Hold My Cutter
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Hold My Cutter
Exploring Tim Debacco’s World of Music and Memorabilia
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be the voice of a baseball stadium? Join us as we sit down with the charismatic Tim Debacco former public address announcer and master organist for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Tim takes us on a journey through his unique career, sharing how he went from a budding young musician to stepping into the shoes of the legendary Vince Lashide. Listen in as Tim recounts the amusing tales of life behind the scenes, including a particularly cheeky organ tune played during Bobby Bonilla’s return to Pittsburgh that had the whole stadium buzzing.
Take a trip down memory lane as we switch gears to the world of vinyl records and pop culture nostalgia. Growing up with a dad who was an early YouTuber in spirit, I found my passion for music in the family’s rich collection of vinyl. We savor the tactile joy of spinning records and contrast it with today’s digital streaming convenience. Plus, hear about the playful nod to pop culture with a humorous suggestion about being a "Swifty," and discover why "I Think I Love You" by the Partridge Family holds a special place in my heart.
To wrap things up, we dive into the nostalgia of collecting, from the iconic radio stories of Casey Kasem to rare Pittsburgh edition TV Guides. Celebrate the simple joys of classic TV shows, radio jingles, and vintage board games like Stratomatic Baseball. We even share a few laughs over a mishap with a Chuck Berry concert that went hilariously off-script. This episode promises a warm, entertaining tribute to the enduring charm of sports, music, and the joy of collecting cherished memories.
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here coming your way, burned by rocky patel. We've got another edition of hold my cutter and our guest, another episode with the great tim tobacco, longtime public address announcer at both river stadium and pnc park. We talked a lot in the episode with Timmy D about his start as a PA announcer. We're going to go get into some other aspects of his career. We're now enjoying the white label by Rocky Patel. That's our featured smoke here on this edition of Hold my Cutter.
Speaker 1:Timmy D, we've talked to you about public address announcing, but that's not all you did at PNC Park, at Three River Stadium and, I think, early at PNC Park and PNC Park opened in 2001,. The Pirates had a long time. Art McKinnon was a long time public address announcer, going back to Forbes Field, but also at Three River Stadium, a long time organist, vince Lashide, who again went on to PNC Park. You and I both share our love and fondness of the late great Art McKinnon and Vince Lashide, and now you, in addition to doing PA, were an organist at PNC Park in addition to doing PA, were an organist at PNC Park.
Speaker 2:Yeah, how that came about was Vince was the longtime Penguins organist and longtime Pirates organist. And because the Penguins weren't good for a while, the two seasons never overlapped. Suddenly they get good and there is overlap, and now vince is needed at the civic arena and he's needed at three river stadium and, uh, I just remember the talk around the control room was well, vince's allegiance is going to be with the team that's in the playoffs. We're going to lose him. Who can we get to fill in? And you know, I had as a kid I had.
Speaker 2:Well, I started taking organ lessons when I was four and I was always paying attention to what Vince was doing on the organ and I could play his little rally things by ear. But just because I've I'd listened to them so many times and I spoke up and I said you know, I think I I could maybe pinch it, I could fill in maybe. You know, I knew I I couldn't hold a candle to what he was doing, but I could get you over the hump. And I said, okay. So I did the PA and played the organ. At the same time I had the microphone stand on the side of the organ. I don't even know how I died. All I can tell you is I slept really well on those nights after the game was over.
Speaker 2:It was crazy, but I was honored, honored, to fill in for the legendary Vince Leshae. He was gosh. He was so good, you know, his technique was unrivaled. He could play jazz. He could play jazz. He could play blues, he could play. I took lessons from him for two different stints and I so love those moments, so love that I should have taken longer now in retrospect, but he had this instant recall of I swear it had to be at least 10,000 songs. He could play a little something from at least 10,000 songs. That is no exaggeration. He was phenomenal. I was so blessed, my wife Susie and I, when we were married. He played the piano and organ at our wedding. And, gosh, I miss him so much. I'm thinking of a. Do you know the story about when Bobby Bonilla came back into town? Should I tell that story?
Speaker 1:Yeah, tell it, is that an?
Speaker 2:appropriate question. Yeah, tell it, is that an appropriate question?
Speaker 1:Yeah, of course, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:So, vince and I, we would collaborate a little bit, like, hey, how do you play this hook, how do you do this little part of this song? And so Bobby Bonilla leaves as a free agent. After what? The 91 season, right?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Goes to the Mets. Now it's 92. He's coming back for the first time, first game at.
Speaker 1:Pittsburgh A gigantic free agent contract Still getting paid, still getting paid yeah.
Speaker 3:Bobby Bonilla Day, July 5th.
Speaker 1:Yeah, July.
