'd get to the
ballpark for nine o'clock for aneight o'clock game at night.
(14:10):
We played games start at eighto'clock at night, and you know,
up until about 4:30, it was veryquiet.
And then the gates opened andthe fans started coming in, and
the hawkers were there, and thesmell of hot dogs, the ballpark
came alive.
It was just a great feeling, itwas a wonderful experience.
Mike Koser (14:35):
In 1963, Larry, you were named the Phillies new PR
director.
October 23rd was your first dayon the job.
What was your salary that firstyear?
Do you remember?
Larry Shenk (14:44):
Uh $7,000, I think it was.
Bob Carpenter was the owner.
His son Ruly started the sameday I did in 1963 in the front
office.
And then in 1972, which wouldbe eight years later, he
replaced his dad as thepresident.
So I went into Ruly's officeand I said, Ruly, I don't
(15:05):
understand this.
I said, we started the same dayin 1963.
I'm still the PR director, andnow you're the president.
And he had one of the greatestanswers ever.
"Check your blood".
Mike Koser (15:19):
Larry, tell me about your office at Connie Mack
Stadium.
Where was it?
Where was it located and howwould you get to it?
Larry Shenk (15:25):
The offices were really antiquated, also.
The general manager, BobCarpenter, the farm director,
and one secretary were over atthird base on top of the
Phillies Clubhouse.
I was behind home plate on thesecond floor.
Below me was the entrance tothe ballpark where all the
players and everybody came in,office-wise, the fans came in at
(15:46):
the main entrance, which openedup, but the small one-door
office was underneath me.
And there was one metal desk inthere.
It was green.
It looked like it was an armysurplus desk.
It was heavy and stuff for onechair, one black metal cabinet
behind me, uh, a half windowthat you couldn't see out of.
Secretary for the Phillies wasan older gentleman.
(16:08):
He was in the office next tome.
I don't know what he did.
He didn't do much of anything.
Um, but it was it was heavenfor me.
Mike Koser (16:16):
There are days where obviously the Phillies are on
the road.
And for those who have neverexperienced the inside of a
major league ballpark when noone else is there, no fans are
there, no players are there,there's just quiet and a chance
to reminisce and think backabout some of your favorite
memories in that ballpark.
There, there's nothing likethat.
Larry Shenk (16:33):
No, there really isn't.
And you know, if you wanted togo see the general manager, you
had to go down the steps, goover to the third base side of
the ballpark, a couple set ofsteps, and that's where he was
located.
Uh and the ticket office was onground level on the first base
side, and on top of that was asales office with three people
in there.
We had 11 total front officepeople uh back then.
(16:56):
Rob Thompson's coaching staffright now has 13 people, which I
don't know what the hell theydo.
Mike Koser (17:02):
So, Larry, the first year that you're with the
Phillies, you realized that thePhillies are the only team in
the big leagues without a pressguide.
So you and your wife, Julie,you make your own.
Larry Shenk (17:12):
We made one.
I I asked the permission toprint it and I was turned down,
so we decided to make our own.
I think we did 300 copies.
My wife with a magic markerpainted the covers, which was
the Phillies logo with the redhat.
We put it on a it wasn't amimeograph machine, but it was
some kind of duplicatingmachine, and they had to cut
them and we drilled holes inthem, the pages to put the posts
(17:35):
in it to put it in.
Mike Koser (17:36):
Do you still have one of those press guides?
Larry Shenk (17:38):
Do I have one?
Mike Koser (17:39):
Yeah.
Larry Shenk (17:40):
Well, yes, I do, indirectly.
Um, a couple years ago, Ithought I don't have a media
guide, and the Phillies didn'thave one, so I went online and
Mike, I spent two thousanddollars to buy a Phillies media
guide that I made in 1964.
Ridiculous.
Mike Koser (17:56):
You couldn't convince the guy who was selling
it that I made this, this wasmine.
Larry Shenk (18:00):
No, I didn't even, I don't know who it where it
came from.
Uh I still have that, but thePhillies then found one, so they
have one in their office in thearchives.
Uh, we were the only team inbaseball that didn't have one.
Yeah.
And I grew up in their littlecollege called Lebanon Valley
College, and they had a footballmedia guide.
They were division three.
(18:21):
And I took that in and said,Look, the Lebanon Valley College
has a media guide.
We don't, we're in the bigleagues, still didn't do any
good.
In 1965, I went out and printedit through a printer, a
professional printer.
I didn't ask permission thistime.
I did it and turned it in thebill.
I survived.
Mike Koser (18:38):
Uh, Larry, Gene Mauch managed the Phillies from
1960 to 1968.
And while at Connie MackStadium, he had the Phillies
bullpen move from left field toright field.
I guess there were two reasonsfor that move.
Larry Shenk (18:50):
Yes, the public reason is one.
The the private reason wasnumber two.
I can't verify for this, butthe stories are that the
bullpen, our Phillies bullpenwas in the left field corner,
and the players would go in theconcession stand and get beer
and hot dogs and stuff likethat.
Mike Koser (19:05):
They had found a secret way to get to get to the
game.
Larry Shenk (19:09):
Yeah, I don't know how they did that.
I don't remember.
I was in the left field bullpenever.
And uh, but he decided to moveit to right field.
The right field wall had acorrugated tin on it, and the
ball could hit that and reallytake a weird bounce.
The bullpen coach in rightfield had a white towel.
He could tell if the ball'sgoing to hit the wall or not.
(19:30):
And if he waved his towel, thenthe runner and the first base
coach and the third base coachknew that that was in play and
we could take advantage of itthat way.
But then there was also a storythat across the street from the
bullpen in right field was abar called Quinn's Bar.
We used to go there sometimesbefore games to get something to
eat, other than a hot dog or aham sandwich.
(19:52):
It wasn't the greatest place,but in the earlier years,
players used to frequent thebar, I'm told, after the game.
So there was also rumors thatour relief pitchers were
sneaking over there to get abeer at that time, too.
I don't know that, but I'veheard that.
Mike Koser (20:08):
On May 29th, 1965, Dick Allen hit a ball over the
Coke sign, which sat atop theleft field roof at Connie Mack
Stadium.
You and local columnist SandyGrady wanted to see just how far
that home run traveled.
Do you remember what you guysdid?
Larry Shenk (20:24):
Yeah, we left the ballpark and we started walking.
And we went beyond the leftfield wall.
There was a gentleman sittingon the porch, one of the porches
in a rocking chair, and he saidthe ball landed over there,
pointing to a certain spot.
So Sandy and I started walkingoff the distance and we walked
from there to the left fieldwall, the grandstands, and then
(20:48):
we walked off what we thoughtwas the length of the
grandstand.
Then we went back in theballpark, went up to the press
box, and the ball went over theleft center field wall, and I
think it was 367 or somethinglike that.
So we came up with 529 feet.
It certainly wasn't veryscientific, and I can't verify
(21:11):
it was accurate, but that's whatwe did.
Didn't have things back inthose days to measure things
like that.
There was no way you were goingto measure this.
Mike Koser (21:18):
It's interesting.
Several years ago, um I had uhmessaged Dick Allen and I said
to him, What do you remember themost about Connie Mack Stadium?
And he just replied two words,"coke sign".
Larry Shenk (21:33):
Coke sign, yeah.
Mike Koser (21:34):
Yeah.
Larry Shenk (21:34):
In the press box then, we were mounted uh
underneath the the roof behindhome plate, so we could see the
ball going over.
A lot of people never saw it goover the foot fence where it
went.
It was it was unbelievable.
Larry Jackson was quoted in thepaper the next day, he couldn't
believe the ball went that far.
Dick had awesome strength,awesome wrists, strong wrists,
(21:55):
quick wrists.
He was a talented athlete, justnot a ball player.
I saw him, I saw him in highschool play the championship
game for Pennsylvania, and theybeat Columbia.
I think it was a team fromLancaster County.
He was a point guard on thebasketball team.
He was a two-time All-statebasketball player.
He was a tremendous athlete.
He was a gifted athlete.
(22:16):
Uh he took he could go fromfirst to third as good as
anybody.
If he was on first and was adouble play ball, he could take
out the shortstop of the secondbaseman with the best of them.
You're not allowed to do thatanymore.
When he came to bat, you didn'tturn your head.
You stayed and watched, youknow.
I think if Art Mahaffey said,uh, I talked to him about taking
(22:36):
it and what his memories were,he says you not only heard the
ball, but then you saw it go.
Mike Koser (22:42):
Yeah, and thankful that now, as of this summer,
he's in the baseball hall offame, which is exactly where he
belongs.
Larry Shenk (22:48):
Yes, it's just so sad that he's not alive anymore
to join the to enjoy this.
Mike Koser (22:53):
Right.
On October 1st, 1970.
The Phillies were about to playtheir final game at historic
Connie Mack Stadium.
What were the plans and thegiveaways for fans that day?
Larry Shenk (23:20):
Bill Giles came in as our vice president of
business operations in 69.
We needed to change ourphilosophy and everything about
how we're going to operatebecause we had only 11 people,
as I said.
We were going to a new stadiumwith 65,000 seats to fill.
So uh he brought in Bill BillGiles with the best move I think
Bob Carpenter ever did.
(23:40):
And Bill found that they hadsome wooden seat slats down
underneath the stand somewhereto replace broken seats.
You know, they were painted redas the color of the seats.
And he decided to put a stickeron there commemorating the
final game at Connie MackStadium and give them out to
fans as they came in theballpark.
(24:00):
Which he did.
We did.
But then during the game, allof a sudden you heard the
world's loudest drum section.
Rattle rat, rat, rat, rat, rat.
They were taking those seatslats and trying to break things
and and beating on things.
