Ernie Whitt (1977 Blue Jays)

On this episode, I'm joined by Ernie Whitt, catcher from the 1977 inaugural Toronto Blue Jays team. He shares stories about some of the historic minor league ballparks he played in, the American League ballparks of the 70s and 80s, his first MLB hit, and the early days of the Blue Jays at Exhibition Stadium. Plus, Ernie reflects on two unforgettable things Dwight Evans and Carlton Fisk did for him that he'll never forget.

Transcript

Mike Koser 0:00

All right, I think we are ready to go. Ernie Witt. Can you hear me okay?

Ernie Whitt 0:04

Yeah, I can hear you, Mike.

Mike Koser 0:05

Oh, perfect. Good. How are you?

Ernie Whitt 0:07

I'm do well. I'm well. You know, little bumps and bruises along the way with this rehab, but

Mike Koser 0:13

That sounds like the life of a catcher.

Ernie Whitt 0:15

Yeah, tell me about it. And hopefully no more new parts coming my way.

Mike Koser 0:20

Our guest today is Ernie Witt. Ernie, it's so great to have you with us today. You were a key member of the inaugural Toronto Blue Jays from 1977, an all-star catcher, wrapping up your career with 134 home runs and two division titles. In 2009, you were inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, and you are, without a doubt, a beloved figure among diehard Blue Jay fans. Hey, thanks for making time for this. I appreciate it.

1st MLB game as a kid, Tiger Stadium

Ernie Whitt 2:12

No worries.

Mike Koser 2:13

You grew up in Detroit. Did you watch your first big league game at Tiger Stadium?

Ernie Whitt 2:17

I did.

Mike Koser 2:18

Yeah, what do you remember about that day?

Ernie Whitt 2:20

Well, I remember that we always listen uh to the Tiger games. I don't remember seeing much of them on TV, but uh always listened to them on the radio.

Ernie Harwell 2:31

Bright and sunny on Mother's Day in Detroit, but very breezy. The wind uh coming from third base toward first. Here's a drive to the left and maybe all the way. It's hooking. It is a foul ball ooh that was close.

Ernie Whitt 2:45

Uh it just we had the opportunity, my brother and I, we we'd get on a bus and we'd go downtown Detroit and sit in the center field bleachers and watch the games like on a Saturday afternoon or something like that.

Mike Koser 2:59

Yeah, because it was Kids' Day every Saturday, right?

Ernie Whitt 3:01

Yeah, uh again, I don't remember much of it other than the fact I remember we'd we'd always you know start off in center field and kind of work our way down into left field and then worked our way around into the uh on the baselines.

Mike Koser 3:15

And some of your favorite Tiger players at the time would have been

Ernie Whitt 3:19

Well, Al Kaline was naturally the my favorite at that time, you know, Dick McAuliffe actually, who managed me in the minor leagues. Then uh I I loved Bill Freehan as a catching end of it.

Ernie Harwell 3:32

Bill Freehan, the catcher and the number eight hitter. Freehan catching.

Ernie Whitt 3:37

So, I mean, there there was uh a number of em...Norm Cash, Storm in Norman Cash.

Mike Koser 3:43

Yeah. Speaking of your brother, the backyard baseball games that you guys would have with your friends sound like so. What so many of us would experience or have experienced. Didn't you guys have two trees that were first and third, and then you would find whatever was laying around for second base?

Ernie Whitt 3:58

Yeah, we'd find something to lay around, put down for second base. But uh you know, if there was only you know four or five of us, we you know, we'd always say, well, left field was out, you're you're a left-hand hitter, left you couldn't hit the ball left field. And so we'd have our our makeshift shift going early in the 60s. People didn't even know about it, but we were shifting early in the 60s.

Mike Koser 4:23

You guys were way ahead of your time.

Ernie Whitt 4:25

Way ahead. But you knew from the time you were small, right, that you wanted to be a big league ball player one day. Yeah, that was that was my uh hopes and dreams, I think I would say.

Announcer 4:36

How does a fella get to be a major leaguer? Well, if you've got baseball in your blood, you've got to be playing somewhere. On the vacant lot or the high school team or the sandlot squad. If you're good enough, they grade you on how well you hit, how fast you run, how strongly you throw.

