John, Billy and Jackie

John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman

I keep wanting to blog more but the topics I have thought about blogging about would either be overall themes and thoughts that might seem as too vague and inflict questions or just topics that nobody cares about. 

Then again, you likely don't care about the topics I am about to write about. Or you can find thoughts on all this elsewhere. 

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John Sterling, the voice of the Yankees on the radio, announced that he is retiring, effective immediately. 

It was first reported by Andrew Marchand of The Athletic and confirmed by both the Yankees and Sterling himself. 

Sterling will have a press conference on Friday and be honored on Saturday. 

The timing is interesting, and I wonder if we will hear more but he's doing what he feels is right for himself and you cannot fault that. 

For me, there were years of summers listening to John and Suzyn Waldman call Yankee games on WCBS 880 before the Yankees moved to 660 WFAN. 

I personally also think about listening to the end of game six of the 2009 ALCS as the Yankees won the pennant over the Angels and listening to John's call as I was in the car at the time. 

There are so many other great calls of Sterling's From the World Series, to other milestones, to no-hitters and perfect games, and so much more. 

So many iconic home run calls, and other calls with nicknames, from "Bern Baby Bern" to an "A-Bomb from A-Rod" to many others. 

We will all think of John as the Yankees radio voice, but he was more than that. 

Before John started with the Yankees, he broadcast the Islanders, Nets, Hawks and Braves. 

Just a tremendous career for John Sterling and a well-deserved retirement. 

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Let's get to the Billy Joel concert at MSG on CBS that took place on Sunday night. 

Yes, I actually watched and listened. Partly because it was on in my house, but I actually was interested and paid attention. 

There is certain music I like (mostly "oldies"), I just don't pay enough attention to it or know enough to really talk about it or anything. If only I paid attention to it the way I do sports. 

Lots of great songs played, and some that were not. 

Now, to get to the broadcast. 

First off, yes, a lot of people were not happy with it starting late due to The Masters running long. 

During football season, this happens all the time with 60 Minutes and other shows and broadcasts being delayed due to football games running longer than planned. 

Second, yes, the broadcast cut off when Joel was still playing "Piano Man." Someone at CBS likely had it set to cut away to commercial and the local news at a certain time and didn't make adjustments when the show ran late/long. 

Good to hear that CBS will re-run the show in full later this week. 

I also found it interesting that it was presented as Billy Joel being live when others were reporting that this was a show that happened a few weeks ago. 

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Lastly, it's Jackie Robinson Day around Major League Baseball. 

The league has done a good job of recognizing Jackie and what he did both on and off the field by retiring number 42 around the league and having everyone wear 42 on April 15 every year. That day is used because that is the day Jackie broke the color barrier in 1947. 

People have talked about different, and possibly better, ways to honor Jackie. We will see if baseball changes that one day. 

That's one thing sports does well, is honoring it's history. 

Baseball, Radio and Work

The original look of the offices when I started. Many changes since then. 

The Yankees are bad. 

There is no other way to put it. 

Seven losses in a row and three games under .500. As I type this, they are down 5-2 to the RedSox in the seventh inning so, barring a comeback, those numbers get worse. Ok, now they tied the game on an Anthony Volpe home-run. 

And now they are losing again in the ninth as Clay Homes gives up a run in the ninth inning of a tie game. 

And now they have lost. 

Make it eight in a row and four under .500. 

There are games where they don't pitch, games where they don't hit, games where they make mistakes, both physical and mental. Then there are games where multiple issues happen. Just not a good baseball team. 

I think there needs to be changes in the offseason. Management changes are likely needed because that is the only way you get a change in philosophy for the organization. 

We will see how the rest of the season plays out and then see what the off-season brings. 

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Happy National Radio Day! I enjoy dabbling in the little radio I do, both on and off the air. I really enjoy listening to the radio I do, whether that be sports talk, games, or other items. 

A lot of that is with Rob Adams. Whether it's joining him on air, hanging with him as he calls games, or listening to him call games. I enjoy it all. It's also listening to him on his sports talk show, Doubleheader, and occasionally coming on with him. 

Beyond that, it's listening to WFAN, both talk shows, and games. 

There's the occasional other broadcasts I will listen to as well, often to listen to the broadcasters more than the actual game. 

So many people want video, but there is something great about radio broadcasts, whether that be terrestrial or online radio. 

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I'm way late on this and I've already wrote multiple times about it, but congratulations to Trumbull Babe Ruth 14U on an amazing run to the Babe Ruth World Series quarterfinals. 

It's a tremendous group of players, coaches and families. That's led by Mike Buswell, who is not only the 14U coach, but also is the managing director of Trumbull Travel Baseball, which covers, Trumbull Little League, Trumbull Babe Ruth and Trumbull American Legion. Trumbull Travel is truly something special. 

I am excited to see what these kids do going forward, especially in high school, both on and off the field. 

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On this date in 2018 was my first day working in the Athletic Departments at Ludlowe and Warde. It's been a wild ride. Many great moments, other not so great moments. Some changes. Often chaos. 

I guess that means technically year six begins. It's been crazy already. 

Excited for the high school sports year. I'm excited about all the improvements that have been made/are being made to the facilities this summer. It's what the student-athletes deserve. 

Good luck to all the athletes, coaches and teams as another year begins. 

Baseball on the Radio

Baseball on the radio, whether it be online or terrestrial, can be a joy to listen to. 

So many people want the pictures. TV or online video broadcast. 