It was unbelievable.
Mike Koser (24:16):
Yeah, by the seventh inning, I think there was a
real sense that things wereabout to get out of hand.
Larry Shenk (24:22):
Yes.
Mike Koser (24:22):
And you and some front office people huddled
together down by the fence, youdiscover that people have
brought hammers and wrenches andsaws, and they're about to take
this ballpark apart, and theymay not wait for the end of the
game.
Larry Shenk (24:34):
Yes, and I was in the press box, so I went down
there for that meeting, and Ithink this is true too.
The umpires thought they shouldcall the game, and Gene Mauch,
who was the manager of theExpos, said, Don't do that
because you'll have a riot if wedo that.
So we went into extra innings.
We won in the 10th inning.
As soon as Oscar Gamble touchedhome plate, the fans just
(24:57):
flooded the place.
Um Bill had made major plansthat we had the Arco helicopter,
which was the sponsor, wouldfly into home plate.
We would dig up home plate, thehelicopter would then take it
and fly it down to VeteransStadium to be installed for
Veterans Stadium when it openedthe following year.
Well, that never happened.
(25:18):
We couldn't, we couldn't getthe helicopter because the field
was covered.
People were out there trying tosteal home plate.
They were trying to steal thepicther's rubber.
They tore wood off the leftfield wall.
I saw one person walk out ofplace with a toilet seat hanging
around his neck.
Mike Koser (25:32):
Yeah, I mean, by the end of that game, there was not
much left of Connie MackStadium.
And and Philadelphia fans wereready for something new.
John Facenda (25:41):
With the dawn of a new decade, the Phillies top
brass presided over aconstruction team that was
giving its baseball team apalatial new home.
It would be called VeteransStadium.
And when completed, it wouldseat more than 50,000
comfortably and give a newdimension to a day at the
ballpark.
Mike Koser (26:02):
On April 10th, 1971, the Phillies opened up at uh
Veterans Stadium.
And like you said, at thatpoint, Connie Mack Stadium had
kind of run its course.
So much history, and yet you'reready for something new.
What do you remember about theday that the vet opens up and
you're transitioning from ConnieMack?
Larry Shenk (26:19):
Well, it was it was a it was a great day because we
needed this badly.
It was the largest crowd everto see a baseball game in the
state of Pennsylvania.
It was a cold, cloudy day, butit didn't seem that way.
The first ball dropped from theArco helicopter, and bullpen
coach Mike Ryan would catch it,and he did.
We won the game, which wasgreat.
(26:39):
Uh we were really bad though.
We were we had a really badteam.
Larry Bowa was on that team andhe became a great player.
Paul Owens was a generalmanager at the time.
(27:06):
He took over general manager in72, so um, and he changed some
things around and we startedbuilding a better team for the
future.
Mike Koser (27:14):
Yeah, 72.
I was thinking about 72 werethat that stretch where the
Phillies had lost something like18 of 19 games.
And then um to switch things upto try to anything to try to
get the team going again.
Well what is it called?
Turn it around day?
Larry Shenk (27:29):
Turn it around day, yeah.
It's another Bill Giles idea.
We put the scores up theopposite way we started with the
ninth inning.
Um the the ushers andusherettes wore their name tags
on their backs.
Um and their hats backward.
The hats were backwards.
Um, we announced groups thatweren't there on the scoreboard.
Mike Koser (27:49):
Groups that are not in attendance
yeah, not in attendance.
And guess what?
We lost.
four to three to the Astrosthat day.
Larry Shenk (27:57):
Yeah.
We had a lot of wild things.
Um, Pennsylvania Dutch um hashave hex signs on their barns
for good luck and to keep theevil away.
We were still at Connie MackStadium.
Bill Giles and I went toLancaster County and visited
some places that sold hex signs,and we put a hex sign on top of
the third base dugout becausewe were so bad at uh we found
(28:19):
out that hex sign didn't haveanything to do with a baseball
game.
So Bill was very creative.
He was an entertainer becausewe had to try and create a
pleasant atmosphere for the fanwho came to the game because we
couldn't control wins andlosses.
Uh, but we wanted to make surethey had a nice experience.
Um, we catered to the kids ongiveaway days, a hat or a bat or
(28:42):
whatever the case was.
We drew well.
Uh, we could be at a newstadium too, but we created a
great atmosphere for the peoplethat did to come to the games.
Mike Koser (28:51):
July 5th, 1976, the Phillies are on ABC's Monday
Night Game of the Week, and thatmeant that Howard Cosell was
coming to the vet.
Howard Cosell (28:58):
Hello again, everyone.
I'm Howard Cosell.
This is Monday night baseballon ABC.
Mike Koser (29:03):
Do you remember that ?
Larry Shenk (29:04):
I Certainly do.
Yeah.
I certainly do.
Whenever we had national TV,which didn't happen until around
that time, the visiting teamscame in.
I always introduced myself tolet them know who I am, and if
they need anything, they couldlet me know.
So I thought about I need totalk to Howard Cosell.
He doesn't need me, you know,he doesn't care about me.
But he was sitting in the TVbooth by himself way before the
(29:26):
game.
So I went down to the booth andintroduced myself.
And is there anything I can dofor you, Mr.
Cosell, while you're here?
Let me know.
He looked at me, he said, son,there's one thing you can do for
me.
I said, What's that?
He's can you get me a bottle ofvodka?
So I went to Bill Giles'office.
I said, Bill, I need a bottleof vodka from your cabinet
(29:47):
there.
He says, Why?
I said, Howard Cosell wantsone.
Before the game.
Yeah.
I guess he drank it in the limowhen he went back to New York
after the game.
I don't know.
Mike Koser (29:56):
Pete Rose signed with the Phillies following the
1978 season.
Pete Rose (30:00):
Well, we come to the conclusion that the Reds uh
didn't want my services anymore,and that's why I went through
the draft.
Uh my heart was in Cincinnatifor sixteen years, and I wish I
could have got together with itfor the upcoming seasons, but uh
it just wasn't uh to happen.
And I decided on Philadelphia,and I feel they got a good shot
to get to the World Series, andI think I can be the added link
they need to help them get overthe hump.
I hope so anyway.
Mike Koser (30:20):
And at that time, the Phillies played their uh
spring training games at JackRussell Stadium in Clearwater,
Florida.
Uh and knowing that when theReds were gonna play the
Phillies uh that spring, that uhuh that there'd be a lot of
people who would want to attend,you decided to add standing
room only.
Larry Shenk (30:37):
Yeah, we put a rope up of left field behind the
left fielder and packed peoplein there.
Uh any ball that went in thereon a roll or a bounce was uh
considered a ground rule double,but it was packed there, you
know.
Pete was the best PR playerI've ever been around.
Uh and I I really enjoyed thefive years we had him because he
(30:58):
he was all PR.
He he'd do that, he'd doanything for you.
Mike Koser (31:01):
And well, I think at the time Sports Illustrated
came to you and said, we want uhto do put Pete Rose on the
cover, but we want him to slideheadfirst into third.
Now, listen, today if you wereto ask, pick a star, a baseball
star, and say, Hey, we're gonnaset up a photo shoot.
Yeah, we're gonna set up aphoto shoot and you're gonna
slide into third, he would tellyou to jump in a lake.
Larry Shenk (31:20):
Uh not in those words.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But Pete, but Pete was up forthat.
Yeah, he well, you know, we didit.
You know, I was concerned aboutit.
If he gets hurt, who's gonna beblamed?
Yeah, but I talked to Pete, hesaid, let's do it.
And I the photographer, Iforget who it was.
I loved the photographers atthat side, they were so
creative.
And we did it.
(31:40):
I said we're only going to do aslide it twice, you know.
I think it rained that day andthere was no tarp there.
So the base path wasn't exactlydusty and dirt, it was a little
muddy.
And uh a couple days later, Igot a call from the
photographer.
Something went wrong with thecamera, we didn't get it.
We do it again.
I thought, oh my so I go backto Pete and I said, Pete, uh,
(32:01):
unfortunately, this didn't get.
What do you want to do?
This is your call.
He says, It's a big magazine,ain't it?
I said, Yeah, he said, we'll doit.
Uh so we I think we only didone time and they took it.
I have that hanging in my denhere, a picture that the
photographer gave me a print ofit, and Pete signed it.
My my nickname is BaronB-A-R-O-N.
Everybody in baseball knew meas the Baron.
(32:23):
Pete signed the picture to theBaron, B-A-R-R-O-N.
And so, but that's that's fine.
He was a real pleasure to bearound.
And I know what he did, and Iknow what happened to him.
It's so sad because he was hewas baseball's ambassador.
Mike Koser (32:40):
Yeah, absolutely.
Absolutely.
Nobody loved the game more thanhe did.
And your son back in 78, Ithink, Andy, was the team's bat
boy.
Larry Shenk (32:49):
Yeah, my son came to spring training.
Uh he was 10 or 11, somethinglike that.
And he'd be the bat boy thatfor that day.
And Pete went up to him andhanded him a $5 bill and says,
Get me a hot dog.
I need a hot dog.
And he went to the concessionstand, got him a hot dog, came
back and gave him the $3 change,and Pete says, Keep the money.
Mike Koser (33:08):
So great.
And true to his word, just acouple years after he signed
with the Phillies, he helpedbring a world championship to
the city of Philadelphia in1980.
Joe Garagiola (33:16):
Well, Philadelphia Phillies are the
world champions....
Larry Bowa (33:42):
Everybody saying we couldn't win....
Bryant Gumbel (33:49):
Pete Rose.
Now you been through thisbefore?
Don't you ever get tired of it?
