Lost Ballparks

Buddy Bell (Rangers HOF)

• Mike Koser • Season 8 • Episode 8

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Baseball is in Buddy Bell’s blood. Growing up, he spent his days at Crosley Field watching his dad, Gus Bell, play for the Reds and later roamed County Stadium when Gus was traded to the Milwaukee Braves. In this episode, Buddy shares stories of his childhood in the game, the special way his dad let him know he made a great play, a life-changing moment in the parking lot at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, his first All-Star Game in 1973, and the unforgettable highlight of his career when he finally put on a Reds uniform in 1985.

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Mike Koser:

I am Mike Koser and welcome to Lost Ballparks. Our guest on this month's podcast is Buddy Bell. Buddy Bell was born into it, raised on the hum of the crowd, the crack of the bat, the smell of hot dogs, and damp infield dirt. His dad Gus was a ball player, a four-time off-star. So Buddy spent his childhood running the ramps at Crosley field, watching his dad hit and hustle in that thick Cincinnati summer air. Then it was Milwaukee when Gus got traded to the Brewers. Buddy, a white-eyed kid soaking in the game the way only a kid can, wandering through the Grandstand at County Stadium. He's got stories of the secret signal his dad gave him when he made a great play. Of a moment early in his career in the parking lot at Cleveland Municipal Stadium that changed how he played forever. Of stepping onto the field for his first All-Star game in 73, Royals Stadium, under the July sky. And then at 85, when he finally pulled on that Reds uniform, just like his father before him. It was a moment, a single, perfect moment, that became the highlight of his career. His talented, family, the ghost of ballparks gone, but not forgotten. It's all here with Buddy Bell on this month's episode of the Lost Ballparks Podcast. Buddy Bell finished his career with 2,514 hits, 201 home runs, a lifetime .279 batting average, silver slugger, five-time All-Star, won six straight gold gloves, and is a member of the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame and part of a three-generation Major League Baseball family, one of only five in baseball history. Buddy Bell.

Buddy Bell:

Hey Mike, how are you?

Mike Koser:

I'm doing great. How are you?

Buddy Bell:

Good, thank you.

Mike Koser:

Hey, thanks for doing this. I appreciate it. So we'll start here. When you were born in 1951, your dad, Gus Bell, was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates playing his home games at Forbes Field. But by the time you were two, he was traded to the Reds. So was your first Major League Baseball game, the first one you ever attended, was that at Crosley Field in Cincinnati?

Buddy Bell:

I don't think so. I think the first, I don't remember this, obviously, but I'm sure it was Forbes Field. The first ballpark I can remember is Crosley, though.

Mike Koser:

What do you remember uh about that? Because your dad would have played it at Crosley until I think you were 10 or so. So you you probably would have had, I'm guessing, the run of the ballpark a little bit.

Buddy Bell:

Yeah, well, I I mean, I have fond memories of Crosley for sure. It's my most favorite park ever. And a lot of it was just because I spent a lot of time there with my father and you know, when he was playing with the Reds.

Announcer:

Crosley Field is now the favorite cool spot in the summertime for a night game. Spectators are comfortable in the only air-cooled stands in baseball, cooled by 54 huge jet air fans.

Buddy Bell:

Unfortunately, back in those days, we weren't in the allowed in the clubhouse or locker room or the field. So, you know, we I would go to the ballpark with my dad, and I would just sit in the stands and watch batting practice and things like that. It was more just going to the game and waiting in the game. I used to keep score of every game as well. So that gave me something to do while I was preparing for the game to get uh started.

Mike Koser:

But was there a uh favorite place you like to sit uh at Crosley?

Buddy Bell:

I always sat uh behind third base, uh behind the Reds dugout. It gave me an opportunity to see my dad run run on and off the field. And of course, you know, I had a lot of other you know favorite players as well. So I mean I I didn't go to every game. I mean, obviously it was it was tough going to school, especially the beginning of the year. But once the summer hit, I was I was down there quite a bit and you know got to know all the people in the the the best part of or not the not the best part of of the ballparks, the ballparks that that I played in or have been in has always been sort of the ambiance of it all, you know, the the character of it. But the thing that really made the the ballparks extra special was the people that that really worked around the ballpark, the ushers, the cops, people that work in the concession stands, the the the few people that worked in the front offices at the time. So there was just so much going on in the ballpark, and of course these days, I mean there's just so many people that are involved in the the operations of a stadium or or of a ballpark. You don't get to to know all of them, but back in the day when my dad and when I first started playing, there wasn't that many people. So we were we were able to have pretty much relationships with just about everybody that worked at the ballpark. So that was the cool thing for me more than more than the actual sight of the of the ballpark, even though the the smell of the ballpark, every ballpark had its own little smell to it. I can't really explain it to you, but it it was kind of weird when you you know, the more you hung around, the more you sort of understood that.