All sports can be terrific on the radio, but, in my opinion, baseball is the best. 

I am not in my car driving all that often, so I don't listen to games truly on the radio as much as I might like. That being said, listening to John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman on WFAN (previously on WCBS), or Howie Rose and company on WOR (previously WFAN) is always enjoyable. 

I do listen to sports radio in the car. Often WFAN. I miss the days of Mike and the Mad Dog. This could be a whole different post. 

I listen to A LOT of online radio. Most notably, Rob Adams on Robcasting Radio or WGCH.com (the online site for 1490 WGCH out of Greenwich). 

There's something about listening to the broadcasters describe the action and painting the picture and as the listener, we get to paint our own picture in our heads as to what the play looks like. The play-by-play person gives the play and then the analyst, if there is one, describes it more in depth. If there isn't, the PBP person can also give some color as well. This is important so the broadcast isn't dry. 

A radio, or audio call of any kind needs more description of the play and everything going on than a TV call where the viewer can see what is happening. This does not mean for a radio call there needs to be talking all the time. There can still be pauses and the broadcaster "laying out" on a big play. There needs to be a middle-ground. 

You can do it with all sports, but it just seems like baseball is the best. Football or basketball, while I will listen on the radio, is more of a TV sport, at least for me. 

Baseball on the radio is also a great avenue for stories. Stories make the broadcasts interesting. As long as the action doesn't get lost, stories keep the broadcast interesting. Stories about the players, coaches, families or teams, or anything else that might come up.  

Sure, you can do this on TV, but it's a different type of attention as a viewer/listener on TV. 

I'm not trying to tell people things they don't know. I've just heard conversations from people, a lot who don't understand broadcasting, about how they want to watch a video broadcast and don't care/won't listen to audio only. 

To be clear, this is not everyone. 

Hogan Leads Fairfield 19U Past Greenwich

Fairfield and Greenwich in action on Saturday morning at GHS. 

Phil Hogan's complete game two-hitter led Fairfield 19U past the Greenwich Cannon's 2-0 on Saturday morning at Greenwich High School. 

Fairfield got on the board in the top of the first against Greenwich starter Zach Karson. Jack Pierce walked and stole second base. Two batters later, Joey D'Elia doubled to to the wall in right field to plate Pierce and give Fairfield a 1-0 lead. 

Fairfield added another in the third inning against Cannon's reliever Alex Roath. Christian Homa led off with a single. Pierce then sacrificed Homa to second base. Two batters later, with runners on second and third, Blake Benway singled though the left side of the infield to plate Homa. 

Greenwich had their best chance to break through against Hogan in the fourth as they got a runner to second with one our and had runners at first and second and two outs but could not plate a run. 

Hogan walked three and struck out five in addition to allowed just the two hits. One base-runner reached on an error.  

The Cannon's pitching was very good also. Four Greenwich pitchers, Karson, Roath, Jake Mondschein and Zack Alza allowed just the two runs of six hits. 

Fairfield will now gear up for the playoffs next week, while Greenwich will have a final regular season game on Sunday at Trumbull at 10am. 

The playoff brackets for both the 19U and 17U tournaments can be found at greenwichcannons.com 

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Rob Adams and I broadcasted the game on Rob's channel, Robcasting Radio. Thanks to Rob for having me along for the broadcast. Fun to get out there and help Rob out and provide some (very little) color commentary, especially with Fairfield being involved. 

We had a few technical issues, but as always, Rob is able to find a way to get the broadcast done, one way or another. He knows how to fix issues and will try multiple ways to fix them, if need be. To be clear, neither issue was Rob, or anyone's, fault. We (mostly Rob) worked though them to produce the best broadcast possible. 

Here's the broadcast with Rob and I on the call. Due to the technical difficulties, Rob recapped the lost portion of the game. 

 

Stay turned for Rob's broadcast schedule on his Twitter or the Robcasting Radio Twitter.

MLK Classic

I had a great time today doing color for the Martin Luther King Jr. Basketball Classic at Webster Bank Arena along side Rob Adams on Robcasting Radio. Normally, I am the third, fourth or fifth person as part of the crew. When that's the case, I can Tweet, do some stats, and talk very little. Today, I actually felt like I had to talk at least a little so I didn't make Rob talk for eight hours. (Not that Rob "Scullying" is a bad thing, I really enjoy listening to that).

I didn't say a lot, but I said much more than I normally do when I'm on air.

It's weird, I normally talk a lot when I'm just talking...especially about sports. However, when you put a microphone in front of me, I don't say much. There is something very wrong with that.

We saw four good games spanning almost eight hours.

First up, Ludlowe took on Bridgeport Central. Obviously, being a Ludlowe grad, being a former student manager for the basketball team, and still being around the team some (Ok, ALL of the time), this one was extra special to be a part of. It helps to know things about the team like I do with Ludlowe in order to provide analysis.

In the second game of the day, Career Magnet from New Haven faced Warren Harding from Bridgeport.



In the penultimate game, Notre Dame of Fairfield matched up with Xaverian from Brooklyn, New York. It was fun for me to see a team that wasn't from Connecticut play because CT high school basketball is what I am used to.


The day was capped of with Wilbur Cross from New Haven taking on Bassick from Bridgeport.

Thanks to Rob for having me. Also thanks to everyone who was part of the event, from the people at Webster Bank Arena, to the people in the Bridgeport Athletic Department who organized and ran the event. Also thanks to all the players and coaches on the eight teams.