Pete Rose (33:54):
No, you never get tired of this, Bryant
Mike Koser (33:55):
Larry, your job, difficult on any ordinary day of
the baseball season, butworking through the World Series
and dealing with requests forguys who were known at the time
to not really want anything todo with the press, like Mike
Schmidt or Steve Carleton, howdid you find a way as the PR
director to make both partieshappy?
Larry Shenk (34:14):
Well, I was really fortunate with Lefty.
I had a good relationship withLefty, but he didn't want to
talk to the media.
He was consistent, which themedia accepted and can
appreciated because someathletes will talk and they
won't talk, you know, if theyhave a bad game.
Whenever Lefty pitched, TugMcGraw came in to save the game.
Tug McGraw saved the PRdirector because he was
(34:36):
available to the media.
So yeah, that's how we did it.
Mike Koser (34:39):
August 10th, 1981, after the long 55-game strike,
the Phillies were playingagainst the Cardinals at the
Vet.
Fitting because that day, PeteRose was about to break Stan
Musial's NL hit record of 3,630.
Al Michaels (34:52):
3,631.
To pass Musial.
Next up, Aaron.
If he stays healthy, thatshould come time next season.
Larry Shenk (35:02):
It was a great day, one of the greatest days I
think we have we've ever had.
We brought Stan Musial in.
Bill arranged that.
I didn't do that.
And had him been inPhiladelphia, he would come to
the games, but he would spendthe day or evening going to the
bookbinder's restaurant fordinner and then come to the
game.
We arranged to have PresidentReagan talk to Pete after the
(35:25):
game.
And Pete broke the record.
He got a single to left field.
Al Michaels (35:30):
Bouncer to the hole, there it is.
Larry Shenk (35:32):
The game was held up.
His son came out to hug him.
The players came out, and thenwe brought Stan Musial out.
Al Michaels (35:39):
Stan Musial has come out onto the field.
Larry Shenk (35:42):
It was a great scene of Musial and and Pete
Rose.
And after the game, we had abig room behind home plate that
was supposed to be a TV studiowhen we built the place, but it
never became one.
It was like a big warehousealmost.
And that place was packed withthe media.
And Pete knew everything.
He knew who was pitching forthe other team, who was hurt,
(36:02):
who was hot, who was sent down,who was called up.
And I'm walking Pete down tothe press conference.
He says " I guess you got thepresident call me, don't you?" I
didn't say anything.
He knew.
We got in there and we had aphone, a red phone on the
podium.
That was the phone to the WhiteHouse.
And they were going to call us.
Pete would answer the phone andhe would talk to President
(36:24):
Reagan.
Turns out he must have had fiveor six calls from the White
House saying, Oh, Mr.
Rose, one moment, please.
Yes, I'm here.
I'm here.
I'm here.
Uh hold on one minute, thepresident be with you.
The White House (36:35):
One moment, sir.
Larry Shenk (36:37):
Mr.
Rose, Mr.
Rose, I'm still here.
Hold on a minute.
The president will be rightwith you.
Pete said, I'm glad there's nota missile coming.
Slow as he is.
So finally he gets through, andPresident Reagan says,
Ronald Reagan (36:50):
Hello, hello.
Pete Rose?
Pete Rose (36:52):
Yes, sir.
How are you doing? Well, thankyou very much, and um I
(37:19):
appreciate it.
And I know that you're abaseball fan, and uh we
appreciate you taking time outto uh uh to call us here in
Philadelphia.
I know all the fans appreciateit, and uh and Pete Rose and
Pete Rose II appreciate it too.
Larry Shenk (37:30):
Great.
It was a great pressconference.
Um it was really wonderful.
Mike Koser (37:34):
You point out in your book a very interesting
fact that uh Musial's 3,630thhit came on September 29th,
1963, in the Cardinals' finalgame of that season and the
final game of his career.
Larry Shenk (37:46):
Yep.
Mike Koser (37:46):
And the hit, which came in the sixth inning, was a
ground ball that went right pastthe Reds young rookie second
baseman Pete Rose.
Larry Shenk (37:54):
That is correct.
I don't know where I foundthat, but I did find that.
You know, and today they comeup with more stats than you can
ever imagine.
You know, back then you had togo through books and books and
books of you know there wasn'tany computer to spit all of this
kind of information.
So I'm not sure where I foundit, but I I was looking up
something about Musial and Ilooked up for his last hit, and
(38:17):
then I went and oh my goodness,he was playing out threads, and
then I found the play by play.
Announcer (38:52):
Game audio.
Mike Koser (38:53):
Yeah, you can't make this up.
It's unbelievable.
Larry Shenk (38:55):
No, no, you can't make that stuff up.
Mike Koser (38:56):
When I think of Philadelphia baseball, Larry,
there are so many things thatcome to mind from Connie Mack
Stadium to Veteran Stadium,Citizens Bank Park, and of
course, all the great playersthroughout the history of the
team, so many greatbroadcasters, uh by some, Gene
Kelly, Claude Haring, RichieAshburn, the late Harry Kalas,
and one particular mascot.
Harry Kalas (39:19):
While the spirits of Phillies fans have so often
been deflated, there is onelarger-than-life character you
can't keep down for long.
Mike Koser (39:28):
The one and only Philly Fanatic.
If the Philly Fanatic lookslike a Sesame Street creation,
there's a reason for that.
Larry Shenk (39:36):
Yeah, we had a fellow young man in my
department called Dennis Lehman.
He went on a road trip to SanDiego and came back.
He saw the San Diego Chickenand said, we need to have our
own mascot.
And Bill Giles, who's such acreative person, was a little
skeptical.
You don't have mascots forbaseball teams.
The San Diego chicken was amascot for the radio station
(39:56):
that carried the games, not forthe pot race.
But anyway, so we decided to doit and reached out to the
company that designed SesameStreet.
And uh he wanted this big guywith a big belly and a big
snout, bright green color andall that.
We didn't buy the rights to theuniform because Bill was
concerned that it wouldn'thappen, wouldn't work, and it
(40:19):
took off like you couldn'tbelieve.
Mike Koser (40:20):
Yeah, the crazy part is I think they were charging
twenty nine hundred dollars ifthey owned the copyright, but
five thousand dollars thePhillies could own the
copyright.
You decided to save the twentyone hundred dollars.
Larry Shenk (40:33):
It was April 28th, I think, of 78.
I know the years right.
And we didn't make a big dealout of it, you know, coming to
the ballpark tonight to see whatshe's gonna see.
He just appeared, you know, andpeople just were stunned with
it.
I mean, who is this?
What is this?
And uh we had one person in thepromotions department, and we
decided that uh she would bookthe fanatic because he was so
(40:55):
much in demand.
The demand grew so much that wehad to hire a separate person
just to deal with the fanaticissues.
And uh we've had two people inthe costume since we had it in
78.
Only two.
Only two.
And I don't the currentfellow's Tom Burgoyne.
I don't know how much longerhe's gonna be because he's in
the I think he's close to 60.
(41:16):
Wow, and it's it's a hot andstinky, heavy costume.
Mike Koser (41:20):
Well, you think about wearing it uh in the
middle of August, yeah.
Yeah.
September 2003, the Philliesplayed their final game at
Veteran Stadium.
Harry Kalas (41:30):
Thank you so much.
Veterans Stadium is thebuilding.
The memories come from thegreat people who work here, the
players who grace this fielddonning the uniform of the
fighting Phillips.
And most of all, the memoriescome from you, the best fans in
(41:50):
America.
Mike Koser (41:52):
The vet was the Phillies' home for 33 years.
When it finally came time tosay goodbye on September 28,
2003, you had some great ideasplanned for the finale.
Larry Shenk (42:02):
Well, they asked me to choreograph the whole thing,
and so a bunch of us went tosome other parks.
We went to Cincinnati, saw theclosing of that stadium, uh,
what's it called?
Riverfront.
Yeah.
And there was no ending to it.
It just stopped and people justsat there.
We went to Baltimore, MemorialStadium.
We watched Atlanta, we watcheduh the video of San Francisco.
(42:26):
So I I liked what they did inBaltimore.
They didn't introduce thealumni when they came on the
field, they just came out of thedugout.
And I thought that was reallycool.
And they got great reactionsfrom the fans, you know, when
they pop out of the dugout.
So we decided to do that.
We were gonna introduce thecurrent team, I think about 200
people, uh, athletes, currentand past, and one by one we
(42:50):
bring them out.
I remember uh watching theOlympics, the winter Olympics
that year, and the parade,opening day parade in Olympics.
There's always uh a flag bearerfollowed by the athletes from
that country.
Yeah so I thought that weshould have a flag for every
year at the vet, and uh uh wehad a Phillies employee carry
(43:10):
the flag, and behind them thatperson would come some players
from that year.
Such a great idea.
We spaced them out in the fieldand then the um closing
ceremony I thought the greatestmoment in Veterans stadium
history was World Series, right?
Tug McGraw, Willie Wilson, twogreatest players Mike Schmidt in
his home runs and Lefty withhis pitching.
(43:32):
So the thought that I came upwith was we'd have Mike Schmidt
go to home play with a bat, takea swing, and then Harry Kalas
would do his Mike Schmidt homerun call, and Mike would trot
around the bases.
Lefty would go on the mound andhe would throw a pitch, and uh
Harry Kalas would call swing anda miss, struck him out, and
(43:55):
then we'd have Tug walk in fromthe bullpen, mine that last
pitch, raise his arms up in theair, and then he would run, and
and Schmidt and Bowa and Boone,those guys would run out from
the field, you know, behind Tugwas battling the brain cancer at
the time he wanted to do this,but he didn't know if he could.
Mike Koser (44:16):
Yeah.
Larry Shenk (44:16):
Um and it was it was gonna be a last-minute
thing.
