Episode 228
Celebrating Legends: Upcoming NY Baseball Hall of Fame Ceremony
Host Bill Donohue talks with NYS Baseball Hall-of-Fame Director Rene LeRoux, 2024 inductee Ted Green, and Martha Jo Black, daughter of Brooklyn Dodgers’ pitcher Joe Black, being inducted at the 2024 ceremony on November 120th in Troy, NY.
Transcript
The views expressed in the following program.
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Engineer:Live from the WGB studios in Merrick, New York, this is Sports Talk New York.
Bill Donahue:Good evening and hello again, everybody.
Bill Donahue:Welcome welcome to Sports Talk New York here on WGBB in Merrick, Long Island, New York.
Bill Donahue: n this third day of November,: Bill Donahue:Happy birthday, Kath.
Bill Donahue:Our engineer, Brian Graves, he's running the board behind the glass as always.
Bill Donahue:Got a great show for you tonight, the theme of which is the New York State Baseball hall of Fame located in Gloversville, New York.
Bill Donahue:Up first we will speak to the executive director of the New York State Baseball hall of fame.
Bill Donahue:Rennie LaRue will be with us.
Bill Donahue:Following Rennie will be author filmmaker Ted Green.
Bill Donahue:He gave us that tremendous film on the late great Carl Erskine.
Bill Donahue:We spoke to Carl about that last year.
Bill Donahue:He will be inducted into the hall of Fame next Sunday.
Bill Donahue:Finally, we will welcome in the daughter of the great Brooklyn Dodger pitcher Joe Black.
Bill Donahue:Martha Jo Black will join us.
Bill Donahue:Joe Black will also be inducted into the New York State Baseball hall of Fame next Sunday as well.
Bill Donahue:So sit back, relax, get yourself a drink and a snack.
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Bill Donahue:We're going to have a good one for you tonight.
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Bill Donahue:Well, the New York State Baseball hall of Fame, which of course is what we're celebrating tonight, does have a brick and mortar presence.
Bill Donahue:You may not know it's located in Gloversville, New York.
Bill Donahue:It does have a website located at NYSB hofd.
Bill Donahue:The annual induction dinner will take place next Sunday evening, November 10th at the Hilton Garden Inn in upstate Troy, New York.
Bill Donahue:We will speak more about inductees and who will be in attendance as we speak to the executive director and he is Rennie Larew.
Bill Donahue:Rennie, welcome to Sports Talk New York tonight.
Rennie LaRue:Thank you so much.
Rennie LaRue:Thanks for having me on your show.
Bill Donahue:Great to be with you.
Bill Donahue:Now, how's the planning going for the induction ceremony?
Rennie LaRue:Well, it's.
Rennie LaRue:We're all pretty much completed.
Rennie LaRue:We'll have a complete sellout for the 12th consecutive year and a tremendous induction class.
Rennie LaRue:We're very thrilled.
Bill Donahue:Okay, give the folks a taste of who will be inducted into the New York State Baseball hall of Fame.
Rennie LaRue:Well, you know, I think we lead with Don Mattingly, Donnie Baseball, who is from Evansville, Indiana.
Rennie LaRue:And that's a theme a little bit this year with Ted Green, who you're going to have on your show after me, who is also the driving force behind the great documentary, the Best We've Got about Carl Erskine.
Rennie LaRue:Gary Erskine will be coming back to celebrate Ted and it's really a nice tribute to Indiana.
Rennie LaRue:Jim Denny is a very important guy in the sole equation.
Rennie LaRue:Jim is a fireman in Indiana and he was Carl Erskine's go to guy for many years.
Rennie LaRue:And it's through Jim Denny that Carl was inducted and I got to meet Ted Green.
Rennie LaRue:And so a big shout out to Jim Denny.
Rennie LaRue:Yogi Berra is getting inducted, his son Larry, his eldest son and his daughter Lindsey who did another great documentary called It's Never Over Till It's Over.
Bill Donahue:Right.
Bill Donahue:A great deal.
Rennie LaRue:So the Bear family will be in the house for Met fans.
Rennie LaRue:We've got Howard Johnson.
Rennie LaRue:Ho Joe is coming in from Florida recovering from the Hurricane.
Rennie LaRue:Ho Joe is a great teammate at Gerald Strawberries.
Rennie LaRue:They're good friends.
Rennie LaRue:General nominated Hojo.
Rennie LaRue: ith four different teams over: Rennie LaRue:And who else do we have?
Rennie LaRue:Jesse Barfield, who is in the Canadian Sports hall of Fame, was an American League home run champ and a tremendous defensive outfielder with a cannon for an arm.
Rennie LaRue:It's a lost art these days to play defense in the outfield the way Jesse Barfield played it.
Rennie LaRue:Long time with Toronto, a couple years with the Yankees and then played with the O Mary Giants.
Rennie LaRue:Thrilled to have Jesse as part of this class.
Rennie LaRue:Then we have a couple of downstate real things.
Rennie LaRue:People were really pleased about.
Rennie LaRue:Bob Melandro who was longtime coach of Holy Trinity High School and Hondo had a great record of success there.
Rennie LaRue:Very popular in that area.
Rennie LaRue:Robert Purchase was the former commissioner of the PSAL and also a college coach and a real gentleman.
Rennie LaRue:And then we have the Italian American Baseball Foundation, Joe Quagliano and Carmine Frank Catalonato who Had a great major league career.
Rennie LaRue:They've done fine work down there.
Rennie LaRue:I'm really happy with the fact that we're inducting organization has brought a lot to the New York City and Long island sports area.
Rennie LaRue:We had the pitching coach from the Kansas City Royals, Brian Sweeney, who was born in the Bronx actually, I think, and he had a great year this year with Kansas City.
Rennie LaRue:He and the manager Matt Contrera are responsible for having a 40 win turnaround.
Rennie LaRue:They went from 56 wins to 96 wins this year and made the playoffs.
Rennie LaRue:Sweeney's a great guy.
Rennie LaRue:Kevin Graber is the head baseball coach at Phillips Academy in Massachusetts, one of the premier prep schools in the northeast.
Rennie LaRue:He was with the Chicago Cubs organization as the head of the minor league operations for several years.
Rennie LaRue:And he actually managed the AA Cub team to a championship last year.
Rennie LaRue:But he really wanted to come home.
Rennie LaRue:He had been in Andover before and, you know, we're really happy to have him, you know, great guy.
Rennie LaRue:He and Bob Purchase are cancer survivors.
Rennie LaRue:Really, really.
Rennie LaRue:It's a good class.
Rennie LaRue:You know, we have grown every year.
Rennie LaRue:We continue to grow and we're thrilled to have such a high level of person being inducted this year.
Bill Donahue:Yeah, I agree.
Bill Donahue:Renny sounds like it'll be a really great night.
Bill Donahue:Now just give the folks five or ten names who's already in the Baseball hall of Fame of New York.
Rennie LaRue:You know, we started this thing because of Johnny Padres, who actually was from upstate New York and became a good friend and it was his inspiration.
Rennie LaRue:You know, some of these people are never going to get into Cooperstown.
Rennie LaRue:So we thought it was appropriate to have a place.
Rennie LaRue:You know, Cooperstown is very hard to get into.
