Lost Ballparks

Dave Bristol (Reds HOF)

• Mike Koser • Season 9 • Episode 2

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Dave Bristol just turned 92 on June 23rd—and he’s packed a lifetime of baseball into those years. A member of the Reds Hall of Fame, Bristol managed Cincinnati in the late ’60s before leading the Brewers, Braves, and Giants, and later coaching with the Expos and Phillies. Born in Macon, Georgia, he's one of the game's great storytellers, with decades of dugout memories to share. Enjoy this journey back to baseball's golden era.

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Announcer:

In this great land of ours, the springtime brings out the flowers, the green grass, and boys of all ages. From houses in every block in town come boys with ball gloves, all of them headed for the nearest vacant lot to play baseball. So off they go. All of their time isn't spent on the vacant lot. Some of it spent at Crosley Field watching the reds play ball. Podcast open.

Mike Koser:

On June 23rd, Dave Bristol celebrated his 92nd birthday. A proud member of the Reds Hall of Fame, Bristol managed Cincinnati from 1966 to 1969. He then went on to lead the Brewers, Braves, and Giants throughout the 70s. He also spent time on the coaching staffs of the Expos and Phillies. Born in Macon, Georgia, Bristol is not only a baseball lifer, but one of the game's great storytellers. And we're honored to have him on this month's episode of the Lost Ballparks Podcast.

Dave Bristol:

Hear me now?

Mike Koser:

Uh perfect. Can you hear me okay?

Dave Bristol:

Yeah, I'm good now.

Mike Koser:

Yeah. Thanks for doing this. I'm looking forward to talking with you. I've heard so much about you, and uh yeah, it's just great to have you on Lost Ballparks today.

Dave Bristol:

You got it. You got it.

Mike Koser:

So you went to high school in Chattanooga. My wife and I were visiting some friends in Chattanooga last year, and I took a walk around Engle Stadium, such a historic ballpark. Did you ever go to Engle Stadium?

Dave Bristol:

Yeah, I worked out there when I was in school. It was a Washington Farm Club, and I they thought they were gonna sign me.

Mike Koser:

So did you ever see a game at Engle Stadium?

Dave Bristol:

Yes, yes.

Mike Koser:

What stood out to you about uh about that ballpark?

Dave Bristol:

How long the left field fence was and how high the wall at Engle Stadium.

Mike Koser:

It's funny because I I know firsthand that the wall is high. Um well, first of all, the uh Engle Stadium kind of sits in a state of disrepair.

Dave Bristol:

Yes, I I know it.

Mike Koser:

Uh it's closed off to the public. There's no way to get in and look at it. It just it looks like it's just falling apart. And it honestly is just really sad to see it like that. But I had to go to the outfield wall to get a peek in, and I climbed up that wall. It took my life in my hands to to look inside. But uh it was worth it just to see you know the playing surface where uh legends like Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Satchel Paige, and Willie Mays played, also, Um much of the film 42, the Jackie Robinson story, was uh was shot at Engle Stadium in Chattanooga. So it's a historic ballpark. Hopefully they can find some way to uh um to save it. So, Dave, in 1962, you managed the Cincinnati Reds Class A team, the Macon Peaches.

Announcer:

Red officials know proper instruction here can make a difference in a boy's career. Nothing is spared in the boys' baseball education.

Mike Koser:

The team played its home games at Luther Williams Field, which first opened in 1929. What do you remember about Luther Williams Field and Macon, Georgia?

Dave Bristol:

Well, you know, being a minor league manager, you didn't worry about that, but it had the hottest clubhouse and no air conditioning in the world.

Mike Koser:

Macon, Georgia in July, August.

Dave Bristol:

Macon in the summer is hot weather.

Mike Koser:

How would you guys stay cool?

Dave Bristol:

Well, go outside.

Mike Koser:

And you had a 21-year-old on that team by the name of Pete Rose, who made no secret that you were one of his favorite managers. I think he felt like you managed the way that he played.

Pete Rose:

He actually gets mad when the game's over because he knows he has to leave the ballpark. It's it's it's great to have a manager like that because uh all the fellas h is respect. And uh I just Well, you know, I'd walk through hell in a gasoline suit for it.