Mike Koser:

And then of course the the sounds I think of uh at Crosley Field in particular, Ronnie Dale playing uh playing the organ before, and then people sometimes would sit at Crosley and you know for 20 or 30 minutes after a game and just kind of sit there while Ronnie played.

Buddy Bell:

Yeah, I was crazy. You know, back in the day, you know, everybody had an organist, Ronnie Dale, the the lady they had with the the White Sox. I can't remember her name. Oh Nancy, yeah, Nancy Faust. Nancy Faust was there forever. I think she was the first one that sort of um kind of played with our names a little bit. And in mine being Bell, I mean, there's a lot of you know, everybody had the you know, they have their walk-up songs now, but when you went into you know, at Comiskey, you know, Nancy always had something for all of us. She was a really nice lady as well.

Mike Koser:

Your dad played for the Milwaukee Braves in '62, '63, and '64. From your adolescent eyes at that point, what did you think of uh of county stadium?

Buddy Bell:

Well, I loved county stadium. county stadium was the first ballpark after Crosley that I can ever remember.

Ernie Harwell:

The sun shines bright on the county stadium in Milwaukee in the heart of America's dairy land.

Buddy Bell:

I love playing in County Stadium as well, after I signed and became a pro player. So county stadium was awesome. All these uh these cool parks have all been pretty much put on the same lot. You know, even Cincinnati, they you know, the new park park they have, which is my least favorite ballpark.

Mike Koser:

Some of the ones that like you're talking about feel a little industrial, where as you go back and you look at County Stadium and uh and Crosley Field, these care these ballparks had character and characters who worked at them.

Buddy Bell:

And I think it's all still a part of that. The the you know, the the lure of it of of the the stadiums, but I I think it's the ballparks nowadays are so geared to entertainment, which is great. It seems like there's something at every ballpark for everybody. Um, and I think that's sort of taken away from from some of the lure of it.

Mike Koser:

Well, yeah, I think back to I I'll just take San Diego, where I live, and you go to Petco Park, and while the energy is electric a lot of times, the the the games are sold out, it does feel a little bit like a wall of sound throughout the entire game. And so I grew up going to uh Cleveland Municipal Stadium to watch the Indians play with my dad. And I can remember just having three or four hours of like his undivided attention, and we would be talking about baseball and life and all kinds of other things. And now it's I mean, it's it's difficult to have that conversation uh when you're at a ball game because it's so loud. I don't want to sound like old guy, you know, get off my lawn, but it's a totally different experience.

Buddy Bell:

Yeah, it it it is, and it you know, there's a lot of music, which is great. I'm not I I love me, I'm a music fan, but I mean there's just something going on, you know. In between innings, there's they they have gimmicks going on all the time. So, you know, they need to do that just just because they they need the resources. Um, it it it brings, you know, a certain group of people into the ballpark. You talk about municipal stadium. I mean, I when people used to hammer that stadium... I loved it. And aside from Crosley Field, that was my favorite ballpark. Just mainly it was the first home ballpark I had as a major league player, and I loved it.

Herb Score:

Well, we had a light shower just before the well, right after the Indians took batting practice, but now the skies have cleared, we have patches of blue, it's a delightful evening, 75 degrees here at the stadium, and really pleasant.

Buddy Bell:

I just like the and I liked it when it got really cold. But it it was a beautiful ballpark in the summer. Was that wasn't a great ballpark to hit in by any stretch of the imagination, but I love Municipal Stadium. And and you know, one of the funny things, I mean, you know, back in those days, we weren't very successful as a team. So there, you know, the we get a crowd every once in a while of 70,000. The Yankees were in town or opening day. Opening day was always huge.

Mike Koser:

Or July 4th, but I mean, most of the time there there were small crowds.