Drafted by Red Sox in 1972

Mike Koser 4:52

In 1972, Ernie, you were drafted by the Boston Red Sox. You were hoping to be taken by your hometown team, the Tigers, but their scout said he didn't think you would make it past AA baseball. That had to be fuel for you. That had to be fire, didn't it?

Ernie Whitt 5:07

Well, I found out later, uh, during the course of my, you know, my career in the minor leagues and big leagues, that the scout told me that the general manager who was um

Mike Koser 5:18

That was Bill. Was it Bill?

Ernie Whitt 5:19

Bill Lajoie. Thank you.

Mike Koser 5:21

Yeah, yeah. He had said to the scout, I've seen him, I don't think you'll ever make it past double A. I've always had the mental state that if you tell me I can't do something, I'm gonna prove you wrong. Especially being that I I used to go to all of their camps that they had here in the in the Detroit area. All of the Tiger Scouts always talked to me and told me that they really thought that I had a chance to play at the highest level.

Announcer 5:50

There'll be a good living in the years ahead with top salaries, firm friendships, and profitable contacts in the business world.

Ernie Whitt 5:57

Yeah, but then when they told me what Bill had said, I was like, okay.

Mike Koser 6:01

Yeah, let me put that in the back of my pocket.

Minor league ballpark memories: Wahconah Park

Ernie Whitt 6:03

Yes, that was definitely uh what they called chalkboard uh memory that you think of, the opposing team.

Mike Koser 6:11

Yeah, absolutely. So coming up through the minor leagues, you played at some historic ballparks like Wahconah Park in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, which was built in 1919. One of the last remaining ballparks with a wooden grandstand, in fact. What do you remember about Wahconah Park?

Ernie Whitt 6:26

Uh that we'd always, if if it was a nice day, we were going to have like a half an hour break. Didn't matter what inning you were in, because the sun set in center field and you could not see the ball.

Mike Koser 6:39

There'd be like a little intermission.

Muzzy Field

Ernie Whitt 6:40

There would be an intermission, about a half an hour intermission, which was difficult on on the managers because you don't want your pitcher to sit in for that long. But right, then again, from a safety standpoint, you know, with the sun setting there, there's nothing that you could do. So they'd have to have a little intermission, and we'd just uh, you know, just kind of sit in a dugout and waiting for the sun to set.

Mike Koser 7:04

Another great old ballpark that you played in as a member of the Bristol Red Sox was Muzzy Field in Bristol, Connecticut. It opened in 1912, was destroyed by fire in the late 1930s, and then reopened with a brick grandstand in 1939. And we're talking, Ernie, we're talking all-time greats who play there. Babe Ruth, Warren Spahn, Satchel Paige, all played at Muzzy Field. What do you remember about Muzzy Field?

Ernie Whitt 7:27

I loved that place. It was just a beautiful setting. They had huge evergreens all around the fence in the outfield. Uh, it was a short porch in right field. And that's that was probably my time where I learned how to pull the ball to try to take advantage of that short porch in right field. Then outside the main gate was uh a little uh bar called Chippies, and they had the best corn beef, roast beef sandwiches around. And uh anytime we'd have a double header, you know, I'd have my wife go out and go next door and get a get a sandwich from Chippies, and while all the wives there would go and get sandwiches for their husbands from Chippies, and it was just uh a quaint little setting that those those are things that you you remember, I guess, most going through the minor league system.

Mike Koser 8:20

Early 70s, didn't they also have hand-painted ads on the outfield wall?

Thetford Mines, Quebec

Ernie Whitt 8:26

Absolutely hand-painted. They they didn't have the banners that they drape over the wall, they had the hand-painted ones. You know, it was there was no padding on the wall. So, you know, things were different back then.

Mike Koser 8:39

Yeah, they sure were. And the minors, uh, speaking of different, there were plenty of small towns that you passed through and played in, like Thetford Mines in Quebec where the only source of food, the only restaurant at the time was a little hamburger dairy bar stand. Do you remember that place?

