Patchy's All-Inclusive Guest Thread

[patchyfogg]

Tonight on my totally commercial-free, no one makes a dime from it, Sports Talk Radio Show (Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9PM to 11PM, Long Island's 90.3FM):


Bruce Markusen at 9:05PM.
He is the author of the new book Tales From The Mets Dugout.

Has anyone here read it yet?


Here's a little more info on the book and author:

One of the most colorful franchises in Major League Baseball is that of the New York Mets. From their years as "lovable losers" under Casey Stengel to the "Miracle Mets" of 1969 to the World Series champs of 1986, the Mets have been on a wild roller-coaster ride of success and failure. In nearly every one of their 43 seasons of National League existence, they have captured the interest of their loyal fandom. Author Bruce Markusen tells tales about these fascinating teams as well as stories about such Mets personalities as Gil Hodges, Bud Harrelson, Tom Seaver, Tug McGraw, Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter, Mike Piazza and a plethora of others.

About the Author
Bruce Markusen has worked at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum since 1995. In September of 2000, he became the Hall of Fame�s Manager of Program Presentations, after having worked as a Senior Researcher in the Hall's Library. Tales from the Mets Dugout is Markusen�s fifth book. He also authored Roberto Clemente: The Great One for Sports Publishing. Bruce and his wife, Sue, reside in Cooperstown, NY.

Here are his upcoming Book Signings:

Wednesday, June 15
7:30-9:00pm
Barnes & Noble Booksellers
2380 Bell Blvd
Flushing, NY 11360
718-224-1083

Thursday, June 30
6:30pm
Mid-Manhattan Library
455 5th Ave.
New York, NY 10016

Friday, July 8
1:30pm
National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum
25 Main St
Cooperstown, NY 13326
607-547-0329

[MFS62]

As I posted on the old board, not only did I read it but I'm in it.
I'm thanked in the acknowledgements and mentioned again on page 175.

Too bad I can't get your station up in Connecticut.

LAter

[patchyfogg]

That's great. I will mention you in the interview, and send you a CD. Just PM me your name, or I suppose that I can look for it on page 175.

[MFS62]

Thanks, check your PMs.

Ron

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Reading it now. Some interesting stuff: Light & tight.

[patchyfogg]

Newsday's Baseball Columnist Ken Davidoff at 9:15 and The Journal-News' Mets Beat Writer Peter Abraham at 10:15.

I'll be sure to ask Mr. Abraham about the "Kaz being OK with a trade" story that he wrote the other day.

MFS62: I will be sending out the Bruce M. interview to you this weekend.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Hey PF -- What I'd like to understand is what the real dynamics are regarding communication beytween Kazoo and team management and the press.

This "trade" story is just the latest in a long series of misunderstandings as relates to Matsui. Glasses, positioning, injuries, batting order.... nothing seems to translate. WHY

[MFS62]

Didn't he have two translators last year?
Now he only has one (MLB rule?)
Maybe that's the reason?

Later

[Guest Rotblatt]

Good question, Wide! Can you ask that twice, Fogg?

[patchyfogg]

I didn't see that question until the interview was over. Mr. Abraham said that Kaz's English is actually pretty good, but he prefers to use the translator lest there be some misunderstanding.

[patchyfogg]

Tonight from 9PM to 10PM, ESPN's Buster Olney.

[patchyfogg]

The 2 hour Adam Rubin show is finally on the net. Hopefully, it will inspire you to call in the next time that he is on. Thanks.

Part 1

www.nysportsday.com/rubin/1.mp3

Part 2

www.nysportsday.com/rubin/2.mp3


Before I let the rest of the Mets-speaking world know about this, please let me know if you have any problems getting them to work. Thanks.

[MFS62]

PatchyFogg wrote: MFS62: I will be sending out the Bruce M. interview to you this weekend.

Haven't received it yet.

Later

[patchyfogg]

MFS:

I'll send it out tomorrow. No more delegating for me, I'll send it out myself.

[patchyfogg]

Tonight's 9PM Guest: ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick, author of the bestseller [u:c28dbfb88a]License To Deal: A Season On The Run With A Maverick Baseball Agent[/u:c28dbfb88a].

That's the book on Dontrelle's agent. Has anyone read it yet?

Then at 10:15, hockey talk with Alan Hahn.

[Theoldmole]

And now there's actually hockey to talk about.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

That's the book on Dontrelle's agent. Has anyone read it yet?

Yeah. It was interesting as a look inside the world of agents, but I barely bought the book's premise: That is, that this Sosnick guy is any different than all the other hanger-on scuzzbags who make up that profession.

Sosnick, the agent who Crasnick tails, collects prospects as clients at the draft (Jeff Duncan was one) does nothing for them that any other agent could do, then whines and cries as the Borases and Moorads and SFXes steal them away when they become big-leaguers.

The thing that bothered me about this book is that Crasnick gives us almost nothing to support the idea that this guy ought to be some kind of hero. I mean, he tells us a hundred times how honest he is, but doesn't bother investigating when other agents suggest he pays scouts to get clients in the first place. There's no explanation of how he bankrolls his business (he's evidently a reformed gambler) and no evidence that he's anything more than a good buddy to Dontrelle. I had almost no sympathy when his guys leave because what his clients say when they go is accurate: Sosnick's not a player, he doesn't have experience negotiating, he's too cozy with the teams, and now that there's something on the line, it's a good idea to go. It will be very interesting to see Willis approaching a real payday with this guy still in tow.