Rennie LaRue:It's very, you know, it has high quality and they do a great job.
Rennie LaRue:It's just hard for them to induct a lot of people.
Rennie LaRue:Given a national stage, Ours is a state stage, so it's smaller.
Rennie LaRue:So we can put a Johnny Padres, a Ralph Branca, Bernie Williams, Atino Martinez, Bobby Mercer, Thurman Munson, you know, Eddie Crane, Poole, Cleon Jones, Tommy Agee, Jerry Kuzman.
Rennie LaRue:Lou Whitaker is from New York City, from the Tigers.
Rennie LaRue:Had 18 years playing with Alan Trammell.
Rennie LaRue:There's a whole lot of people that had phenomenal baseball careers.
Rennie LaRue:We call it body of work.
Rennie LaRue:It's not based on statistics.
Rennie LaRue:It's based upon your contributions to the game, how you did your business, how you did your job.
Rennie LaRue:And we've had an amazing.
Rennie LaRue:It's amazing that last year we had Chris Chambliss, Darryl Strawberry and Curtis Granderson, Tom Zeal.
Rennie LaRue:I mean, and everybody attends.
Rennie LaRue:And, you know, to them, it is their Cooperstown bill.
Rennie LaRue:It's.
Rennie LaRue:It's really.
Rennie LaRue:And I understand better now why they come, why they came, because it is their Cooperstown.
Rennie LaRue:They do.
Rennie LaRue:They're reflecting upon their career.
Rennie LaRue:They get to share this with family members and friends.
Rennie LaRue:And you've been in the past, so you have an idea what it's like.
Bill Donahue:Definitely.
Bill Donahue:Yeah, I agree with you, Rennie.
Bill Donahue:And thank you for mentioning some of the criteria for election.
Bill Donahue:People may be wondering about that.
Bill Donahue:And some of the great names, folks, tremendous local talent that are in the hall of Fame right now.
Bill Donahue:We are Speaking to Rennie LaRue, the executive director of the New York State Baseball hall of Fame.
Bill Donahue:Tell us about the hall of Fame in Gloversville, Rennie.
Rennie LaRue:We opened last year, last July.
Rennie LaRue:So we've been open a little over a year and four months.
Rennie LaRue:It's 48 miles from Cooperstown.
Rennie LaRue:And it's really.
Rennie LaRue:There's a synergistic location to it because people that come to Cooperstown also come to my hall of Fame and vice versa.
Rennie LaRue:I asked their permission to have that building there, and they were very gracious, and they said, rennie, we understand what you do.
Rennie LaRue:They understand that we don't conflict with them.
Rennie LaRue:We try and augment them.
Rennie LaRue:We're the little brother, I guess you'd say.
Rennie LaRue:And we restored a building that's right across the street from a baseball field, Parkhurst Field.
Rennie LaRue:A field where Chief Bender, Honest Wagner, and a guy named Archibald Moonlight Graham actually played.
Bill Donahue:Yeah.
Rennie LaRue:So the building looks good.
Rennie LaRue:You know, it took us probably 16 months to completely renovate and redid the building.
Rennie LaRue:Top down, you know, floor to ceilings.
Rennie LaRue:And there's great displays, lockers.
Rennie LaRue:I think we have 56 or 57 inductee lockers.
Rennie LaRue:Rico Pacicelli, Mickey Manolo, Carl Erskine, Johnny Antonelli.
Rennie LaRue:Let's see, Mookie Wilson, Gil Hodges.
Rennie LaRue:Really thrilled with the way that came out.
Rennie LaRue:And then we have displays of autographed balls and other paraphernalia.
Rennie LaRue:And then in the back, we have a beautiful theater where we had 50 seats donated that were old Yankee Stadium seats donated by Gary Perrone from the Staten Island Fairy Hawks, who was also an inductee.
Rennie LaRue:So the theater came out beautifully.
Rennie LaRue:We played baseball film every Saturday from 1 to 3.
Bill Donahue:Nice.
Bill Donahue:Very nice.
Bill Donahue:And people may be wondering, Rennie, maybe some folks out here on the island, what exit off the Thruway is that?
Bill Donahue:So people know.
Rennie LaRue:The easiest way.
Rennie LaRue:There's two ways to go.
Rennie LaRue:One is off Amsterdam, off the thruway.
Rennie LaRue:It's about 15 minutes away.
Rennie LaRue:The other way is to drive to Saratoga on the north way off the thruway.
Rennie LaRue:And From Saratoga, it's 29 minutes away.
Rennie LaRue:We're only open on Saturdays right now from 11 to 5.
Rennie LaRue:Season is winding to a close.
Rennie LaRue:We close for the winter.
Rennie LaRue:We'll reopen again in spring training.
Bill Donahue:Gotcha.
Bill Donahue:Because I am planning to come by next Saturday.
Rennie LaRue:Super.
Bill Donahue:Yeah, I'm planning on visiting, and I'm sure I'll enjoy it.
Bill Donahue:Now, how do people go about nominating someone for the New York State Baseball hall of Fame?
Bill Donahue:Rennie?
Rennie LaRue:That's easy.
Rennie LaRue:Anyone can nominate somebody that either was born in New York State, played in New York State, worked in New York State, lives in New York State.
Rennie LaRue:So let's say you grew up in Peoria, Illinois.
Rennie LaRue:If you moved to Manhattan and lived there, that's fine.
Rennie LaRue:If you played for the Yankees or Mets or Brooklyn Dodgers, then again you qualify minor league teams.
Rennie LaRue:Buffalo Bisons, Rochester Red Wings, Tri City Valley Cats.
Rennie LaRue:And then that name gets placed on a list as other supporting nominations come in.
Rennie LaRue:Then that name could move up the list.
Rennie LaRue:So let's say that 10 different people call and nominate.
Rennie LaRue:You know, let's pick an arbitrary player.
Rennie LaRue:David Wright from the Mets.
Bill Donahue:Right.
Rennie LaRue:As more people nominate that person that are unrelated to each other, that will help that person's case.
Rennie LaRue:A person cannot nominate a family member or a relative.
Bill Donahue:Okay, so some.
Bill Donahue:Pretty easy, not as hard as Cooper sounds.
Bill Donahue:Criteria to get into the New York State Baseball hall of Fame.
Bill Donahue:Folks, someone just sent in a question.
Bill Donahue:Rennie, how do you get your artifacts for the museum?
Rennie LaRue: er, went to Yankee Stadium in: Rennie LaRue:So we have a couple of benefactors that have donated many items.
Rennie LaRue:Framed pictures, a great one of Vin Scully calling his last game in la.
Rennie LaRue:We have a gentleman who is getting older and had a huge personal collection, and he knew this was a great home for it.
Rennie LaRue:So we're thrilled about that and a lot of balls and bats and gloves and accompanying things.
Rennie LaRue:So we're very fortunate to have a nice home where these things will be displayed and safe and secure.
Bill Donahue:Good stuff.
Bill Donahue:Good stuff, Rennie.
Bill Donahue:Yeah.
Bill Donahue:And as Rennie mentioned, it's 48 miles from Cooperstown, so you could easily fit in a trip to the New York State Baseball hall of Fame on your next trip to Cooperstown.