Buddy Bell:

Yeah, so you could basically hear everyone talking, it seemed like. And if you made a bad play or something like that, you could obviously obviously hear the loudest voice in the whole stadium because it just, you know, it was cavernous and it, you know, it echoed from from every corner, it seemed like. And I didn't really pay a whole lot of attention to it, but those are the kind of things that when you grow up you you remember, and I loved Municipal, I really did.

Mike Koser:

For 30 games in '62, your dad played for the expansion New York Mets. In fact, he started in right field their inaugural game on April 11th, 1962 at uh at Busch Stadium. But he also played at the Polo Grounds. Were were you back home, or did you make it to any of the games at the Polo Grounds?

Buddy Bell:

No, I I never was at the Polo Grounds.

Mike Koser:

Okay.

Buddy Bell:

He was only there for like a month, I think, month or two.

Announcer:

The first regular season game in the history of the New York Mets.

Buddy Bell:

I think he actually had the first Mets hit ever. Yeah, so I mean he he was only there, and then he and then uh he was traded in Milwaukee, and of course he then he got hurt, and then that was his career. But we were never really able to go to away ballparks back in those days. They didn't uh condone families going anywhere, quite frankly. And they didn't they didn't like him going to spring training, they didn't like him to go on the road, and now all that is really different for the better, for sure. You know what? I we were in Milwaukee, dad was playing in Milwaukee. I do remember coming back here to Cincinnati. Of course, we had a home still back then here, so it was it made it easier, it was more financially efficient for my parents, and yeah, back in those days they didn't really make a ton. So I did come back to Cincinnati, but that's really the only trip I can ever remember. So I wasn't really really wasn't able to attend uh any of those the other greater ballparks, like the pola grounds or Shibe uh field.

Mike Koser:

Oh, yeah, shibe park in Philadelphia, right?

Buddy Bell:

(Later called) Connie Mack. You know, I'm sure I was at Forbes and don't remember. It was just a magnificent, magnificent ballpark. Yeah, and you know, it's unfortunate because they're all built pretty sturdy. You know, I meant my first managerial job was in Tiger Stadium, which is is a beautiful place. I mean, I love Tiger Stadium.

Ernie Harwell:

Wind is blowing in from the outfield toward the plate. There's a line shot foul down the third base side, bouncing up into the seats. And a gentleman from Royal Oak caught that on on one hop.

Buddy Bell:

They have a specific smell to that ballpark, too. And maybe just because I was there longer than I mean, I didn't I wasn't, I didn't plan a lot of different cities, but the ones that I do, I just certainly remember, you know, I can close my eyes and I know I'm I can tell you where I'm at at that at that particular time. You know, it's kind of crazy, but um

Mike Koser:

Yeah, You think about Tiger Stadium and the fans right on top of you.

Buddy Bell:

Yeah, you know, one of my most favorite things to do at Tiger Stadium was first of all, my office in the clubhouse in Tiger Stadium was right off of the concourse. So you would actually open my door to the manager's office. You know, talking about Sparky Anderson's office was there, Billy Martin was there, some of the great uh Mayo Smith, I mean some of the greater uh managers that you know were in that office and and just have the door, you open the door, and there's like people buying hot dogs and popcorn. Like, you know, this is crazy. But at that particular time, it it was still sort of old. There wasn't much much new coming back, and we we were all kind of stagnant at that particular time when I was first growing up, so everything pretty much stayed the same. So we didn't really pay much attention to the door being opened up into the concourse, you know.

Mike Koser:

Yeah, when you look back now, you're like, that was kind of crazy.

Buddy Bell:

Yeah, I mean, it was nuts. You know, people would, you know, outside my office, wait for me to come out and say whatever they want to me, and just try to wait as long as I could before I left, but yeah, but you had to go out that way. Yeah, but one of the my favorite things to do was we would park our cars out in left field. I would walk out of my office into the concourse, and I would walk right up the ramp back into the field. There was nobody in the in the ballpark, the lights were still dim, and I would walk to my car through the stadium. Everybody else would go through the concourse. I would go through the stadium because I just felt it was such a cool feeling that just what 45 minutes to an hour before that was screaming fans and yeah, you know, yelling and screaming and you know, home runs and strikeouts, and and then I walked an hour later and there's nobody in. It was so surreal, and it just kind of I don't know, it puts things in in perspective for me a little bit, which I which you always need as a baseball player, I think.