Speaker 3:Is it 3rd? Whatever, yes, it's right around that area.
Speaker 1:First week of July.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a good day around that area first week of july. Yeah, it's a good day. Yeah, I get to the ballpark and vince says, hey, do you know how to play? Take the money and run. And I said, yeah, I, I do, and I just here's the chorus and I played it for him and who's bto who?
Speaker 2:is that Steve Miller, steve Miller band, and so he plays it. When Bobby comes up and fast forward, I'm home and my phone rings and it's my boss and Vince's boss, rick Cerrone, one of your guests, and he said Timmy, I've got a fire. Vince said what, what? And he said, timmy, I've got to fire Vince. I said what what? And he said oh, I'm driving home, I'm listening to WFAN in New York and they are outraged talking about how you know, bush League, what the Pirates did, what their organists did, playing, take the money and run. And here I go, being stupid, I said. I said, oh, that's kind of funny, because I I taught him how to play. He goes you what then?
Speaker 1:you're both fired.
Speaker 2:That's what he said I've got to fire you too. And he was very angry because I thought he was very serious. And now I'm thinking, oh, I gotta go into damage control mode here. And I said, no, no, look, look, think about it, this is going to blow over. You're talking about Vince Lashide, and it's funny. So the kicker to the story is I'm talking to Rick about this not so long ago and he says, tim, what you don't know is, before the game started, I had a conversation with vince and I asked him what is he going to play for, bobby bonilla, like I wouldn't play your, he usually played the money and run, unbeknownst to you. He's telling Vince that doesn't sound like him at all to to be defiant and just play it anyway. But uh, some, that some signal got crossed somehow, that that he asked me how to play it. But that's, that's a memory I'll never forget. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I don't know whether he got thrown out if you were around, but when he played three blind mice for the umps, I don't know whether he got thrown out. I don't know if you were around, but when he played three blind mice for the umps, they'd stop the game, they'd turn around. I think they tried to eject him. I don't know if they did.
Speaker 2:Well I think that happened at a Penguins game, if I'm not mistaken.
Speaker 1:They tried to eject him.
Speaker 2:He did it at Thriver Stadium, also Speaking of sensitive, so he was doing it at a Penguins game, he did it at River Stadium too.
Speaker 1:So it doesn't surprise me. It doesn't surprise me.
Speaker 3:I don't think signals got crossed, vince would go ahead and say that the fact you guys are talking about it says it all.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:It means it had some type of Moments.
Speaker 1:Moments Stories, steve Blas stories sometimes said that when we take away, when we make the game sterile, where are the stories going to be like? The stories are the greatest thing about the game and sports yeah, vince was.
Speaker 2:Did you hear about the one?
Speaker 3:in la there's a car that caught on fire. Who started? It's like started the fire we didn't start the fire. We didn't start the fire. Who did that?
Speaker 2:they're doing the organ.
Speaker 3:There's a car on fire outside the stadium. Nobody can see it, but now they have the drones and they're playing.
Speaker 2:That's very quick very clever.
Speaker 1:Do you know some of the names of the other organists around? Was it Nancy B Heftley? Was she one in Chicago?
Speaker 2:I'm going to embarrass myself here.
Speaker 3:I don't know Okay, I don't know. When did they retire the Oregon at PNC?
Speaker 2:It was when Vince left. So Vince became, I think, kind of ill and I might not have this exactly correct Somewhere around 2007,. We had him come in and we had him record a lot of his stuff just to have in the can because he was missing some games, and I think it wasn't more than a year later that he passed, and you know it was my job. After that we had game tapes, michael. Of these tapes that had four audio channels On one channel was Pir home radio, then it was pirates home tv, I think the third channel was crowd noise and the fourth channel was like the, the, the line in on the bowl, like the pa announcer and the organist, like a direct line. And so I went through all these game tapes from 2001, 2002, and digitized all of actual game performances from Vince and labeled them and categorized them and then that's what has been played at PNC Park since his passing. It's a great tribute to him. He's gone on to be the Pirates' organist posthumously. It's incredible. Maybe not so incredible.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Maybe not so incredible.
Speaker 1:Although I think that's, Some ballparks are bringing back the organ.
Speaker 2:That's great news Baseball.
Speaker 1:I miss more of it.
Speaker 3:I love the tradition of it.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Like you can mix and match.
Speaker 1:Yep, I like the tradition. You can do both. Yep, you can do both. So now, at what point do the Penguins come calling?
Speaker 2:It was the first year at what would have been Consol Energy Center at the time, so I never played at.
Speaker 1:Melon Arena. You were never at the Melon no. No, I'm sorry.
