Tom Nichols, Voice of the Dayton Dragons, joins Jesse Goldberg-Strassler and Kevin Reichard to share his favorite baseball stories, including the arrest of a player in the middle of a game, in this week’s Ballpark Digest Broadcaster Chat.
Nichols began his career as a fill-in broadcaster for the Indianapolis Indians under Howard Kellman, then spent several years as the Voice of the Mobile BayBears and stints in Peoria and Fort Wayne before landing with the Dragons, one of MiLB's best operations. In this week's chat, Nichols shares some of the notable stories gleaned over his career, including a memorable series at Orlando's then-Cracker Jack Stadium where a BayBears player tangled with a Disney entertainer on the field and then was arrested the next day in the midst of a game, called in from his outfield position. He also tells tales of his most interesting broadcasting gigs, including a stint with the Kinston Indians, where he called his first game at Durham Athletic Park, where the broadcast area was basically a third dugout right behind home plate. The stories come fast and furious in this episode.
The Baseball Thesaurus term of the week: Texas Leaguer, dating back to the spacious outfields of the old Texas League, where outfielders played deep to prevent doubles and triples. That made it easy for a batter to bloop a hit over the infielders and far from the outfielders.
Jesse Goldberg-Strassler is the Voice of the Lansing Lugnuts and the author of The Baseball Thesaurusand The Football Thesaurus from August Publications. Kevin Reichard is publisher at August Publications and Ballpark Digest.