Bill Donahue:Aside from the upcoming bash next Sunday evening, the induction dinner in Troy, what else is coming up for the New York State Baseball hall of fame.
Rennie LaRue:Rennie well, we have one event a month, and in August of this year, we inducted three players that are part of this year's class, but a separate induction ceremony.
Rennie LaRue:And one of them was Ed the Glider Charles, who played third base in the 69 Mets.
Rennie LaRue:And Ed's family came.
Rennie LaRue:Ed Jr.
Bill Donahue:Came.
Rennie LaRue:It was wonderful.
Rennie LaRue:We did a turn of the century player, George Burns, who stole home 28 times, playing his career largely with the New York giants managed by McGraw.
Rennie LaRue:And then the third player was a pioneer of the Negro Leagues, who was really a nice guy who played for many years in western New York.
Rennie LaRue:I can't think of his name right now, but it'll come to me.
Rennie LaRue:Oh, it was interesting about that story.
Rennie LaRue:12 Years a Slave was a movie about a gentleman who got kidnapped into slavery and then he escaped and came back.
Rennie LaRue:He actually had lived in Saratoga Springs and it's his grandson that got inducted.
Bill Donahue:Nice.
Bill Donahue:Great story.
Bill Donahue:Great story, Rennie.
Bill Donahue:Now, why did you choose Gloverville as a site for the national, the New York State Baseball hall of Fame?
Rennie LaRue:Two reasons.
Rennie LaRue:One, the baseball field across the street, right where moonlight grand played on.
Rennie LaRue:The second thing was we were actually invited to come there by Fulton county, who was really our partner in this endeavor and can't say enough about the government of Fulton county, the elected officials, and they really wanted this to happen there.
Rennie LaRue:And they, they have done a lot for us in order for us to open.
Rennie LaRue:We're really thrilled.
Rennie LaRue:It's really the best idea, the best visible sign of government cooperation with people.
Rennie LaRue:And this is local town supervisors and mayors and things like that.
Rennie LaRue:But they really, they really made an effort to have this building there, and we could have easily been in Saratoga or Clifton park or Troy or anywhere else, but they wanted us the most and they made it happen.
Bill Donahue:Very good that you have willing partners, cooperative partners to work with you locally.
Bill Donahue:Rennie, that is fantastic.
Bill Donahue:Just give the folks one more time.
Bill Donahue:Rennie.
Bill Donahue:Contact website information A little bit of that.
Rennie LaRue:Yeah, they can contact me at.
Rennie LaRue:My email address is J a r y l aol.com our website is nysphof.com and they're welcome to call me by phone.
Rennie LaRue: -: Rennie LaRue:We really, you know, we, as I mentioned, will be sold out again.
Rennie LaRue:Tickets need to be purchased pretty much in August.
Rennie LaRue:It's a large event.
Rennie LaRue:We're going to have close to 500 people there.
Rennie LaRue:I go to a lot of hall of Fame and a lot of award dinners and baseball across the state.
Rennie LaRue: And generally it's: Rennie LaRue:So I'd say other than Cooperstown, we're the biggest game around.
Bill Donahue:I agree with you, Rennie, and you do a great job every year and I look forward to seeing you.
Bill Donahue:Rennie LaRue, it's been a pleasure.
Bill Donahue:Thank you for taking time out of your Sunday evening to spend some with us here at Sports Talk New York.
Bill Donahue:As I said, we will see you next Sunday at the induction ceremony.
Bill Donahue:I thank you for coming on, Rennie, and all the best to you.
Rennie LaRue:Thank you so much and great work with your show.
Rennie LaRue:Congratulations.
Rennie LaRue:Look forward to seeing you again next week.
Bill Donahue:Thank you.
Bill Donahue:That's Rennie Larew, ladies and gentlemen, the executive director of the New York State Baseball hall of Fame.
Bill Donahue: k to writer and filmmaker and: Bill Donahue:Stay with us, folks.
Engineer:You are listening to Sports Talk New York.
Engineer: FM and: Engineer:And now back to the show.
Bill Donahue:All right, we are back, folks.
Bill Donahue:We're back with Sports Talk New York on WGBB here in Merrick, Long Island, New York.
Bill Donahue:I thank you for stopping by and hanging with us on this autumnal Sunday evening here on Long Island.
Bill Donahue:The first one after the clocks went back last night, dark on the way to the station tonight and it's going to be that way for a while.
Bill Donahue:So it's definitely changing.
Bill Donahue:Christmas commercials starting on tv, right, Brian?
Bill Donahue:Yeah, it's beginning.
Bill Donahue:As I said, folks, the times, they are a changing, I guess as Mr.
Bill Donahue:Zimmerman told us several years ago.
Bill Donahue: Well, our next guest, he's a: Bill Donahue: He switched to filmmaking in: Bill Donahue:Since then, he has produced and directed eight documentaries, most recently the best we've got, the Carl Erskine Story.
Bill Donahue:Other subjects include Holocaust survivor Eva Kaur and Indianapolis Crispus Attucks High School.
Bill Donahue:Great topic there.
Bill Donahue:I welcome to Sports Talk New York tonight, Ted Green.
Bill Donahue:Ted, good evening.
Unknown Speaker B:Good evening to you, Bill.
Unknown Speaker B:I appreciate you having me on.
Bill Donahue:I would just like to say first of all, Ted, congratulations on your well deserved honor.
Bill Donahue:How's the speech coming along?
Unknown Speaker B:Still working on the speech.
Unknown Speaker B:Got to got to do a few things here and there, you know, I'll tell you, I was just, I'm still sort of flabbergasted by this whole thing, you know, when I got the call From Rennie Rennie McGrew, the president of the New York Baseball hall of Fame.
Bill Donahue:Right.
Unknown Speaker B:You know, I I was just, I was floored.
Unknown Speaker B:I mean, you know, not bad for a non New Yorker whose baseball career ended in middle school because, you know, I couldn't hit a curveball.
Unknown Speaker B:And now I get to tell my buddies, hey, man, I'm getting inducted into a baseball hall of Fame alongside Yogi Berra, right?
Unknown Speaker B:Yeah, it's pretty cool.
Bill Donahue:Outstanding.
Bill Donahue:Yeah.
Bill Donahue:Well, before we start on Carl Erskine and that great documentary, I'd like you to talk a little bit about your film on Crispus Attucks High School.
Bill Donahue:Certainly a wonderful story there.
Bill Donahue:It's an important story, too.
Bill Donahue:Give us a little rundown on that.
Unknown Speaker B:TED well, Crispus Attucks High School is probably most famous as the alma mater of Oscar Robertson and his team.
Unknown Speaker B: In: Unknown Speaker B:That's what this is, a segregated school, first all black school in the country to win an open state basketball championship.
Unknown Speaker B:And it was a huge deal, and it actually really helped with race relations going forward in the city.
Unknown Speaker B:I mean, the school itself was created in the late 20s during a time when the Ku Klux Klan ran the state.
Unknown Speaker B:It's true.
Unknown Speaker B: e Klan came in Indiana in the: Unknown Speaker B:And it, it was designed to fail, and instead the absolute opposite happened.
