Questions for Steve Zabriskie

[Guest Steve Z]

seawolf17 asks

Steve- Thanks for taking the time to visit with us. A few questions from me:

(1) You mentioned on your UMDB post that your broadcast career ended in 1997. Do you still watch televised sports? Is there a broadcaster that you particularly enjoy? Any you particularly dislike? (Not necessarily personally, just style.)

I really don't watch much but I still enjoy and respect many broadcasters. The ones I don't care for are the ones who think the ans tune in to see then rather than the game.



(2) With all the innovations in broadcast technology (i.e., instant replay, expanded graphical packages, laser strike zones), is there anything you wish you had at your disposal when you were in the booth?

I really like the strike zone and it would have been fun. The only problem is that there are really as many strike zones as their are umpires. Over the course of my career we went from rack lens cameras and black and white film to mini cams and digital formats that don't even need video tape.


MFS62 asks:

1) Steve- was there any broadcaster who helped you fine tune your skills when you were first getting started?

There are two people who really helped me. In my first job, which was at a radio station in Seattle, a fellow named George Toles was our Program Director and really taught me the business of being a broadcaster. Later, Keith Jackson brought my work to the attention of the folks at ABC and also taught me alot about play-by-play in particular.


2) If they didn't work directly with you, was (were) there any who you tried to pattern yourself after?

I really didn't try to pattern myself after anyone. Maybe I'd have been better if I had! I thought it was important to develop you own style. I always felt that the game was more important, anyway.

[Guest Mark Healey]

Ahhh...Bach.

[Guest Steve Z]

ScarletKnight41 asks:
What are the opportunities that the new Mets network affords the team? What are the potential pitfalls?

The main thing a network provides is aditional opportunities to generate revenue. More slots for more commercials on more different outlets. I really don't know enough about how the network is set up to offer any thoughts on pitfalls.




Edgy DC asks:

My friend has several tapes of past games from a series that were issued. Included in the montage opening of each of these games is a clip of Ralph Kiner trying to wrap up a game summary, and unable to construct the sentence for the life of him. Something like, "That was Orosco's ninth consecutive save — all of which have come in save situations in which the game was available to be saved."

They embellish the video by having question marks pop up around your puzzled face. Do you recall this moment? Do you get any money for the re-production of such clips? (I guess no.) Most importantly, is it stressful working with a veteran announcer as he stumbles like that?

I vivdly recall that moment and, no, I get no $. It was tough when Ralph would lose his train of thought. He tendede to stumble through rather than get help. What you don't see is that Ralph actually forgot that I was standing next to him, and later, as he continued to stammer, I, in attempting to hold back a giggle, made a noise. It startled him and he actually jumped, turned around and was surprised to see me there! But that was Ralph and you had to love him.

[Guest Edgy DC]

http://baseballguru.com/haeffner/97HOFkiner.jpg

"If Branch Rickey were alive today, he'd be spinning in his grave." -- Ralph Kiner, on the state of the Dodgers and baseball in 1999

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

Thank you Mr. Zabriskie. We really appreciate your participation and your insights.

[Guest Steve Z]

What suggestions or tips do you have for people interested in a broadcasting career?

You have to really want it and be willing to pay the price to learn and earn your break. There are many poeple out there with a lot of talent who never get that break and there are others with less talent who happen to be in the right place at the right time. It's not a business that's fair, but then life itself isn't fair either. But, if you work at it, hone your skills and look for opportunities, it can happen. One thing you have to understand is that when people react to you they are not really responding to you. They really don't know you. They are responding to the work. Some are going to like your work and some are not. You will never please everyone and you can't take it personally when rejected or let it go to your head when praised.




Edgy DC asks:

Steve, a lot of long-term announcers in New York — yourself, Tim McCarver, Bob Murphy, and Red Barber, for instance — had roots in the American south or southwest. Many have even changed New York culture by filling the airwaves with expressions and mannerisms from their home region, while others, like Mr. Murphy, largely shed their home accents. Was this anything you were conscious of? Was New York a culture shock for you?

No, I never really felt any of that, prehaps because I had worked for ABC Sports since 1976 and made many trips to the city. For the most part, the fans were great to me, welcomed me and treated me as one of their own. I love New York and think they have the greatest baseball fans in the world there.

[Guest Edgy DC]

That wraps up the questions we had prepared. Perhaps we can coax Mr. Z to answer a few more.

1) I had hoped maybe you could answer an amended version of Johnny's question (which you artfully dodged):

The best story nobody remembers about those mid-80s Mets teams which you can tell was ___________________ .

2) Also, you mentioned at the UMDB that you were living in Orlando. How did you and yours fare during this terrible hurricane season?

3) Davey Johnson is still based there, isn't he? Do you cross his path at all?

[Guest Steve Z]

1) I had hoped maybe you could answer an amended version of Johnny's question (which you artfully dodged):

The best story nobody remembers about those mid-80s Mets teams which you can tell was ___________________ .

