Hold My Cutter
Former Big League Catcher, Michael Mckenry & long-time broadcaster, Greg Brown team up for a one-of-a-kind podcast centered around baseball & stogies. Fascinating in-person guests include present & former players, managers, broadcasters, writers & other personalities, from politics to pop culture. Laugh, learn & live a little! with "Hold My Cutter"
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"If there is a better Podcast out there, we haven't seen or heard it. Hands down, Brown & Mckenry are blazing new trails for the entire industry. I can't recommend, 'Hold My Cutter' enough!" Podcast Entertainment Weekly Magazine.
Email: Holdmycutter@gmail.com
Hold My Cutter
Tim Debacco on Ballpark Memories, PA Announcing, and Father-Son Bonds
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Step back into the golden age of baseball with the legendary Tim Debacco, whose voice has echoed through stadiums for over two decades as a public address announcer and organist. From the bustling Three Rivers Stadium to the vibrant PNC Park and now the energetic PPG Paints Arena, Tim's journey is a testament to his passion and dedication to sports entertainment. In this episode, Tim shares his affinity for cigars, specifically the Rocky Patel Edge 20th Anniversary, aligning perfectly with his adventurous spirit. We also laugh over the playful naming process of our podcast, with "Blow and Smoke" almost making the cut.
Relive the profound impact of father-son moments through Tim's heartwarming stories from his childhood in East Brady, Pennsylvania. His tale of bonding with his father over the tragic passing of Roberto Clemente and the shared love for Pirates games paints a vivid picture of how these memories fueled his love for baseball and his eventual career in broadcasting. Inspired by iconic voices like Milo Hamilton and Lanny Frattare, Tim's anecdotes capture the essence of baseball's magic and the family ties that often underpin our passions.
Uncover the enchanting world of PA announcing with stories of unexpected heroes and humorous slip-ups. Tim fills us in on the evolution of sports announcing, from Art McKinnon's fiery dedication to the nuanced art of pronunciation. His field interactions with players reveal the often unnoticed impact announcers have on their lives. Whether it's sharing a laugh over a national anthem blunder or extending heartfelt moments during a wild card game, Tim's experiences are a delightful reminder of baseball's enduring charm. And as we wrap up, anticipate more riveting conversations on "Hold My Cutter" with Tim Tobacco, whose warmth and wisdom continue to light up the podcast.
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Ladies and gentlemen, we remind you please do not go on the field or in any way interfere with baseball still in play or throw objects of any kind onto the field or in the stands. Anyone violating these rules will be immediately removed without prior warning.
Speaker 2No, thank you, Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1Well, you can tell her. Our guest is. It's been a while About practice.
Speaker 2If you know that voice, he nailed it, he nailed it Of course he did, and he's been doing it for my gosh more than 20 years. But he did 20 years worth of kind of fill-in pa and oregon at three river stadium and then into pnc park and speaking at the same time I know, yeah, we'll get to that incredible.
Speaker 2But but speaking of that, 20 makes sense because our guest on this edition of hold my cutter coming your way, as always here at burn by rocky patel, right down the road from where he used to work at pnc park, and we're going to talk about tim tobacco, our guest. But speaking of about 20 years doing the organ and the pa, he has recommended our featured smoke this episode, the rocky patel, the edge 20th anniversary. It uses a an ecuadorian sumatra wrapper wrapped around a blend of premium long filler tobacco from Honduras and Nicaragua. Medium to full-bodied profile Fills your palate with notes of earth, floral wood, pepper and cocoa from start to finish and it is a good smoke. And we're talking again.
Speaker 3And brownie, you know what it's called the Edge, the Edge it's an edgy, timmy T brought it in because he lives his life on the.
Speaker 2Edge, timmy D the great, tim Tobacco, longtime public address announcer at Three River Stadium and PNC Park with the Pirates, longtime organist over at, well before that, mellon Arena and now PPG. We're here with Tim Tobacco the great one. The great one is right, he's tremendous and thanks for being here today and thanks for that introduction.
Speaker 1Are you kidding me? Thank you for having me. I've watched so many episodes.
Speaker 2What do you think of Hold my Cutter?
Speaker 1You know, I remember when you and I were talking about your idea for the name of the podcast. Do you remember the other one that you had in mind? I?
Speaker 1do and I were talking about your idea for the name of the podcast, and do you remember the other one that you had in mind? I do not. I think it was Blow and Smoke, and you couldn't figure out if you wanted Hold my Cutter or Blow and Smoke. I thought maybe you should. You know how some hit records, songs, have parenthetical phrases Like, for example, that's the way parentheses, I like it. I never understood that, by the way. Why is it? For example, that's the way parentheses, I like it.
Speaker 3yes, I never understood that, by the way, why it's not? That's the way I like it. Why the parentheses? Hey, that's why. That's why it's like that we're asking the question.
Speaker 1I mean, I can think well, some songs you would be like the. Uh, it's in his kiss parentheses the shoop shoop song yeah, yeah, yeah, that makes sense right yeah, but but that's the way parentheses. I like it. I don't get it it makes no sense. It could be hold my cutter parentheses, blow and smoke. Just the thought that's not a bad idea actually.
Speaker 3That's not a bad idea.
Speaker 2We're going to have to add that now.
Speaker 1Stay tuned, yes.
Speaker 2No charge for that. No, it's nice yeah.
Speaker 1It's nice.
Father-Son Bond Over Baseball Memories
Speaker 2Thanks for the recommendation. Do you guys drink scotch? We drink coffee right here out of this mug.
Speaker 1I don't drink scotch. I had a friend who used to drink it and he would get really into it. Like I know, you talked about all the things you could. Yes, which it's a real thing, of course yeah.
Speaker 2He would say oh, I'm nosing the scotch and I can pick up Pete.
Speaker 1Oh, the accents yeah. And he said circus peanuts. Oh my gosh, Circus peanuts. Are you kidding me? So I didn't know if you could Was this friend an elephant.
Speaker 2Oh my gosh Tim tobacco. His friend is Dumbo.
Speaker 3Yes, yes, I love it, right here.
Speaker 2I'm his best friend, Dumbo yes yes, I love it Right here. I'm his best friend. Dumbo, tell us how it all started with you growing up in East. Brady.