Joe Morgan not that Joe Morgan

Ernie Whitt 8:55

I do. Spent a lot of I spent a lot of my five dollars a day that we got for meal money at that place. About a quarter mile down the road that we'd have to walk to to get us, you know, get a hamburger. And uh it was quaint. Uh, what I liked about the ball park too is that it was a party atmosphere for the fans. I mean, that that was their entertainment at night, is to come and watch the games in the evening. And I guess that was really my first experience watching the fans drink a lot of beer at Thetford Mines. At Thetford Mines.

Mike Koser 9:30

Yeah, absolutely. When you played for the Rhode Island Red Sox, your manager was Joe Morgan, not the Hall of Famer, different Joe Morgan.

Ernie Whitt 9:38

Yeah,

Mike Koser 9:38

he was he was a unique guy, wasn't he?

Moonlighting bowling

Ernie Whitt 9:40

He was different. He he was different. I mean, he he just he kept the team loose. You never knew what he was going to do. My first time up triple A and being with him, I think it was like in in early April, all of a sudden, our we our center fielder, Dick Sharon, made a diving catch, just a tremendous catch. And all of a sudden, I see Joe running out of the dugout, sprinting out the center field. He runs out there, he shakes his hand, and he jogs back into the dugout. I'm going, what the hell is going on here? But he was uh he was good. He'd sit in the front of bus and just we had a guy by the name of Dave Machemer, uh, that was a little utility player for us that managed a lot in the minor leagues and uh after he was done playing. But Joe would just sit in a bus and just start MacMur. MacMur, Machemer . I don't know that that name just intrigued him. And we we'd be on a couple hour bus trip, and that's all you'd hear Joe saying in the front of the bus. MacMur.

Mike Koser 10:45

As a side note, I don't think you ever made over $1,500 a month in the minor leagues. So you would have to supplement your income in the offseason with different jobs and sometimes bowling. Right?

Ernie Whitt 10:57

I did, I loved bowling. We'd bowl a lot in what they call the moonlight double bowling. Uh it was my wife and I, and we did it, you know. I mean, she took the trophies, but I took the money, which was which was a good thing. And then I'd go to some tournaments on the way to spring training. They had the Hoinke Classic in Cincinnati. And we'd always time going to spring training to stop there and and I'd participate in the tournament, win some money, and then go on. But uh they also won a lot of money in what they call pot games. So after the leagues are done, guys, a bunch of guys would get together and they'd play, you know, put money in the pot, and whoever won the game would win that money.

Mike Koser 11:40

Yeah, that's great. What a great way to supplement, too.

Ernie Whitt 11:43

Yeah, it was fun.

1st game at Yankee Stadium

Mike Koser 11:44

So, Ernie, you finally get the call up to the Red Sox in September of 1976, and your first game is at Yankee Stadium.

Howard Cosell 11:51

You can't be here, you can't be on these Yankee dugout steps where I am now, and not live with the nostalgia of what's been here before.

Ernie Whitt 12:03

It was uh quite a nervous feeling I had in my gut. I mean, I I'm walking from the dugout out to the out to the bullpen before the game started, and all of a sudden my mind started going. I says, Can you I just can't imagine all of the great players through the history of the Yankees and all of baseball that have walked these same fields. And uh it just was like a uh a dream come true that I was actually walking on a major league field where other superstars, as you you know, that that played at that level, and now I was a part of it.

An incredible gift from Carlton Fisk

Mike Koser 12:44

And a couple weeks later, the Red Sox are playing at Tiger Stadium, the ballpark of your youth. So describe that moment, walking into Tiger Stadium, now in a big league uniform with your family and friends watching you.

Ernie Whitt 12:57

Well, the the beauty of the whole story was uh Carlton Fisk, who was a regular catcher with the Red Sox at the time, the night before, he says, Hey Ernie, you're you're from Detroit, right? And I go, Yeah. He says, Well, look, call call your parents, call your family, your friends, and tell them to come to the game tomorrow night because you're gonna start the game tomorrow. I'm going, what? And he says, Yeah, just just do that. So I did and I told, you know, called everyone. My wife and I was telling everyone that I'm gonna start my start the game at Tiger Stadium. And sure enough, I walk into the locker room and Don Zimmer comes up to me, who was managing at the time, says, Hey, Pudge isn't feeling well today. You're gonna catch. And so, I mean, they had, I mean, Carlton knew all of a sudden, and he's the one who kind of set it up for me to get my first big league start at Tiger Stadium. And I'm back behind the plate. Al K aline comes up to the plate and I'm looking at him, and this is the guy that I was just like, oh my gosh.