Mike Koser:

Growing up, uh occasionally, and tell me if I have the story right. Your dad would watch you play sometimes from his parked car, watch you play baseball, and he had a special way of letting you know that you made a good play or a bad play. Yeah, how would he let you know?

Buddy Bell:

Well, dad, no matter if I was playing basketball, football, or or baseball, dad would never sit in the stands. I think there were a couple of times he went and he couldn't actually watch the game. People were talking to him and you know about baseball or about sports, and he couldn't watch because he was a public figure in Cincinnati, and you know, dad was a really cordial and very nice to people, could talk to anybody. So when he went to the games, he felt like he couldn't watch, so he ended up just sitting as far away as he could and still see the game. And there were often times I didn't know where he was at until I heard the horn because he would honk the horn if I made a good play. If I made a bad play, he'd honk it twice. Uh just like good fathers will do. Yeah, but of course, sir. You know, when he got out of the game, like a lot of guys now making so much money that you you really don't have to work anymore. Dad was never in that position, so he he ended up you know working nights a lot of times, because work through the day and into the night. So he wasn't really able to go to all my games. He made him through as many as he could for sure. Yeah.

Mike Koser:

After graduating from high school, June 5th, 1969, you were selected in the 16th round by the Indians at um at 20 years old. You played your first big league game for the Indians opening day, April 15th, 1972. Um municipal stadium. And I just tell I know we talked a little bit about the ballpark, but tell me about that first experience walking through the tunnel, out onto the field, and at 20, man, 20 years old, you're thinking what?

Buddy Bell:

Well, this is weird because there's a a little bit of a prelude here that we had left Tucson. I had found out I made the team maybe a couple days before we broke camp. I I was going to Wichita for sure, I'm pretty sure. I or maybe we were in Portland at that time in AAA, but I was pretty sure that's where I was going back to because I was only 20. We had some injuries, so they put me in the outfield. I had never played the outfield before. So we played a game in Tucson and left right after there. We went to New Orleans to but uh we were barnstorming, played the Cubs in a in an old football stadium. I can't even I have no idea how they even set it up the way it was supposed to, but we ended up playing. But after the game, we found out that we the players had gone on strike. Me and my roommate, uh uh my roommate was Jack Brohammer, a really good player, played probably I think maybe 10, 8, 9, 10 years, really had a nice career, but we had no money, we had zero money, and we were in New Orleans, and we went on strike, which meant we had nowhere to go. We had to get our own rides back to Cleveland or Tucson or wherever we were supposed to go. And we just so crazy. Yeah, we ended up uh Hammer's dad actually drove to New Orleans and he drove us to Cincinnati where we stayed until the the the strike was over, and the strike lasted I think maybe a week to ten days or something like that. We had no idea what was going on. We we had no vote. I mean, we just made the club. We wish we were miserable. You know, we don't know what to do, you know. Nobody's nobody wants to tell us anything. But we finally, yeah, we opened up. I think it was the Brewers. I think it was Bill Parsons who was the who started that day. It was a really good pitcher. And I remember it being really foggy out. There had been fog that came in from the lake and yeah, from Lake Erie, sure. It might as well have been 80 degrees and sunny out for me. You know, it was it was such a great day. And I don't even know if I got a hit. I don't even I don't even think I don't think I got a hit that day. But and back then, that was really the only days that we really had a bunch of people at the ballpark. So even that that was great, because we probably had 60 to 70,000 people in the stands that day, which is for me was just crazy because I had never played before a crowd like that, or even even thought about it. I my main goal is just to play baseball. I I didn't think about playing in front of people or where I played or or anything. It was more I just like playing. But then I got a taste of this, and I'm like, whoa, this is like much better than I ever anticipated.

Mike Koser:

Now, do you remember this? The clubhouse at Municipal Stadium was small, tiny, just like many other ballparks that were built in the 1930s and earlier. So small, in fact, the Indians had two dressing rooms. Most of the team would be on the main floor. But if you were on the disabled list, may or maybe a rookie like yourself, or someone just arrived in a trade, you might find yourself at another much smaller room upstairs. Is that right?