Mike Koser:

Didn't he hit like .330 for you that summer?

Dave Bristol:

Yeah, eight guys off that team went to the big leagues.

Mike Koser:

Did you have any indication that uh in that summer that that this kid Pete Rose at 21 was was going to be something special? I mean .330, even in Macon Georgia, that's pretty good.

Dave Bristol:

Well, Tommy Helms was a shortstop and he hit .340.

Mike Koser:

Yeah.

Dave Bristol:

And didn't win the pennant, but won the playoffs.

Mike Koser:

By 1964, you were managing the Red's Top Farm Club, the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League. The team played at Westgate Park, right off Friars Road in San Diego, uh, near the 163 junction. I live maybe 30 minutes from where that ballpark once stood. It's now part of the Fashion Valley Mall. But every time I'm there, I find myself looking out toward the hillside where those tall eucalyptus trees once stood beyond the outfield wall and try just trying to picture what Westgate Park must have been like. When the park opened in 1958, local sports writer Jack Murphy wrote that not even Yankee Stadium or Boston's Fenway Park can surpass the comforts and conveniences of the Padres new home. What do you remember about Westgate Park? What made it special to you?

Dave Bristol:

Well, I thought it was it was big league after coming from Macon. It was a great ever everything you've got in San Diego, I thought was good. And I was there in 64 and we went and went back in 65.

Mike Koser:

Though it only stood for nine summers, Westgate Park was widely considered one of the finest minor league ballparks of its time. It had this distinctive V-shaped grandstand covered by a cantilevered metal roof, four light towers that leaned in toward the field at a dramatic angle, and even a climate-controlled storage room that could hold up to 10,000 bags of peanuts. Did you know about the peanut room?

Dave Bristol:

No, no. I wasn't interested in peanuts, I was interested in winning.

Mike Koser:

Do you remember Toonies? Your owner, the owner of the Padres back then, Arnold Smith.

Dave Bristol:

Yeah.

Mike Koser:

This was his big bright idea. Essentially, it was uh hot dog-shaped snacks, but made with fish instead of meat. As the story goes, they didn't exactly catch on with fans and were eventually replaced with the real thing. Did you ever try one?

Dave Bristol:

No, no. The thing I remember we had the best general manager, and he helped me more than anybody in the world, Eddie Leishman. Did you remember that name?

Mike Koser:

Yeah.

Dave Bristol:

Oh, he was so wonderful. He was so good. He guided me, and and uh when I come to the ballpark each day, I'd always go by his office and we'd talk baseball and then go to the clubhouse. He was so good. And uh, you know, he he had been a former player and uh he knew baseball as well as anybody I'd have been around. I loved him. Loved him.

Mike Koser:

Yeah, and he probably steered you clear of uh ever having to try a toonie.

Dave Bristol:

I'm sure. No, I wasn't. No, no.

Mike Koser:

It doesn't sound too good, does it? Uh a hot dog made with fish?

Dave Bristol:

Oh, no way, no way.

Mike Koser:

In 1966, you joined the Cincinnati Reds coaching staff. Uh Pete Rose was just 25 at the time, Tony Perez 24. Uh, the seeds of the big red machine were starting to take root.

Dave Bristol:

Yeah, we had a lot of good young players, and uh, you know, there were some veterans on the club. Uh and uh hell uh Nuxhall was older than I was. Yeah. Because I I I had to tell Nuxhall the next spring training that that we're going to release him. And I he said, no, no, no. And I said, Yeah, they're going to put you second in the on the radio team. I said, that'd be good. Hell, he wound up staying 40 years. Yeah, Joe Nuxhall, what a legend.

Joe Nuxhall:

So Tuesday night from St. Louis, this is the old left-hander rounding third and heading for home. Good afternoon, everyone.

Mike Koser:

Yeah.

Dave Bristol:

Yeah.

Mike Koser:

But he wasn't he he wanted to stay and play, huh?

