Lost Ballparks

Johnnie B. "Dusty" Baker Jr. joins Lost Ballparks to discuss his new book, Crossroads , and reflects on his early years with the Atlanta Braves, being mentored by Hank Aaron, sitting in hotel rooms with "the hammer" and Satchel Paige listening to unforgettable stories. He also takes us inside one of the most iconic moments in sports history, standing on deck as Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's all-time home run record in Atlanta in 1974. Dusty offers a deeply personal perspective on Aaron's historic achievement, the racism and death threats Aaron endured during the chase, and one unforgettable moment that happened as Aaron crossed the plate. Send us Fan Mail

This episode is especially meaningful for me. Years ago, I painted a portrait of my father-in-law’s favorite player, Juan Marichal, in his iconic high-kick windup. Today, that same painting hangs in Marichal’s home—and I had the honor of sitting down with him for this conversation. From 1960–1975, Juan Marichal was one of the greatest pitchers in baseball: 243 wins, 244 complete games, 52 shutouts, a lifetime 2.89 ERA, and 10 All-Star selections. He won more games in the 1960s than Bob Gibson or Sandy Koufax, and Hall of Famers like Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle, and Pete Rose all called him one of the toughest pitchers they ever faced. In this episode, Marichal reflects on his childhood in the Dominican Republic, the racism he faced early in his career, unforgettable moments at Candlestick Park, racing frogs with teammates, the 1962 World Series against the Yankees, and his pride in becoming the first Dominican-born player inducted into the Hall of Fame. Send us Fan Mail

(This episode was recorded in 2022). We’re curating the most downloaded episodes for new listeners discovering Lost Ballparks. If you’re a longtime listener, thank you for being part of this incredible community! Jon Miller, the longtime voice of the San Francisco Giants has been broadcasting major league baseball games for nearly 50 years. For 2 decades he and Joe Morgan called the ESPN Sunday Night Game of the Week. Naturally, after a career of that length, he has been to many old Lost Ballparks and he is sharing his first hand experiences on this week's episode. Send us Fan Mail

(This episode was recorded in 2022). We’re curating the most downloaded episodes for new listeners discovering Lost Ballparks. If you’re a longtime listener, thank you for being part of this incredible community! As a 15 year old freshmen, he stood 5’7 and weighed 128 pounds. He batted 9th on his Aberdeen High School Team and finished the season hitting .128. Who would have believed that he would one day grow into a 6’4, 225 pound Baseball Hall of Famer?! Cal Ripken, Jr. finished his career a 19 time All-Star, AL Rookie of the Year, 2x AL MVP. He collected 3,184 hits, 431 home runs, was a 2x Gold Glove winner, 8x silver slugger, World Champion, played in the most consecutive games (2,632) and was a 2007 inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Send us Fan Mail

(This episode was recorded in 2024). We’re curating the most downloaded episodes for new listeners discovering Lost Ballparks. If you’re a longtime listener, thank you for being part of this incredible community! From the dusty sandlots of Pottstown, PA to the storied ballparks that served as the backdrop to his remarkable career, 98 year old baseball legend and 1952 AL MVP Bobby Shantz looks back on his improbable path to the major leagues. Grab your peanuts and cracker jack and listen to one of the great stories from the golden age of baseball. Send us Fan Mail

(This episode was recorded in 2021). We’re curating the most downloaded episodes for new listeners discovering Lost Ballparks. If you’re a longtime listener, thank you for being part of this incredible community! There are only 2 living members of the Brooklyn Dodgers who played in and won the 1955 World Series; pitchers Roger Craig and Carl Erskine. Erskine, our first guest on Lost Ballparks, won 122 games for the Dodgers between 1948-1959. He was an All-Star, World Champion and author of 2 no-hitters. Oh, by the way, he struck out Mickey Mantle 4 times. In one game! He also played at Ebbets Field, the Polo Grounds and Yankee Stadium and he's here, at 95 years young, to talk about it all! Send us Fan Mail