Ernie Harwell 14:00

Kaline the batter, no score, first inning, two out, nobody on.

Ernie Whitt 14:03

He looks back to me and says, Welcome to big leagues, kid. And I'm just going, okay. I mean, and I think I probably just was just staring, a stare, and I I don't even remember giving the sign to our pitcher to start the, you know, to start him throwing the ball at me. But anyways, it's some great memories that uh I'll never forget.

Mike Koser 14:27

You come up to the plate, and there's Bill Freehan, another one of your heroes growing up.

Ernie Whitt 14:32

Absolutely. And I walked up to the walked up to the plate and he says, exciting, isn't it? I go, oh my gosh, I can't believe it. And uh and again, here's another guy that I grew up watching, and kind of I I I guess you could say I idolized, you know, some of these players that I grew up with, and uh they're actually carrying on conversations with me. And it's like, this is really too true, just too real. I can't believe it.

1st big league home run, Fenway Park

Mike Koser 15:01

And a few days later, you're back at Fenway Park, and what a place to collect your very first hit. Uh, and I'm sure you remember that like it was yesterday, right?

Ernie Whitt 15:09

Oh, I do, I do. I mean, I I I I remember uh Jim Colburn was the pitcher with Milwaukee, and he threw me a pitch. I I don't even I I think it was a fastball. I I don't remember, but it was kind of in on me, and I I was able to keep it fair. I hit it and hit the "pesky pole" down the right field line. And when I saw it hit the pole, uh I just jumped and I don't remember anything else. And the ball went in the stands, and Dwight Evans, who was a right fielder for us, um, the next inning went out and made the exchange and got the ball for me.

Mike Koser 15:46

Yeah, what a solid Dwight Evans does. He goes up to the fan, brings a ball out with him, exchanges it for your home run ball, the ball with the yellow paint smudge on it. Do you still have that ball?

Ernie Whitt 15:55

I still have it.

Mike Koser 15:56

Does it still have the yellow smudge?

Welcome to Toronto, 1976

Ernie Whitt 15:58

Oh, yeah, yeah. It hasn't worn out. I've got it kind of taken care of.

Mike Koser 16:02

In November 1976, you were taken in the expansion draft by the Toronto Blue Jays. You started in the minor leagues for them in Charleston, West Virginia, but then when Rick Cerone gets hurt in the 76 season, you're or I'm sorry, the 77 season, you're called up, and you and your wife Chris drove your two-tone Monte Carlo to Toronto. That trip, by the way, must have felt like 10,000 miles.

The pitches I never saw

Ernie Whitt 16:23

Oh, it did. And we were we were towing a blue wooden trailer behind it. And we pulled up, I mean, we uh started having some car issues in Woodstock. So we had to pull over. I ended up calling the traveling secretary and saying, look, I'm having some car issues right now. Uh we're in Woodstock. I have no idea how far that is from Toronto, but I am in Canada and I'm on my way. And uh he says, Don't worry, just get here, get here as quickly as you can. He says, you know, he told us we were checking into the Westin Hotel, the Toronto Westin Hotel at the time. And we pulled up with this old my car and this old blue wooden trailer, towed behind it with all of our stuff. And yeah, I don't think they knew what to do with it because it's you know the big city, and I've got a car with a trailer. Where do you put this stuff? So you know it was quite a trip. But I finally got to the ballpark, and uh, the story of that too is that prior to that me being called up, Garth Iorg and I were roommates. We were uh in Syracuse, New York, and we said, let's let's get our perms done on our hair. I mean, at the time in '77, that was the ingoing thing is to get a perm. And I did, and I looked so bad. It was terrible. I walked in, and Roy Hartsfield, who was a manager, he he looked at me, he never looked me in the eyes. He just looked at the top of my head, and he says, Well, welcome to big leagues. Get your uniform and get out on the field.

