Bing was Devine

I was saddened to hear that former St. Louis Cardinals GM Bing Devine had passed away this past weekend. . .

Working in baseball, even minor league baseball, has certainly given me many great things. I have a championship ring, I have called a no-hitter, I have called two major league games (for demo purposes) and have met many great people along the way. Some folks are just a quick interview, some remain friends. I think Mr. Devine was somewhere in between for me.

I certainly wouldn't say we were friends, I only met him three times, but he was more than just a quick interview. I actually got to interview him twice, but I talked to him for a much longer time than just what made it on the air. Like most broadcasters, I like to talk to the guests prior to our interview just to get an idea of what we will talk about and frankly whether or not the person will make for a good interview. With Mr. Devine it was easy. We just started talking before a Grizzlies game one afternoon. He had come out with Tom Wheatley of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The two were out to promote their recent book.

Anyway, Mr. Devine spoke to me like an old friend-I really felt that way. He told me stories, and related experiences he had in the minor leagues to what we were doing. When we did go on the air a few hours later all I had to do was probe him to tell the good stories. He didn't disappoint.

I know I'm not alone in the feeling about Mr. Devine. It makes me feel privileged to work in baseball, and thankful that I get to meet and interact with the people I do. Mr. Devine is just the latest example to come to mind.

By the way if you are interested you can hear that interview from June 2004 here: http://www.gatewaygrizzlies.com/team/archive/

Baseball writers' dinner

I had the pleasure of attending the 49th annual Baseball Writer's Awards dinner last night at the Millenium hotel in downtown St. Louis. Thanks to my father-in-law Ron Stenson and his friend Kevin Risinger for setting me up with the ticket. This is the second time I have been and I was a little disappointed, but not nearly as much as other people I know.

The dinner was celebrating three World Championship teams. Of course the '06 team-but also the 1967 and 1982 teams. Great, except that the marquee names from those teams were not even there. No Bob Gibson, Red Schoendienst, or Stan the Man (the GM that year) were there from 67. No Willie McGee, Ozzie Smith or Whitey Herzog from the 82 squad. No Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen, Jim Edmonds or Yadier Molina from the current champs. So that was a bit of a downer. It ran a bit longer than it probably could have, especially considering the number of folks that were not there to accept awards.

Tony LaRussa was far and away the best speaker. He plays to the crowd, is eloquent and most of the time (perhaps unexpectedly) funny. He certainly knows when to say what-and what will play to the St. Louis fans. He's not afraid to make light of himself either. With so many of the players being gone-he accepted quite a few of the awards, including Scott Rolen's gold glove award. I think most are aware of his "fued" with Rolen during the post-season. . .TLR referenced Rolen not being able to make it because of the weather. . ."and then he heard I would be accepting on his behalf and he said he take a rocket to get here on time," LaRussa said. Funny stuff.

The other highlight was the commissioner, Bud Selig, who was attending the dinner for the first time in a few years. Say what you will about the commissioner, I still thought it was pretty cool of him to make it in for the dinner. I don't think that I have seen him speak in person before. Of course we was very complimentary to St. Louis as a baseball city. He accepted an award, but brought the house down with his official announcement that St. Louis will play host to the 2009 MLB All-Star game.

Overall I enjoyed the night, and think the dinner is generally a nice night for baseball fans. I have heard that the tradition is becoming more and more rare. In fact some one told me last night that only Boston, New York and St. Louis continue with the baseball writer's awards dinners. I don't know if that is true but if so that is too bad. It's nice to think about warm baseball on a cold winter night!

First Blog. . .

Here it is. This is the first, of what I hope will be many, or at least regular posts. I enjoy reading other blogs so I figured why not add my own. As my intro says I don't plan on getting too controversial-the key word there being plan. I do have a tendency to get fired up over some things.

I will devote most of the posts, especially over the summer, to the Gateway Grizzlies and the goings on of the Frontier League team. It does consume a great deal of my time and therefore my thoughts.