Speaker 1Pennsylvania. Thank you, yeah, you know I was thinking about this before coming on here because I have such an affinity and a love for the Pirates and I was trying to figure out when that all happened, because there was a time that as a youngster I really wasn't into baseball, I hadn't been bitten by the bug for the Pirates and baseball. And, to tell the story correctly, you have to understand about my late father. He boy was a dichotomy there of personalities. He was this rugged outdoorsman. He loved to be in the garden, he loved to hunt rabbits with his beagle dogs and hunt deer and he was always outside tinkering and he loved baseball and I, on the other hand, was always inside playing records. I love my vinyl records and cassette tapes and eight track tapes and and uh and television, and so I was always inside, probably much to his disappointment, in fact.
Speaker 1I can remember just a quick side story. I think I had to be about 12. And he said to me he was out working on his truck and he said hey, I want you to come outside and I want to teach you how to change the oil on the car. I'm like, okay? So I figure, hey, this is pretty important. So I got my tape recorder and trudged out I was going to record it. I got out and he's got the car up on the jacks and he's what the heck is that? And I said, well, now I can remember. I, you know, if this is important, I have to, I have to record his ah, you know. So that that was the kind of oil and water with my dad and me and I can remember like I I think it could have been watching the world series in 71, and I I remember saying to him oh, I get it, so we play like the Giants one inning and the Orioles the next inning. No, no, and I think he, just I think he gave up hope that I would ever love the game. And then what happened? Was Clemente passed away. And then what happened? Was Clemente passed away.
Speaker 1And I remember waking up on New Year's Day and I remember my dad, after hearing the news, was just so saddened and I said you know what's going on? And he said well, you know what's going on. And he said, well, clemente passed away. And he said to me later that day he said get your tape recorder out and I want you to put it up to the TV on tonight's news and I want you to record that and keep this tape. I still have the tape, wow. So he had me record the audio from the tv speaker, the six o'clock news. And then, a couple of months after that, here I am. You know I love records. And here comes dad and he says I got this record in the mail, this roberto clemente memorial album. He says the Roberto Clemente Memorial album. He says let's go into your room and listen to it. Wow, jeez, there's a bonding experience.
Speaker 1You guys came together with Two Things you Love, right? Wow, I listened to this album and something happened then. I mean just the actual radio clips from Bob Prince and the narration from John Facenda, and it just struck a chord in me and it and dad and I bonded. And then from there I was like hey, take me, take me to a game. I think 1973 was the first game I went to at three rivers and you know, just to be in this, it was like a Disneyland. You're enveloped in this thing with this green turf, and I was hooked.
Speaker 3It gets in your veins yeah, it does, and you just can't get it out.
Speaker 2How often would you go with your dad then?
Speaker 1It was probably twice a year, okay.
Speaker 2Yeah, for how long?
Speaker 1From that point forward. You made it a point then when you got the job. You made it a point to make sure he came to some games with your mom, right, sure sure, and then maybe we'd go to an Altoona Curve game, you know, since I couldn't sit in the stands with him at.
Speaker 3Three Rivers or PNC Park? How old were you when it all kind of?
Speaker 1came to life, so I would be when you got hooked, michael. I would be about nine.
Speaker 3Do you think that was a driving force into what became Tim Tobacco?
Speaker 1It was that. And then and I think Greg can understand this because he was bitten by this bug too I, like Bob Prince, I'd listen to the games, games. But all of a sudden in 1976, here comes milo hamilton and lanny for terry and I was really bitten by the bug. Then I thought milo hamilton and I know I'm in the minority on this I thought he was just fantastic, he was this perfect combination of drama and enthusiasm. And I love Lanny too. And now, yeah, and I can't stop listening to the games. And then 1979 came around. I wish I would have brought my scorebook with me. I missed family events. I stayed at home. I kept score of every game. I wrote down what the uniforms they were wearing, what uniform combination, if the game was televised or if it was just on the radio. I had different colored pens for RBIs and I was in deep. And then, when they won, what more do you need? That's awesome.
Speaker 3You should see my notes. They're not as clean as most, but I do all color-coded and everything else it's the best right.
Speaker 2You get thrilled with it, yeah.
Speaker 3And I never would have dreamed that would have been me, but I absolutely love keeping up with all of the things that are going on, so that's really cool to hear it's so much fun because we can get so deep into the weeds, he and I because well I want to get deep. His dad was an outdoorsman. We are, we are so it's weird.
Speaker 2We're so, so we actually share not the same year, but the same birth date. He and I were born on the same day, not the same year, so every year that's a good day.
Speaker 3What?
Speaker 2day, probably 20 years, maybe maybe more, we make certain, hopefully on that very day.
Speaker 3What's the day?
Speaker 2November 13th. Write that down. We're both Scorpios. We both essentially got bitten by the pirate bug about the same time, same way.
Speaker 3Did you just say you're both Scorpios?
Speaker 2Yes, are you.
Speaker 3No, I'm a Pisces, but I didn't know.
Speaker 2What do you think of that, because I'm not really into it. We're both mysterious, I know that's about. Scorpios are mysterious.
Speaker 3Okay, so he's not that into it. Folks, We'll get into that later.
Speaker 2And we don't like telling people a lot about ourselves. We're kind of secretive, oh okay, yeah.
Speaker 1But anyway and we both have this. I don't remember Prince much, but almost to the day, remember when Milo Hamilton and Landing for Terry took over. Yeah, it was a world opened up for me and I would. In the 1979 season, I sensed something magical was going to happen. Season I I sensed something magical was going to happen. So I I would record every game off the radio on a cassette tape and I of course I kept score so I could go back and do a recap and on another recorder, another stereo system, I would say you know that here's how the ball game went, and the first you know tim foley recap.
Speaker 2I did his own highlight and then I would go to the.
Speaker 1So every time the pirates scored a run in, like the last, I started doing this, like in the last month, month and a half of the season, I had the actual sound on tape of when that run scored, um, and, and I just was consumed with it and couldn't, couldn't get enough.
Speaker 3So what gave you the feeling that something magical was going to happen?
Speaker 1that season, like maybe there's a certain moment or something that just hit you, because I know that feeling I'm going to just add and you think about that.
Speaker 2But for me well, it's weird, but winning teams have this magic about them.
Speaker 3Is it like an aura?
Speaker 2There's no way to explain it, Just crazy plays. Walk-off plays.
Speaker 3Oh, you could just see it coming together.
Speaker 2Yeah, it's magical and I don't know. That's my explanation.
Baseball Memories and Broadcasting Beginnings
Speaker 1No, sometimes you can't define it. You're right, I love it. I think the Milner Grand Slam against the Phillies oh, those specific moments.
Speaker 2Yeah, I think the Milner Grand Slam against the Phillies oh, those specific moments, yeah.