Dave Bristol:

Oh, yeah. You know, the the uh you're talking about the team. The Reds had good teams uh in '60, '61, they won they win the World Series. They they were good. 63, 64. Uh, it was just a continuation, and then we added young players every year.

Mike Koser:

Yeah.

Dave Bristol:

Shamsky, Mel Queen, Ted Davidson, uh, Helms, Rose, Tony Perez, Tommy Harper. Yeah. Plus the Reds that traded Jimmy Wynn and Curt Flood, two other good guys. The red s farm system was producing.

Mike Koser:

The Reds were still playing at the corner of Findlay and Western in 1966. That would be historic Crosley Field.

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.

Mike Koser:

For so many fans, that ballpark held and holds a special place in their hearts and in baseball history. Tell me about Crosley Field.

Dave Bristol:

Well, the first thing you remember about that, you uh I had gone there when the Reds uh invited me when they were signing me, and I uh took a train up there and worked out and signed, and then went and played minor league ball. And then I guess the ti the times I was back was when the Reds would have uh meetings of all the minor league club uh managers and we'd bring them to Cincinnati. And but the first thing you notice is that uh hill around the outfield.

Mike Koser:

That 15-degree incline in front of the outfield wall. Uh Dave, for for outfielders who were new to the team, whether they came up from the minors or arrived via a trade, how did you help them get used to the terrace at Crosley Field?

Dave Bristol:

Well, some of them never got used to it. I saw Sunday afternoon Willie... Willie Stagell fell down four times going after a ball over his head. Tricky to navigate. Very much so, very much so. But that's what you had to play with, and it was the infield was turtle back. It... after you passed second and shortstop, it went downhill again, and then it that's where water would stand when it rained. Then it'd go up to the terrace. And and plus that big high scoreboard.

Mike Koser:

Yeah, 58-foot-tall scoreboard with the iconic Longines clock on top.

Dave Bristol:

Right. And you know, they put a yellow stripe across that scoreboard while uh during the time I was there, and any ball to hit above the yellow line was a home run. But before that, it was in play off the scoreboard.

Mike Koser:

Yeah, nobody was hitting a home run over that scoreboard.

Dave Bristol:

No, no.

Mike Koser:

Crosley Field is just one of those ballparks that had so much character.

Announcer:

Those who maintain this beautiful ballpark have done their job well indeed.

Mike Koser:

From the 82-foot tall flagpole in left center that was actually in play, the right field seats that were known as the Sun Deck during the day, and then the moon deck at night.

Dave Bristol:

Yes, yeah. And they had about a waist-high uh wall and then uh a fence on the on the on the top of the of the brick wall, I think. And I saw Clemente jump up on that, stand up on the uh brick wall and reach as high as he could and hit the ball, knocked a home run back in the ballpark.

Mike Koser:

Wow. In your early days with the Reds, you developed a reputation as the kind of manager who would come to the park early or stay late just to help a player work through a slump. Do any of those quiet moments stand out to you where it was just you and a player out there putting in the extra work?

Dave Bristol:

Yeah. I remember uh getting Johnny Bench out there and throwing balls to him, blocking the blocking uh you know, blocking the ball and uh in nineteen uh sixty eight on a Friday night, Rose didn't do too well, and I said, Hey, season's gonna end on Saturday and Sunday at the last two games. And Gaylord Perry was pitching against us on Saturday. So I told Rose, be out here at eleven o'clock and get some extra hitting in. And we did. The first four times up he got hit off Gaylord Perry, and uh he slid into second base and Hal Lanier said, Boy, that's something, and Pete Rose, yeah, of course. He said, Matty Alou is three for four in uh Chicago. So Rose goes up the fifth time and hits a double to finish five for five. Then the next day, first time up, he hit a double off Sadecki, and I took him out of the game and that was his first uh bat ting title.

Pete Rose:

I would just like to be the best in my uh profession. You know, uh I'd I'd like to be uh a guy, a guy, you know, this might sound uh bighead or something, but uh, you know, you get on airplanes and you talk to people and you you know you they don't know who you are and you say you heard of Willie Mays. They said, Yeah, I heard of Willie Mays. I'd just like to be somebody like that and be a good enough fella, along with being a good enough ball player to uh for everybody to know who you are.