Unknown Speaker B:Not only did it succeed to a great degree, certainly way more than sports academically, first and foremost, but again, it just opened so many eyes, and it really led, ironically, to the integration of the city of Indianapolis, which was just horribly polarized at the time.
Unknown Speaker B:So, yeah, that was a big topic to take on, but, you know, it was it sort of strangely helped me find my way to Carl Erskine.
Unknown Speaker B:So I'm very grateful about that.
Bill Donahue:Understood.
Bill Donahue:Yeah, great story, folks.
Bill Donahue:You could look that up.
Bill Donahue:Crispus Attucks High School.
Bill Donahue:If you don't know who Crispus Attucks is, shame on you.
Bill Donahue:And you probably failed American history in high school.
Bill Donahue:Didn't you tell the folks who Crispus Attucks was?
Unknown Speaker B:TED well, he was the first American to die in the Revolutionary War, right.
Unknown Speaker B:He was an escaped slave.
Unknown Speaker B:And there was a there was a, you know, sort of a confrontation in the street one day, and it started the whole thing.
Unknown Speaker B:And he was the first guy to die.
Unknown Speaker B:And so originally, Crispusetto's high school was going to be named.
Unknown Speaker B:The school board, in all its wonderful wisdom and inclusiveness, was going to name an all black school Thomas Jefferson High School.
Unknown Speaker B:But the powers that be in the school itself said, absolutely not.
Unknown Speaker B:And oddly, they won this battle and they got to pick their own name.
Unknown Speaker B:And so they went with Krista Satter.
Bill Donahue:Outstanding.
Bill Donahue:Okay, well, another film we focused on on this show before, and we actually spoke about it with Carl Erskine himself.
Bill Donahue:Ted's documentary, the Best We've Got, the Carl Erskine Story.
Bill Donahue:Give us a rundown from an inception, a little capsule on this project from you, Ted.
Unknown Speaker B:Okay.
Unknown Speaker B:I mean, I actually, it's kind of ironic.
Unknown Speaker B:It wasn't actually the baseball that drew me to Carl Erskine.
Unknown Speaker B:I mean, I've long wanted to delve into the world of intellectual disability, but I couldn't really find my way in.
Unknown Speaker B:I thought if it was only on that, that would be, you know, my entire audience, people who are directly affected, plus, you know, their families.
Unknown Speaker B:But I figured with Carl, by starting with baseball, which is really the natural arc chronologically in his life, that would draw in a whole new audience to really what was an absolutely remarkable evolution of the treatment and acceptance of intellectual disability.
Unknown Speaker B:And then my hope was that those people, that new audience, would then be inspired by what Carl and his wife Betty did with their son Jimmy, who had down syndrome, and literally thousands of others.
Unknown Speaker B:You know, and I tell you, and it worked after the film, I heard from so many people, you know, how amazed, in some cases, life changingly amazed they were by Carl's legacy in that field.
Unknown Speaker B:I mean, he really is truly, in many ways, a human rights ambassador racially through both his childhood best friend and then with his teammate Jackie Robinson.
Unknown Speaker B:The two of them were incredibly close.
Unknown Speaker B:But I would say, especially in that field of intellectual disability, he's just such an ambassador.
Unknown Speaker B:So, I mean, that was.
Unknown Speaker B:That's kind of why I wanted to get into that story.
Unknown Speaker B:But I'll tell you, the baseball part was so fun to research.
Unknown Speaker B:I mean, I'm no baseball historian, but I am a.
Unknown Speaker B: t the Brooklyn dodgers of the: Unknown Speaker B:And so to be able to dive into that fully, interviewing, you know, the likes of Ben Sculley and Branch Rickey III and Bob Costas, Peter Goldenbach, and of course, Carl himself.
Unknown Speaker B:Many times.
Unknown Speaker B:You know, I just.
Unknown Speaker B:I felt like a kid again.
Unknown Speaker B:I was, you know, watching all the films going through.
Unknown Speaker B: York City newspapers from the: Unknown Speaker B:I mean, it was just.
Unknown Speaker B:It was a blast.
Unknown Speaker B:I mean, this.
Unknown Speaker B:Carl played in what was a truly transformative era for the sport.
Unknown Speaker B:This is trains to planes, radio to tv, east coast to west.
Unknown Speaker B:And of course, biggest of all, integration.
Unknown Speaker B:You know, he was front and center for all of that, particularly the latter with, as I mentioned earlier with Jackie Robinson.
Unknown Speaker B:They were so close.
Unknown Speaker B:And we go into that a lot in the film and includes a quote, you know, out of his own mouth, Jackie saying that no, Dodger, none knew more about what was going on than Carl did.
Unknown Speaker B:And he meant racially on the Dodgers.
Unknown Speaker B:So it was.
Unknown Speaker B:It was powerful stuff.
Unknown Speaker B:It's almost like two films in one.
Unknown Speaker B:It starts out a baseball film and then it looks at Carl, the human rights ambassador, and I tell you, I feel so blessed that I got to chronicle this great man.
Bill Donahue:I agree.
Bill Donahue:I agree, Ted, and you did a tremendous job at it.
Bill Donahue:For people that think that Carl Erskine is only baseball are only about one third correct, as Ted said, there's the Carl Erskine dealing with race relations, and there's the Carl Erskine dealing with special needs folks.
Bill Donahue:And just a tremendous story brought out by the best we've got, the Carl Erskine story done by Ted Green.
Bill Donahue:Ted Green is with us, by the way.
Bill Donahue:He's going to be inducted into the New York State Baseball hall of Fame in the class of 24 next Sunday.
Bill Donahue:And give us an idea, Ted.
Bill Donahue:Some of the folks you gave us, Vin Scully, you gave us a couple of other names.
Bill Donahue:Any other guys you interviewed for this project?
Unknown Speaker B:Well, I mean, I got lucky.
Unknown Speaker B:I also mentioned Bob Costas.
Unknown Speaker B:This is the second film of mine that he has been in which I'm, you know, he's so wonderful.
Unknown Speaker B:Branch Rickey iii, who I gave actually the final words to at the end because he was talking about the Erskine hero.
Unknown Speaker B:He said, you know, in this day and age of, you know, celebrating the biggest and fastest and strongest and everything oversized, that he would take the Erskine hero every day.
Unknown Speaker B:I got to interview a guy named.
Unknown Speaker B:People might not know his name, but Marty Lurie, who was a longtime radio voice of the San Francisco Giants, he was wonderful.
Unknown Speaker B:Peter Goldenbach, who was the author of Bums, an oral history of the Dodgers, but also people like Tim Schriever, who is the son of Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and he now runs the international organization, talking about how absolutely integral Carl was, perhaps beyond anybody except for his mom, his dad, at sort of furthering the cause of people with special needs.
Unknown Speaker B:And so it's really, you know, I didn't really know what to expect going into the story, but, you know, I just kept sort of, after a while, just pinching myself, thinking, you know, this is almost too good to be true.
Unknown Speaker B:But it really is true.
Unknown Speaker B:You know, he's.
Unknown Speaker B:Carl Erskine is just someone who got it right in life.
Bill Donahue:You're exactly right.
Bill Donahue:Yeah.