Speaker 2:That's okay. I got a call that would I want to come in to audition and I just, you know, I had a nine to five job and doing this PA job for the Pirates. I had a nine to five job and doing this PA job for the pirates and I'm thinking, gosh, I don't know, should I, am I slicing myself too? I couldn't pass up the opportunity to audition so I checked with the pirates first. Would they mind if I, if I tried out and how did they know?
Speaker 1:How did someone at Penguins know that you were even doing? It was Oregon it was Billy Wareham.
Speaker 2:It was the longtime in-game producer and he had. You know who you know Katie O'Malley.
Speaker 1:OK, yeah, she Katie Ackman. Thank you.
Speaker 2:Absolutely she. She called me, I think on behalf of Billy, and said, hey, you want to come in and just Just play for 15 minutes? We might fire some songs at you. And I said okay, and kind of the same thing happened and I think the Penguins said to me hey, we're not sure what we're going to do next year. We might go to a canned organist, we might go to a live organist, but we know we're going to make a change and you're our guy if, if, you want the gig. So this is my 15th season now doing that and it's so much fun well, you brought up your nine to five.
Speaker 3:You told me a little bit off air. Explain what you do outside of being a pa announcer, playing the organ, I mean it's crazy.
Speaker 2:there's a guy in the North Hills of Pittsburgh, mark Mulwaney. He owns three audio-related businesses. One is, I mean, can I give him a plug Please? One is Northern Audio. It's a home theater high-performance audio design and installation company. Also in that building is this is downstairs.
Speaker 2:This is downstairs at 3003 babcock there's music to my ear which is a super record store, uh, hi-fi shop, new and used vinyl, used cds, um. And then there's a third company that he owns called spin clean. It's a record washer, it's a. It's a, uh, a kit, a bath unit that you can clean your vinyl records, and that's been around since 1975. It was actually, uh, the, the um, the patent had been owned by his, his father, uh, and his father retired and gave it to to Mark, and so I work overseeing marketing communication for his three businesses.
Speaker 3:How cool is that.
Speaker 1:Oh, it's the greatest of his speaking of collections. So you, you, you we talked in the first episode about your love of of what really radio uh and and and how you. Your first memory really of recording something important was when your dad called you into the garage and said let's change a tire or change the oil or whatnot. You want to record it? Yeah, he was just ahead of his time.
Speaker 3:That's all it is. He was ahead of his time. He was the first YouTuber, if you think about it.
Speaker 1:I was thinking the same thing. He was going to put it out on YouTube.
Speaker 3:It's just his dad said no that's not going to happen.
Speaker 1:But that's not the only thing you collected.
Speaker 2:I was a record collector from early on. I cut my teeth on my parents' records. I'm listening to Elvis you mean like gnawing on them. Well, close to it.
Speaker 3:I was entrenched into the record collection. That's what I would have done as a kid.
Speaker 2:That's why I had to ask yeah, you know I was playing Elvis and all my mom's records from the 50s and I started getting 45s when I was probably around seven years old. And that love for records and pop music when you say 45s, what does that mean? Yeah, well, it's a good question. So it was a single. So a single has changed over the decades. Back in the 40s it was a 78 RPM. There was a 10-inch record that spun at 78 revolutions per minute and record companies would release one song on one.
Speaker 1:song on one side, one side of the other spin rate. So that's right.
Speaker 3:Spin rate's been around for a long time. That's right.
Speaker 1:You guys are way behind analytics, uh, but, but those are the big albums, so we're 10 inch you know what I mean. The big, you know the, the my wife is really getting into it.
Speaker 3:So, okay, we're gonna have to come visit you. Oh yeah, they were made of my wife. My wife is really getting into it so okay, we're gonna have to come visit you.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, they were made of you're welcome anytime. They were made of shellac, like a shellac resin, they would break very easily, okay. And then around 1948, 49, came the introduction of the 45 and it was a seven inch record, still one song on each side. You had the hit on one side and you know they called the B side another song and that really caught on with the buying public and that was like the go to format for a hit record until you know, sometime in the late 80s when CDs took over. Then you had the cassette single for a while, then you had a CD single and then, of of course, you got to digital downloads and streaming. So there's your quick but vinyl's coming back, oh, since 2010.
Speaker 1:It's been on the rise every year. Yeah, why do you think that is? Why did vinyl come back? The texture, the richness is missing from Right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think it's something physically tangible, palpable, about holding this big artwork.
Speaker 3:It's the same reason. I think textbooks like I think actual books, are going to come back.
Speaker 1:Well, we've talked about it with newspapers.
Speaker 3:I mean that's a little bit tougher, but I do think, but there's something tangible about holding it, but there's also.