The fans didn't know that.
And we found out that morningthat he can't really walk in
from the bullpen anymore.
So we we had a limousine.
Pick him up in the bullpen,drop him off at first base, and
then he would walk to the mound.
We're getting dressed in theEagles locker room uh with the
(44:37):
alumni, and Schmidt comes up tome and says, You know, I
sprained my wrist the other day.
I really can't swing a bat.
I said, Smitty.
We're not changing.
We I can't change it.
You're swinging the bat.
Just swing it one-handed, andthen okay.
Then Lefty comes over to me andsays, I can't get my arm up
anymore to throw a pitch.
I said, throw it underhandedthen.
(44:57):
We can't change this thing.
So
Mike Koser (44:59):
the life of a PR director, just trying to manage
the chaos and be able to uhadjust and adapt to anything
that's thrown your way.
And then to have the moment umwhen Tug McGraw, who's battling
cancer and in his final days oflife, uh get out of the
limousine and walk to the moundat the vet.
(45:20):
I mean, that's a moment forpeople who were there and people
who are watching on TV thatthey'll never forget.
Harry Kalas (45:26):
For the final moment on this great ball field
here at Veterans Stadium.
Final moment to take to themound when it's time to
get one last out.
Larry Shenk (46:00):
They all start circling the field for a victory
lap around the Warning track.
And it was awesome.
It really was awesome.
You know, we were there for 33years.
We wanted to give it a goodgoodbye.
I the idea was nobody in thestands would have a dry eye
anymore.
One more memory of the vet, youknow.
The Eagles hated the place, uh,the media hated the place, but
(46:25):
it was our home.
We wanted to give it treat itthe way it should be treated.
And I thought we did a verygood job.
Uh it was very emotional.
You know, I get credit for it,but it wasn't me.
I had a great team to workwith, great front of his team.
Mike Koser (46:40):
People still talk about it.
People still talk about it.
Larry Shenk (46:42):
Yeah, it was it was it was awesome.
And then came the saddestmoment when we imploded the
place.
Mike Koser (46:47):
Yeah, March 21st of the following year, yeah.
Larry Shenk (46:50):
Very emotional.
Uh watching that just crumblelike that, you know.
I just got an inquiry from thePhiladelphia Inquire this before
the show.
Whatever happened to the WillieStargell star, you know, he hot
a home run and landed in a 600level at Veterans Stadium.
Mike Koser (47:06):
Yeah.
Larry Shenk (47:06):
And we put a wooden star up there with the pirates'
colors or black and gold withhis name on it.
It got stolen twice.
I don't know how it did, but itdid.
So then we decided we're gonnapaint it on the concrete.
That way, nobody's gonna stealit.
So the inquiry wanted to knowwhatever happened to the Willie
Stargell star.
Well, it went down and crumbleswhen it was imploded, because
(47:29):
there was no way we could cutthat piece of concrete out and
what we were gonna do with it.
If Willie Stargell was aPhilly, maybe we would have
saved but he wasn't a Philly.
Mike Koser (47:38):
Such great, great stories.
Thank you for spending sometime with us today.
All the best to you.
I really appreciate it.
Larry Shenk (47:44):
Thank you, Mike.
(TV promo from the 1960's) NewPhillies Cap.
New Phillies caps will be givenaway on cap night, Monday, June
22nd.
And in honor of Father's Day,then we'll get a cap too.
And let's not forget Mom.
So on June 22nd, everybody inthe ballpark gets a Phillies cap
with a bright new Philliesinsignia on it.
(00:21):
In addition, you'll see theseason's first Twi-night double
hitter featuring the newPhillies and Gene Mauch's
Montreal Expos.
And between the games, acolorful Trobe string band will
provide musical entertainment.
So be sure you're at ConnieMack Stadium at 6 p.m.
on Monday, June 22nd.
See the season's firstTwi-nighter.
And remember, everybody in theBallpar k gets a new Phillies
(00:44):
cap.
And when we say everybody, wemean everybody.
Mike Koser (02:15):
Larry Shenk.
Can you hear me now?
Larry Shenk (02:18):
Yeah, I sure can.
Mike Koser (02:19):
Let me start with this.
I know growing up, you were aPhiladelphia Phillies fan.
And um so who were some of theguys that were in the broadcast
booth when you were a kid forthe Phillies?
Larry Shenk (02:30):
It was um By Saam was in there, and Claude Haring
were the two broadcasters.
Announcer (02:36):
Game audio
Larry Shenk (02:46):
Gene Kelly then became the Phillies broadcaster
in 50 because the A's and thePhillies decided they wanted to
have their games on radio.
Up until then, they were onlybroadcasting the home games.
And so by some, out of hisloyalty to the A's who gave him
the break, decided to stay withthe A's and the Phillies brought
in Gene Kelly.
Gene Kelly (03:07):
They crossed him up with uh what we've been
referring to as a sneakyfastball calling it tight near
the fist.
Mike Koser (03:13):
And those guys sort of brought it to life for you,
right?
Larry Shenk (03:16):
I mean, as a kid, uh yes, and uh I still like
radio because it leavesimagination with a long fly ball
to left field.
It leaves your imagination.
You don't see it.
And uh so I try to divide mytime between radio and TV these
days.
Mike Koser (03:30):
And I know back then you practiced your best
broadcast voice because for afew years the Phillies conducted
a junior Phillies broadcastcontest.
What year did you apply forthat?
Larry Shenk (03:40):
Yeah, 1957.
Mike Koser (03:42):
You were a finalist.
Yeah, I was they chose nine ofus.
No, there were eight of us,excuse me.
We each got to tape one inningat the ballpark, and then they
picked the winner out of that,and that person went on radio at
some point.
It was sponsored by AtlanticRichfield, the sponsors for the
Phillies broadcast.
I was from a little town incentral Pennsylvania, had a
(04:02):
pretty good Dutch accent.
Yeah.
And uh I called a pop-up flyball to right field that the
second baseman caught on theinfield.
So it I didn't do that well.
The year before me, 1956, a guynamed Andy Musser won the
contest.
And then went on to have a greatcareer in the booth with uh
with Richie Ashburn and HarryKalas for several years.
Larry Shenk (04:24):
He was from Harrisburg.
Right.
But when you tried out, how oldwere you at that point?
Uh '57.
I had just graduated from highschool the year before.
Mike Koser (04:32):
So then what a thrill to be able to go into the
press box at Connie MackStadium to do an inning of a
game.
Larry Shenk (04:38):
Yes, yes.
We went to the Drake Hotel inCenter City, Philadelphia, my
parents and I, and we had dinnerwith By Saam and Claude Haring,
and I don't forget who elsewas.
Then we went to the ballparkand we sat in the press box, and
uh they put us in a booth to doone inning, tape one inning,
which I did, and then we headedhome.
(04:59):
So it was it was a reallyexciting experience.
I had dreamed of being abroadcaster, but I couldn't
talk, which was a detriment, Ithink.
Um and you know, I grew up in asmall town, everybody knew
everybody there, and we wereabout two and a half hours from
the ballpark to Philadelphia.
But when some group of guyswere going and they had an extra
(05:20):
ticket, I got a call, you know,and I would I would go along
with them.
My dad took me to my firstgame, which was, I'm guessing
it's '48 because we're playingthe Red Sox.
Announcer (05:30):
So let's go to Shibe Park in Philadelphia.
Larry Shenk (05:32):
And some guy was in right field for Boston named
Ted Williams, which didn't meana thing to me back then.
Mike Koser (05:38):
Wow.
Uh and uh and we walked in thevomitory, and all of a sudden
there in front of me was thisbig green field of baseball.
It's a memory I haven'tforgotten.
Yeah, I it was totally new tome.
Uh I'd never been there before,obviously, and it was from a
very small town, and now we'rein the city of Philadelphia, and
uh, you know, we're drivingdown the street, um 21st Lehigh
(06:01):
or Lehigh Avenue, I guess itwas, for off of Henry, and you
saw rows of houses and so forth.
It was not something I had seenbefore.
And uh we entered the ballpark.
I don't know where we parked inthose days.
There was limited parking.
I think what we had to, youwalked up the steps to get to
the upper deck, and you'rewalking in the concourse up
there, and then all of a suddenwe know we're in a section,
(06:22):
whatever it was, and you walkout through the exit or the
vomitory, as they call it, iswhat the real name is.
And there was this big greenbaseball field right in the
middle of the city.
It was it was beautiful.
I mean, the lights and allthat.
I don't remember much about thegame.
Um, my dad was an A's fanbecause the Phillies, when he
(06:43):
was growing up, were soterrible.
Uh, he was an A's fan, and andit turns out the A's left town
after the '54 season and thePhillies remained.
There was a spot on Henry Avenuewhere you could first catch a
glimpse of the Shibe Park lighttowers, right?
Larry Shenk (06:59):
Yes.
It was a memory that I alwayshad when we'd go to games in the
future.
And then later on, when I waswith the Phillies, we lived in
Roxborough and I drove in fromthere on Henry Avenue.
I don't know exactly where itwas, but you could see the
lights, the light towers, whichreally made me excited because I
was such a baseball fan.
Mike Koser (07:18):
As a kid, when you went to games at Shibe Park, you
try to get players' autographs.
Shibe Park gave young fans likeyou a good shot at securing one
with the way that the ballparkwas set up.
Larry Shenk (07:28):
Yes, the uh the the Phillies Clubhouse was on the
third base side, uh and theyplayers had to walk across the
concourse where the fans were toget to the uh tunnel to go down
to the dugout.
So kids would hang aroundthere.
I was one of them and trying toget autographs.