Speaker 1It was just such a shot in the arm for the team. I remember a game I stayed up for all of it, a 19-inning game in San Diego where Dave Roberts, he had the bases loaded and nobody out, and then he had a 3-0 count on a hitter with the bases loaded and got out of that and we went on to win that game in 19 innings.
Speaker 2And Dave Roberts, by the way, was a middling veteran who just came on board and didn't have any. I think he was left off the roster in the postseason, I believe. I don't think he was on the postseason roster.
Speaker 1But a veteran lefty, who again that was magical because nobody would have expected him to to perform like he did yeah, so, um, maybe it's that I'm remembering this, michael, or maybe I really did feel it at the time, but when we got madlock, it felt. I think it felt different than two, like something was really starting to gel.
Speaker 2I love it. Bill madlock was acquired from the giants during the season. It was like that one missing piece. They moved phil garner from third to second and that was a perfect fit, right yeah thank you, you're so great at filling in gaps no I forget.
Speaker 1You know a lot of a lot of people don't yeah, yeah, who's madlock?
Speaker 2yes, thank you.
Speaker 1No, I wasn't doing that intentionally no, no, I just had to tell you that because I love that.
Speaker 2Anyhow. He is incredible at it so 79, again, you're recording these games.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2And, as you say, you're missing events.
Speaker 1Yeah, I remember missing a family event. My dad was not happy.
Speaker 2Hey Dad, it's your fault. Yeah, don't blame me, let's shoot the messenger. So what did you think now?
Speaker 1so you start, you end up uh, through high school, you end up going to clarion yeah, and in clarion, um, it was great because in the communications department we could do whatever we wanted, sort of unsupervised by any faculty. I mean, they would, from afar, steer us in the right direction. But there was a group of us who every year would put together a special on the pirates. We would find our own advertising, we'd produce it, we'd get our own lodging, we'd get our credentials from the ball club, we'd get our camera gear together, we'd conduct our interviews and we'd come back and we'd put together this half-hour special, usually in April, a pre-season look at the ball club. And so I got involved in this right away. And then my senior year, I was the host and wrote it and produced it and needed a guy at the ball club to help me with getting B-roll for other clubs highlights. So I contacted this guy by the name of greg brown. Who's that? So, yeah, some guy that was super helpful and uh, and and and we became friends and that never stopped.
Speaker 2Well, I use you as an example of speaking to young adults, kids interested in getting into the business or any business. I use Timmy D as the greatest example. I tell them that there's a fine line between being too much of a pain and there is such a fine line and he is spot on with it at this time he was on the edge.
Speaker 2Ah, there we are. Wow, he was on the edge I'm bringing it back, mr Segway but he was because he was so nice, as as he is, that's who he is as a person didn't change his personality, nothing phony about him but uh stayed on it to the point where I remember at one time I think we went to dinner at the or lunch at the allegheny club, maybe once, uh, you came down and when we we chatted, but then take it from there Once you're done. Clarion, where did you end up going?
Speaker 1I went to Morgantown, west Virginia, and worked doing middays at an oldie station in Morgantown, pardon me, and that's where you met your buddy, is it Shannon Mark? Sherman. Mark Sherman, yeah, he was doing mornings. He went to clarion. Oh, yeah, he was doing mornings.
Speaker 2He went to Clarion. Oh, okay.
Speaker 1He was doing mornings at WCLG and I was doing middays, and then I came back. I had this background in TV production. There was a job opening in Pittsburgh in TV production. So I came back, left the radio gig and you want me to tell you yeah, we've got time, do okay, oh okay, um.
Speaker 2So if you're not watching on youtube, timmy d just looked at his watch. We're just getting started, timmy d. Well, you're not leaving anywhere? No, this this is, we have him handcuffed.
Speaker 1That story so greg and I are friends. We were hanging out and I don't know if you remember this we were double dating and we took our dates to the Ice Capades.
Speaker 3Oh, you guys go way back, wow I don't remember.
Speaker 2Do you remember what my date?
Speaker 3was. Will you explain what the Ice Capades?
Speaker 2Well, it was at the Civic Arena. They don't do that anymore, I guess.
Speaker 1They do Mickey on Ice and stuff now.
Speaker 2But this was more for adults, Michael.
Speaker 1We weren't kids, mickey could have been skating on that Maybe, but I think it was more professional.
Speaker 2What size capace? Not that Mickey's not professional.
Speaker 3Is it like Blades of Glory? Have you ever seen that movie?
Speaker 2Yes, Classier version of Blades of Glory have you ever seen that movie?
Speaker 3Yes, kind of like that Classier version of Blades of Glory, perfect, perfect. Now we have a reference.
Speaker 1So I remember you're saying to me and, by the way, before we get to the story, can I put you on the spot, of course. So Art McKinnon was the longtime public address announcer, from 1948 through 1986. Wow, public address announcer from 1948 through 1986, and I was the pa announcer beginning in 1988 through 2022. So in 1987, do you know who the pirates public address announcer was?
Speaker 3I have no idea, greg brown you got it wow, so you, you did a one year.
Speaker 2I had a one. Yeah, well, I was filling in for him too, for like three or four years before that I was doing pre-game stuff and post-game and then he couldn't do doubleheaders because he had been stricken with polio. I'll tell the story, because you got to know Art and became a great friend.
Speaker 3That's a long time.
Speaker 2Oh my gosh, he was a Wow. He even did so much stuff with Timmy D. He sat down and recorded I don't know how many hours with Art, because Art's knowledge of the history he had. I mean, well, yeah, because he's a. He was a bat boy, come on.
Speaker 1Yeah, he went from. He started working for the club in 1919. 1919?. He went from an errand boy to the foul tip boy. Wait, wait, wait.
Speaker 3Foul tip boy. Yeah, so they would run and get the ball. That's right Like tennis. Yeah, he said there was a lot of room behind Forbes Field, behind the plate to the.
Speaker 1That's the way it should be. Consequences yeah, he was that guy and then he was the then the bat boy, and so that was. He started that in 1919 and then he became the PA announcer in 48. But I do have some history there. If you want to know about the public address announcers, yes, but wait.
Speaker 2So where were we? Should we go there or should we go to, it doesn't matter, we like bouncing around, go ahead.
Speaker 1Well, let's go there. Yeah yeah, art told me that the first elect, and I have some of this written down in case.
PA Announcers
Speaker 2Oh nice, but he said the first.
Speaker 1The first pa announcer is when they got the lights and the electronic scoreboard at forbes field, which was in 1940 according to art, and so before that I asked him. I said, well, was there a public address announcer before then? What? And he said yes, the first public address announcer was the home plate umpire, and that before the game he'd take off his hat and he'd turn around to the press box and he would announce the batteries, the battery, rather, the pitcher and catcher. And that was it. And then At least they knew it was important.