Speaker 1:Don't you also feel I thought you've told me this that, for example, could you, if you sat in your home studio, your theater, if somebody put on a vinyl record the exact same song, then on a digital, could you tell the difference? You could, I know you could. It depends on the pressing and the equipment okay, sometimes you'd be hard get your point. Sometimes you're hard-pressed to you can't to find it, but there's a, isn't there's a? There's a, there's a richness, a war, there's, yeah, the analog yeah, many argue that.
Speaker 3:Pardon me, I'm sorry no, I think it's the intention that is so cool the intention, yeah, yeah. I could go right now and find any song on the planet on my phone. That's the intention. That is so cool, the intention. Yeah, I mean I could go right now and find any song on the planet on my phone. That's not really that intentional, that's just normal day. But to grab a record, be very gentle with it, put it on.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:That's the experience.
Speaker 3:Yeah, the experience of it all.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and Michael, you're right, it brings the music to the forefront instead of the background. You know you could be at the gym or you could be driving in your car and you're, you're streaming and and it's fine. I'm not against streaming it's, but it's sort of like it. It becomes not as much, I think, in the forefront as if you make the choice to sit down and put on a physical piece of media yeah so so his collection of music is one thing, and literally the vinyl records and so on, but you were kind of a pop culture aficionado as well.
Speaker 1:Is he a Swifty?
Speaker 3:No, no, no, no, Come on, you can admit it? No, you're not. Who isn't? Come on?
Speaker 1:She's nothing compared to the Partridge family.
Speaker 3:I was going to say if you had to pick a genre, which one would you pick? I'm sure you like them all.
Speaker 2:I always love pop rock. Pop rock, classic rock, you know whatever crossed over to the top 40.
Speaker 3:You had to pick three records, three Singles, three songs, whatever crossed over to the top 40, I was listening to you, had to pick three records Wow Three, that's it Three singles three songs your record collection is going to be taken away. You have to pick three records. What are you picking?
Speaker 2:Well, a lot of people are going to be posting in the comments on this. I'm going to get really made fun of what's your record. I think my favorite song of all time is I Think I Love you by the Partridge Family. Do you know who the Partridge Family?
Speaker 1:is I do.
Speaker 2:I do. I love music. Okay Boy Probably number two is is probably Lonely Boy by Andrew Gold.
Speaker 3:Oh, wow, okay.
Speaker 2:And probably number three is If I Can Dream, by Elvis Presley.
Speaker 3:I like it.
Speaker 1:Some classics I knew Elvis was going to be up there. So Elvis holds a special place in your heart, in your life. I mean, how did you get hooked on Elvis?
Speaker 2:Well, like I alluded to just a little bit ago, I just it was in my parents' record collection and I'm playing my mom's 45s and I just got hooked. I just thought this sounded great. I had these kids' records that I was listening to. And then suddenly I'm listening to Elvis and I'm thinking well, this is much better, this is amazing. And I just always gravitated to his music and was always a fan all through my childhood and adult life.
Speaker 1:But you've taken it to the next level.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 3:Take me there, let's go.
Speaker 2:So my parents took me to graceland in 1985, and since then I've probably made nine, nine or ten trips there too, cool. Yeah, I, I really I really love it. It's like this sort of sort of an escape, sort of my sort of a happy place for me, um and uh, there's.
Speaker 1:There's a quick story no, no, don't you have to be quick.
Speaker 2:So I have a cousin. She's like an adopted sister because we I'm an only child and I hung out with her all the time. She's a few years older than I am and we started here a few years ago just doing trips together and, uh, we went to chicago, we went to wrigley field. She's where we're going to go next year. I said have you ever been to memphis? You want to go to graceland, do you like elvis? She says oh yeah, I like. I like those. I like you know that jailhouse rock and you know blue suede shoes she wasn't terribly into elvis, yeah, and I said, well, okay with the trip.
Speaker 2:I said there's much more to. Elvis than just those 50 songs. She was okay. So we drove to Memphis and we did a full-blown tour.
Speaker 3:That's a 12-hour drive.
Speaker 2:Exactly. We went to Tupelo the first day, elvis' birthplace. We went all over Memphis. The second day it was like an Elvis-centric tour. And then the third day, we toured the mansion. And we're touring the mansion and we're in the racquetball court this is something that Elvis built in like 1975, and he played a game of racquetball on the day before he passed and we're in the racquetball court and I look over at her and she is just tears are streaming down her. She's like a faucet. And I said what's going on? She goes, I don't know.
Speaker 3:And after that long story somewhat short, she's immers nursing herself in every book she can get her hands on.
Speaker 2:She's she and this is no. This is no joke. She has read easily over 700 books on Elvis. I'm like holy man, I created a monster. You did again Fast forward. She has become a VIP there at Graceland.