My hero at the time was DelEnnis, and I had a yearbook, and
(07:50):
he came out and I fumbled andfumbled to find his page, and
now he was gone.
Uh, and later on when I joinedthe Phillies and Richie Ashburn
got to know Richie, dealing withRichie, whenever he came out of
the clubhouse, he was walkingin amongst all the six foot four
pitchers, so you can never seehim or get to him.
So I mentioned that to him onetime.
(08:11):
He says, Oh, you're one of thelittle brats that was hanging
around all the time to getautographs.
Mike Koser (08:16):
There's a great uh Tommy Lassorda story in your
book about him waiting in theconcourse at Shibe Park, just
like you, hoping to get anautograph from uh from Buster
Maynard, who played for the NewYork Giants at the time.
Do you remember that story?
Larry Shenk (08:31):
Um, yeah, I don't know where I found that story,
but I did write that.
Uh and uh
Mike Koser (08:36):
because I think Tommy's like asking for an
autograph, and Buster justpushes him to the side.
Larry Shenk (08:45):
Yeah, six years later.
Yeah, and uh did he throw athim or something like that?
Mike Koser (08:50):
I think Tommy had a pretty good memory, and so he
hit Buster.
The first two pitches werebrushback pitches, the third hit
him, and it started a fight.
And I think afterwards youknow, Buster was like, What are
you doing?
And he's like, Well, you don'tremember me?
Yeah, you pushed meto the side.
Larry Shenk (09:06):
Tommy was a feisty little guy.
Uh I got to know him later on.
Uh my best friend in Myers townwas a pretty good catcher, and
the Dodgers were after him.
And Tommy lived in Norristown.
So my friend and I were goingto a game, and Tommy said, Why
don't you stop by the house?
So we did.
And Tommy was there and he wasgracious, and he gave us the
(09:28):
book, you know, how to playbaseball the Dodgers Way, which
was impressive.
And uh when he became when hemoved to Los Angeles, he sold
that house to Bobby Wine, whowas an infielder with us in the
60s.
Mike Koser (09:41):
Yeah, shortstop.
Larry Shenk (09:42):
nd Bobby and I became good friends with the
Phillies, and I spent many atime at his house having parties
and so forth.
It's an amazing story.
And Bobby Wine still lives inthat same house.
So Bobby's up in my agebracket, he's 80, he'll be 87 in
September.
We're separated by five days, Ithink it is.
Mike Koser (10:02):
And he still lives in Tommy Lassorda's house, which
of course is now his house.
Yeah, that's crazy.
Larry Shenk (10:06):
Yeah, yeah.
And so I got I knew Tommy well,and then I became the PR guy
with the Phillies, and we dealtwith the Dodgers and saw Tommy
quite often.
And Tommy, I remember he toldme one time that he well, he
didn't tell me, but he braggedthat he bled Dodger blue.
And I told him, I said, Tommy,I guarantee you, if you cut your
(10:27):
finger, you will bleed PhilliesRed.
Mike Koser (10:32):
Hey, let's talk about the clubhouse, Larry.
The clubhouse at Connie Mackit was small, wasn't it?
I mean, unlike today, there wasno fancy spread of food or
beer.
I don't even think there weredoors on the on the toilets.
Larry Shenk (10:43):
Uh that is correct.
And there weren't many of them.
The the shower area was small,the the lockers were all metal.
You had a metal stool that theplayers sat on.
The trainer's room, you went upa narrow set of steps to a
second level.
I'm sitting in my living room.
My living room was bigger thanit was back then.
Uh and there was one trainer,and there was one whirlpool.
(11:05):
That was about it.
Uh, I don't remember any foodat all.
Mike Koser (11:09):
In the middle of the summer, that had it had to be
stifling hot.
Larry Shenk (11:12):
And they wore those flannel uniforms, too.
Mike Koser (11:15):
Uh, in 1963, you began work as a sports writer
for the Wilmington News Journal,and work took you, of course,
to Shibe Park.
By that time, it had beenrenamed Connie Mack Stadium.
Your first day, April 9th,1963, happened to be someone
else's first few days on thejob.
Larry Shenk (11:31):
Yes, I was a uh I was a reporter at Wilmington.
They sent me to cover theopening day, which was I thought
was great.
That was the ninth, as youmentioned.
Four days later, I was gettingmarried, but I thought going to
the Phillies game was moreexciting.
And um, I was in the press box,and on the third base side
where the broadcast booths wereat uh at Connie Mack Stadium was
(11:53):
Richie Ashburn, his first gameas a broadcaster with By Saam.
Announcer (11:57):
Next pitch to him, high and outside, ball two.
Larry Shenk (12:00):
We were playing the Cincinnati Reds.
Well, we were, it wasn't weback then.
Uh they were playing theCincinnati Reds, and that was
Pete Rose's first road game.
So I saw Pete on the field andI went up to him and introduced
myself, and I said, I hope we'rearound this game a long time,
and he just kind of looked atme.
Mike Koser (12:20):
Yeah, talk about predicting the future.
You called that one.
Both you and Pete enjoyed longhistoric careers um and
developed quite a workingrelationship too, which we'll
talk more about in a second.
But back to Connie MackStadium, the press box, there
was a small kitchen in the pressbox, right?
I mean, really small.
Larry Shenk (12:38):
Yeah, it was about the size of my bathroom, I
think.
And we we had two options everynight a hot dog or a ham and
cheese sandwich.
That was it.
And uh we were playing the Ithink we were playing one of the
New York teams one time, mighthave been Brooklyn.
And Dick Young, who was afamous columnist for the New
York Daily News, went up to theguy in the press box in our
(13:01):
kitchen and said he liked a hotdog.
So the guy in the kitchenhanded him a paper plate with a
hot dog on it.
Dick Young said, Where's theroll?
My kitchen friend said, Youdidn't ask for a roll.
He was kind of kind of a crudeolder person, and that's the way
it was.
And it was just Connie MackStadium was a great ballpark.
(13:25):
The playing field wasspectacular.
It was one of the best playingfields in baseball, but the rest
of it was really antiquated, itwas dirty.
We had an elevator that tookyou from the ground level to the
press box, but it held fourpeople.
And if you were going to gofrom the ground level up to the
press box, you didn't do it veryoften.
You made sure that you weregonna make a one trip if you
could and not go up and downbecause it was so hard to do
(13:47):
that.
Yeah.
Um pretty good sightlines forthe fans because they've been
around so long, but not muchparking at all.
The place was dirty and smellyand so forth.
But you know, it it was it washeaven for me because I was a
big Phillies fan.
And when I was working for thePhillies, you'd get to the
ballpark for nine o'clock for aneight o'clock game at night.
(14:10):
We played games start at eighto'clock at night, and you know,
up until about 4:30, it was veryquiet.
And then the gates opened andthe fans started coming in, and
the hawkers were there, and thesmell of hot dogs, the ballpark
came alive.
It was just a great feeling, itwas a wonderful experience.
Mike Koser (14:35):
In 1963, Larry, you were named the Phillies new PR
director.
October 23rd was your first dayon the job.
What was your salary that firstyear?
Do you remember?
Larry Shenk (14:44):
Uh $7,000, I think it was.
Bob Carpenter was the owner.
His son Ruly started the sameday I did in 1963 in the front
office.
And then in 1972, which wouldbe eight years later, he
replaced his dad as thepresident.
So I went into Ruly's officeand I said, Ruly, I don't
(15:05):
understand this.
I said, we started the same dayin 1963.
I'm still the PR director, andnow you're the president.
And he had one of the greatestanswers ever.
"Check your blood".
Mike Koser (15:19):
Larry, tell me about your office at Connie Mack
Stadium.
Where was it?
Where was it located and howwould you get to it?
Larry Shenk (15:25):
The offices were really antiquated, also.
The general manager, BobCarpenter, the farm director,
and one secretary were over atthird base on top of the
Phillies Clubhouse.
I was behind home plate on thesecond floor.
Below me was the entrance tothe ballpark where all the
players and everybody came in,office-wise, the fans came in at
(15:46):
the main entrance, which openedup, but the small one-door
office was underneath me.
And there was one metal desk inthere.
It was green.
It looked like it was an armysurplus desk.
It was heavy and stuff for onechair, one black metal cabinet
behind me, uh, a half windowthat you couldn't see out of.
Secretary for the Phillies wasan older gentleman.
(16:08):
He was in the office next tome.
I don't know what he did.
He didn't do much of anything.
Um, but it was it was heavenfor me.
Mike Koser (16:16):
There are days where obviously the Phillies are on
the road.
And for those who have neverexperienced the inside of a
major league ballpark when noone else is there, no fans are
there, no players are there,there's just quiet and a chance
to reminisce and think backabout some of your favorite
memories in that ballpark.
There, there's nothing likethat.
Larry Shenk (16:33):
No, there really isn't.
And you know, if you wanted togo see the general manager, you
had to go down the steps, goover to the third base side of
the ballpark, a couple set ofsteps, and that's where he was
located.
Uh and the ticket office was onground level on the first base
side, and on top of that was asales office with three people
in there.
We had 11 total front officepeople uh back then.
(16:56):
Rob Thompson's coaching staffright now has 13 people, which I
don't know what the hell theydo.
Mike Koser (17:02):
So, Larry, the first year that you're with the
Phillies, you realized that thePhillies are the only team in
the big leagues without a pressguide.
So you and your wife, Julie,you make your own.
Larry Shenk (17:12):
We made one.
I I asked the permission toprint it and I was turned down,
so we decided to make our own.
I think we did 300 copies.
My wife with a magic markerpainted the covers, which was
the Phillies logo with the redhat.