(This episode was recorded in 2022). We’re curating the most downloaded episodes for new listeners discovering Lost Ballparks. If you’re a longtime listener, thank you for being part of this incredible community! Bob Costas has hosted 12 Olympics, 7 Super Bowls, 7 World Series, 10 NBA Finals, has won 29 Emmys (more than any other sportscaster in history) and a Baseball Hall of Fame Ford C. Frick winner. What a thrill it was to talk old ballparks with him! Send us Fan Mail

(This episode was recorded in 2022). We’re curating the most downloaded episodes for new listeners discovering Lost Ballparks. If you’re a longtime listener, thank you for being part of this incredible community! Jim Palmer won 268 games in his big league career. He appeared in 6 World Series and won 3. He was a 3x Cy Young Award winner, 4x Gold Glove winner, won at least 20 games in 8 different seasons and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1990. And oh by the way, he is the only pitcher in baseball history to win a World Series game in 3 different decades! Send us Fan Mail

(This episode was recorded in 2022 and re-released when Dave Parker was elected to the Hall of Fame). We’re curating the most downloaded episodes for new listeners discovering Lost Ballparks. If you’re a longtime listener, thank you for being part of this incredible community! Breaking news: Thrilled to announce tonight the Classic Era Baseball Committee has elected Dave Parker and Dick Allen to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He will be inducted next year!! Here is our interview with Parker from March of 2022. Hope you enjoy it and congratulations to the Cobra (and Allen) on an achievement that is long overdue! Send us Fan Mail

(This episode was recorded in 2022). We’re curating the most downloaded episodes for new listeners discovering Lost Ballparks. If you’re a longtime listener, thank you for being part of this incredible community! Dale Murphy was a 7X All-Star, 2X NL MVP, 5X Gold Glove winner, 4X silver slugger award winner. He finished his 18 year career with 2,111 hits and 398 home runs and is a member of the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame. Send us Fan Mail

(This episode was recorded in December, 2024). We’re curating the most downloaded episodes for new listeners discovering Lost Ballparks. If you’re a longtime listener, thank you for being part of this incredible community! On this month's episode I’m honored to talk with a man who has been the heartbeat of Cleveland baseball for 35 years—Tom Hamilton, the legendary voice of the Cleveland Indians and Guardians. Hear his baseball beginnings, including the first game he ever attended as a kid, the quirks and character that made Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium one of a kind, and the city’s transformation with the opening of Jacobs Field in 1994. And of course, we revisit those incredible Cleveland teams of the mid-‘90s—teams that had the whole city glued to their radios, with Tom’s iconic calls providing the soundtrack to those magical Ohio summers. From the vast expanse of Municipal Stadium to the unforgettable debut of ‘The Jake,’ and the moments that united a city, this is one conversation I can't wait to share with you. Update: 12/11/24 - Tom has been named the Ford C. Frick Award Winner and will take his place in the broadcast wing of the Hall of Fame in 2025!! Send us Fan Mail

(This episode was recorded in 2022). We’re curating the most downloaded episodes for new listeners discovering Lost Ballparks. If you’re a longtime listener, thank you for being part of this incredible community! On this episode Hall of Famer and Chicago Cub legend Billy Williams joins me to talk about the day in 1956 he found out he was going to be signed by the Cubs, the life changing comment that Rogers Hornsby made to him and Ron Santo, his incredible experiences with Buck O'Neil and Satchel Paige and his first hand account of playing in baseball's great old, lost ballparks. Send us Fan Mail

(This episode was recorded in 2022). We’re curating the most downloaded episodes for new listeners discovering Lost Ballparks. If you’re a longtime listener, thank you for being part of this incredible community! From 1970-2010 Nancy Faust was the organist for the Chicago White Sox. She was a trailblazer who made music an integral part of the ballpark experience. When Harry Caray first sang "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" at Comiskey Park, Nancy was playing the organ for him. She was the first to play "Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye" as an opposing pitcher walked off the field or after a White Sox home run. She is a Chicago treasure! Send us Fan Mail