Speaker 3:Did she move there? She's the founder and she just moved.
Speaker 2:last June she moved to Memphis. What'd?
Speaker 1:you do?
Speaker 2:I don't know.
Speaker 1:You broke her.
Speaker 2:She's in, she's deep in.
Speaker 1:She needs to write her own book now. Now she's part of the VIP.
Speaker 2:She introduced me, so I introduce her, and she goes off and and the ironic part the ironic part, michael, is she's this vip and she introduces me to priscilla presley what a full circle she's holy, is that incredible?
Speaker 1:wow, such a great story. So, when are you going back?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't know. I was thinking about going back in January for the celebration of Elvis's what would have been his 90th birthday, but I've got some Penguins games that are a conflict, so I'm staying put. I don't know, I'll get there.
Speaker 3:Okay, so I don't know.
Speaker 1:Do you want to come.
Speaker 3:Absolutely, I would love to come. Absolutely, I would love to come. I guess we could publicize.
Speaker 1:Is there any more room on the Friday Night Wi-Fi guest list?
Speaker 2:Or are you maxed out no Of?
Speaker 1:course. Well, I'm not just talking about Fort Leonard Lee, our producer director, but our huge listening audience. Now we can't open up to everyone, but maybe you can explain about the Friday night.
Speaker 3:What is?
Speaker 1:Friday night Wi-Fi.
Speaker 2:We call it Friday night Hi-Fi. Hi-fi. It started about 10 years ago. A group of musician friends and I. We meet about once a month at my place and we just talk about or watch or listen to music. We could watch a documentary, we could watch a concert, we could um. One night everybody picked his favorite um album, side one, and we we played cool. We played each of those um. We could maybe have a guest, we could um play music trivia. It doesn't matter, but it's all music centric and we've been doing this for about 10 years. So love, love to have you love to come.
Speaker 1:Well, because sometimes he'll do a guest that you're not aware of. But so the one elvis night and you've done this a couple times where, yeah, we have ahead and we have an Elvis night once.
Speaker 2:That's like that's the bone they throw me.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, once a year I get to do it. They let you do your own. Oh, no, no, you go, yeah, but you also a special guest, a surprise guest.
Speaker 2:You'll have a surprise guest on on the phone yeah, uh, one year I had Elvis's boyhood chum, guy Harris. He's since passed. He called in and spent an hour or so with us on the phone, had Elvis's nurse phone in. So yeah, we're serious, we're hardcore with our love for music.
Speaker 1:So I don't believe that there's anybody that knows music trivia around here as well as Tim Tobacco. My brother's strong Charlie and Blast loves it, yeah, but the music trivia is through the roof, and a lot of it comes from Casey Kasem, right.
Speaker 2:I'm a big fan of American Top 40. I grew up on that.
Speaker 1:Timmy D, you've listened to just about every one of those, haven't you, Timmy D? Yeah, I'm working on it oh come on, you're working on a second go-round.
Speaker 2:Pretty much, yeah. Yeah, I have all the episodes.
Speaker 1:How many episodes of American top 40 were there?
Speaker 2:well, it started in on july 4th of 1970 and it it went, it went. I mean, it's still going.
Speaker 1:Uh, ryan seacrest is the host now okay, but but I'm sorry, no disrespect, come on, casey, did it until 1988 and then he broke off and started his own version on the westwood.
Speaker 2:one radio networks called Casey's Top 40. American Top 40 kept going with Shadow Stevens until about 1995 and then stopped and then the rights reverted back to Casey and he resumed American Top 40 in 1998 and then did it through 2004 when he gave it to Ryan Seacrest. So yeah, it's been an institution right.
Speaker 1:What made Casey Kasem so good Do?
Speaker 2:you think, Friendly folksy, just so good at telling the stories about the titles and the artists?
Speaker 3:It's like he brought you into his living room, just so to speak. I think he brought you into his living room just so to speak it's the best way to put it Because I was in high school from 98 through 2004. I used to listen to it. I think it was every Sunday. Yeah, Saturday or Sunday, depending on what it usually carried over and I would hear it and I would sit there and listen to it all the time. That's awesome, yeah, yeah so it's really cool.
Speaker 1:That's tremendous, yeah, that's tremendous, yeah. But you know, like, aren't you amazed at how good the production was at that show and how good he was at it?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. The writing was great, Great writers, great production. Casey was just. There's nothing like that these days is there.
Speaker 1:Admittedly, I'm not as dialed in as maybe I should be, so I'll say no Back to the Partridge family.
Speaker 2:You're losing everybody. Your collection, no, they're eating this up.