Speaker 3Yeah, sorry.
Speaker 2Cy Young and Michael McHenry. Whoops yeah, with one of the.
Speaker 3Megaphone, Megaphones yeah.
Speaker 1Yeah, that came next You're right, you're exactly right.
Speaker 1Another segue there would be a guy this is in the 20s, according to Art that this guy with a megaphone would announce the lineups and changes and when he would do the changes, changes, he would do them three times. He would do do one round on top of the third base dugout, he would go behind the plate and announce it again with a megaphone and then he would go on top of the first base how cool is that? And announce the changes. So, um, and he gave me this was pretty incredible because I think I did the interview, like in the early 90s, and so we're talking about his having to remember the early 30s and I asked him if he could remember all the PA announcers for the Pirates that preceded him and he said the first one that would have had the megaphone was nathaniel mule mole.
Speaker 1He was nat mule mole. He was from new kensington, later the south side, the mole yep, they called him mule mole. And then after that, uh, it was paul coil from oakland. He, he said he later became a priest and eventually a monsignor and a secretary to the bishop.
Speaker 2What.
Speaker 1And then he said there was a guy from Oakland by the name of Cliff Baker, another one that he didn't remember. And then the first electronic PA announcer was a bartender at Gustine's in Oakland. His name was Francis Rooney, my goodness, and he told a funny story. He said that that they had. So Francis Rooney had a. He sat on the bench and there was a microphone near him, either on top of the dugout or by the bench. And then it was time for the anthem and something happened. The recording that they had didn't work and Francis Rooney said, according to Art quote ladies and gentlemen, due to technical difficulties, we will dispose of the national anthem. Wow.
Speaker 2Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1And then it was John Jeffers of Hazelwood. And then Art told me that he got a call I can't remember, I just looked at it not too long ago, I can't remember from whoever was in charge at the time and said they heard his voice on the telephone. And they said you know you, you would be good, would you consider being the PA announcer? And he said, well, I don't, I don't want to take anybody's job away. And they said no, no, we're going to make a change, no matter what. And he said well, okay, if you're going to make a change that I'm interested. So so in 1948 art took over and had that long run, um, but yeah, when was he stricken with polio, do you know?
Speaker 2yeah, it was a teenager. Gosh, I hate to be, I hate to be wrong, so I I don't.
Speaker 1I think it was as a teenager. Gosh, I hate to be wrong, so I don't. I think it was either a teenager or in his very early 20s.
Speaker 2Because by this time he had been pretty much on crutches. I believe so.
Speaker 1And you know, I have the information, I just don't know. No, no, no. I'm just curious to know Because, by the time, such a marvelous man, because by the time Art was a public address announcer when we met him at Three River Stadium.
Speaker 2He was confined to a wheelchair and he would have relatives or friends kind of wheel him up to the elevator. They'd drop him. He'd be at an inner circle through River Stadium by Presque Day and they'd take him up the elevator and he'd have someone there all the time. And Art was such a great great man and such a great great Pirates fan. Anybody that knew Art, however, knew that if the Pirates lost a game, you don't go near Art McKinnon, you don't talk to him.
Speaker 1And it was funny to watch people that didn't know.
Speaker 2He was hot. Oh, beyond you, don't talk to him. It was funny to watch people that didn't know he was hot Beyond. You have no idea.
Speaker 1It was so awful he would throw his scorebook his crutches, he'd fire them.
Speaker 2You had to stay awake because you could get hit. It was funny to see people that after games didn't know any better.
Speaker 1Hi, art, anyhow, so back to so when he he was dismissed after the 86 season, but then when I was hired forgive me, man, wrong time to have that problem.
Speaker 2No, it's good, it's all part of it's all natural stuff.
Speaker 3Have some coffee, yeah.
Speaker 1In 88, when I was hired, Rick Cerrone one of your other guests, just one of my all-time favorite people he said to me, Tim, when he hired me, you're our guy, but we want to bring Art back as a tradition that he will do Sunday games. And I thought, wow, what a great idea. You know I was a huge Art McKinnon fan. I mean when I was listening to those games on the radio I was also always tuned in to Art McKinnon. I was tuned in to Vince Leshide and you know they were part of the fabric of Pittsburgh and the Pirates.
Speaker 1So when he brought Art back I was like, wow, I'm not working alongside this guy. So we became friends and he would mentor me, you know, from time to time and he always taught me the three C's of public address to be clear, to be concise and to be correct. You know that stayed with me all of my career. And then a little bit later on he got to the point where Rick asked me to be with him during the times that he would do PA on Sundays, sort of be his spotter. He was starting to decline and so I did that and he hung up the cleats, I think maybe midway of 93, something like that.
Speaker 3Sounds right Started in 1919. 1919 with a club.
Speaker 1Wow, wow, what a run Incredible, just the nicest man, unless they lose, unless, they lose, unless, they lose. Yeah.
Speaker 3The next day he'd forgotten it. Well, he could shower it off.
Speaker 1He just got to get it off, showered it off. I stopped to think about that. You know how long he did that. And here comes this 23-year-old that's now doing what he did, and he didn't have to embrace me like he did.
Speaker 2He didn't have to be my mentor, he didn't have to be my friend, but he did no, and likewise, actually, I was your buffer, because yeah, I didn't replace a guy, I was like replacing Bob Prince or Ernie Harwell, and it was very difficult that they had made this decision, that Art was going to be gone and all of a sudden, this young kid was going to take over for Art McKinnon. Who the heck am I? And same thing, very, very gracious.
Speaker 3Was everybody gracious or did you Because he stopped on his own terms? Oh no, he did not stop on his own terms, I'm sorry.
Speaker 2No, he did not stop on his own, okay, so that makes it even harder.
Speaker 3Oh yeah, so it was very difficult you guys walking into that like how hard was that? Because I'm thinking about it as a player. It's never. I came in because of an injury yeah my wife took an absolute beating in the stands from other wives because I took so much job that I could not control. It was an opportunity, because everybody's misfortune in the game is someone's fortune and that's the way it's always been. How did you guys handle that?
Speaker 2Back then people got news literally by newspapers, radio and TV. There were no cable back then, it was just three.
Speaker 3TV stations.
Speaker 2No Twitter, no, nothing. And people were not kind, and understandably so. They did not want Art McKinnon replaced. They didn't like change. No, to this day, they don't like change.