Mike Koser 17:59

One Sunday afternoon in 1977, umpire Kenny Kaiser was behind the plate, and it's the Angels and Blue Jays. And at that point, I don't think you had ever faced Nolan Ryan before. Do you remember that first at bat and then the conversation you had with Kenny the umpire?

Ernie Whitt 18:14

Oh, yeah, I do. Well, Kenny and I, we came up to the minor leagues together. So we had a good rapport, and so I was, you know, I was comfortable talking with him and everything. And before I faced Nolan, I mean, all the guys in the dugouts, I would just think of the fastest guy you ever face and add a foot to it. You know, I'm going, okay, there's no way that because I thought I faced some pretty fast guys, and so I got in the box, and actually I'm nervous, you know, and then so I I dig in and first pitch those to me, and I swear I never saw the pitch. And all of a sudden, Kenny calls a strike, and I just kind of stepped back and I just says, Kenny, I didn't see the pitch, and I know damn well you didn't see it. So why'd you why'd you call it a strike? He says, Well, it sounded like a strike. So that was the start of it, and it took me seven at bats before I fouled the pitch off of Nolan Ryan.

Mike Koser 19:10

Unbelievable.

Blue Jays 1st game at "The Ex", 1977

Ernie Whitt 19:11

When I fouled it off, I raised my hands, like, yeah, I got you now. Needless to say ten times those all strikeouts. So he he had my number.

Mike Koser 19:20

The following April, um, yeah, April 1977, the Blue Jays opened up at Exhibition Stadium.

Announcer 19:26

Well, here we are in Toronto, the scene of this Major League opening game today. The tower in downtown Toronto, and just down the road along Lakeshore Boulevard. Snowy Exhibition Stadium.

Mike Koser 19:37

A ballpark that was intended to be just a temporary home for the Blue Jays, but just like Jarry Park in Montreal, the Blue Jays played at Exhibition a lot longer than I think anyone had anticipated. What are your memories of Exhibition Stadium?

Ernie Whitt 19:49

Well, to me, it was it was great because I was in the big leagues. You think back on it, then you start saying, Well, wait a minute, I'm I'm catching and I can't see my center fielder's legs, you know, because it had the hump in the middle of the outfield.

Mike Koser 20:02

For those who don't remember, it was made for football, it was converted for baseball. So, you know, sight lines were not great. Uh, if you sat in the bleachers rather than look toward home plate, you were actually facing the other set of bleachers, and some of the seats were over 800 feet away from home plate.

Ernie Whitt 20:17

Yes, that is true. And you felt bad for them. And because again, at the time, you know, I thought I thought the organization was doing a great job selling the opposing teams that are coming in and their stars, but it was especially difficult in in early April and and later later September when those the nights started getting cool and stuff. It was uh some real cold nights there. Uh, I felt bad for the fans because of the aluminum seats that were there.

Mike Koser 20:45

Yeah, down the uh first base in right field line, right?

Ernie Whitt 20:48

Yes, yes, it was all aluminum seating. And at least we were able to go into the dugout and they had some overhead heaters for us that we could actually put our hands up to and kind of warm up a little bit. But I felt bad for the fans because there was no place for them to go.

Mike Koser 21:05

Well, and you think about it, I know you weren't there um when it opened for baseball April 7th, 1977, but there was a pretty significant layer of snow on the field that day, and the Blue Jays had to borrow a Zamboni from the from the maple leaves, from the maple leafs just to clear it.

Ernie Whitt 21:21

That's right.

Announcer 21:21

And uh we'll have some activities underway now. It looks as though they're gonna give it a real try to get this ballgame underway. The snow has certainly eased up considerably, it's just the white stuff on the field that's the problem.

Ernie Whitt 21:35

Yeah. Um actually I was in Detroit watching the game on TV because we were on our way to going to Charleston, West Virginia.

Announcer 21:56

Game audio from 1st Blue Jays game.

Memories of Exhibition Stadium

Ernie Whitt 21:59

But yeah, it was it was not a baseball field, but it served a purpose. They were able to see another great login place. Um, you know, in 85, we you know, we won the championship division for the first time. You know, 87, we were right down to the wire in that stadium. I mean, it was, you know, a lot of a lot of great memories of Exhibition Stadium. And like I said, I just felt more bad for the for the fans than I did for the players.