Speaker 1:The people that you have met, the things that you have done because of your love of whatever it might be albus, pop culture, the partridge family, uh, is there any one thing? One person, one moment? We talked about your, your pa moments with the pirates, but what about when it comes to this?
Speaker 2:well, I'd have to say um, I'm such a nerd and I'm pulling'm putting it out on full display now. Do you watch Seinfeld? Do you remember the Seinfeld episode about George Costanza's father collected TV guides? Do you remember that episode Vaguely?
Speaker 2:That's me you collect TV guides I collect TV guides, but it's not just any TV guide. I had to have the Pittsburgh edition of the TV guide to collect because I wanted a history of Pittsburgh television. So the moment came when I got the one that completed the collection I do have when TV guide first became a franchise in Pittsburgh in 1953 and then in October of 2005 it switched from TV Guide, stopped its digest small format and went to a full-size magazine and it stopped putting in local listings, it just put in national listings. And it stopped putting in local listings, it just put in national listings and it became sort of like a gossip magazine. So from 53 to 2005, I can say now with great pride that I have every Pittsburgh edition of TV Guide.
Speaker 1:How many would you say? How many is that?
Speaker 2:It's over 2,000, because what we do Wow.
Speaker 1:Every TV Guide Pittsburgh edition. He's got it downstairs in this incredible theater of his and his wife. Susie is as proud as anybody over this, by the way she loves this.
Speaker 2:Everybody that knows me is just beaming with pride.
Speaker 1:It is unbelievable. And they're all practically mint condition. They're in sleeves. Well, yeah, if you're going to do it, you've got to do it right.
Speaker 3:What else do you collect? It's unbelievable, because I collect sign balls. I have some other things I collect. What else do you collect?
Speaker 2:Radio jingles Did you digitize?
Speaker 3:them. How does that work?
Speaker 2:There are some CD collections that came out some time ago, so I was a customer of those TV shows. I don't know why I do. You could find them on streaming services, but I have a lot of the box sets, dvd and Blu-ray. It's TV, radio, pop music.
Speaker 3:It always goes back to childhood.
Speaker 1:Favorite TV series, was it Brady, bunch or Partridge Family?
Speaker 2:You know, it's a great question. I think it's Bewitched, or I Dream of Jeannie.
Speaker 1:Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, yeah, didn't you go to the set?
Speaker 3:of one of those.
Speaker 2:I did.
Speaker 3:Which one was. It Isn't the Jeannie the one that goes?
Speaker 1:No, it's Bewitched, that's Bewitched. Yeah, I think. What did she do, barbara Eden there?
Speaker 3:you go. She did a thing when she wanted to disappear, or whatever.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, so anyway, were you on the set of?
Speaker 2:one of those shows what a turn this has taken. Huh, I went to the Columbia lot.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Where there was the Partridge family house, the I Dream of Jeannie house, the Bewitched house. It's all on that same street. The lot's now closed and I think they're they've dismantled, or beginning to dismantle, a lot of it.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I went did one of those sets uh did they share? Did you tell me that was it? Uh, was there one? Was it wasn't brian's song, a movie or something that shared the brady bunch.
Speaker 2:Well, these are just exteriors. Yeah, I know, I know they did the show on the soundstage for the interiors.
Speaker 1:But they weren't all the very same type set. I thought there was one exact set. Anyway, I thought you had told me. Maybe not, I'm dreaming.
Speaker 2:I'm dreaming of Genie.
Speaker 3:You're dreaming of Genie, that's right.
Speaker 1:How about Stratomatic?
Speaker 2:Baseball, oh yeah.
Speaker 1:So one of the things, so the two great board games.
Speaker 2:Well, when I got this love for baseball as a nine-year-old, sure I was going to the games, but I had to play the tabletop dice baseball games. Do you still have it? Yeah, I started playing. I don't know you remember the Sports Illustrated? I know you didn't play that. No, that's what I first started playing and then from there I played a little bit of that APBA.
Speaker 2:That's what you like Okay, and then Stratomatic started to play that and we started a little league. Right, it was Waukee and you and our friends Dave and Fuzz and I, should we bring that league back?
Speaker 1:We're trying to resurrect it, but he's too busy.
Speaker 3:We've got to clean that up. It was fun. That sounds fun. I have no idea what that game would look like but it sounds like a blast.
Speaker 1:It's an absolute blast.
Speaker 2:I remember being in a game against Waukee and all I wanted to do was beat him and I tried to do all these maneuvers and outmanage him and he left me in the dust. There was no outmanaging Bob Waukee.
Speaker 1:Did he win?
Speaker 2:I don't know if he won the tournament, but the games that I played when I thought I was going to. He can't outmanage him. No, no, absolutely not.