Bill Donahue:And along with Senator Bill Bradley, whom I had the honor and the pleasure to speak to, Carl Erskine is probably one guest I could think of, head and shoulders above of an example of a life well lived.
Unknown Speaker B:Absolutely.
Unknown Speaker B:Dollar Bill, huh?
Bill Donahue:Oh, yeah.
Unknown Speaker B:Yes.
Bill Donahue:That was a highlight for me, Ted.
Unknown Speaker B:We share an alma mater, and he and my uncle were friends anyways, but, yeah, that's certainly an apt comparison.
Unknown Speaker B:I mean, this is, you know, I was just sort of watching the end of the film again, just to sort of get inspired for this, and I was really struck by, you know, we show.
Unknown Speaker B:We spend some time doing sort of a beauty shot on Jackie Robinson's tomb in his gravestone.
Unknown Speaker B:And etched onto it, it says, a life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.
Unknown Speaker B:And I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better example other than maybe Jackie himself than his buddy Carl.
Unknown Speaker B:And, you know, I hope people will, you know, it's my great hope people will take some.
Unknown Speaker B:Take the time and, you know, find the film and watch it, because I guarantee you, you're going to be inspired.
Unknown Speaker B:I mean, this was.
Unknown Speaker B:Learning about him was the greatest education of my life.
Bill Donahue:Wonderful.
Bill Donahue:That was a great answer to that, Ted.
Bill Donahue:Now working with Carl and Betty Erskine, you and I spoke a little bit about it during the week on the telephone.
Bill Donahue:Just give the folks an idea of these two folks, Carl and Betty Erskine.
Unknown Speaker B:Well, I mean, they met as teenagers in their hometown of Anderson, Indiana.
Unknown Speaker B:They never left their hometown.
Unknown Speaker B:They thought about it, but they decided when they had their son Jimmy, who had down syndrome, that the best place to raise them was where their friends were and where their family were and all that.
Unknown Speaker B:So Carl and Betty, I mean, they got.
Unknown Speaker B:They got married young, and they were married for 76 years, which I think is pretty, pretty impressive.
Unknown Speaker B:He.
Unknown Speaker B:Now, Carl passed away last spring at 97.
Unknown Speaker B:And Betty is 96 now.
Unknown Speaker B:And it's been a tough year for her.
Unknown Speaker B:She not only did she lose Carl, but she also lost Jimmy, who was supposed to live till 30 and ended up living till boy.
Unknown Speaker B:I guess it would have been 63.
Unknown Speaker B:And she lost her oldest son as well.
Unknown Speaker B:So she's, you know, lost three people from her direct family.
Unknown Speaker B:And it's been very hard on her.
Unknown Speaker B:But I'll tell you, my wife and I go up to Anderson to visit her pretty often.
Unknown Speaker B:And we were just there, I guess it was last week on the day that.
Unknown Speaker B:That night the Dodgers clinched.
Unknown Speaker B:And she was so excited about watching the game.
Unknown Speaker B:I mean, in fact, she was already.
Unknown Speaker B:She was dressed in blue and she was.
Unknown Speaker B:She was wrapped up with quilt she received recently from the daughter, one of the daughters of Duke Snyder.
Unknown Speaker B:Carl and Duke were roommates, and they.
Unknown Speaker B:And on the road.
Unknown Speaker B:And during spring training, the two families would rent a house together down in Dodgertown with all the little kids running around.
Unknown Speaker B:And it's one of the.
Unknown Speaker B:I guess if there's a silver lining to anything at Carl's funeral, I mean, the two families had sort of drifted apart over all these decades, but Duke's son attended Carl's funeral, and that led to the families reconnecting.
Bill Donahue:Nice.
Unknown Speaker B:And that has brought.
Unknown Speaker B:It's brought Betty so much joy.
Unknown Speaker B:And just to think of her, you know, staying up and.
Unknown Speaker B:Which is late for her, but she stayed up and she watched the whole thing.
Unknown Speaker B:And to see the Dodgers clinch, you know, it's pretty special.
Bill Donahue:Oh, for sure.
Bill Donahue:The admiration you can feel.
Bill Donahue:The special, the special people, Carl and Betty Erskine, you can feel through your depiction of Betty and her life.
Bill Donahue:Now, what special, special people?
Bill Donahue:Now, this film, Ted, the Carl Erskine Story.
Bill Donahue:Where can people find this now if they want to take a look at it?
Unknown Speaker B:Okay.
Unknown Speaker B:Well, I mean, it's been on the Major League Baseball Network right when it first came out.
Unknown Speaker B:It's still playing on PBS stations from time to time, and 15 of the top 20 markets nationally.
Unknown Speaker B:I mean, New York, L.A.
Unknown Speaker B:chicago, Philly, etc.
Unknown Speaker B:You can also stream the film from the project website, and that is Carl Erskine Film Calm.
Unknown Speaker B:Carl Erskine Film Calm.
Unknown Speaker B:And I also sell DVDs and Blu Rays, even though.
Unknown Speaker B:Even though those are for the older set.
Unknown Speaker B:That's kind of my audience with this one.
Unknown Speaker B:A lot of people who still like to consume their videos that way.
Unknown Speaker B:So there are lots of ways to watch it, really.
Unknown Speaker B:The home site is the place you can find all sorts of stuff.
Unknown Speaker B:And Again, that's Carl Erskinefilm.com I recommend.
Bill Donahue:This for anybody who's a fan of humanity, actually.
Bill Donahue:Carl, as I said, involved in so many aspects of life, not only baseball.
Bill Donahue:And as Ted depicted earlier, the special magic that was the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Bill Donahue:That was Ebbetts Field, a place where you could see Hilda Chester and her cowbell, the symphony orchestra, Vin Scully, Red Barber up in the booth, Hap Felton and the Knothole gang with the kids.
Bill Donahue:I mean, it's the stuff legends are made of.
Bill Donahue:And so many, so many films, so many TV shows have been made about the Brooklyn Dodgers, and rightfully so in our last few minutes.
Bill Donahue:Ted, any other upcoming projects we could look for from you?
Unknown Speaker B:Well, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to say one more thing about the Carl Erskine project.
Bill Donahue:Sure, go right ahead.
Unknown Speaker B:Again, I really appreciate this, but I think one thing I would love for your viewers to know, if they don't, was that Carl last.
Unknown Speaker B:I guess it would have been.
Unknown Speaker B:Two summers ago, he received the Buck O'Neill Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Baseball hall of Fame.
Unknown Speaker B:I mean, it's just.
Unknown Speaker B:It's only been.
Unknown Speaker B:They only hand that out once every three years.
Unknown Speaker B:He's only the sixth winner, joining the likes of Joe Garagiola and Rachel Robinson, Jackie's widow.
Unknown Speaker B:And, you know, it was just kind of amazing how that happened.
Unknown Speaker B:Of course it happened because Carl was such a virtuous guy and such a great player.
Unknown Speaker B:But I had no idea that Jerry Reinsdorf, the owner of the Bulls and the White Sox, grew up in Brooklyn and was such a huge Dodger fan.
Unknown Speaker B:I mean, had I known, believe me, I would.
Unknown Speaker B:I would have approached him for some funding.
Unknown Speaker B:But he learned about the film through Martha Black, who I think he might be having on later this evening.
