Back When There Was Baseball

We travel back into the 1970s with our guest this week.  Darrel Chaney played in the Majors from 1969-1979.  He started out his athletic career as a Parade All-American quarterback in 1965.  Darrel turned down scholarship offers to Notre Dame and Michigan State to pursue his baseball career.  He made his name as a utility infielder, but as all utility players will tell you, they intended to be starters, and Darrel was no exception.  But when you look at the Cincinnati Reds lineup during the years he

Who was the American League home run leader in 1971? If you do not know the answer, maybe "It is soo hot in Chicago that the third baseman is Melton" will jog your memory. Bill Melton is our guest this week. Bill talks about his career and his many teammates, including the late Dick Allen. He also shares his feelings toward Harry Caray, who turned the fans against him. Bill Melton was a very good third baseman, mostly with the White Sox, and we are fortunate to have him share his story. Sit back and

American League Umpire, Bill Haller, passed away on August 20, 2022.  We are re-airing this podcast conducted in 2020 as a tribute to Bill.  Bill umpired in the American League for 21 years (1961, 1963-1982) and is considered one of the best umpires in MLB history. You can still see the iconic Earl Weaver "incident" on YouTube where Bill was mic'd for an upcoming documentary. We were very blessed to share an interview with Bill as he discussed the game of baseball as it was when he umpired, compared

Bart Zeller joins us this week.  He was with the St. Louis Cardinals organization his entire career.  Bart was a catcher and only appeared in one game with the parent club.  So you ask, why would you interview Bart Zeller?  It's simple, Bart was the Cardinals' insurance policy and worked with their great young staff, the likes of Steve Carlton, Mike Torrez, Wayne Granger, and Reggie Cleveland to name a few.  He played behind great Cardinal catchers Tim McCarver and Ted Simmons.  Bart

There were a few players in the 1970s whom Rex was told to emulate if he wanted to play Big League Baseball.  Art Howe was one of them and he is our guest this week.  Art started his athletic career as a football player at the University of Wyoming.  After an injury, he concentrated on baseball and it paid dividends.  Art started out in the Pirate organization but was traded to the Houston Astros and finally made it to the Majors permanently at the age of 30 in 1977.  He was able to play all of the

We have a rare treat for you this week. Our guest played with Willie Mays, Orlando Cepeda, Ted Williams, Pete Rose, Frank Robinson, Tony Oliva, Harmon Killebrew, and Rod Carew, to name a few. His name is Al Worthington, and he pitched in the Majors from 1953-1969. He was in the dugout when Willie Mays made that great catch in the 1954 World Series and with the Giants when they moved from New York to San Francisco. Al also played in another World Series with the Minnesota Twins in 1965. When his