We put it on a it wasn't amimeograph machine, but it was
some kind of duplicatingmachine, and they had to cut
them and we drilled holes inthem, the pages to put the posts
(17:35):
in it to put it in.
Mike Koser (17:36):
Do you still have one of those press guides?
Larry Shenk (17:38):
Do I have one?
Mike Koser (17:39):
Yeah.
Larry Shenk (17:40):
Well, yes, I do, indirectly.
Um, a couple years ago, Ithought I don't have a media
guide, and the Phillies didn'thave one, so I went online and
Mike, I spent two thousanddollars to buy a Phillies media
guide that I made in 1964.
Ridiculous.
Mike Koser (17:56):
You couldn't convince the guy who was selling
it that I made this, this wasmine.
Larry Shenk (18:00):
No, I didn't even, I don't know who it where it
came from.
Uh I still have that, but thePhillies then found one, so they
have one in their office in thearchives.
Uh, we were the only team inbaseball that didn't have one.
Yeah.
And I grew up in their littlecollege called Lebanon Valley
College, and they had a footballmedia guide.
They were division three.
(18:21):
And I took that in and said,Look, the Lebanon Valley College
has a media guide.
We don't, we're in the bigleagues, still didn't do any
good.
In 1965, I went out and printedit through a printer, a
professional printer.
I didn't ask permission thistime.
I did it and turned it in thebill.
I survived.
Mike Koser (18:38):
Uh, Larry, Gene Mauch managed the Phillies from
1960 to 1968.
And while at Connie MackStadium, he had the Phillies
bullpen move from left field toright field.
I guess there were two reasonsfor that move.
Larry Shenk (18:50):
Yes, the public reason is one.
The the private reason wasnumber two.
I can't verify for this, butthe stories are that the
bullpen, our Phillies bullpenwas in the left field corner,
and the players would go in theconcession stand and get beer
and hot dogs and stuff likethat.
Mike Koser (19:05):
They had found a secret way to get to get to the
game.
Larry Shenk (19:09):
Yeah, I don't know how they did that.
I don't remember.
I was in the left field bullpenever.
And uh, but he decided to moveit to right field.
The right field wall had acorrugated tin on it, and the
ball could hit that and reallytake a weird bounce.
The bullpen coach in rightfield had a white towel.
He could tell if the ball'sgoing to hit the wall or not.
(19:30):
And if he waved his towel, thenthe runner and the first base
coach and the third base coachknew that that was in play and
we could take advantage of itthat way.
But then there was also a storythat across the street from the
bullpen in right field was abar called Quinn's Bar.
We used to go there sometimesbefore games to get something to
eat, other than a hot dog or aham sandwich.
(19:52):
It wasn't the greatest place,but in the earlier years,
players used to frequent thebar, I'm told, after the game.
So there was also rumors thatour relief pitchers were
sneaking over there to get abeer at that time, too.
I don't know that, but I'veheard that.
Mike Koser (20:08):
On May 29th, 1965, Dick Allen hit a ball over the
Coke sign, which sat atop theleft field roof at Connie Mack
Stadium.
You and local columnist SandyGrady wanted to see just how far
that home run traveled.
Do you remember what you guysdid?
Larry Shenk (20:24):
Yeah, we left the ballpark and we started walking.
And we went beyond the leftfield wall.
There was a gentleman sittingon the porch, one of the porches
in a rocking chair, and he saidthe ball landed over there,
pointing to a certain spot.
So Sandy and I started walkingoff the distance and we walked
from there to the left fieldwall, the grandstands, and then
(20:48):
we walked off what we thoughtwas the length of the
grandstand.
Then we went back in theballpark, went up to the press
box, and the ball went over theleft center field wall, and I
think it was 367 or somethinglike that.
So we came up with 529 feet.
It certainly wasn't veryscientific, and I can't verify
(21:11):
it was accurate, but that's whatwe did.
Didn't have things back inthose days to measure things
like that.
There was no way you were goingto measure this.
Mike Koser (21:18):
It's interesting.
Several years ago, um I had uhmessaged Dick Allen and I said
to him, What do you remember themost about Connie Mack Stadium?
And he just replied two words,"coke sign".
Larry Shenk (21:33):
Coke sign, yeah.
Mike Koser (21:34):
Yeah.
Larry Shenk (21:34):
In the press box then, we were mounted uh
underneath the the roof behindhome plate, so we could see the
ball going over.
A lot of people never saw it goover the foot fence where it
went.
It was it was unbelievable.
Larry Jackson was quoted in thepaper the next day, he couldn't
believe the ball went that far.
Dick had awesome strength,awesome wrists, strong wrists,
(21:55):
quick wrists.
He was a talented athlete, justnot a ball player.
I saw him, I saw him in highschool play the championship
game for Pennsylvania, and theybeat Columbia.
I think it was a team fromLancaster County.
He was a point guard on thebasketball team.
He was a two-time All-statebasketball player.
He was a tremendous athlete.
He was a gifted athlete.
(22:16):
Uh he took he could go fromfirst to third as good as
anybody.
If he was on first and was adouble play ball, he could take
out the shortstop of the secondbaseman with the best of them.
You're not allowed to do thatanymore.
When he came to bat, you didn'tturn your head.
You stayed and watched, youknow.
I think if Art Mahaffey said,uh, I talked to him about taking
(22:36):
it and what his memories were,he says you not only heard the
ball, but then you saw it go.
Mike Koser (22:42):
Yeah, and thankful that now, as of this summer,
he's in the baseball hall offame, which is exactly where he
belongs.
Larry Shenk (22:48):
Yes, it's just so sad that he's not alive anymore
to join the to enjoy this.
Mike Koser (22:53):
Right.
On October 1st, 1970.
The Phillies were about to playtheir final game at historic
Connie Mack Stadium.
What were the plans and thegiveaways for fans that day?
Larry Shenk (23:20):
Bill Giles came in as our vice president of
business operations in 69.
We needed to change ourphilosophy and everything about
how we're going to operatebecause we had only 11 people,
as I said.
We were going to a new stadiumwith 65,000 seats to fill.
So uh he brought in Bill BillGiles with the best move I think
Bob Carpenter ever did.
(23:40):
And Bill found that they hadsome wooden seat slats down
underneath the stand somewhereto replace broken seats.
You know, they were painted redas the color of the seats.
And he decided to put a stickeron there commemorating the
final game at Connie MackStadium and give them out to
fans as they came in theballpark.
(24:00):
Which he did.
We did.
But then during the game, allof a sudden you heard the
world's loudest drum section.
Rattle rat, rat, rat, rat, rat.
They were taking those seatslats and trying to break things
and and beating on things.
It was unbelievable.
Mike Koser (24:16):
Yeah, by the seventh inning, I think there was a
real sense that things wereabout to get out of hand.
Larry Shenk (24:22):
Yes.
Mike Koser (24:22):
And you and some front office people huddled
together down by the fence, youdiscover that people have
brought hammers and wrenches andsaws, and they're about to take
this ballpark apart, and theymay not wait for the end of the
game.
Larry Shenk (24:34):
Yes, and I was in the press box, so I went down
there for that meeting, and Ithink this is true too.
The umpires thought they shouldcall the game, and Gene Mauch,
who was the manager of theExpos, said, Don't do that
because you'll have a riot if wedo that.
So we went into extra innings.
We won in the 10th inning.
As soon as Oscar Gamble touchedhome plate, the fans just
(24:57):
flooded the place.
Um Bill had made major plansthat we had the Arco helicopter,
which was the sponsor, wouldfly into home plate.
We would dig up home plate, thehelicopter would then take it
and fly it down to VeteransStadium to be installed for
Veterans Stadium when it openedthe following year.
Well, that never happened.
(25:18):
We couldn't, we couldn't getthe helicopter because the field
was covered.
People were out there trying tosteal home plate.
They were trying to steal thepicther's rubber.
They tore wood off the leftfield wall.
I saw one person walk out ofplace with a toilet seat hanging
around his neck.
Mike Koser (25:32):
Yeah, I mean, by the end of that game, there was not
much left of Connie MackStadium.
And and Philadelphia fans wereready for something new.
John Facenda (25:41):
With the dawn of a new decade, the Phillies top
brass presided over aconstruction team that was
giving its baseball team apalatial new home.
It would be called VeteransStadium.
And when completed, it wouldseat more than 50,000
comfortably and give a newdimension to a day at the
ballpark.
Mike Koser (26:02):
On April 10th, 1971, the Phillies opened up at uh
Veterans Stadium.
And like you said, at thatpoint, Connie Mack Stadium had
kind of run its course.
So much history, and yet you'reready for something new.
What do you remember about theday that the vet opens up and
you're transitioning from ConnieMack?
Larry Shenk (26:19):
Well, it was it was a it was a great day because we
needed this badly.
It was the largest crowd everto see a baseball game in the
state of Pennsylvania.
It was a cold, cloudy day, butit didn't seem that way.
The first ball dropped from theArco helicopter, and bullpen
coach Mike Ryan would catch it,and he did.
We won the game, which wasgreat.
(26:39):
Uh we were really bad though.
We were we had a really badteam.
Larry Bowa was on that team andhe became a great player.
Paul Owens was a generalmanager at the time.
(27:06):
He took over general manager in72, so um, and he changed some
things around and we startedbuilding a better team for the
future.
Mike Koser (27:14):
Yeah, 72.
I was thinking about 72 werethat that stretch where the
Phillies had lost something like18 of 19 games.
And then um to switch things upto try to anything to try to
get the team going again.
Well what is it called?
Turn it around day?
Larry Shenk (27:29):
Turn it around day, yeah.
It's another Bill Giles idea.
We put the scores up theopposite way we started with the
ninth inning.
Um the the ushers andusherettes wore their name tags
on their backs.