Bill Donahue:She's a.
Bill Donahue:She's up right after you.
Bill Donahue:Yeah.
Unknown Speaker B:Yeah, that's great.
Unknown Speaker B:So Martha got, you know, he got win of the film through Marsa, and the two of them actually came down to little Anderson, Indiana in a private jet to attend the premiere.
Unknown Speaker B:And so the next day, I'm going to confess, I might have been in a little local watering hole kind of celebrating everything, and I got a call and it said, jerry Reinstorm.
Unknown Speaker B:It's not every day I get a call from Major League Baseball owner.
Unknown Speaker B:So picked it up, and his very first words, not even a hello, was ted.
Unknown Speaker B:I didn't think I was going to like that film.
Bill Donahue:Wow.
Unknown Speaker B:Okay, great.
Unknown Speaker B:Thanks a lot, he said.
Unknown Speaker B:But I really, really did.
Unknown Speaker B:And I'm wondering if you could help me with something.
Unknown Speaker B:So I said, sure.
Unknown Speaker B:And he told me about the Buck O'Neill Award.
Unknown Speaker B:And, you know, he could sort of carry the water with the other owners, but he wanted to use the film to really sort of, you know, show who Carl was both on and off the field.
Unknown Speaker B:And so he ends up, long story short, he ends up winning that award.
Unknown Speaker B:And at this point, and his family went out there and my wife and I went, and Jim Denny, our mutual friend, he came out there as well.
Unknown Speaker B:But Carl and Betty weren't able to come.
Unknown Speaker B:They were just too old to travel at that point.
Unknown Speaker B:So what happened was the Baseball hall of Fame's president, Josh Rawich, and the board chair, James Forbes Clark, they actually flew with the award on a little plane, a little private plane into Anderson and delivered it in person.
Bill Donahue:Outstanding.
Unknown Speaker B:And we were able to capture some of that for sort of a little addendum to the film.
Unknown Speaker B:And that was just, it was just sort of one of those perfect moments.
Unknown Speaker B:I mean, it's the perfect award.
Unknown Speaker B:It was the biggest award Carl's ever won.
Unknown Speaker B:When you first walk into the hall of Fame, the first exhibit you see is the Buck O'Neill Award.
Unknown Speaker B:And it's just, I don't know, it's just really fitting.
Bill Donahue:Well, that's, that's a great way to cap us off, Ted.
Bill Donahue:I thank you for taking time out of your Sunday night to spend it with us up here at Sports Talk New York.
Bill Donahue:Looking forward to seeing you next weekend at the New York State Baseball hall of Fame induction ceremony.
Bill Donahue:Again, folks, check out the best we've got.
Bill Donahue:Carl Erskine Story.
Bill Donahue:Thank you again, Ted.
Unknown Speaker B:Thanks so much, Bill.
Unknown Speaker B:I really appreciate it.
Bill Donahue: That is: Bill Donahue:Ladies and gentlemen, up next, we welcome in the daughter of former Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Joe Black, Mary Joe Black.
Bill Donahue:So excuse me, Martha Jo Black.
Bill Donahue:Joe is going to be inducted into the New York State Baseball hall of Fame as well.
Bill Donahue:So stick around, folks.
Engineer:You're listening to Sports Talk New York on Long Island's wgb.
Engineer:And now back to the show.
Bill Donahue:All right, we are back.
Bill Donahue:We're back with Sports Talk New York on WGBVB radio here in Merrick, Long Island, New York.
Bill Donahue:We continue now with the topic of tonight's show, which is the New York State Baseball hall of Fame up in Gloversville, New York.
Bill Donahue:Our next guest works with the Chicago White Sox and she is the daughter of former Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Joe Black.
Bill Donahue:And I just want to fill you in.
Bill Donahue:Joe Black, for those unfamiliar.
Bill Donahue:He was a right hand pitcher in the Negro League for The Baltimore Elite Giants and in Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers, the Cincinnati Reds and the Washington Senators.
Bill Donahue:Three time Negro League All Star.
Bill Donahue: League Rookie of the year in: Bill Donahue:Next weekend, Joe will take his place posthumously in the New York State Baseball hall of Fame.
Bill Donahue:It's my honor and pleasure to welcome to the show tonight Martha Jo Black.
Bill Donahue:Martha, good evening.
Martha Jo Black:Good evening.
Bill Donahue:Wonderful to have you with us.
Bill Donahue: played in the leagues before: Bill Donahue:Correct, Martha?
Martha Jo Black:Yes.
Martha Jo Black:No, that is very, very correct.
Martha Jo Black:My dad was, Jackie, obviously before he passed away, did want to do all those things with Major League Baseball.
Martha Jo Black:And my dad was actually, after Jackie passed, was one of the former Major League Baseball players that got together to start the Baseball Assistance team.
Martha Jo Black:And they're the ones who got everything done from the Negro League players as well as former umpires and now people in the front office that need help.
Bill Donahue:The baseball assistant team folks looked that up.
Bill Donahue:A very worthy organization from Major League Baseball.
Bill Donahue: Black to the major leagues in: Bill Donahue:He was 28 years old because he played in the Negro Leagues before that.
Bill Donahue:This was five years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball.
Bill Donahue:Now, Joe roomed with Jackie while on the Dodgers, right, Martha?
Martha Jo Black:Yes, that is very correct.
Bill Donahue:And what did give us a little synopsis on what Joe had to say about Jackie?
Martha Jo Black:Well, actually, growing up, my dad did not look like a baseball player at all when I was born.
Martha Jo Black:So he would tell me fun stories about he and Jackie.
Martha Jo Black:And he told me the story that when he first got to spring training in Vero beach, that they were like, oh, your room's right here.
Martha Jo Black:And then my dad's like, oh, that's great.
Martha Jo Black:They're like, oh yeah, and you're sharing with Jackie.
Martha Jo Black:And my dad's like, right, okay.
Martha Jo Black:So he stood there and did not put his bag down or anything.
Martha Jo Black:So Jackie walked in, he goes, oh, hi, I'm Jackie.
Martha Jo Black:My dad's like, hi, I'm Joe.
Martha Jo Black:He goes, why are you standing?
Martha Jo Black:Well, I need to know which bed you want because then I'm going to go to the other one.
Martha Jo Black:Jackie's like, take whichever one you want.
Martha Jo Black:We're here together.
Martha Jo Black:They had small conversation.
Martha Jo Black:And then Jackie was like, you know, cause you're a big guy.
Martha Jo Black:My dad was 6, 2 and a half, 215 at the time.
Martha Jo Black:He's like, so do you know how to fight?
Martha Jo Black:My dad's like, heck, yeah, I know how to fight.
Martha Jo Black:He goes, that's good.
Martha Jo Black:That's good because we're not going to do that.
Martha Jo Black:My dad's like, what?
Martha Jo Black:He goes, we're not doing that because what we're doing is for more than just us.
Martha Jo Black:We have to show that we are here for the game and the game only.
Martha Jo Black:We are not here to fight, but we're good at what we do as playing baseball.
Martha Jo Black:And that was their first impression, and my dad did a lot.
Martha Jo Black:Second after Jackie died, my dad was with Rachel and Sharon Robinson and the Jackie Robinson foundation to do positive things for an honor of Jackie because he did so much for this country.