Buddy Bell:

Yeah, it was yeah, it was upstairs. It was uh they used it like in emergencies or something like that. And I as as time went on, they as the um the staffs grew in number that they would have to to move some of the staff members upstairs. I don't remember any of the players having to go unless, like you said, they were on the disabled list or they're in rehab or whatever. But um, you know, I actually, you know, Mike, the clubhouse or the locker room in Cleveland was I loved it. And and the reason I loved it, they had the the greatest lockers ever. They were big, you know, they had all kind of compartments that you could put things in. And plus we had we had the best or one of the best uh clubhouse men in Cy Buynak who uh

Mike Koser:

oh right, yeah. Legendary.

Buddy Bell:

To this day, we're we're still very, very close. So yeah, it was very big, of course. I think the the training room and the training rooms now they have are golly, they're like 2,000 square feet. The training room in and municipal was maybe 10 by 10.

Mike Koser:

The size of a closet.

Buddy Bell:

Yeah, it was brutal, you know, and they had the whirlpool. And if you got the whirlpool, it was half of it was was in the training room and half of it was out in the hallway. So I it was like you know, back in those days we didn't eat anything either, and you know, had the refrigerator that was in a closet, and the door would close, you couldn't see the the closet, but then when you went to make a sandwich, you know, your ass is hanging out in the hallway, and you're yeah, I mean it's just like uh but you know what it's when we get together now, and the guys that I'm closest to are my Cleveland teammates, it seems like, anyway. And those are the guys that I that I grew up with, more or less. I mean, we sit around and we just marvel at what's going on now and what we had to deal with, but I don't think any of us, at least I haven't heard anybody say that they would prefer a different time. I mean, I I wouldn't trade any any experience I had in baseball for anything, and some of it was not great, most of it's not great baseball, it seems like, just because there's so much failure, but I wouldn't trade a thing. You know, I wasn't able to play in the World Series or anything like that. And even then, I wouldn't trade World Series bid for anything that I did uh in my career.

Mike Koser:

So many unique experiences, and one of them at 21, you played in your first All-Star game. The 1973 Midsummer Classic was played in Kansas City at brand new at the time, Royals Stadium.

Announcer:

Baseball is America's national pastime, and 1973 it provides a significant milestone with the 40th year of all-star game competition. Brand new Royals Stadium in Kansas City's Harry S. Truman Sports Complex is the attractive setting for this year's game.

Mike Koser:

Your teammates are Brooks Robinson, Carl Yastrzemski . Uh you're playing against Hank Aaron and Willie Mays. It had to be that had to be a pinch me moment, right?

Buddy Bell:

Yeah, I mean, they had bench, they rose, they had pressed. One of my favorite pictures is a is a picture at at uh Kaufman or Royals Stadium at the time, was us, you know, the American League and National League on the lines, and the guys that are on in that in those lines is incredible. My locker, and again, I was only 21. I had really didn't know anybody. Really, I I was I just shut up, I didn't say much. But my locker was in between Brooks and Thurman Munson. And you know, I I was like, okay, now what do I do? You know, I I yeah, where do I go from here? Like, you know what you're doing, but you really don't, it makes it worse. So, but these guys were so gracious to me. And Thurman and I became really good friends uh because of that. I I had known Brooks, and Brooks was tremendous to me as well, being a third baseman and his help, you know, in my development and just talking to him was was awesome. But my relationship with Thurman was developed because he's more of a he was a catcher, so you know you could never get away from him, you know, and he would talk all the time, you know. He'd you know, try to distract you the the best the best he could. So yeah, that's a that's another another sad story and the way things kind of happen. But the you know, those are the the memories I have. I my dad, my dad told me long, long, long time ago. He said, But you're not you're not gonna you're not gonna remember any of the home runs or the strikeouts or the great plays or the any of that when you retire, but you will remember the people that you had relationships with and who mean a lot to you, and you will never forget those.

Mike Koser:

One of the guys you had a uh great relationship with was your high school coach, Tim Rose, who occasionally would make his way up to Cleveland to watch you play. Uh the wind at Municipal Stadium could be wicked and unpredictable. One night with your high school coach, Coach Rose in attendance, you hit a ball down the line that under any other circumstance would have been foul. Uh but the wind pulls it back. Can you uh can you tell that story? Because it's one of the best.