Mike Koser 22:47

But you know, you think about it, it was definitely an interesting ballpark, to say the least. I mean, where else would you have a fog assisted inside the park home run? You remember that?

Ernie Whitt 22:57

We saw a lot of things. We had fog, we had uh we we had to delay a game because of the wind that was picking up the little pebbles that they used in all of the the bases and home plate and the pitcher's mount was just like they're throwing rocks at you because the wind was blowing and swirling so much at the time.

Mike Koser 23:18

1984, uh, when they postponed for wind, it literally blew Blue Jays pitcher Jim Clancy right off the mount, right?

Ernie Whitt 23:25

That's right. He was pitching that night when that happened. Crazy. It was crazy. And then all of the seagulls that would roll in the chaos that happened with Dave Winfield and one of the seagulls.

Mike Koser 23:36

And yeah, where he ended up actually getting arrested after the game. That's another story, but that's a great one to look up if you want to.

Wade Boggs was not laughing

Ernie Whitt 23:42

Yeah, you're right. No, it was it's it was crazy. Uh, but again, it was something that you know it happened in my life, and it was a part of my building blocks in the major leagues and and being a part of it, playing at that stadium. So uh I have fond memories of it.

Mike Koser 24:00

Wade Boggs, who you played against a lot, was a very superstitious player, and he had a fixation with the number seven. And one night in 1984, when Bobby Cox, who was then the manager for the Blue Jays, did he did he call the scoreboard operator exhibition stadium?

Ernie Whitt 24:16

Yes, he did. We we had it set up, Bobby had it set up, he called the the scoreboard. I think at the time we were playing 7:07 games or something like that. So at 6:57, Wade would always he'd be out in the dugout just waiting for the clock to turn to either 6:57. It had to have a seven in it. Maybe it was a 7:17 start. He would wait until 7:07 to go out and run his sprints to get uh get himself ready. Yeah, well, this one night we're we're saying because Boggs was on a you know pretty good heater at this point in time. He was uh seeing the ball really well and hitting very well. So let's try to play a little mind game with him. And so he's in there. We're we're sitting in our dugout, and we can see we have a clear view of watching him, watching him, watching him. He's pacing back and forth and looking up at the clock, looking up at the clock, and all of a sudden it went from 6:56 to 6:58, and he just blew a gasket. He goes running out, he could, he's looking in the dugout at us, and he's you know, he's of course he gets up to the plate and he blames me for it. I said, Boggsy, I had nothing to do with it, but we'll see how it went whether it worked or not. He went 0 for four that night, so it did play a factor on him, and every time he came up to the plate, he would he was cussing me out.

1985 All-Star Game, Metrodome

Mike Koser 25:36

Ernie, in 1985, you achieved a lifelong dream playing in the All-Star game at the Metrodome in Minnesota.

Bob Costas 25:42

Welcome to the Metrodome in Minneapolis, the 1985 Major League All-Star Game. More than 55,000 fans will be on hand at game time as the finest players in baseball perform on a national stage. Which stars will shine brightest tonight?

Mike Koser 25:57

Each player that year got an oil painting of themselves. Do you still have yours?

Ernie Whitt 26:01

I do. It's put away. I don't have it hanging or anything like that, uh, but it is put away and I do have it.

Mike Koser 26:09

Tell me the most thrilling moment for you being at that All-Star game in 1985. What was it?

Ernie Whitt 26:14

Well, number one, just to be recognized as one of the you know the better catchers in in Major League Baseball at that time. And going there and being able to be there and uh just be in the locker room signing all the baseball that all the other guys were signing, and uh then being a part of this uh the three catchers that were on the American League that year was Carlton Fisk, Rich Gedman, and myself. All of us came up through the Red Sox organization. Special. Yeah. So it was very special for that. I mean, I've got pictures of the three of us together, and uh yeah, so that was that was a special moment. And I was disappointed I didn't get in at bat that game, but uh, you know, be able to catch an inning, it was uh it was something that if you would have told me growing up, it was a dream, you know, to say that I not only played in the big leagues, but also played at an all-star game.

