Had a blast yesterday at Dodger Stadium, where Marc Stout and the Colorado Rockies broadcast crew — who were in town for the Rockies-Dodgers series — interviewed me for an upcoming pre-game segment about the 1976 season for ROOT Sports Rocky Mountain, which broadcasts the Rockies' games in Colorado.
I wore the Mark Fidrych Tigers jersey for two reasons — 1) They wanted me to wear something 1976-ish, but not a jersey that referenced one of the Rockies' NL rivals, and 2) "The Bird" was such an important part of the 1976 season — and such a huge favorite of mine — that I couldn't not pay tribute to him.
By sheer coincidence, we were filming on the 38th anniversary of one of the most iconic events of the 1976 season: Rick Monday saving an American flag from would-be burners in the middle of an April 25 Cubs-Dodgers game at Chavez Ravine, an incident which transformed Monday into a Bicentennial hero. It was immensely cool to be able to stand on the field, point out to left-center and tell the camera, "It happened right over there..."
Stout and his crew are total pros, and it was a lot of fun working with them, and a couple of the Rockies players who passed by during the shoot seemed to be quite appreciative of the 70s look I was sporting — I got smiles and thumbs-ups from Justin Morneau and Charlie Blackmon. It was also a real pleasure to meet and rap with former major leaguer Jason Hirsh, a SoCal kid who pitched for the 2007 NL champs, and who is now the new color guy for the Rockies. Haven't heard Hirsh work a game yet, but if he comes across as smart and funny during broadcasts as he did during our conversation, Rockies fans have got a good one in the booth.
The segment (which will also feature interviews with some veterans of the '76 season) will likely run sometime around the July 4 weekend. Thanks again to Marc Stout and ROOT Sports for giving some love and support to Stars and Strikes: Baseball and America in the Bicentennial Summer of 76!
Awesome. I totally remember the Monday, flag saving incident.
Dan byeatest journalist ever!
Posted by: mike burke | 04/26/2014 at 01:57 PM