Buddy Bell:

Yeah, it's it's you know, Tim was one of the best coaches I've ever had. And they just kind of tricked him into being the baseball coach here at Moeller um high school. He's always been a football coach, football coach in Miami for a while. But he was a really intimidating dude, man. We couldn't get away with anything. So, but I became really close to him. Initially I hated him, but the more I was around him, the more I knew how much he cared about me and he wanted me to do well. I maintained a pretty strong relationship with Tim, especially when he was coaching in Lorraine, because it was fairly close to my ballpark, and I would go up and watch his high schools play. But um, this one night it was one of those nights in Cleveland where it was windy, and I hit a ball down the left field line. The ball was over the grandstand. So I figured like it was foul. Well, the wind got got a hold of it and drifted it back into fair territory. I made it to first. I should have been on second, really. By the way, I I never did this again after this night. So after the game, you know, I got Ken Aspermonte, who's my manager. I have some Rocky Colavito as a coach. Has some great coaches in Cleveland who made sure we were on top of things and things like that, but they handled things differently, a lot differently than Tim. So I went out after the game. I don't know if we won or lost, but walking out to my car, Tim usually goes come to the game and he would leave. He would never stay after the game. I walked out and I saw him standing by my car, and I'm like, okay, what I wonder what what's up, you know. He maybe just wants to talk. Well, he let into me like, I told you never to do. You know, like, holy cow is my high school baseball coach yelling at me. I'm like, hey, I'm a pro player now, but I took it like a high school kid, and I and I understood it like a high school kid, and it and I never did it again. Um, but Tim actually is still coaching football at Ashland College.

Mike Koser:

Oh, yeah, just outside of Mansfield.

Buddy Bell:

Yeah, he's uh he's 83. I think he's still the defensive coordinator. I haven't talked to him in a in a year or two. I exchanged letters with him last year at some point, but I need to I need to um catch up with him. But he's one of my most favorite people. And aside from my father, he probably made the biggest impact on my life as an athlete anyway.

Mike Koser:

After uh, buddy, after the 78 season you were traded to Texas, the Rangers played at one of the most unforgiving ballparks in baseball, the human frying pan, as it was nicknamed, Arlington Stadium. What do you what do you remember about Arlington Stadium? Those were some good years for you, too.

Buddy Bell:

Yeah, I mean, if I have any any regrets at all, it's I wish I would have played in a more friendly hitters ballpark along the way somewhere. Because Texas was the worst place in the world to hit. I mean, the wind blew in your face every night. It was hot.

Bill Merrill:

Hello again, everybody. Bill Merrill, along with Ken Suarez, Jim Bird song, greeting you from Arlington Stadium. Just underway, the temperature is 98 degrees, wind south, southeast, 10 to 20 miles an hour.

Buddy Bell:

Defensively, the you had little cracks in the in the dirt because it was so hot, so dry. One of my dearest friends was the groundskeeper, Johnny Oliveras. I didn't have the heart to tell him that, hey man, this place needs some water. You know, you get used to the heat a little bit, believe it or not. But the thing that that you had to get used to the most is when you walk out of the out of the locker room into the heat, it almost took your breath away. Because I think it was in 1980. I think we had like 60 games in a row where the game started over 100 degrees, June to July or July to August, something like that. I mean, it was unbelievable. But we get, you know, we we sort of managed it pretty well, but it wasn't a great ballpark. The locker rooms were okay, but the ballpark was just it was intimate, which was kind of nice, but it was just uh uh it's just a really a horrible place to hit. I had some success there, but it wasn't easy.

Bill Merrill:

Wind could be a factor blowing 10 to 20 miles an hour out of the south southeast, which means from centerfield toward home or from right field toward home. So anything hit in the center field or right field area in the air very high will be affected by the wind here again tonight.

Mike Koser:

You had to work for everything you got there.

Buddy Bell:

You really did, and and um well, since then though, they the ballpark in between the ballpark after the the Arlington Stadium, that's a beautiful ballpark. But again, it was too hot, so they're that you know it it affected the resources as far as their the fans go, so they had to build one with with a dome, which and that's a beautiful. I just went to the all-star game last year, but you know, I I didn't love it, but I I I liked it. And I, you know, they needed a new ballpark for sure, but we we made it work and we sort of figured it out along the way, but we had to pace yourself a little bit just because of the because of the heat.

Mike Koser:

A quick note about the uh 1981 All-Star game at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. You'd not been an Indian for more than two years, and yet, uh and you can go back and watch this video, I think they've remastered it, so it's like an HD if you watch it on YouTube. During the player introductions, you received the loudest applause from the Cleveland crowd.