Mike Koser 27:13

I imagine Ernie lining up before the game and hearing your name being introduced at the Metrodome.

Announcer 27:19

Number 12, catcher Ernie Wit.

Mike Koser 27:22

That probably had to give you goosebumps, didn't it?

The night the Blue Jays hit 10 HR's!

Ernie Whitt 27:24

Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. It was it's hard to describe. I mean, it it's something that you know you dream about, but you really deep down you say, well, that probably won't happen to me because you know, at that time I was I was playing a lot, but it was I was considered more of a platoon situation. Bobby Cox had uh uh like two or three positions where he always platooned. But you know, there was mostly right-handed pitchers in the league at that time, so I had a good share of starts for me that year.

Mike Koser 27:59

September 14th, 1987, you and your Blue Jays teammates set a record that still stands to this day. Ten home runs in one game, including three by you and an absolute drubbing of the Baltimore Orioles. 3-1-5 home run.

Announcer 28:20

Ernie Whitt three home runs in the game, and exhibition stadium is going bonkers.

Mike Koser 28:27

That had to be one of the most special nights in your career.

Ernie Whitt 28:29

Yeah, it was. Actually, I'm I'm sitting at my desk and I'm looking at I've got a bat and a picture of the uh of the five guys, six guys actually, that hit home runs that night and and a game ball representing that record, which still stands today.

Mike Koser 28:47

Yeah, 30 think about that. 37 years later.

Ernie Whitt 28:50

It's it's amazing because again, I mean, there's a lot of smaller ballparks out there right now. Right. I don't know what happened that night. I I I always give credit to the pitcher that he had good control, he hit my bat three times. Um it is uh a feat that I'll never forget. Uh hit some hit some home runs, but those three are very special, and uh no question it was uh something that I will always remember.

"Nucksy"

Mike Koser 29:19

That year in 1987, Hall of Famer Phil Niekro came to the Blue Jays from Cleveland only for a couple weeks, but what was it like catching that that knuckleball?

Ernie Whitt 29:28

Well, I had a chance, I caught him one start, and unfortunately, not too many balls got to me because his ball wasn't doing much and they hit him pretty hard. Such a class guy. I think that's the biggest thing I took from him was that it was fun to catch him. I I know that when you a knuckle baller, you just try to stay as relaxed as you can, and you really you you don't receive the ball, you kind of snatch at the ball. So you try to stay as relaxed as you possibly can and let the ball travel and then just snatch it out of the air. But again, he he's just a class guy, and and uh I I really enjoyed him as a teammate, just a short period of time, but I enjoyed him as a teammate.

Mike Koser 30:09

Wouldn't he sit in the hot tub next to you after a game? And he would keep his hat on, right? He wouldn't take his hat off.

SkyDome opens, 1989, with a rain delay?

Ernie Whitt 30:14

He'd keep his hat on, and sit we'd sit next to each other in the hot tub. You know, two separate hot tubs, but yeah. So he had his hat on, never would take his hat off. He was always the last one to leave the ballpark. You know, he had his special things that he did.

Mike Koser 30:30

The Sky Dome opened June 3rd, 1989.

Announcer 30:34

Tonight is the beginning of a new era in this magnificent Sky Dome. This is a structure that will be recognized all over the world as the greatest sports stadium ever built.

Mike Koser 30:47

The first stadium with a fully retractable roof that could open and close in 20 minutes. They've got, of course, the 348-room hotel in center field, definitely a unique feature of the ballpark. What do you remember about that first day in June of 1989 at the Sky Dome?

Ernie Whitt 31:00

Didn't we have a rain delay that day?

Mike Koser 31:02

Yeah.

Announcer 31:02

Game audio.

Ernie Whitt 31:32

Yeah, I remember that. Jimmy Key started the game, uh, I I started catching, and uh, we're rolling along, and uh all of a sudden we look up and we see the dome starting to close, and all of a sudden the rain started falling. And so yeah, we had a little bit of a rain delay because they had a little hiccup in closing the dome all the way.

Mike Koser 31:54

And you're thinking, like, hey, wait a second, I thought this was the whole point.