I really have to think about this one. Maybe I can post a reply later because I would like to give you an answer.



2) Also, you mentioned at the UMDB that you were living in Orlando. How did you and yours fare during this terrible hurricane season?

We had some minor damage, mostly trees and the fence that encompasses our backyard got knocked down but otherwise OK, thanks.



3) Davey Johnson is still based there, isn't he? Do you cross his path at all?

I have seen Davey a few times but not for the past couple of years. He and I always had a good relationship and enjoy running into one another here.

Also, from reviewing the forum, it appears as if some of my answers didn't get posted. I believe I answered every posted question but don't see them all now. Any thoughts?

[Guest Edgy DC]

I'm not sure how that could have happened. Sorry to hear that. Feel free to post them again if you like or come back and add your answers at a later date.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Great fun, thanks.

Can't believe none of my fellow poolians peppered you with questions regarding Doc, Darryl and Keith, but how about a word on each?

[Benjamin Grimm]

I re-read the questions and it looks like these three are the ones for which there are no answers. Lucky me, two of the three are mine!

Yancy Street Gang asks:

When you and Tim joined the broadcast team in 1983, you brought a new style to the telecasts. Ralph did eventually get with the program, but can you comment on how easily he made the adjustment? Did he have any initial difficulties at first?


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Yancy Street Gang asks:

Hi, Steve, and thanks for joining us.

I've noticed in the national telecasts that former athletes never seem to be permitted to do the play-by-play, they only do "color." I know that on Mets broadcasts, however, former players like Kiner and McCarver often did play-by-play. One thing I don't remember though, is if you ever did color while Tim or Ralph did play-by-play.

What do you think of that division between color and play-by-play based on the announcer's prior background? Did you find one role more challenging, or more enjoyable, than the other?

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Centerfield asks:

Hi Steve, when doing play by play? Do you watch the monitor for pitch location/selection?

How about on potential Home Runs? Do you know by the way it leaves the bat or do you watch the outfielder?

[Guest KC]

Thanks for the visit, Steve ... and happy holidays.

[Guest Steve Z]

OK, Doc, Darryl and Keith.
In the mid 80's, Bill Robinson and I were stretching in the clubhouse prior to a spring training workout. We had just heard a talk from MLB on drug use. We look around the clubhouse and each asked the other, "Who do you think is the least likely player to get involved with drugs?" We both selected Doc. What happened to both him and Straw is one of the saddest stories of my life, let alone career. No one is immune. I know them both to be fine people and hope the remainder of their lives are far better.
As for Mex, he and I go back to the early 70's and the minor leagues. He was a true professional in every sense. When he walked onto the infield at Shea for the first time, the entire ball club changed for the better. You could feel the difference. It was the real start of what the Mets would become. Keith knew how to play the game and came to do just that every day.

[Benjamin Grimm]

That was great. Thanks, Steve, for dropping by. We enjoyed the visit.

[Zvon]

really Mr Z.
This has been a treat.

Thank u

[Guest Edgy DC]

I don't know if you're still around, Mr. Z., but thanks for the pleasure, and thanks to your family for giving you up this evening.

If we have any other questions, perhaps we'll e-mail you. Have a nice holiday and best wishes in your future endeavors.

Thanks for your work with the Mets and for being part of our memories.

[Guest Steve Z]

Thanks to you all for being such great fans. I think I got to every question, but, if not, I'll come back soon and clean up. My best to you all!
Steve Z

[metirish]

Thanks again, as a person who never got to watch you do pbp it was a pleasure reading your answers, and please come back, you at least have to get past the designation of JIM)) the Monstrously Huge Batboy.

Happy Holidays to you and your family.

[Valadius]

Thanks for coming Steve, and happy holidays!

[seawolf17]

Steve -- this was great fun. Thanks so much for dropping by!

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

This was a special evening for the CPF. It was wonderful for Mr. Zabriskie to give up an evening to answer our questions. It was great to read his answers to the questions posed by our members.

I hope you will stop in from time to time in the future. I wish you and your family the most wonderful of holiday seasons.

[Methead]

Keith Jackson... wow. A great teacher to have.

"You will never please everyone and you can't take it personally when rejected or let it go to your head when praised."

Sound advice for any profession, as well as life in general...

Thanks, Mr. Z, a real pleasure having you here.

[Diamond Dad]

Very nice. I wasn't able to participate live, but just reading the thread is very nice. Great of Steve to stay up late with us!

My father had a similar experience with Keith Jackson. Top notch guy.

Next -- can we get Bobby V to come visit???

[Centerfield]

Thank you Mr. Z for stopping by.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Phil Mushnick invokes the name of the newest pooler and seems to reference Question 6 in an article about new Met radio voice Tom McCarthy. Steve addresses this controversy at UMDB, mentioning that Mushnick never called to confirm the facts with him, and apparently, still hasn;t.