Speaker 1Well, unless it's a hidden code. Unless it's an institution.
Speaker 2It was so good, my goodness.
Speaker 3Well, people like Band-Aids.
Speaker 2Yes.
Speaker 3Yeah, they think a Band-Aid's going to fix that giant wound.
Speaker 2But yeah, so anyway so Timmy D goes in there, and he's so gracious, though, and so classy, and then you take over for this icon.
Speaker 1After the buffer After the buffer so I guess I can segue to the ice capades now, yeah.
Speaker 3I mean, I figured you're just trying to like kind of wiggle around it.
Speaker 1But yeah, let's go back to the edge of his or her seat to learn more about the ice. I want to put on skates right now.
Speaker 2I'm trying to was it robin? Yeah, it was okay it was.
Speaker 1Yeah, um is robin one of the dates and robin, andy and Christy.
Speaker 3Wow, if you're out there, robin and Christy hello.
Speaker 1So Greg says to me you know, I'm leaving the PA position and if I get this right, if I get it wrong, please correct me. You were wanting to get into the broadcasting department with the pirates and do more things there. Yes, right, yes, because at that time you, you had your aspirations to do what you do now, right and I sort of just you said to me, why don't you, why don't you try out for that? And I, I sort of dismissed it and I said really, really.
Speaker 1Do you think? And he's like no, no, you should try out. So I threw my name in the hat and it was a couple of weeks before the start of the 88 season. It was. They ushered in all of them, maybe about 15 of us, ushered us into an empty three rivers.
Speaker 1Um, I'm gonna go here one second he's gotta get it right the restaurant event man, um, and they gave us each a. It was about a I don't know a minute or so script. It was a welcome and it was. Here are the lineups. There was a promotional announcement and they said you can flip this around, you can switch it a little bit, add your own flair if you want.
Speaker 1And I did change one thing I'd I was always a big fan of john barbaro the great penguins, penguins, yeah guy and he used to do a thing where he said, uh, tonight the national hockey league presents, and then when he would name the two teams. So I borrowed that from him and and in my script you know good evening ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Three River Stadium. Tonight the National League presents. So a couple of days later Rick Cerrone called me and he said um, hey, you're not moving anytime soon, are you? And I was just such a naive.
Speaker 323 year old I said well, I'm going from.
Speaker 1I mean I'm going from an apartment to a house, maybe soon, no, no, I mean you're not like moving to Cincinnati or anything, are you? No? He says well, okay, then you're, you're our guy. And he says I like that. You did that little national league.
Speaker 2He liked that he did.
Speaker 1He made me. He made a mention of that and that's how I got. I mean, I didn't have to. There wasn't a formal interview, there wasn't. I didn't have to give a resume and I spoke a lot better than I am right now, you're sounding great.
Speaker 2He's just choked up thinking about it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1I'm out of practice.
Speaker 2No, and so you do that he's thinking about Robin and Christy.
Speaker 3Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2So you do the audition and shortly thereafter do you know how many people Timmy D ended up auditioning.
Speaker 1I think it was about 12 or 15.
Speaker 2Okay up auditioning I think it was about 12 or 15, and then and then once you, once you started doing that, was there. Uh, was it hard not to? Because you and I talked about this. We, we both do impersonations. I, I would impersonate announcers and public address announcer, including art yeah and uh, can we, can we hear one?
Speaker 1oh he, he does it very well.
Speaker 3Anyway we will in a second.
Speaker 2We will in a second, but it was hard not to almost emulate art and be your own public address announcer. Was that difficult? Not really, I don't remember it being no remember it being no um, because you talked also about, though, being uh. You wanted to be gracious to him, as he's still doing sundays, and you know he had certainly his own style, but he also did. In fact, one of the things he always did was, ladies and gentlemen, if you'll have your pencils and scorecards ready, here are the starting lineups.
Speaker 1You bring up a good point, and that is that Things that he would do I think more so emulating his style I didn't do, but I did follow a lot of his same format.
Speaker 2Okay.
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah, and the example that you bring up, that I always did, ladies and gentlemen, and now if you'll have your scorecards ready. That came from Rick Cerrone. He suggested that I do that.
Speaker 2Oh really, maybe he took that from me. That's ingrained in my head. I thought Art did that every. I thought Art began. I thought he said if you'll have your scorecards ready.
Speaker 3That's ingrained in my head. I thought he did Maybe not Like hearing that it's ingrained in my.
Speaker 1I can hear it over and over again, it's so cool Michael and everyone who's watching and listening. Make no mistake, the three forces that guided me through my growth as a PA announcer were Art McKinnon, rick Cerrone and Greg Brown. I mean, there are so many things this guy held me with.
Speaker 2Well for me that was art though, timmy D, I mean art to your point, the three Cs, but art would impress upon you to make sure you know my diction.
Speaker 3In fact so when I was doing it Real quick for people that don't understand, explain what that means.
Speaker 2Well, so when I was doing it, when I was sitting with him, did you sit with him during game? I guess you did, because you were a spotter for a while.
Speaker 3When you're talking about spotter. Is that kind of what an executive producer or producer would do now, so to speak?
Speaker 1Just more to maybe look out for changes. Oh, here comes a pinch hitter on the on-deck circle.
Speaker 3Okay, that's a lot what we get in the In addition and I don't know.
Speaker 2We're kind of doing this on the fly. We didn't prepare in this case.
Speaker 3But that's what the coolest part is, because I don't know a lot of this stuff.
Speaker 2So I don't recall timing-wise when Timmy actually took over, but I do remember being there with Art, so Art had not only the, the microphone there in the sound room at three river stadium old school mic. Old school microphone mic but also a big board where he would punch in.
Speaker 1On the manual scoreboard he would punch in the yeah, he ran the balls and strikes the balls and strikes outs wow, um, I don't know what else on there.
Speaker 2I think you had to change the numbers for the batteries, if I'm not mistaken. Could?
Speaker 3be Anyway.
Speaker 2Old-timey scoreboard. Old-time. Well, it was Back then. It was a new scoreboard.
Speaker 3But it probably had innings, outs count and, like you said, the battery.
Speaker 2It's usually what the old-timey scoreboard had, Not old-timey, but like it was up to him to punch in the outs. Okay, I also see the board. I think you're right. Did you have that? I can see the old board, but did you have to do that when you no, no.
Speaker 1By the time you were there, okay, no, and I remember that was, that was like uh, one of the union job and he was that's right. He was like entrenched in that and that's right. Yeah, that that they they weren't the new guy was not going to do that.