Dave Bristol:

The next year, listen to this. We're in Atlanta, the last game of the season. He's on the on-deck circle, and some fans sitting at the same box right on the field said, Pete, Clemenete is four for four in Montreal. You need a hit. So he went up and bunted a perfect bunt. You couldn't have rolled it out there and got a hit, and that was his second batting title.

Mike Koser:

That's so crazy. Just a little inside uh tip from a fan at Atlanta Stadium. That's nuts.

Dave Bristol:

Yeah, on the own, he was on the own deck circle and the guy hollered and said, Pete, you he was listening to the other game. Said you need a hit.

Mike Koser:

Fans lucky enough to catch a game at Crosley Field can still remember organist Ronnie Dale playing before and after the games, and the beer vendors shouting, "get moody with Hudy". Did you ever crack open a Hudy after a game?

Dave Bristol:

Did I?

Mike Koser:

Yeah.

Dave Bristol:

No, no, no. You know, another thing I remember about Crosley Field, they had those little miniature bat nights.

Mike Koser:

Oh, yeah.

Dave Bristol:

And those guys down the third baseline were uh into Hudy's pretty good. And they were hit and got fighting with those bats. They didn't have any more bat nights to give away. I mean, guys were bleeding and everything. Golly, it was awful.

Mike Koser:

Oh my gosh. Yeah, that's probably the last of that.

Dave Bristol:

First time I was named manager at the all-star break, Jim Maloney was the first, he he won the first game I managed. And the last game that I managed in Atlanta, he won the first and last games I managed in Cincinnati.

Mike Koser:

The Reds clubhouse was tucked behind the grandstand at Crosley Field. So walk me through this. What was the path that you took that got you from the clubhouse to the dugout and from the dugout back to the clubhouse?

Dave Bristol:

Well, uh there's a passage way just past the Reds dugout on the on the uh right side. And there's a your little lane that led underneath the stands, up in the parking lot, and then go up, uh had to walk up right and then turn back left into the clubhouse.

Mike Koser:

But again, after a game, I mean fans in the parking lot have a chance to be close to you, to to heckle you after a loss. Did you ever get any of that after losing a game?

Dave Bristol:

No. The fans were always good to me in Cincinnati.

Mike Koser:

Oh, that's good. That's good.

Dave Bristol:

Yeah.

Mike Koser:

Okay, so after you win the first game, July 14th, 1966, as manager of the Reds, you head to Atlanta, to Atlanta Stadium, which of course was later named Fulton County Stadium. The Reds were facing the Braves. Uh again, this is 1966. Hank Aaron steps up to the plate, and you walk out to the mound to pull out your pitcher. You bring in outfielder Mel Queen to pitch. And as Mel arrives at the mound, he spots runners on first and third. Hank Aaron standing at the plate, and he looks at you and asks, Are you sure I'm the man you want out here? Do you remember what happened next?

Dave Bristol:

I sure do. Hank Aaron was a hitter. And as I walked off, I said, Hank, this is this guy's first pitch, his first time pitching. He might be a little wild. You better screw that helmet down. And the writers asked him after the game, they said, What did Bristol say to you? And he told em and he said, By the way, what's that manager's name?

Mike Koser:

By the way, he ended up popping up to center field, so whatever was in your head at the time, it worked.

Dave Bristol:

Well, that's the only time he ever popped up.

Mike Koser:

You managed against some of the best players in baseball history during the 1960s.

Dave Bristol:

Hey, Mike, you are exactly right, and people forget about that.

Mike Koser:

Yeah, no, seriously, you think about Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron. Which one of those guys stood out the most to you?

Dave Bristol:

Well, i when I came home at the end of the year, first year, people at my town uh town asked me, he said, Who's the best player you saw? I said, Clemente. And I said, also, it was the end of Mays's career, and he could still play as good as anybody I ever saw. Pete Rose hit a ball one night and cr at crosley field and hustled into a double, and he hit that ball, the ground ball to center field, and Mays fielded it. So Mays is the first hitter the next inning. He chopped the ball, beat it out, stole second, stole third, and then scored on a high hopper and hollered over at Pete, said, Pete, that's the way you play the game. Oh man, what a good player. What a good player.