Bill Donahue:Wonderful story, Martha.
Bill Donahue:Yeah, thanks for relating that.
Bill Donahue:We're speaking to Martha Black, the daughter of former Brooklyn Dodger pitcher Joe Black.
Bill Donahue:Now, in addition to lobbying for black players, Joe remained in baseball after his career and worked in the commissioner's office.
Martha Jo Black:Yes, I believe it was Faye Vincent was a commissioner that my dad would do things with Fay and with MLB at the time, if you remember Major League Baseball had National American League president.
Martha Jo Black:There was not just one.
Martha Jo Black:And so my dad was with Len Coleman, who was a National League president a lot for like World Series games and different all Star games.
Martha Jo Black:And my dad being in the commissioner's office doing things that he also got to speak with current players that were playing at the time because I am, you know, older, like Ken Griffey Jr.
Martha Jo Black:So my dad, when Senior was even playing Griffey Senior, and he was like, you know, we need some money because we need to help some people.
Martha Jo Black:And that's how we raised money for bats, the baseball assistance team, and helped various people.
Martha Jo Black:And of course, anybody who ever met my father knew that you got a lecture or something.
Martha Jo Black:Somehow, regardless of how much money you made, he was like, so what are you going to do after baseball?
Martha Jo Black:What are you going to do?
Martha Jo Black:Because your body will not stay the same.
Martha Jo Black:Look at me, you know, and.
Martha Jo Black:And players are like, well, I think I want to do this.
Martha Jo Black:So my dad was trying to motivate players and even some coaches to do think of something that would happen after the game ended in their life.
Bill Donahue:Fine.
Bill Donahue:Yeah.
Bill Donahue:What a great job that is.
Bill Donahue:And I want to mention to people, Martha mentioned Faye Vincent, you kids, and you folks out there don't remember Fay Vincent.
Bill Donahue:You've heard me speak about this before.
Bill Donahue:Fay was the last true commissioner of Major League Baseball before other folks took over those reigns.
Bill Donahue:He was a disciple of Bart Giamatti and a real great guy and the last true commissioner of Major League Baseball.
Bill Donahue:I'll get off the pulpit now.
Bill Donahue:Joe was a board director of BAT as well as the baseball assistant team.
Bill Donahue:And he worked for the Diamondbacks.
Martha Jo Black:Yes, yes.
Martha Jo Black:So, as we know, the Diamondbacks were one of the last teams at the time to come into the league, and they were the fastest team to win a World Series game when they became a member of the family.
Martha Jo Black:And so, because I'm from Arizona, I grew up in Paradise Valley, Arizona.
Martha Jo Black:Kurt Schilling was a senior at Shadow Mountain High School when I was a freshman.
Martha Jo Black:Just some baseball.
Bill Donahue:Wow.
Martha Jo Black:But, yeah, so my dad and Joe Gradually, Senior, he was there, too.
Martha Jo Black:They were like, you know, what are you guys going to do?
Martha Jo Black:How are you going to get people to understand baseball when Phoenix is spring training for most people there or Florida?
Martha Jo Black:And they were like, well, we don't know.
Martha Jo Black:They're like, well, we'll walk around.
Martha Jo Black:So my dad and graduate senior would go and talk to people and make them understand, no, this is going to be 81 games.
Martha Jo Black:This is not spring training.
Martha Jo Black:This is real.
Martha Jo Black:This is real baseball.
Martha Jo Black:And now we know the Diamondbacks.
Martha Jo Black:Beautiful ballpark.
Martha Jo Black:Anybody that goes there, please walk around.
Martha Jo Black:I've seen other pictures there, haven't gone since my dad passed away, that my dad's name is quite prevalent in the ballpark.
Martha Jo Black:So it's kind of nice that they give my dad a lot of respect for the things that he did.
Martha Jo Black:He and Mr.
Martha Jo Black:Gragiola, that is.
Bill Donahue:Yeah, I know Joe Jr.
Bill Donahue:Worked for the Diamondbacks.
Bill Donahue:I wasn't aware that Joe Senior had had a hand in the.
Bill Donahue:In the pie as well.
Bill Donahue:And interesting that him and Joe teamed up for that very worthwhile work they were doing there.
Bill Donahue:And if Martha is right, folks, check out.
Bill Donahue:I think it's called Bank One these days.
Bill Donahue:I'm not sure.
Bill Donahue:Ballpark.
Bill Donahue:Yeah.
Bill Donahue:You never know these days, Martha, the way these corporates.
Martha Jo Black:No, that's true.
Martha Jo Black:Sponsorship money's king.
Bill Donahue:Sling the money around.
Bill Donahue:Yeah.
Bill Donahue:Joe Black's name is prominent out there in the desert.
Bill Donahue:So check that out before you go in the pool.
Bill Donahue:But definitely go in the pool.
Bill Donahue:That's something that should be done.
Martha Jo Black:And keep in mind, when it's 100 during the summer, they do close the roof and the air conditioning is on.
Bill Donahue:Yeah.
Martha Jo Black:You don't feel so bad.
Bill Donahue:Right?
Rennie LaRue:Right.
Bill Donahue:That is true.
Bill Donahue: ds, Peter O'Malley gave Joe a: Martha Jo Black:Yes.
Martha Jo Black:My dad was with the Dodgers in 55.
Martha Jo Black:He got traded to the Cincinnati Red Legs because, remember, the United States have a problem with Russia at that time, too.
Martha Jo Black:Oh, goodness.
Bill Donahue:Right.
Martha Jo Black:And that's why they work all the Red Legs.
Martha Jo Black:But my dad was traded to them.
Martha Jo Black:And so he was there in the beginning, but not.
Martha Jo Black:Was not there at the end when they did win the ring that every Major League baseball player wants.
Martha Jo Black:And so Peter and the O'Malley family, because they love my father so much that they were like, you know what?
Martha Jo Black:You were part of this.
Martha Jo Black:You're part of our family.
Martha Jo Black:Because I do know from my dad and get stories that it was a family.
Martha Jo Black:I think that's why my dad, which I was not looking for it was like, you need to work for a baseball team.
Martha Jo Black:And I was like, yeah, okay.
Martha Jo Black:And he found out that Jerry Reinsdorf, who is my big boss at the Chicago White Sox, was a Brooklyn Dodger fan.
Martha Jo Black:And they ended up meeting and becoming friends.
Martha Jo Black:And so when I got out of college, he sent Jerry, as well as Ted Turner, my resume.
Martha Jo Black:And I say that in a loving way.
Martha Jo Black:I went to school, I worked at Saks because I wanted a discount.
Martha Jo Black:And I worked at the corporation, Greyhound Corporation, where my dad worked because VP's kids could work there.
Martha Jo Black:And that was fun.
Martha Jo Black:And I did that.
Martha Jo Black:And I said, well, what resume?
Martha Jo Black:My dad said, don't worry about it, kid.
Martha Jo Black:I got it.
Martha Jo Black:So, yeah, I've been with the White fox for over 27 years.
Martha Jo Black:But that's the family that my dad knew baseball would always give you love, because that's what baseball was.
Bill Donahue:And you've received it, that's for sure.