Speaker 1:How about the time he thought at the house. He thought that he was going into the coffee creamer. And he's just about ready to put it into the coffee and he stops. He goes what kind of creamer is this? I said that's my dog. The ashes of the dog was on the counter. His name didn't have to be creamer.
Speaker 3:That's a good one.
Speaker 1:Come here, creamer. Come on, come on, Sit creamer. How was that coffee? Do you remember that? I forgot, oh my gosh, that was a classic.
Speaker 2:He just he smelled you what kind of creamer is this? It's?
Speaker 1:actually my dog, yeah, uh is that?
Speaker 3:is that a new brand?
Speaker 1:yeah, I like that. It's a great name for a dog. From now on, anybody want to think about that creamer here creamer. How about, um, in terms of you know, growing up fan a aficionado of music, your dad introducing you to baseball, your love of the fact that you wanted Pittsburgh TV guys what about that? We oftentimes try and tie Hold my Cutter into baseball sports Pirates specifically, but also about how unique this area is. Timmy D you grew up in East Brady, went to Clarion. You ever thought about what makes this?
Speaker 3:area, this region so unique.
Speaker 1:Why you love it so much.
Speaker 2:Gosh, I think it's just, there's just so many good people. It's just such a it's. It's. It's an area full of neighborhoods, of of wonderful people. And you know, I looked at one point I thought about moving to. I thought, oh, you know, the arizona diamondbacks are going to start up, get their PA job and my wife and I will move to Phoenix. But what was all said and done, I don't know. You drop anchors over time and then you look back and you say that was for good reason. There are so many wonderful people in this region who care and are kind and, as I think about it now, as a 60-year-old, I can't imagine ever living anywhere else. It's just such a great region.
Speaker 2:To you name it, I think the climate, the surroundings, the change of seasons, but again, especially the people, and you know, with the Pirates too, just like you. Michael McHenry, greg Brown, lanny Frateri, john Wayner, steve Blass, bob Wach, these are all great guys. And all the people, the men and women that I work with in the control room I won't even begin to name them because I'll forget somebody and that'll be the worst thing, but I work with so many wonderful sound engineers, producers, that was really the hardest part to leave the job for me was the relationships and to step away knowing that I wouldn't see many of these people on a regular basis. So, yeah, we're blessed in this area?
Speaker 1:Do you miss the PA announcing with the Pirates and do you pay attention to it at all?
Speaker 2:Well, Guy. Junkers is doing a great, fabulous job and I'm honored that he's my successor. I mean that's. He's an icon here in the city. It's wonderful and I loved when he was a guest on your show. I was glued um. Do I pay attention? Yeah, you can't. You can't help but pay attention. Um, but I'm okay being a fan I I really relish that, the time opportunity to do that summer's off.
Speaker 2:Right, summer's off all those summer's off it's so great it's so great I've discovered, discovered places at pnc park like that, that, the landing out in the outfield and then the one behind the bullpen. I never knew that existed. Well, I mean, some of those are newer, but just to roam around I found corridors and nooks and crannies that I would never have discovered. And I'm like a kid in a candy store.
Speaker 3:It's funny you say that when I first took this job I'd never been around PNC so I'd ask my wife where to go. I had no clue where to go.
Speaker 1:Outside the clubhouse. Outside the clubhouse.
Speaker 3:I mean, you're kind of tunnel vision when you're playing. I knew where the press box was, but other than that I knew where nothing was. They go meet us, so-and-so I'm like, hey, uh, jacklyn, um, I have no idea where this is. So you're so right. And she took me to her favorite spot to watch a game I'll never forget. When neil cruz had a homer, I had a day off and it looked like the shortstop jumped and it went and hit the back of the bullpen, I was just like what just happened, whole different perspective yeah, just a perspective you never see.
Speaker 3:so I always encourage guys that are playing or that look to play, one day go to a game and look at it from every perspective you can, because it gives you this incredible view that you never thought of and it gives you this understanding of the game that you never could have, because there's really not a bad seed over there.
Speaker 3:You're so right Except maybe one behind a pole or something like that. I'm sure there's really not a bad seat over there You're so right Except maybe one behind a pole or something like that. I'm sure there's one or two that are pretty bad but most of the time there's none, and there's somebody actually that does that on social media, if you haven't seen it. They go to every ballpark and find the worst seat. They did PNC this year. It was pretty funny. I can't imagine there's a word yeah, that scenery.
Speaker 2:I've gone to games now since I've retired that I'll just get a single ticket and I'll sometimes go up to the very last row and just sit up top and just take in that bird's-eye view. It's so much fun. I'm a kid again now you always were a kid.
Speaker 3:What was the?
Speaker 1:difference. By the way, in your location, PA at River Stadium, PA PNC Park, A lot further away.