Mike Koser:

You made it to the Astrodome. The second year was open.

Announcer:

From the Astrodome in Houston, the Astros game of the day is on the air.

Mike Koser:

What do you remember about the first time you walked into the eighth wonder of the world?

Dave Bristol:

Well, the winter meetings were held that year in December in Houston, and they uh Hoffheinz took uh everybody who wanted to go, had a bus to take everybody out there to look at it.

Mike Koser:

Yeah, you're talking about uh the judge, yeah, Roy Hoffheinz, who at the time was the owner of the Astros.

Dave Bristol:

Yeah, to show everybody the the and tell them how long the dugouts were and so forth.

Announcer:

Inside, a look at more than 50,000 paying guests settled in their comfortable padded seats at 72 degrees temperature and 50% relative humidity. No rain, sun, wind, dust, perspiration, splinters, hard benches, mosquitoes, or snow. It's the Astro dome. Inside, a world of its own.

Dave Bristol:

When we went in there, I I I told the bus driver, I said, Be there early. I want to take all my players out there and let them sit and look at it and get it over it, and don't be looking and awing during the game. We're there to win the game. But it it was something else. It was something else.

Mike Koser:

You were let go by the Reds at the end of the 1969 season and then hired by the Seattle Pilots. The pilots' inaugural season was 1969.

Announcer:

The pilots' first season had many memorable moments, too many to chronicle here, but they gave their fans plenty to yell about and then some.

Mike Koser:

But the team's financial footing was shaky, to say the least, from the start. So you end up joining the team spring training 1970. And at some point, Dave, you discovered that the team may not be going back to Seattle at all.

Dave Bristol:

Well, Bud Selig came out there every weekend in spring training trying to make a deal with Dewey Soriano to buy the club. The last day of spring training, they finally consummated the deal. So we didn't know where we're going. So they told the bus rider and uh there's a semi-truck, it takes all the players' extra equipment and kitchen stuff and so forth. They told him, Drive towards Salt Lake. If you hear it's been sold, turn right to Milwaukee. If not, continue on to Seattle.

Mike Koser:

So as a manager uh uh of a ball club who, by the way, has to uh uh be in charge of their own housing, how do you plan for that?

Dave Bristol:

I I w you just roll with a punch and then we we boarded the plane going to Milwaukee.

Mike Koser:

So the team gets sold, and you and the ball club make the flight to Milwaukee. Home games that year for the now Milwaukee Brewers were played at County Stadium. And since the Braves had left for Atlanta a few years earlier, I imagine that the city was eager to welcome baseball back. Uh tell me about County Stadium in 1970.

Dave Bristol:

Well, Opening Day, uh we were playing the Angels. Andy Messersmith was pitching, and it might be in the coldest day I've ever seen a day game. And uh it was cold. Right before uh I've got a great big picture of me standing in the corner of the dugout with Bud Selig, and we're both grinning. You know, it's opening day.

Mike Koser:

Yeah.

Dave Bristol:

And I sent Bud that picture to get autographed, and I wrote at the bottom, I guess this was the last day that we were both smiling all year because it was a tough year.

Mike Koser:

I mean, it's uh it's an expansion ball club, and I mean a couple of tough years. You end up being let go by Milwaukee uh in 1972.

Dave Bristol:

Well, I I remember when uh I had the press conference at the Kenmore Hotel in Mil in Boston. That's where we were playing that day, and Frank Lane opened, he was the general manager. And he said, Dave, I don't know how we're going to get along without you, but in the morning we're gonna start trying. And you know what my reply was?

Mike Koser:

What?

Dave Bristol:

It was a neat incision, and the patient will be up within a day. And got on the first plane to come home. Golly.

Mike Koser:

I picture you spending those warm summer evenings in Andrews, North Carolina, with a cool mountain breeze blowing, sitting by the radio, checking box scores in the paper, and listening to as many games as you could.