Speaker 9:

Representing the Texas Rangers. Outfielder , Al Oliver, and 3rd Baseman, Buddy Bell

Joe Garagiola:

Well Buddy Bell gets a homecoming ovation here from these Cleveland fans, and so far the baseball fans have reacted the way you would expect. They cheered at the right time when the home towners come home. And they boo ed when the enemy, namely the Yankees, have been introduced. Yes, sir. Baseball is back.

Mike Koser:

That had to be special.

Buddy Bell:

Yeah, that was really a cool game because we had, I think we just came off the strike. So we had I think we were out for almost two months. And then when we came back, we only had like a couple days to get ready for the All-Star game, because that was the first game that any of us played since the strike. So there were no games in between the strike and the all-star game. So we were all sort of coming back, just not really all that ready to play. So we didn't know, we we really didn't know how what to expect from the fans. But it was the most unbelievable night ever because the people couldn't wait to come watch baseball again. And it just so happened that I had come back to you know it was played in Cleveland. It it really touched me. You know, I was it was unexpected, but knowing the Cleveland people like I do, I guess I I should have expected it.

Mike Koser:

1985, you were traded to your hometown, Cincinnati Reds, and uh that first home game at Riverfront Stadium, you wore number 25, your dad's number with the Reds some 30 years earlier. What was it like coming back home and playing at Riverfront?

Buddy Bell:

It was a definite highlight. There's no doubt about that. One of the neatest things about going to the Reds game when I was growing up was Paul Sommerkamp. Paul Sommerkamp was a PA announcer for the Reds. And Dad and Paul were very good friends, but he had this specific voice. One of my goals was for him to announce me into the uh into the lineup, and that was his last year as a PA announcer. So I was able to to have Paul Sommerkamp announce me in the lineup, which you know at the time I finally arrived. You know? It was like the coolest thing. And I think a lot of kids, especially in Cincinnati, because it's not all that big. I mean, it's a fairly good sized city, but it's not as big as some of the others. So there's an intimacy about the city and in growing up, like with Pete, um, all the great players the Reds had, the the broadcasters, and you know, Waite Hoyt.

Waite Hoyt:

Yes, indeed, today's game is to be played right here at Crosley Field, which has been the home of the Cincinnati Reds for as long as the oldest citizen can remember.

Buddy Bell:

Al Michaels

Al Michaels:

first pitch to bench is lined to right field....

Mike Koser:

Marty Brennaman and Joe Nuxhall.

Marty Brennaman:

He levels the bat a couple of times. Shaw kicks, and he fires, Rose swings. And it's pandemonium here at Riverfront Stadium.

Buddy Bell:

Yeah, so I mean, there's some really some really cool things about Cincinnati, but the coolest thing for me was when Spmmer kamp announced me in the lineup. And you know, it's something I'll never forget.

Mike Koser:

Buddy Bell, 2,514 hits, 201 home runs, a lifetime .279 batting average, silver slugger, five-time All-Star, won six straight gold gloves, a member of the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame, and part of a three-generation Major League Baseball family, one of only five in baseball history. And what a thrill to be able to spend a little time with you after watching you talk about the whole Paul Sommerkamp thing and how that was meaningful to you. Well, for me growing up watching you play and then being able to talk to you now, uh, just as meaningful for me. So thank you for this.

Buddy Bell:

Uh, it's very kind. I appreciate it, Mike. And if you ever need anything down the road, just give me a just give me a call.

Mike Koser:

Thanks so much, Buddy. One quick note the day Buddy was born in 1951, his dad Gus, then a member of the Pirates, was playing a double header against the Dodgers at Brooklyn's Ebbet's Field. So a guy who has this incredible career is part of a multi-generational Major League Baseball family, also has a connection to one of baseball's most iconic old ballparks.

Announcer:

Well, the game is over. The season is finished. The ballpark is empty. Empty except for the youngsters who dream of another day, another game, another season. And perhaps a day when they will wear a Cincinnati Reds uniform and be a big leaguer. Beyond this club. Get a home run to win the World Series. They work hard, live a good, clean life, respect authority, learn the game. Someday fans like you and I will watch them and others like them as they reach their goal and play ball for the Cincinnati Reds.

Head Shot

Mike Koser

Host