Bill Donahue:Martha Black with us tonight on the program Daughter of Joe.
Bill Donahue:And it's funny how all our guests tonight are intertwined not only by the New York State Baseball hall of Fame, but through other projects.
Bill Donahue:Just before you, Martha, was Ted Green, who produced the wonderful documentary on Carl Erskine.
Bill Donahue:And he mentioned that Jerry Reinsdorf had called him about that project and gave him some kudos on that film, but he mentioned Jerry as well.
Bill Donahue:So I just wanted to let you know that now the Arizona Fall League people know that that begins after the Major League Baseball season.
Bill Donahue:The MVP award is named for Joe Black.
Martha Jo Black:Yes.
Martha Jo Black:And that was my first job after school working for the Arizona Follicle.
Bill Donahue:Okay.
Martha Jo Black:Yeah.
Martha Jo Black:So Mike Port at the time that I believe was with the Angels previously.
Martha Jo Black: So that was: Martha Jo Black:So that's how the Arizona folly came to fruition.
Martha Jo Black:And after my dad helped me get the job there, and then I went to the White Sox that they respected and loved my dad so much that they ended up giving him the MVP award.
Martha Jo Black:And a few players have gotten it, and they've lasted a little bit in the majors.
Martha Jo Black:But, yeah, I mean, it's very nice recognition that.
Martha Jo Black:And I say this, I'm not married and I don't have any children, that when I am no longer here, that hopefully my dad will never be forgotten.
Bill Donahue:No, his name will live on.
Bill Donahue:You're exactly right, Martha.
Bill Donahue:Martha Black with us tonight.
Bill Donahue:And I just checked my note.
Bill Donahue:The plaque honoring Joe Black that's out at the Diamondbacks ballpark is with all the championship and retired numbers.
Bill Donahue:So check that out, folks.
Bill Donahue:Again, Joe Black lives on.
Bill Donahue: Now, beginning in: Bill Donahue:What a great award that is.
Martha Jo Black:No, that is wonderful because my dad played for the Washington Red Legs, as I mentioned.
Martha Jo Black: And in: Martha Jo Black:They had a Cuban previously, but my dad was the first American black that played with the team.
Martha Jo Black:And that's why they wanted to honor my father and help people in the community that are trying to keep the game alive in the black community, which I appreciate a lot.
Bill Donahue:Right.
Bill Donahue:The award, as I said, folks, recognizes Joe Black as the first African American player on the Washington Ball Club.
Bill Donahue:And certainly great recognition for Joe there.
Bill Donahue: Now: Martha Jo Black:Yes, my dad went there, he taught there, my cousins, my aunt, children were very instrumental in getting that done, because they're like, okay.
Martha Jo Black:They called him Uncle Sonny.
Martha Jo Black:That was my dad's nickname.
Martha Jo Black:He did so much for them and for Plainfield, New Jersey, that they're like, well, we want his name to be recognized here as well.
Martha Jo Black:So they did all the work in getting that done.
Martha Jo Black:And my brother and I are so appreciative of that.
Martha Jo Black:Neither one of us live in Plainfield, New Jersey.
Martha Jo Black:My brother's in Arizona still, and I live in Chicago, and they did that, and we were extremely proud.
Martha Jo Black:And it was a wonderful tribute that my dad's hometown did for him.
Bill Donahue:Yeah, I can imagine going to school and having Joe Black as your gym teacher.
Bill Donahue:Imagine that, kids.
Martha Jo Black:Yeah, he had some cool students that remembered that one of them wrote a book about him.
Bill Donahue:So.
Rennie LaRue:Yeah.
Bill Donahue:Really?
Bill Donahue:Oh, what a great tribute.
Bill Donahue:Yeah.
Martha Jo Black:That Seltzer, he's an attorney or probably retired now.
Martha Jo Black:He wrote a book about my father.
Martha Jo Black:He and my dad were very close.
Martha Jo Black:And, you know, it was nice because it's very ironic that I.
Martha Jo Black:As you know, you and I are connected now on social media.
Martha Jo Black:So there's so many other people on social media that are older than I am, and they went to Hubbard and they're like, oh, I know your dad.
Martha Jo Black:And I was like, oh, that's great.
Martha Jo Black:You know, I'm like.
Martha Jo Black:And they are all extremely doing great in life.
Martha Jo Black:I mean, from sports writers to attorneys and everything.
Martha Jo Black:And I was like, wow.
Martha Jo Black:I guess my dad, he had some good stuff happen with people, and he brought some people up, and he would always be the cheerleader for anybody.
Martha Jo Black:It's like, anything you want to do, you can do it.
Martha Jo Black:You just don't ever stop believing in what you can do.
Bill Donahue:I guess my first exposure to Joe Black came in the great Roger Conn book, the Boys of Summer.
Bill Donahue:And Ted Green and I were talking about what a beloved team the Brooklyn Dodgers were, what a magical place Ebbets Field was.
Bill Donahue:Did your dad ever talk to you about Ebbets Field?
Martha Jo Black:Not really.
Martha Jo Black:I mean, I will tell you, I have.
Martha Jo Black:Looks like it's been beat up.
Martha Jo Black:I have my dad's book, the original that Roger Khan signed to him.
Martha Jo Black:And my dad's chapter is black is what you make it.
Martha Jo Black:And my dad was married to my mother at the time.
Martha Jo Black:And so it's really funny when the beginning of it, when you read it, that Roger Khan comes to our house here, actually, in Chicago.
Martha Jo Black:My parents met here, and I was a baby, and my dad was holding me, and Roger Khan's like, oh.
Bill Donahue:I was like, yeah, yeah.
Martha Jo Black: This is what I was doing in: Martha Jo Black:My brother was born in 52.
Martha Jo Black:So they talked about that and how my mother cooks extremely well, you know, in the book.
Martha Jo Black:But it definitely.
Martha Jo Black:I.
Martha Jo Black:The people, like, I work with one Jared Weinstorf and any other famous people that you've seen on tv.
Martha Jo Black:The Brooklyn Dodgers were.
Martha Jo Black:They were not.
Martha Jo Black:They walked on water, so to speak.
Martha Jo Black:They were America's pastime.
Bill Donahue:Right.
Martha Jo Black:That is why people, you know, yes, we know the Yankees, as we know in the Dodgers, but there was something special about the Brooklyn Dodgers, and it may be because Jack Robinson was there, Larry Doby got to the American League.
Martha Jo Black:But it was something that they were all special, from Carl Erkson to Koufax was even in Brooklyn before he moved to la.
Rennie LaRue:Exactly.
Bill Donahue:Well, Martha Jo Black, thank you for taking the time out of your Sunday night to spend it with us up here in New York.
Bill Donahue:I am looking forward to seeing you next weekend at the New York State Baseball hall of Fame induction ceremony at which your dad, Joe Black, will be inducted.
Bill Donahue:Thank you again, Martha.
Bill Donahue:And we'll see you next weekend.
Bill Donahue:That is the end of that, folks.
Bill Donahue:That'll do it for me tonight on Sports TALK New York.
Bill Donahue:I'd like to thank my guests.
Unknown Speaker B:The views expressed in the previous program did not necessarily represent those of the staff, management or owners of WGBB.