Jack Buck:

Cardinals are two behind Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh and Milwaukee, where will be idle tonight. Cardinals three and a half ahead of Milwaukee.

Mike Koser:

Who are some of the teams, some of the broadcasts that you could get?

Dave Bristol:

KMOX in St. Louis.

Announcer:

Game Audio

Dave Bristol:

WLW in Cincinnati

Announcer:

Game audio

Dave Bristol:

That's where I listened most.

Mike Koser:

Those late night radio broadcasts when you were listening from your home in North Carolina kept you connected to the game.

Dave Bristol:

Exactly. Exactly. Forget 'em, you know, this is... I live right in the mountain. Uh I live three miles from resume speed.

Mike Koser:

Three miles from resume speed? Yeah. Well, you came down from the mountain pretty quick. You joined the expo's coaching staff and were with Montreal from 1973 to 1975. What can you tell me about Jarry Park in Montreal, the expo's first home, while they waited for Olympic Stadium to be ready?

Dave Bristol:

Well, I was happy to have a job, took a $40,000 cut from managing to coachin third base for Gene Mauch and Jarry Park.... I had a good time there, and the fans were outstanding and met a lot of nice people. It was good. Jarry Park was truly one of a kind.

Announcer:

Strike call!ed 0-1, and the game is underway here at Jarry Park.

Mike Koser:

It was this little ballpark nestled right in the middle of a sprawling community park, and fans would often say that going to an expos game there felt like uh a family picnic.

Announcer:

There are a lot of people, perhaps thousands of them, still outside the ballpark, trying to get in here this afternoon. The kids here are having a whale of a time, especially uh those youngsters who have received a bat.

Mike Koser:

It was the last of the single-deck Major League ballparks, and the grounds crew had quite the challenge. Every April they had to clear snow off the field. Fans would sometimes watch the game from atop the snow piles that would accumulate beyond the outfield wall.

Dave Bristol:

Yeah, that's true. That's very true. And you know, they had to resolve a lot of it, and the sod would some of it would come up at time. Because it was cold there early in the year. The grass was was not green, far from it. No, no, they they painted it sometimes.

Mike Koser:

And I've heard that when the sunset over the left field bleachers, games could be delayed because uh it was nearly impossible and actually downright dangerous for the first baseman to try to catch a throw uh from a shortstop or third baseman looking right into the sun.

Dave Bristol:

Well, it was right directly in the first baseman's eyes. Sometimes you had to delay the game till it went behind uh the bleachers, I'm telling you. Because somebody coulda got killed, you know, the third baseman threw to first, no way you could see it. No way.

Mike Koser:

As the Expo's third base coach, you must have noticed that little gap between the field level seats down the third baseline and the outfield bleachers at Jarry Park, especially those chilly April and May games, the wind would rip right through that gap. I remember hearing that some shortstops would put cotton balls in their ears just to avoid earaches from that wind. Do you remember dealing with that?

Dave Bristol:

Yeah, and you had to walk down that left field line to go to the own clubhouse, too. Yeah. But hey, you knew it was gonna be when you signed on, so I just came from Milwaukee and I knew how cold it was.

Mike Koser:

Do you have a favorite Montreal memory that comes to mind working uh as a coach for the expos?

Dave Bristol:

Well, uh working for Gene Mauch was fun. I loved him, and Cal McLish was the pitching coach, and Cal and I roomed together. You know, all of them are dead now. All the coaches are dead. Duke Snider was there. I I really like Larry Doby, and I wish after knowing all I've read about him, I we I'd asked him more questions about what how it's like playing uh on that '48 Cleveland winning team. I could kick myself for not doing that.

Mike Koser:

Larry Doby was the first to integrate on the American League side, joining the Cleveland Indians in 1947, right? Right. And he was with the Indians in 1948 when they won the World Series, and and so he was part of the Montreal Expo's coaching staff with you uh in the 70s.

Dave Bristol:

Yeah, one or two years, yeah. Duke Snider was there one year, uh, and he's in the Hall of Fame. I always wish I'd asked him more after reading Boys of Summer. Golly damn.