Speaker 2:It's more difficult at.
Speaker 1:PNC Park.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay.
Speaker 2:You're not as close. You get used to it. When you're there a lot, you can pick up the ball off the bat. But yeah, we've never, never, ever had a foul ball come into the booth at pnc park. It's just too far away. If anybody could do it on no curse yeah, yeah probably about it, yeah thank you. Far back and too too far away thanks for thanks for doing this.
Speaker 2:Hold my cutter you guys have something great going on here and I'm just so thrilled to be a part of it. Thanks a million. I am so grateful to be a part of the Pirates organization. If there's anything that I felt, and still do, is gratitude to be able to do a dream job and to do it for 35 years. So I love the Pirates, I love what you're doing and I'm honored that you asked me to sit and chat about it. Thank you, I hope you come back. Will you come back?
Speaker 1:Sure.
Speaker 3:Yes, and hey, Brown, you know what we got to do Now that we kind of talked through all this. If we ever can have an old-timers game, an old-timers game, we need to bring him back on the megaphone.
Speaker 1:Well, no, we talked about this on a previous episode. There was at least one game they had a throwback game where they had no PA system, no scoreboard and they had Timmy D on the dugout roof with a megaphone right.
Speaker 2:So that's already happened so we've got to do it again. I've got a funny story about yes, yeah, please. So the game was it was misty, it was in the hands of the umpires and it never really rained hard, but it was misty and eventually got postponed, but it was in this long delay. So I'm in this 1903, get up with the knickers and the, the hat, the whole thing, and I'm on top of the dugout with a megaphone. It was a lavalier mic taped into it so I was amplified. But we had no in-game entertainment. We had a barbershop quartet.
Speaker 1:Because you know you couldn't, you couldn't, that's all you could do, so great so this.
Speaker 2:This rain delay prevented the start of the game and the barbershop quartet, I think, went through their repertoire about four or five times and my boss at the time, my producer eric wolf, said tim, you're going to have to, uh, do something. We, we're running out, can you? Can you tap? Can you sing? Can you read the poem casey at the bat on top of the dugout and I said, okay, from memory.
Speaker 1:No, they had it for me. Well, he's so good, it wouldn't have surprised me I got this.
Speaker 2:He said now, you know you're taking one for the team here, you're probably going to get booed. And I said, okay, so I get on top of the dugout. And I could hear this is like now 45 minutes to an hour, rain delay. I could hear smattering of what people you know. There's no music going, so you could hear whatever. And they said, oh, he's got a weather update for us, so he's going to tell us something about the game.
Speaker 2:The weather Hold on and I, you know, in Mudville, they oh God you know all these cuss words Trying to draw it out he's looking to do Get out of here.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:I'm like, oh my gosh. So the delay went on and then, finally, my producer said the game's been called, so you're going to have to read that announcement. I said, look, I'm not doing it on top of the dugout. I'm going in the runway by the dugout.
Speaker 1:That's great, we we did another one, though we did, yeah the next night, we did it.
Speaker 1:I didn't recall that. Well, that's hilarious, that's great. That's what I told you. Steve greenberg had me get up on stage that big. They had a double header between games. The double header, uh, no, it's a post game.
Speaker 1:Sund afternoon they had the Four Tops and Chuck Berry, oh, yeah, right, chuck Berry didn't want to stay. Well, it went to extra innings. So Chuck Berry's out behind Thruber Stadium, where the grounds crew was, behind Gate C, behind the wall, we had the equipment and his limo was there. Uh, we had the equipment, yeah, and, and, and his limo was there. And, uh, he says to, to, to steve greenberg, the marketing vp, you know, uh, I get a flight here and he goes. Well, no, no, the game's extra innings. So he, he says I'll wait one extra inning, but then I'm out of here. He's. Well, you can't, you, you signed a contract. You're gonna sing after the four tops. So the game, I think, went 11. And like after the third out of the, the game, I think, went 11. And like after the third out of the bottom of the 10th, he goes, tells his driver we're out of here. So he, unbeknownst to the crowd, and Greenberg says to me you go up on stage and you tell the crowd that Chuck Berry is not here.
Speaker 3:I mean, there are 50,000 people. Oh my gosh, so that went well gosh, oh yeah, they love that one. But anyway, thank you again. And how do people tune in to hold my cutter? Well, if you're like Timmy, you're going to watch it on YouTube. You can go to Apple and subscribe and go to any place you find yeah, all platforms do you find or subscribe to your fun, friendly podcast, us being obviously your favorite. Please go check it out.
Speaker 1:Timmy D. When the when the pirate game would end, what would you tell everyone?
Speaker 2:Please remember to drive home safely. Thank you and good day.