Speaker 2So anyway, on occasion for me and I think the same would hold true for Timmy D if you announced a name and he would want you to make certain. I can't think of one name back then, but let's just say it's Angelo Encarnacion. Make sure you say Angelo Encarnacion, be specific, use that diction, be strong with that, and he ingrained that into my head and I'm sure he did that with you too.
Speaker 1Yeah, for sure, for sure. And I remember too, you're telling me, you know you hear a lot of PA announcers out there. Start off everything with your attention please, your attention please. And I remember, early on, you're telling me you know I'd shy away from that because that's almost like crying wolf. Yeah, it's like if you say your attention please for everything, and then you really need their attention.
Speaker 2You're not going to get it, you're not going to get it. It's like breaking news on these cable news outlets Breaking news, breaking news, breaking news.
Speaker 1Yeah, I remember you were telling me, like you know, if there's a, you know maybe there's a dignitary that's going to be recognized, or you know, maybe there's a God forbid a poison gas leak or something you know.
Speaker 3Okay, your attention please, attention, attention, yeah.
Speaker 2Oh, my gosh, oh, we would have to back. Then you'd have to say your attention, please, Run for your lives.
Speaker 3Oh, we would have to back, then you'd have to say your attention, please Run for your lives. Oh yes, do not sniff or take an oxygen. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2C-5-0-0-3-5. Your car is running.
Speaker 1There's Art McKinnon right there.
Speaker 3That kind of thing I love it.
Speaker 2An example would be Derek Shelton. It comes to mind a lot I do and I'm trying to catch myself. Derek Shelton, the manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates Art, would say no, it's S-H-E-L-T-O-N. Derek Shelton. Yeah, the manager of the Pirates is not Derek Shelton, it's Derek Shelton. But interestingly enough, when I I've watched Derek himself say his own name, he says Shelton. So it's weird.
Speaker 1It's conversation and it's formal presentation. That's the difference. I remember I think we had this discussion about Al Martin.
Speaker 3That's another one. He just said, al Martin.
Speaker 1Yeah, you don't swallow. It's not Al Martin, when you're over the mic because you're not enunciating. By the way, I have to tell you this story. This is like maybe my first or second year on the job. I was interviewed by Nellie Bryles, great former Pirates pitcher, former Pirates broadcaster. I took your you would normally do that. I took that role where I filled in the gaps.
Speaker 2I love it. I love it. You're so good at that. Yeah, I love it, you are. You're just so good at that, the way you fill in the gaps. I won't keep doing that.
Speaker 1That's my shtick, come on we like shopping at the gap.
Speaker 3right, greg, that's right, that's good.
Speaker 1Nellie interviews me and says, tim, what's the hardest part of your job? And I said how do you prepare the most? And I said, well, the biggest part of the preparation is going over the pronunciations. And I kept saying that I think that's it, probably just making sure I get all the pronunciations right. And a dear friend of mine, chuck Aber played good neighbor Aber on Mr Rogers' Neighborhood oh my gosh, wow. Came to me and said thank God he did this. You know I always appreciated this. He pulled me aside. He goes hey, I heard your interview Sounded great, but I just want to tell you that the correct pronunciation of the word pronunciation is pronunciation, it's not pronunciation.
Speaker 2It's pronunciation. Yeah, how?
Speaker 3about that. Oh, that's good, that's good. So you had to work on it a little bit more.
Speaker 1Obviously yes.
Speaker 3Well, just know that that would be incredibly hard for me.
Speaker 2So what you guys do, I Timmy D, retired a couple years ago. We would talk about on the air, about him with Bob or Steve or some other, john Wainer. One of them said and it might have been even a, it was more than one guy that said it, but it holds true never heard him make a mistake.
Speaker 3Oh, me and Kieger joke around about it all the time.
Speaker 2He of all the years.
Speaker 3I never heard him, Never even heard him go nothing.
Speaker 1Never made a mistake. Well, I'm covering for 35 years.
Speaker 3tonight it doesn't matter. You are not the PA announcer right now, but that's almost impossible. I mean it is impossible.
Speaker 1Well, first of all, you weren't paying enough attention, because I made plenty of mistakes. We did it with grace, it's not true.
Speaker 3We never did I was just trying to play into it. Okay, Brownie.
Speaker 1That's kind of you and I appreciate it, but I made plenty of mistakes. I can remember one time there was a time for the anthem and we were playing the Montreal Expos and I completely forgot about the Canadian anthem. I just introduced it. I was so embarrassed.
Speaker 3It's easy to do. That's easy. I was mortified, let's be honest.
Speaker 2That is easy to do.
Speaker 1What was the mistake I just said, ladies and gentlemen, we ask you now to please rise here to perform our national anthem. And then I just skipped over O Canada. You know they still performed it, but I just didn't introduce it.
Speaker 2So that's not a mistake.
Speaker 3You didn't make an omission, that no one noticed, that's a live TV. There it is.
Speaker 2Nobody knew. So the one error he made in his career was an omission.
Speaker 3But you know, live TV, live broadcast. You didn't do something that no one knew.
Speaker 2Right.
Speaker 3So you didn't actually make a mistake, that's right. You just stayed in flow. That's a technicality. That is a technicality.
Speaker 1Former general manager Sid Thrift used to say the difference between an error of omission and an error of commission right that's exactly right, but I made plenty of errors of commission too.
Speaker 2How about Art McKinnon's greatest mistake? You remember that?
Speaker 1one. Well, I wasn't, so he didn't have one of these. You've got to tell this because I wasn't.
Speaker 2But Art didn't care Like Art would. I guess it was later in years, understandable. He would do stuff like this on occasion, where he would seemingly in the middle, almost in the middle of a pitch, say something. He didn't do it often, but the one time the Pirates had a pitcher named Jim Wynn and at the same time had an outfielder named Marvell Wynn Okay, not related. Not related W-Y-N-N-E was Marvell, an African-American center fielder. Jim Wynn, w-i-n-n was a right-handed pitcher for the Pirates and Marvell Wynn steps into the batter's box as he's stepping in now batting center fielder Jim Wynn, and Art notices his mistake before the pitcher. Now the pitcher is just about ready to go into the windup In fact he has started to and Art doesn't care. He says correction, that's Marvell win, sorry, marvell. And the umpire throws up his arms, looks back at the press box, stops the game stops. The pitcher looks up.
Speaker 3Yes, Marvell definitely got a hit. He had to get a hit there.
Speaker 2I don't know, but it was a great moment that was one of.
Speaker 1Art's many charms, though he was all about getting things correct.
Speaker 3the three Cs right yeah.