Mike Koser:

So, so good. It's one of my favorite books, one of the best books ever. Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn detailing um the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbet's Field.

Dave Bristol:

Yeah, you're right.

Mike Koser:

In 1977, you were managing the Atlanta Braves, and owner Ted Turner informs you that in the middle of the season he's gonna send you on a 10-day scouting trip, at which point he took over the team as manager. Now, when you heard that he was gonna do that, you must have been thinking that there's no way this guy is serious.

Dave Bristol:

Well, I was in Pittsburgh when I was informed, and I told him, I said, the commissioner won't allow you to do that. No, he said, I'm going to, you know, how headstrong he was. Yeah. So uh he managed that night in Pittsburgh, and then the next day it was a Friday. He called me and said, I'll see you at the ballpark tomorrow, because Bowie Kuhn stopped that right quick. But that was the most embarrassing moment I've ever been in in baseball.

Mike Koser:

But not completely atypical for Ted Turner, especially at that time.

Dave Bristol:

Yeah. Well, he just burnt different gas than the rest of it.

Mike Koser:

That's uh that's a good way of putting it. So Atlanta Stadium, which was later named Fulton County Stadium and also nicknamed the launching pad. Do you have some good memories from when you managed at that stadium? As a manager for the Braves?

Dave Bristol:

Well, I remember uh watching uh Henry Aaron hit that home run and uh Tom House jumping up and catching it and running back in and giving it to him. Tom House, you remember him uh left hand right pitcher? He's the one that ran up and caught that ball and then brought it back, gave it to Henry.

Mike Koser:

Tom House was part of the Braves pitching staff and uh and he was down at the bullpen at the time, and the ball he caught, uh a historic one, was home run number 715 for Hank Aaron, which took him past Babe Ruth for the all-time home run record.

Announcer:

714. Here's the pitch by Downing...

Mike Koser:

Dave, you managed the San Francisco Giants in 1979 and then again in 1980. In 1979, Hall of Famer Willie McCovey is 41. Do you have any stories that you can share about McCovey about "stretch"?

Dave Bristol:

That's the hardest job I've ever had in baseball. Telling him that his career was over. But being the uh uh the great guy he is, hey Mike, he is one of the finest people I ever managed.

Mike Koser:

Really?

Dave Bristol:

Yeah, he and Dale Murphy were the b both I love them both. But anyway, McCovey said, We're going on a three-day trip to San Diego where he had played earlier. He said, Can I make that trip? I said, sure. So we came back and we're playing the Reds on an afternoon game, and I pinchedd h it him in the eighth inning, and he got a base hit and drove in the winning run. And then I I sent Rich Murray, Eddie Murray's brother, in to pinch run for him, and he got a standing ovation.

Mike Koser:

This was back at at Candlestick Park?

Dave Bristol:

Yeah, back at Candlestick, yeah.

Announcer:

This was one of the largest Thursday afternoon crowns in candlestick park history, and they were there to say goodbye to stretch.

Dave Bristol:

What a great guy. What a I cannot, and he was so good. One of my boys was the bat boy, and he he told Lance, he said, Don't you ever be without baseball shoes. I I'm signed with puma, and I can get you all you want. And they were they were big buddies. Lance was nine or ten years old. So he'd get him shoes.

Mike Koser:

Oh my gosh, what a great memory.

Dave Bristol:

Oh, yeah.

Mike Koser:

There was Jack Clark, who in 1979 was 23 years old, but even at that young age, he could still hit the ball a mile.

Dave Bristol:

He had a lot of talent, a lot of talent.

Mike Koser:

And Vida Blue pitched for you.

Dave Bristol:

Yeah.

Mike Koser:

Uh was part of your pitching staff, as was Tom Griffin. Uh Tom, by the way, is an usher at my church.

Dave Bristol:

No.

Mike Koser:

Yeah.

Dave Bristol:

Hey, hey, text me his when you get through, text me his phone number, will you?

Mike Koser:

Yeah, he's such a good guy.