] TENACIOUS TOM By PHIL MUSHNICK TOM McCarthy, the Mets' newly named radio play-by-play man - replacing TV-bound Gary Cohen - doesn't know it, but he has nothing in common and a lot in common with the Mets' broadcasting changes that were made in 1983. Apparently, good things can still come to sports broadcasters of modest demeanor who start low, work hard and aim high - without, in the neo-classical tradition, putting self-promotion above the games. McCarthy, 37, has been a sports radio grunt from the time he dropped bio as his major while at Trenton State, now The College of New Jersey. McCarthy is a good, old-fashioned likeable sort, on and off the air. How can you not like a guy who volunteers, shortly after signing a multi-year deal to call Met games, that he was cut from the Trenton State baseball team? And that, in marked contrast, brings us to 1983, the year Steve Zabriskie was hired as a Mets broadcaster. Zabriskie's bio volunteered that while at the University of Houston he was a star infielder and running back who scored three TDs against Air Force and was later drafted by the A's - all extraordinary fibs that eventually and inevitably caught up with him, especially since UH had never played Air Force, let alone heard of Zabriskie, and the A's had never heard of him, let alone drafted him. (Oddly enough, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson was recently revealed to have fabricated a piece of his bio. He, too, falsely claimed to have been drafted by the A's.) Six years ago, McCarthy began to host Phillies' pre- and post-game radio shows. Three years ago, he began to do two innings of Phils' play-by-play. The last broadcaster to come to the Mets after serving as a full-time part-timer on Phils' broadcasts was Tim McCarver, in 1983. McCarthy's resume is loaded with radio determination, from Trenton State football, to a high school show on Trenton's WTTM, play-by-play of Rutgers football and Princeton football and basketball, to the voice of the Trenton Thunder, now a Yankees' affiliate. "I got the bug," said McCarthy, at 6-2, a solid and unaffected baritone. "I'd say that the first time I convinced myself that I could do this and not starve was around 1994, while doing the Thunder. I guess that's when I said to myself, 'This is what I do for a living,' because it's what I was doing for a living." McCarthy and his wife, Meg, have four kids, ages 10-to-3 (for those scoring at home). He's a lifelong Met fan from Brick, N.J., who often sat in Shea, shooting glances toward the booth to look at Bob Murphy and later Cohen. "Being up there, doing what they were doing, was always in my head, even as a kid. It wasn't something I told my guidance counselor, but it was in my head. When I heard that I got the job [a call from his agent Craig Fenech, who also reps John Sterling], I was driving home. I called my wife. Full time, Major League Baseball broadcaster. Mets." And in the greatest and longest tradition of the Mets, Tom and Meg McCarthy concluded that the news was, "Amazing."

Now Steve from UMDB:

]Here's the real story behind the charges leveled against me by Phil Mushnick regarding my 'resume'. I received 'Honorable Mention' All America honors as a running back in high school and was recruited by many colleges. I was going to go to Oklahoma until Bud Wilkenson retired after my junior year. I finally decided to attend the U of Houston on a football scholarship. I had turned down a pro baseball offer from the Angels to play college football but still wanted to play baseball in college and then professionally. I suffered a couple of serious injuries during my first two years there which limited my career and sent me back to professional baseball early. When I joined the Mets, my former football and baseball activities rightly received only passing mention in the Media Guide since, as I used to say on the air, "My athletic career started off slow and then tapered off!" Before either my 2nd or 3rd year with the club, the public relations department (Jay and Dennis) took it upon them selves to write in my bio that I had been a 'star' running back in college. I was an excellent athlete (I competed in the Decathlon), a good player, and started when not injured, but I was not what I would call a star nor did I claim to have been. When the Media Guide came out in the Spring, I questioned them about it and they laughed it off as just 'good PR'. For some reason, Phil grabbed it and ran away with it. He never bothered to ask me about it before coming out with the article and admitted to me later that he never spoke to my college FB coach, Bill Yoeman, either. I was hurt and saddened by it because I never claimed to be anything other than what I was and, as is almost always the case, there was never a printed retraction or correction of the facts.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Wow.

Not unlike Zabriskie's case, I think tons too much has been made of the Richardson flap. As if a single voter for him (or Clinton) swung on the notion that he'd been drafted.

Maybe the Zabriskie bio thingie was the last story Mushnick actually broke.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I need to go through my media guides from that era and check which account jives best with what's actually there.

[Guest Mark Healey]

LOL...I'm just glad I didn't write it...

[Zvon]

lol...

I just read the JD posted article in the Post minutes ago.
I never knew that stuff.
I was surprised.
Also kinda glad no one touched on the subject the other night when he visited, even though it would have been fair ground.

Cause that was a fine thing he did, sharing his time with us.

And I buy his rebuttal.

[Theoldmole]

I have to say none of this bothers me at all. Without reference to Steve, one way or the other, if a guy pads his resume to get in the front door, or even makes it up completely, and then proves he can do the job, it makes a good story.

How many of us are shocked that Orson Welles faked his resume to get his start in show business?