Speaker 1I was spotting him one time and it was like in the bottom of the sixth, and he keys his mic and he says Ladies and gentlemen, it's time now for the seventh inning stretch. Oh, no. And I'm right next to Mike and off Mike I go, art, art. It's the bottom of the sixth and if it were me I would have curled up in a ball and said nothing more. But he got back on the mic and he said correction. We are one half inning away from the seventh inning stretch.
Speaker 3That's great, though, Because if you're a fan, you're like that's just priceless. Yeah Right, His try, as you said that was hard. Yeah, One of the great great all-time public address announcers.
Speaker 2Did you have a favorite moment when you announced a player consistently that you liked to announce? A moment that stands out for you?
Speaker 1well, that might be two different questions. Okay, I I always I think my favorite was either or both. Andy vance like and jack wil Jack Wilson they were two of my favorite all-time players.
Field Interactions With Players and Announcers
Speaker 3Jack Wilson's one of my favorite people on the planet. I'll be with him this weekend. I loved the episode too, when you had him on, it was great. He's kind of taken me under his wing, kind of like.
Speaker 1Brownie did with you. That's very cool.
Speaker 3When it comes to coaching and stuff. He's been great to me Please tell him I said hello. That's very cool when it comes to coaching and stuff. He's been great to me.
Speaker 1Please tell him I said hello, I will.
Speaker 2Jack Wilson, former Pirate shortstop. That's what you call overthrowing in the biz. All right.
Speaker 3And he will win a College World Series. Mark my words, I believe that no doubt.
Speaker 2How would you announce Andy Van Slyke?
Speaker 1And you know, I swear to God, this stuff just kind of happened organically with me. There wasn't really a lot of forethought to it. Andy was sort of like this sort of a sly, sinister in a good way guy, like a prankster, like to have fun, and I just sort of did it in a sing-songy center fielder Andy Van Slyke. And then for Jack Wilson he had this intro song that he played when he came up jumping Jack Flash. He was just a magician out there at short and everything was quick, and so I just did his name quickly, just shortstop Jack Wilson. Oh, that's great.
Speaker 2So those are two of your favorite players to announce yeah, yeah. What about favorite moment or moments?
Speaker 1Favorite moment? It had to. Well, you know, in addition to the very first game, Do you remember that one? Yeah, sure, I was a nervous wreck.
Speaker 2And yeah, pirates were playing the Phillies. Your first name that you ever announced. It was Juan.
Speaker 1Samuel. How about that yeah.
Speaker 3Juan Samuel.
Speaker 1Uh-huh, wow yeah, what was he? Second baseman, second baseman Favorite moment, it'd probably have to be the wild card game against the Reds.
Speaker 2More so than the divisions game, the 90-91-92? I think so. Wow, can I tell you.
Speaker 3Isn't that so good to me? Him announcing my name during that wild card game because I was two days off crutches maybe, Wow, and they were scared to death. They almost didn't let me go out to the line. But Hurdle and someone were like let him go, Think it'd be a good moment, and they let me go and I walked and you let it.
Speaker 2You played it out.
Speaker 3You know number 55,.
Speaker 2Michael, how did you say it? Do you remember?
Speaker 3I don't know if you remember this at all, but it's like you had an instinct and you played my name longer because I couldn't run, so like I was the only guy that walked out to the line and I had to walk all the way through. And the fans their reception to me still can make me kind of tear up. It made me fall in love with Pittsburgh even more. You drew that out for me, you have probably no clue.
Speaker 1I am gobsmacked that you. I'm flattered that you paid attention to that or remembered it.
Speaker 3I've been fortunate enough to look back and reflect on some moments in my career Did not do it good as a player. I was always in the moment and sometimes always looking at that next moment. But you and Greg Brown had two of my favorite moments of my career being one is my first home run, and then that second one 13 game. Because I had just gotten, I guess, cleared to go in the actual dugout. I had to wear this giant protection on my knee and I walked out and you drew out my name and I'll never forget it. I don't know if someone told you, I have no idea how you knew, but you said my name and you drew it out as I was coming out. I had to be one of the longest names. I went back and looked at it.
Speaker 1You just made my month.
Speaker 3Well, you did it. You had to do it at instinct and that's why time and understanding of the game and moments of the game, you guys do incredible job. You filled in the gap, so to speak, in a moment that I'll never forget, and my mom and dad were in the crowd, which was really cool because they didn't come to many games. Everything about that moment is a big reason why I'm back here, why I want to bring playoff baseball back to Pittsburgh in some way, shape or form, Because that moment not being a part of the team but doing everything I can behind the scenes you drew out a moment and it was the only moment I had on the field for two months. So think about that and the impact you had. You probably never knew it and I just want to give you a big kudos because that was special to me and made me fall in love with the game more, maybe, fall in love with the city more maybe fall in love with winning. I mean probably more than anything.
Speaker 1Michael, thank you First of all. Thank you and thank you for sharing that very personal account. That's tremendous. I'm honored to hear that from you.
Speaker 3I couldn't wait to tell you that, so somehow he segued right into it.
Speaker 1Yes, here we go.
Speaker 3And I love that. That was your favorite game because it was special.
Speaker 1Where do we go from?
Speaker 3here, Whoa whoa, whoa.
Speaker 2That was so kind of you, michael. That leads me to the question about when you're the public address announcer, the question about when you're the public address announcer, the general, you, you are literally removed from the field and the club, especially this day and age, three River Stadium, was only three levels and you're literally closer to the field, but still very little interaction with players. There's no real reason for a public address announcer, necessarily. However, there were times over your career that you would interact with a player. Now, if a player passes by, tim tobacco don't know you from Adam. They don't see your face. So you would have to go introduce yourself to a player and occasionally you would do that. Right, yeah, to get the proper pronunciation.
Speaker 1Exactly.
Speaker 2Not pronunciation. Pronunciation, that's right.
Speaker 1Yeah, I didn't do it as much later on, just because of what you professed, I think after 2001 and security at the new ballpark, and if you didn't have a reason to be on the field you didn't go there, but if I was unsure, there was sort of a pecking order of okay, if you want to confirm the correct pronunciation of a player's last name, what do you do? Well, in olden years they would put out a handbook called a National League Green Book or an American League Red Book, and they had pronunciations. Sometimes they were right, Sometimes you learned they weren't. So you would go to the visiting media relations person I'm sure you're very used to doing that and sometimes that would work, and sometimes you learned that wouldn't always work, and so you felt like I just got to go to the horse's mouth, right. So I remember one time going down on the field and flagging down Craig Biggio and saying hey, is it Biggio or is it Biggio? And his answer to me was eh, either way.