Dave Bristol:

Oh, wonderful. I I really tried to help him confidence-wise. He had good ability, but he he was unsure of himself. But man, oh man, he developed better.

Mike Koser:

Dave, you've you've been in some cold places, Milwaukee, Montreal, San Francisco. And I I know people might say, oh, San Francisco, come on, that's California. It's got to be warmer. But no, actually, sometimes candlestick was was colder than all of those other ones put together.

Dave Bristol:

Yeah, you got that right. That's three coldest. , Golly. Have you been to the new ballpark in San Francisco?

Mike Koser:

I have. I love it. I love it.

Dave Bristol:

It is? It's nice.

Mike Koser:

It is. It's one of my favorites.

Dave Bristol:

Oh, good. That's great. Yeah. I'm glad to hear that.

Mike Koser:

Dave, as a member of the Phillies coaching staff, you made it to the World Series in 1983. That's something that every kid dreams about.

Dave Bristol:

Well, I was the one of the kids that dreamed about it. Yeah. Oh man. Joe Morgan and Gary Matthews got hot in September, and they they really helped us.

Mike Koser:

Dave, you look back at that roster for the 1983 World Series, both teams had Hall of Famers. For the Orioles, Jim Palmer, Cal Ripken Jr., Eddie Murray. The Phillies had 300 game winners Steve Carlton, Mike Schmidt, uh Joe Morgan, Tony Perez, and would have had a fifth if not for the gambling suspension in Pete Rose, who was playing in his final World Series.

Dave Bristol:

That's right. People don't realize that.

Mike Koser:

The vet in Philadelphia was known for a less than great playing surface.

Announcer:

The Phillies are at home, and the fences loom awfully close, and it is artificial turf.

Mike Koser:

The turf became known as the "field of seams".

Dave Bristol:

Well, sometimes from coaching third base, and this was especially true in St. Louis, when the turf it got old and night at night, early night, when the lights would shine on it, and you'd see a ground ball or think a ground ball was hit toward right field. It was tough coaching third because you you couldn't see it. A white baseball against that shiny uh worn-out astro turf. Tough boy, tough.

Mike Koser:

New it's pretty bright green, but after many summers it begins to fade and that light shade of green starts to blend in with the baseball.

Dave Bristol:

Exactly. Exactly, exactly.

Mike Koser:

Dave at 92, you are still coaching a a Division II school?

Dave Bristol:

Young Harris, uh college division two, yeah. Yeah, I go over there about every day. I didn't this year because it's so cold and everything.

Mike Koser:

Those young men are lucky to have you.

Dave Bristol:

Well, hey, they've had some good players. I tell you one player that I when I first went there, sh you remember a guy with Colorado Charlie Blackmon?

Mike Koser:

Yeah, he just retired.

Dave Bristol:

He's a good guy. I still stay in touch with him. He went to Young Harris when it was a two-year college, and then he graduated from Georgia Tech.

Mike Koser:

He's a good egg.

Dave Bristol:

Oh boy. A good player, too.

Mike Koser:

Dave, listen, thank thank you for doing this.

Dave Bristol:

Well, hey, you're very knowledgeable and very informed, and you know everything, man.

Mike Koser:

I don't know about that, but it it sure has been fun. Have a great day, Dave, and uh thank you for coming on Lost Ballparks. I appreciate it.

Dave Bristol:

Thank you, thank you. I appreciate it, Mike. Take care.

Mike Koser:

In doing the research for this episode, I will tell you the one common thread through everything that I've read is that Dave Bristol's players loved him. He was a brother to them, a father, and a teacher all wrapped in one. Pete Rose said of Dave Bristol, he raised me. I there's another great story. Uh, there was a time in the 60s when the Cincinnati Reds, the team Dave was managing, was not playing well, just a kind of a rough stretch of games. And after one uh particular tough loss, Dave said to his team in the clubhouse, guys, there will be two buses leaving the hotel for the ballpark tomorrow. The two o'clock bus will be for those of you who need a little extra work. The empty bus will leave at 5 o'clock. Special thanks to Scott Hanick and Kevin Kernan for helping make that interview happen.

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Mike Koser

Host