Taking a beating

Ernie Whitt 31:57

Exactly. And but it was, you know, it was such a neat dome at the time, and we'd sell out the place every game, but it was almost like there was no one in the stadium at the time because everyone was in there looking around, looking all over the place, looking up at the uh seeing tower and the jumbotron. The jumbotron. I mean, it was like a people, there is a baseball game going on. You can kind of cheer and watch, but it was they were more into the sightseeing and and observing everything about the new stadium, which was beautiful at the time.

Mike Koser 32:30

Ernie, there is no position on the field quite like catcher. The amount of physical abuse that you take on your body throughout a season is incredible. You probably wouldn't go more than a day or two without some kind of injury, you know, a foul tip to the hand or face mask, blocking the ball with the tip of your shoulder. Outside of game one of 162, there's probably no time of the suit season where a catcher feels 100%.

Talking George Brett Into Another Hit

Ernie Whitt 32:51

Yeah, very, very true. I mean, and and you know, you tell that to people, and you when you you talk to people, and uh I I was fortunate enough to uh once I was done playing, I got into player development and started working with catchers. And and I always tell them, I said, look, you're gonna have aches and pains, you're gonna have foul tips, you're going to, you know, you're not gonna feel good all the time, but that's part of this job is that you're just gonna have to wear it and learn how to deal with pain. And I said, the last thing that you want to do is have an opportunity to play at the highest level, and all of a sudden you come out because you got a you know, a foul tip off your shoulder. You you've got to find a way to play yourself through it. And uh because once you come out, then it's that's the medical team that takes over and they may keep you out for a week, and that's a week of games that you'll never get back as a player. So I always tried to encourage them to toughen up and and uh just learn how to play with pain at times.

Mike Koser 33:58

Sitting behind the dish, uh you would have some great conversations with uh with different players. I know George Brett is one of them, and you know, a lot of times you think of okay, a hitter, especially a great hitter, is just gonna be locked in and not want to have a conversation. But George Brett was special in that regard, wasn't he?

Ernie Whitt 34:13

Well, George George was easy to talk to, too. I mean, he he enjoyed engaging in conversation. So there was times in where he was he was going for a batting title, and we I mean, we just couldn't get him out. And and I mean, he hit everything in sight. So I said, I'm gonna try this on, I'm gonna try talking to him a little bit. For his first hit battie comes up, and we're talking about uh he had set up a golf uh golf uh time for us earlier that day to go out and play golf. And so I said, Man, George, what a beautiful place you put us out today. We had such a great time, and the pitcher's delivering the ball at the time. He whacks about a solid base hit to uh right field. How does this guy do it? Because when he's responding to you, he hits it right in the middle of his sentence. Yeah, right in the middle of the sentence. He we're carrying on a conversation. So the next time he comes up the day before, he set us up over at um Larry Gura, who's left-handed pitcher for the Royals, to go up to his farm to do some fishing. He has these uh bass ponds out there. So we went out there and I says, Man, you you know, I said, Hey, thanks again for setting us up yesterday, too, for the fishing. We had a great time. We should see some of the fishes we fish we caught. And and sure enough, he hits a line drive to left center field. Watches that to center field.

Announcer 35:35

Game audio.

Ernie Whitt 35:42

Mid-conversation, third time comes up and he says, you know what, let's talk about fishing some more because I hit that ball better than when we were talking about golfing. I mean, yeah, you couldn't get into his coconut. He he was he was just locked in.

Mike Koser 35:59

Yeah, no matter what. Listen, Ernie, for someone who was told that they would never go beyond double A, you with the encouragement of your wife, Chris, persisted and ended up an all-star with 938 hits, 134 home runs, two division titles, and a member as of 2009 of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and one of the most beloved Toronto Blue Jays of all time. Thank you so much for your time today. I really, really appreciate it, Ernie.

Ernie Whitt 36:23

Thank you, Mike. Enjoyed it and uh great memories. Thank you for bringing them up.

Mike Koser 36:28

54 years ago, Ernie Witt was drafted by the Boston Red Sox as the 352nd pick. His signing bonus, $2,500. Now, to put that into perspective, the 352nd pick in this year's draft received a bonus of $150,000. The number one overall pick in this year's draft was given nearly $9 million.