Um and their hats backward.
The hats were backwards.
Um, we announced groups thatweren't there on the scoreboard.
Mike Koser (27:49):
Groups that are not in attendance
yeah, not in attendance.
And guess what?
We lost.
four to three to the Astrosthat day.
Larry Shenk (27:57):
Yeah.
We had a lot of wild things.
Um, Pennsylvania Dutch um hashave hex signs on their barns
for good luck and to keep theevil away.
We were still at Connie MackStadium.
Bill Giles and I went toLancaster County and visited
some places that sold hex signs,and we put a hex sign on top of
the third base dugout becausewe were so bad at uh we found
(28:19):
out that hex sign didn't haveanything to do with a baseball
game.
So Bill was very creative.
He was an entertainer becausewe had to try and create a
pleasant atmosphere for the fanwho came to the game because we
couldn't control wins andlosses.
Uh, but we wanted to make surethey had a nice experience.
Um, we catered to the kids ongiveaway days, a hat or a bat or
(28:42):
whatever the case was.
We drew well.
Uh, we could be at a newstadium too, but we created a
great atmosphere for the peoplethat did to come to the games.
Mike Koser (28:51):
July 5th, 1976, the Phillies are on ABC's Monday
Night Game of the Week, and thatmeant that Howard Cosell was
coming to the vet.
Howard Cosell (28:58):
Hello again, everyone.
I'm Howard Cosell.
This is Monday night baseballon ABC.
Mike Koser (29:03):
Do you remember that ?
Larry Shenk (29:04):
I Certainly do.
Yeah.
I certainly do.
Whenever we had national TV,which didn't happen until around
that time, the visiting teamscame in.
I always introduced myself tolet them know who I am, and if
they need anything, they couldlet me know.
So I thought about I need totalk to Howard Cosell.
He doesn't need me, you know,he doesn't care about me.
But he was sitting in the TVbooth by himself way before the
(29:26):
game.
So I went down to the booth andintroduced myself.
And is there anything I can dofor you, Mr.
Cosell, while you're here?
Let me know.
He looked at me, he said, son,there's one thing you can do for
me.
I said, What's that?
He's can you get me a bottle ofvodka?
So I went to Bill Giles'office.
I said, Bill, I need a bottleof vodka from your cabinet
(29:47):
there.
He says, Why?
I said, Howard Cosell wantsone.
Before the game.
Yeah.
I guess he drank it in the limowhen he went back to New York
after the game.
I don't know.
Mike Koser (29:56):
Pete Rose signed with the Phillies following the
1978 season.
Pete Rose (30:00):
Well, we come to the conclusion that the Reds uh
didn't want my services anymore,and that's why I went through
the draft.
Uh my heart was in Cincinnatifor sixteen years, and I wish I
could have got together with itfor the upcoming seasons, but uh
it just wasn't uh to happen.
And I decided on Philadelphia,and I feel they got a good shot
to get to the World Series, andI think I can be the added link
they need to help them get overthe hump.
I hope so anyway.
Mike Koser (30:20):
And at that time, the Phillies played their uh
spring training games at JackRussell Stadium in Clearwater,
Florida.
Uh and knowing that when theReds were gonna play the
Phillies uh that spring, that uhuh that there'd be a lot of
people who would want to attend,you decided to add standing
room only.
Larry Shenk (30:37):
Yeah, we put a rope up of left field behind the
left fielder and packed peoplein there.
Uh any ball that went in thereon a roll or a bounce was uh
considered a ground rule double,but it was packed there, you
know.
Pete was the best PR playerI've ever been around.
Uh and I I really enjoyed thefive years we had him because he
(30:58):
he was all PR.
He he'd do that, he'd doanything for you.
Mike Koser (31:01):
And well, I think at the time Sports Illustrated
came to you and said, we want uhto do put Pete Rose on the
cover, but we want him to slideheadfirst into third.
Now, listen, today if you wereto ask, pick a star, a baseball
star, and say, Hey, we're gonnaset up a photo shoot.
Yeah, we're gonna set up aphoto shoot and you're gonna
slide into third, he would tellyou to jump in a lake.
Larry Shenk (31:20):
Uh not in those words.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But Pete, but Pete was up forthat.
Yeah, he well, you know, we didit.
You know, I was concerned aboutit.
If he gets hurt, who's gonna beblamed?
Yeah, but I talked to Pete, hesaid, let's do it.
And I the photographer, Iforget who it was.
I loved the photographers atthat side, they were so
creative.
And we did it.
(31:40):
I said we're only going to do aslide it twice, you know.
I think it rained that day andthere was no tarp there.
So the base path wasn't exactlydusty and dirt, it was a little
muddy.
And uh a couple days later, Igot a call from the
photographer.
Something went wrong with thecamera, we didn't get it.
We do it again.
I thought, oh my so I go backto Pete and I said, Pete, uh,
(32:01):
unfortunately, this didn't get.
What do you want to do?
This is your call.
He says, It's a big magazine,ain't it?
I said, Yeah, he said, we'll doit.
Uh so we I think we only didone time and they took it.
I have that hanging in my denhere, a picture that the
photographer gave me a print ofit, and Pete signed it.
My my nickname is BaronB-A-R-O-N.
Everybody in baseball knew meas the Baron.
(32:23):
Pete signed the picture to theBaron, B-A-R-R-O-N.
And so, but that's that's fine.
He was a real pleasure to bearound.
And I know what he did, and Iknow what happened to him.
It's so sad because he was hewas baseball's ambassador.
Mike Koser (32:40):
Yeah, absolutely.
Absolutely.
Nobody loved the game more thanhe did.
And your son back in 78, Ithink, Andy, was the team's bat
boy.
Larry Shenk (32:49):
Yeah, my son came to spring training.
Uh he was 10 or 11, somethinglike that.
And he'd be the bat boy thatfor that day.
And Pete went up to him andhanded him a $5 bill and says,
Get me a hot dog.
I need a hot dog.
And he went to the concessionstand, got him a hot dog, came
back and gave him the $3 change,and Pete says, Keep the money.
Mike Koser (33:08):
So great.
And true to his word, just acouple years after he signed
with the Phillies, he helpedbring a world championship to
the city of Philadelphia in1980.
Joe Garagiola (33:16):
Well, Philadelphia Phillies are the
world champions....
Larry Bowa (33:42):
Everybody saying we couldn't win....
Bryant Gumbel (33:49):
Pete Rose.
Now you been through thisbefore?
Don't you ever get tired of it?
Pete Rose (33:54):
No, you never get tired of this, Bryant
Mike Koser (33:55):
Larry, your job, difficult on any ordinary day of
the baseball season, butworking through the World Series
and dealing with requests forguys who were known at the time
to not really want anything todo with the press, like Mike
Schmidt or Steve Carleton, howdid you find a way as the PR
director to make both partieshappy?
Larry Shenk (34:14):
Well, I was really fortunate with Lefty.
I had a good relationship withLefty, but he didn't want to
talk to the media.
He was consistent, which themedia accepted and can
appreciated because someathletes will talk and they
won't talk, you know, if theyhave a bad game.
Whenever Lefty pitched, TugMcGraw came in to save the game.
Tug McGraw saved the PRdirector because he was
(34:36):
available to the media.
So yeah, that's how we did it.
Mike Koser (34:39):
August 10th, 1981, after the long 55-game strike,
the Phillies were playingagainst the Cardinals at the
Vet.
Fitting because that day, PeteRose was about to break Stan
Musial's NL hit record of 3,630.
Al Michaels (34:52):
3,631.
To pass Musial.
Next up, Aaron.
If he stays healthy, thatshould come time next season.
Larry Shenk (35:02):
It was a great day, one of the greatest days I
think we have we've ever had.
We brought Stan Musial in.
Bill arranged that.
I didn't do that.
And had him been inPhiladelphia, he would come to
the games, but he would spendthe day or evening going to the
bookbinder's restaurant fordinner and then come to the
game.
We arranged to have PresidentReagan talk to Pete after the
(35:25):
game.
And Pete broke the record.
He got a single to left field.
Al Michaels (35:30):
Bouncer to the hole, there it is.
Larry Shenk (35:32):
The game was held up.
His son came out to hug him.
The players came out, and thenwe brought Stan Musial out.
Al Michaels (35:39):
Stan Musial has come out onto the field.
Larry Shenk (35:42):
It was a great scene of Musial and and Pete
Rose.
And after the game, we had abig room behind home plate that
was supposed to be a TV studiowhen we built the place, but it
never became one.
It was like a big warehousealmost.
And that place was packed withthe media.
And Pete knew everything.
He knew who was pitching forthe other team, who was hurt,
(36:02):
who was hot, who was sent down,who was called up.
And I'm walking Pete down tothe press conference.
He says " I guess you got thepresident call me, don't you?" I
didn't say anything.
He knew.
We got in there and we had aphone, a red phone on the
podium.
That was the phone to the WhiteHouse.
And they were going to call us.
Pete would answer the phone andhe would talk to President
(36:24):
Reagan.
Turns out he must have had fiveor six calls from the White
House saying, Oh, Mr.
Rose, one moment, please.
Yes, I'm here.
I'm here.
I'm here.
Uh hold on one minute, thepresident be with you.
The White House (36:35):
One moment, sir.
Larry Shenk (36:37):
Mr.
Rose, Mr.
Rose, I'm still here.
Hold on a minute.
The president will be rightwith you.
Pete said, I'm glad there's nota missile coming.
Slow as he is.
So finally he gets through, andPresident Reagan says,
Ronald Reagan (36:50):
Hello, hello.
Pete Rose?
Pete Rose (36:52):
Yes, sir.