(This episode was recorded in 2024). We’re curating the most downloaded episodes for new listeners discovering Lost Ballparks. If you’re a longtime listener, thank you for being part of this incredible community! Rocky Colavito finished his career with 374 HR's and he played in 9 All-Star Games. Now 90 years young, Rocky joins me on this episode to talk about his 1st game at the Polo Grounds, his tryout at Yankee Stadium, his love for Cleveland & the wedding gift the team gave him & his wife that he'll never forget! Send us Fan Mail

(This episode was recorded in 2022). We’re curating the most downloaded episodes for new listeners discovering Lost Ballparks. If you’re a longtime listener, thank you for being part of this incredible community! Bobby Richardson joins me on this week's episode of the Lost Ballparks podcast. Richardson was the 2nd basemen for the NY Yankees from 1955-1966. He was selected to 7 All-Star teams, played in 7 world series (winning 3 in ’58, ’61 and ’62), was the 1960 World Series MVP, a 5x Gold Glove winner and has many stories to share about Mickey Mantle, Old Yankee Stadium, Forbes Field and the crazy night that Billy Martin had in 1957 that changed Richardson's life forever! Click here for Bobby's book. Send us Fan Mail

(This episode was recorded in 2023). We’re curating the most downloaded episodes for new listeners discovering Lost Ballparks. If you’re a longtime listener, thank you for being part of this incredible community! Extra Innings Episode: Johnny Bench joins me on this episode to talk about the first MLB game he ever attended, memories of Cincinnati's Crosley Field , what Willie Mays told him at the Astrodome in 1968, his 1971 All-Star game home run at Tiger Stadium and obeying his Mom during the 1972 NLCS at Riverfront Stadium . Send us Fan Mail

(This episode was recorded in 2023). We’re curating the most downloaded episodes for new listeners discovering Lost Ballparks. If you’re a longtime listener, thank you for being part of this incredible community! Ozzie Smith, "The Wizard of Oz" was a 15X All-Star, World Champion, 13X Gold Glover, NL Silver Slugger and a first ballot baseball Hall of Famer! And on the season 4 premiere of the LB podcast he is talking about growing up across from L.A.'s Wrigley Field, his first game at Dodger Stadium, first MLB hit at Candlestick Park and memories of Busch Stadium in St. Louis! Send us Fan Mail

(This episode was recorded in 2022). We’re curating the most downloaded episodes for new listeners discovering Lost Ballparks. If you’re a longtime listener, thank you for being part of this incredible community! John Asalon was a member of the Cincinnati Reds grounds crew at Riverfront Stadium from 1972-1979. He had a front row seat for some of the biggest games in baseball history. This week, he gives us an inside look at Crosley Field (games he attended as a kid), Riverfront Stadium (where he worked as a teenager) and the Big Red Machine. It's a completely unique perspective that only someone who worked so closely with the team during that decade could provide. Enjoy! Send us Fan Mail

(This episode was recorded in 2022). We’re curating the most downloaded episodes for new listeners discovering Lost Ballparks. If you’re a longtime listener, thank you for being part of this incredible community! Red Sox Hall of Famer Rico Petrocelli joins me on this episode to talk about the 1967 "Impossible Dream" Boston Red Sox, his memories of growing up in Brooklyn going to Dodger games at Ebbets Field and the story of how Fenway almost became a lost ballpark! Click here to check out Rico's book "Tales from the Dugout" (The 1967 Boston Red Sox). Send us Fan Mail

Originally recorded in 2023. We’re curating the most downloaded episodes for new listeners discovering Lost Ballparks. If you’re a longtime listener, thank you for being part of this incredible community! Fred Lynn was a 9X All-Star and the first player in baseball history to win Rookie of the Year, MVP and a Gold Glove in the same year! He joins me on the season finale to talk about the first game he attended as a kid, all things Fenway Park, that special 1975 Red Sox team, his first All-Star game at County Stadium in Milwaukee, the crazy event that probably cost the Angels the '82 ALCS and much more! Send us Fan Mail