Speaker 2Go on this trip. Thanks, Craig and I said no, no, no.
Speaker 1If I ask your mom and dad, what would they say? And he said Biggio. I said yep.
Speaker 3One of my favorite players growing up, by the way.
Speaker 2There you go, another segue.
Speaker 3How about that Second baseman? Yeah, that's one of my favorite players growing up by the way there you go.
Speaker 2Another catcher, how about that Second baseman? Yeah, so that was not many times during, not many times, yeah.
Speaker 1Early on in my career I did some, some things on the field promotions on the field, like the Pizza Hut pop up contest, and and I got to, you know, got to interact with players a lot more than and andy van slike was was one that befriended me and he was so, so great with me and we sort of just I don't know struck up this little bit of a friendship and he even said to me one time hey, why don't you come in the clubhouse sometime and play cards with us before the game? I'm like like I thanked him but I was like there's no way I was going to do that. There's no way. I don't know if he was. He seemed sincere and I was flattered.
Speaker 3He probably was.
Speaker 1That doesn't come lightly. Gary Varshow was another one that was just such a kind guy to me and we struck up a friendship.
Speaker 2Anybody. So there's a couple there that you got to know a little bit. Anybody on the other side, anybody come down on you at all. Anybody seek you out and say you know you're not announcing my name properly. That ever happen. Probably not Hard-pressed to think you were too prepared to make sure that didn't happen Right.
Speaker 1You never had any run-ins, I think the only umpires took exception to things.
Speaker 3And I can't. They're sensitive, they are, they're sensitive, they are.
Speaker 1Let's be honest, maybe just a bad day or something, I don't know Well it's hard to have a good day their best day are usually when they go completely unnoticed.
Speaker 3That's a great umpire day. When they get noticed, it's not good.
Speaker 1I got called into the umpire's room a couple of times. I can't even remember what I wish I could remember. It was the way they entered them. I told you that was my favorite I'm going to figure out that theme song.
Speaker 2But there's a theme song and there's a tone change.
Speaker 3There's a tone change and that legacy has been carried on. I mean, I've been hearing it the last couple years, so you started something. It was some.
Speaker 2TV theme music. Right, it was Like Mission Impossible or I don't know LA Law.
Speaker 3It was LA Law Matlock, something that had to do with law, because those guys were the law.
Speaker 1I think I do remember. I think it had to do and this is an interesting part of PA that you can talk about too. I think it was about announcing a batter. I was always so careful with this announcing a batter who wasn't officially in the game. That's got to be hard, because I think maybe many out there think that once the PA announcer announces a pinch hitter, that that's the moment that he's officially in the game and it's not. It's when the umpire looks up to the press box and says this thing this guy.
Speaker 3We're doing hand signals in 2024. It's great, yeah, when you have all this technology, you're doing hand signals in 2024.
Speaker 1it's great, yeah, when you have all this technology, you're doing hand signals and maybe I, and maybe I announced a pinch hitter before the umpire did that, and and maybe that's why I got a talking to. I can't remember, but I think that's what it was can I tell you about those hand signals go?
Speaker 3ahead so I'm in the minor leagues you guys will love this so I got really close with a lot of different umpires. I can't remember who this umpire was. If I could, I would not even hesitate to say his name. But they had hand signals to the girls in the stands, so they were actually giving hand signals to where the hot girls were in the stands.
Speaker 2So they were not even indicating anything to the press box.
Speaker 3Yeah, nothing to the press box. Yeah, nothing to the press box. Wait, I think that's a pinch hitter.
Speaker 2Wait, no, no, is it a reliever? Who's got it? Oh, that's a line in the stand. Excuse me, folks, he's pointing to somebody in the dugout. Did he just eject someone? What's?
Speaker 3going on, yeah, so. I don't know if it was like, eh, I don't know how they did. It happened to be where a lot of the the wives and girlfriends I was married really early in my career, so my wife was there, some of the girlfriends, some of the fiances, and he was pointing out to our, our girls.
Speaker 1So I just let it go, oh my god, I was like oh yeah, oh wow, yeah, those are some really good looking and I was like you, old, yeah, so I just let it go for about three or four days.
Speaker 3I was like and, by the way, that's my wife. That's her friend and he's like oh, I didn't know what to say.
Speaker 2Okay, you're the catcher. Strike, Strike, strike. No, I think I got all the calls that day I'm saying yeah, he's like ball, ball strike strike, got it.
Speaker 1Oh yeah, I walked four times that day. For sure. This time, during my 35 years, it was just pinch.
Speaker 3I thought it was just pinch hitter and he's batting fourth oh yeah, he wanted a pinch hitter, but for after the game. Yeah, yeah, that's what he was looking for.
Speaker 2He's got the number nine, man goes to number four. Why does he have the pitcher batting fourth? What's going on here? Yeah, why does he keep?
Speaker 3going to two. Two at the point, two at the point.
Speaker 1I don I always wondered that, though we did that for so Well, we're still doing it. We look up and the umpire is pointing the shortstop. I mean, we don't see it as much now with a designated hitter, and I even remember there was a point at PNC Park where the technology was implemented. It was put in place where we had a phone behind home plate that the umpire could now just call up to the press box and say hey, you know, the left fielder just moved to right and the pitcher's batting third, or whatever.
Speaker 3Well, now they have a pack, they can turn it on and tell you Right.
Speaker 2And I wish they would, but they never use the phone. They can tell everybody.
Speaker 3Yeah, just like they did back in the day, bring back some old school.
Speaker 2I mean, imagine the umpire, rather than doing the hand signals, turning the mic on and saying now entering the game, whatever it would be.
Speaker 3Yeah, now into play left field.
Tim Tabacco's Favorite Podcast
Speaker 2Anyhow Too easy. That makes sense. We enjoyed this episode. If you enjoyed this one, you're going to love the next episode with Tim Tobacco on, hold my Cutter.
Speaker 1I'm being asked back.
Speaker 3Maybe, yeah, Timmy Come on Tim Tobacco?
Speaker 2Maybe, yeah, timmy, come on. Tim Tabacco's favorite podcast, that's exactly right. Old Minds and Neurosis. Tim Tabacco's favorite podcast Old Minds and Neurosis. Tim Tabacco's favorite podcast Old Minds and Neurosis. Tim Tabacco's favorite podcast. Tim Tabacco's favorite podcast. Tim Tabacco's favorite podcast. Tim Tabacco's favorite podcast Tim Tabacco.