How are you doing? Well, thankyou very much, and um I
(37:19):
appreciate it.
And I know that you're abaseball fan, and uh we
appreciate you taking time outto uh uh to call us here in
Philadelphia.
I know all the fans appreciateit, and uh and Pete Rose and
Pete Rose II appreciate it too.
Larry Shenk (37:30):
Great.
It was a great pressconference.
Um it was really wonderful.
Mike Koser (37:34):
You point out in your book a very interesting
fact that uh Musial's 3,630thhit came on September 29th,
1963, in the Cardinals' finalgame of that season and the
final game of his career.
Larry Shenk (37:46):
Yep.
Mike Koser (37:46):
And the hit, which came in the sixth inning, was a
ground ball that went right pastthe Reds young rookie second
baseman Pete Rose.
Larry Shenk (37:54):
That is correct.
I don't know where I foundthat, but I did find that.
You know, and today they comeup with more stats than you can
ever imagine.
You know, back then you had togo through books and books and
books of you know there wasn'tany computer to spit all of this
kind of information.
So I'm not sure where I foundit, but I I was looking up
something about Musial and Ilooked up for his last hit, and
(38:17):
then I went and oh my goodness,he was playing out threads, and
then I found the play by play.
Announcer (38:52):
Game audio.
Mike Koser (38:53):
Yeah, you can't make this up.
It's unbelievable.
Larry Shenk (38:55):
No, no, you can't make that stuff up.
Mike Koser (38:56):
When I think of Philadelphia baseball, Larry,
there are so many things thatcome to mind from Connie Mack
Stadium to Veteran Stadium,Citizens Bank Park, and of
course, all the great playersthroughout the history of the
team, so many greatbroadcasters, uh by some, Gene
Kelly, Claude Haring, RichieAshburn, the late Harry Kalas,
and one particular mascot.
Harry Kalas (39:19):
While the spirits of Phillies fans have so often
been deflated, there is onelarger-than-life character you
can't keep down for long.
Mike Koser (39:28):
The one and only Philly Fanatic.
If the Philly Fanatic lookslike a Sesame Street creation,
there's a reason for that.
Larry Shenk (39:36):
Yeah, we had a fellow young man in my
department called Dennis Lehman.
He went on a road trip to SanDiego and came back.
He saw the San Diego Chickenand said, we need to have our
own mascot.
And Bill Giles, who's such acreative person, was a little
skeptical.
You don't have mascots forbaseball teams.
The San Diego chicken was amascot for the radio station
(39:56):
that carried the games, not forthe pot race.
But anyway, so we decided to doit and reached out to the
company that designed SesameStreet.
And uh he wanted this big guywith a big belly and a big
snout, bright green color andall that.
We didn't buy the rights to theuniform because Bill was
concerned that it wouldn'thappen, wouldn't work, and it
(40:19):
took off like you couldn'tbelieve.
Mike Koser (40:20):
Yeah, the crazy part is I think they were charging
twenty nine hundred dollars ifthey owned the copyright, but
five thousand dollars thePhillies could own the
copyright.
You decided to save the twentyone hundred dollars.
Larry Shenk (40:33):
It was April 28th, I think, of 78.
I know the years right.
And we didn't make a big dealout of it, you know, coming to
the ballpark tonight to see whatshe's gonna see.
He just appeared, you know, andpeople just were stunned with
it.
I mean, who is this?
What is this?
And uh we had one person in thepromotions department, and we
decided that uh she would bookthe fanatic because he was so
(40:55):
much in demand.
The demand grew so much that wehad to hire a separate person
just to deal with the fanaticissues.
And uh we've had two people inthe costume since we had it in
78.
Only two.
Only two.
And I don't the currentfellow's Tom Burgoyne.
I don't know how much longerhe's gonna be because he's in
the I think he's close to 60.
(41:16):
Wow, and it's it's a hot andstinky, heavy costume.
Mike Koser (41:20):
Well, you think about wearing it uh in the
middle of August, yeah.
Yeah.
September 2003, the Philliesplayed their final game at
Veteran Stadium.
Harry Kalas (41:30):
Thank you so much.
Veterans Stadium is thebuilding.
The memories come from thegreat people who work here, the
players who grace this fielddonning the uniform of the
fighting Phillips.
And most of all, the memoriescome from you, the best fans in
(41:50):
America.
Mike Koser (41:52):
The vet was the Phillies' home for 33 years.
When it finally came time tosay goodbye on September 28,
2003, you had some great ideasplanned for the finale.
Larry Shenk (42:02):
Well, they asked me to choreograph the whole thing,
and so a bunch of us went tosome other parks.
We went to Cincinnati, saw theclosing of that stadium, uh,
what's it called?
Riverfront.
Yeah.
And there was no ending to it.
It just stopped and people justsat there.
We went to Baltimore, MemorialStadium.
We watched Atlanta, we watcheduh the video of San Francisco.
(42:26):
So I I liked what they did inBaltimore.
They didn't introduce thealumni when they came on the
field, they just came out of thedugout.
And I thought that was reallycool.
And they got great reactionsfrom the fans, you know, when
they pop out of the dugout.
So we decided to do that.
We were gonna introduce thecurrent team, I think about 200
people, uh, athletes, currentand past, and one by one we
(42:50):
bring them out.
I remember uh watching theOlympics, the winter Olympics
that year, and the parade,opening day parade in Olympics.
There's always uh a flag bearerfollowed by the athletes from
that country.
Yeah so I thought that weshould have a flag for every
year at the vet, and uh uh wehad a Phillies employee carry
(43:10):
the flag, and behind them thatperson would come some players
from that year.
Such a great idea.
We spaced them out in the fieldand then the um closing
ceremony I thought the greatestmoment in Veterans stadium
history was World Series, right?
Tug McGraw, Willie Wilson, twogreatest players Mike Schmidt in
his home runs and Lefty withhis pitching.
(43:32):
So the thought that I came upwith was we'd have Mike Schmidt
go to home play with a bat, takea swing, and then Harry Kalas
would do his Mike Schmidt homerun call, and Mike would trot
around the bases.
Lefty would go on the mound andhe would throw a pitch, and uh
Harry Kalas would call swing anda miss, struck him out, and
(43:55):
then we'd have Tug walk in fromthe bullpen, mine that last
pitch, raise his arms up in theair, and then he would run, and
and Schmidt and Bowa and Boone,those guys would run out from
the field, you know, behind Tugwas battling the brain cancer at
the time he wanted to do this,but he didn't know if he could.
Mike Koser (44:16):
Yeah.
Larry Shenk (44:16):
Um and it was it was gonna be a last-minute
thing.
The fans didn't know that.
And we found out that morningthat he can't really walk in
from the bullpen anymore.
So we we had a limousine.
Pick him up in the bullpen,drop him off at first base, and
then he would walk to the mound.
We're getting dressed in theEagles locker room uh with the
(44:37):
alumni, and Schmidt comes up tome and says, You know, I
sprained my wrist the other day.
I really can't swing a bat.
I said, Smitty.
We're not changing.
We I can't change it.
You're swinging the bat.
Just swing it one-handed, andthen okay.
Then Lefty comes over to me andsays, I can't get my arm up
anymore to throw a pitch.
I said, throw it underhandedthen.
(44:57):
We can't change this thing.
So
Mike Koser (44:59):
the life of a PR director, just trying to manage
the chaos and be able to uhadjust and adapt to anything
that's thrown your way.
And then to have the moment umwhen Tug McGraw, who's battling
cancer and in his final days oflife, uh get out of the
limousine and walk to the moundat the vet.
(45:20):
I mean, that's a moment forpeople who were there and people
who are watching on TV thatthey'll never forget.
Harry Kalas (45:26):
For the final moment on this great ball field
here at Veterans Stadium.
Final moment to take to themound when it's time to
get one last out.
Larry Shenk (46:00):
They all start circling the field for a victory
lap around the Warning track.
And it was awesome.
It really was awesome.
You know, we were there for 33years.
We wanted to give it a goodgoodbye.
I the idea was nobody in thestands would have a dry eye
anymore.
One more memory of the vet, youknow.
The Eagles hated the place, uh,the media hated the place, but
(46:25):
it was our home.
We wanted to give it treat itthe way it should be treated.
And I thought we did a verygood job.
Uh it was very emotional.
You know, I get credit for it,but it wasn't me.
I had a great team to workwith, great front of his team.
Mike Koser (46:40):
People still talk about it.
People still talk about it.
Larry Shenk (46:42):
Yeah, it was it was it was awesome.
And then came the saddestmoment when we imploded the
place.
Mike Koser (46:47):
Yeah, March 21st of the following year, yeah.
Larry Shenk (46:50):
Very emotional.
Uh watching that just crumblelike that, you know.
I just got an inquiry from thePhiladelphia Inquire this before
the show.
Whatever happened to the WillieStargell star, you know, he hot
a home run and landed in a 600level at Veterans Stadium.
Mike Koser (47:06):
Yeah.
Larry Shenk (47:06):
And we put a wooden star up there with the pirates'
colors or black and gold withhis name on it.
It got stolen twice.
I don't know how it did, but itdid.
So then we decided we're gonnapaint it on the concrete.
That way, nobody's gonna stealit.
So the inquiry wanted to knowwhatever happened to the Willie
Stargell star.
Well, it went down and crumbleswhen it was imploded, because
(47:29):
there was no way we could cutthat piece of concrete out and
what we were gonna do with it.
If Willie Stargell was aPhilly, maybe we would have
saved but he wasn't a Philly.
Mike Koser (47:38):
Such great, great stories.
Thank you for spending sometime with us today.
All the best to you.
I really appreciate it.
Larry Shenk (47:44):
Thank you, Mike.
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