I found the chapter on Scott Boras, the Beverly Hills Group and the other big agents interesting and fun; and the Sosnick stuff a big so-the-fuck-what (which is the opposite of the Amazon.com review); and Boras a far more principled crusader and interesting guy than Sosnick.

Recommended for a rare look inside the world of agents but not too highly as a "story."

[patchyfogg]

When I asked if he would let his kids be agents, Mr. Crasnick said "I'd rather they be serial killers."

[patchyfogg]

I've discovered a way to upload our interviews to the web for your listening pleasure. I'll try to add new ones every night.

For now, here are the Buster Olney and Bruce Markusen interviews. Both of them were solo efforts on my part, as my co-hosts were off both nights.

http://hosted.filefront.com/patchyfogg


P.S. MFS62, your CD was put in the mail over the weekend.

[patchyfogg]

Tonight, we have Adam Rubin. And, I'll have the interview up soon thereafter.

http://hosted.filefront.com/patchyfogg

[patchyfogg]

I think you're gonna like this one....

Last night�s phone guest was supposed to be Daily News Mets beat writer Adam Rubin. Well, he surprised us by showing up at the studio and doing a 2-hour All Mets show with us.

As I expected him to be a phone guest, I didn�t promote our call-in number beforehand. Had I done so, you could have called in and asked your questions of him�though as it was, we had several callers. But, here�s the best part: This week, I discovered a way to upload our interviews to the web (we�re not webcast yet). So, here is the interview for your listening pleasure.

http://hosted.filefront.com/patchyfogg

Part 1 is 63 minutes.
Part 2 is 57 minutes.

Where else are you going to hear 120 commercial-free minutes of Mets talk on the radio?

I hope you enjoy! Please take a listen of some of the other recent interviews that I�ve posted this week.

Thanks.

[patchyfogg]

Did anyone listen to the Rubin show?

I've added some more interviews, too.

[patchyfogg]

We've gotten 115 downloads of the Rubin interview, so if you've listened or told a friend, thanks.

[MFS62]

Patchy,
Picked up my vacation mail yesterday and saw the CD.
Haven't had a chence to even open it yet,
Thanks in advance.

Later

edit; typos

[patchyfogg]

Tonight's Live Guests:

In the first hour, at 9:15, Buzz Bissinger--Pulitzer Prize-winning author of [u:bdd868c7f0]Friday Night Lights[/u:bdd868c7f0] and the new[u:bdd868c7f0] 3 Nights in August[/u:bdd868c7f0] (Tony LaRussa book)

In the second hour, steroids expert Dr. Gary Wadler of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency

I'll post the interviews soon. Thanks.

[patchyfogg]

Tonight's Guests:

Bob Nightengale, National Baseball Columnist for USA Today's Sports Weekly

Howard Bryant from The Boston Herald and author of brand new Juicing The Game: Drugs, Power and the Fight for the Soul of Major League Baseball.

Thursday's Guest: Ken Davidoff, Newsday's baseball columnist

[seawolf17]

Ah. Thanks for reminding me to call Baseball Weekly, as they've been really slow with their most recent issues, and I'm starting to get irritated.

[patchyfogg]

For what it's worth, all the newstands in Penn Station get Sports Weekly (nee Baseball Weekly, which is what I still call it) on Tuesday afternoons, rather than the usual Wednesday.

[patchyfogg]

I just added some more:

http://hosted.filefront.com/patchyfogg

Bob Nightengale from Sports Weekly (Baseball)

Ken Davidoff from Newsday (Baseball)

Buzz Bissinger, author of Friday Night Lights and the new Three Nights in August with Tony LaRussa. He also criticizes Money Ball during the interview.

Pat Forde, ESPN's college sports columnist discussing Bob Huggins, the NCAA ban on Native American mascots and Charlie Weis at Notre Dame.

Wayne Coffey, on his book Boys of Winter about the 1980 Miracle on Ice team. Towards the end of the interview, we also talk about his anniversary article (in the Daily News) on the death of Thurman Munson. I believe that this is the best interview that we have ever done.

[patchyfogg]

We had Newsday's Sports Business/Media Columnist Steve Zipay on last night to discuss whether there will be an OLN Blackout on Cablevision.

That naturally led to a discussion of the upcoming Mets Network. If you get a chance, please listen to it at http://hosted.filefront.com/patchyfogg

Some points discussed by Mr. Zipay:

--They've hired 3 executives (1 of whom is Curt Gowdy Jr.), but the bulk of the production staff will be freelancers.
--They've got Time Warner and Comcast on board, and are selling ads. But, 3 million Cablevision subscribers might not get it so the salesmen in a holding pattern.
--YES had a basketball team to use for leverage. As presently constituted, the Mets could only offer summer programming and would have to buy programming to fill it.
--Cablevision is spinning off its stock, and may not want to risk losing another 50,000 subscribers to satellite.
--Dave O'Brien and Keith Hernandez should be there.