Artist Matt Speck with PIttsburgh Pirate Andrew McCutchen showcasing some of Speck’s handiwork. (Photo from Matt Speck’s Instagram)
I was visiting my father in Adams County, IN, late this summer and he had a copy of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette my sister and brought to share with him following a recent trip she’d made to western Pennsylvania.
One of the articles in that day’s Sports Section was about a Pittsburgh-area native who’s carved out quite a niche for himself in the art scene. The story featured Matt Speck, a muralist, who’s added customized footwear for NFL, MLB, and local college and high school athletes to his portfolio.
The article told the story of how Matt grew up going to Pittsburgh Steelers’ games every season with his grandfather and fell in love with all things Pittsburgh sports. It was, in fact, a lengthy conversation with his now deceased grandfather that convinced him to leave a position in marketing (his field of study at the University of Pittsburgh) to pursue his passion … art.
After reading this feature, it was apparent to me that Matt would make a terrific guest on Conversations. Needless to say, when we finally found a time that worked for both of us, I was ecstatic to have him join. This episode is the resulting Conversation where Matt shares his sports fan journey, how a not-so-small lie led to him breaking into the custom cleat field, and his desire to do something for his hometown NHL franchise as well.
He was an accomplished singer, actor, golfer, golf tournament host, and even a part owner of a pair of World Series-winning Major League Baseball teams.
We selected this image of Crosby – captured on the seventh tee at the Pebble Beach Golf Links in 1946 – because the annual tournament he began with a bunch of buddies back in 1937 at Rancho Sante Fe Country Club continues to this day (this week, actually) under the name of AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Bing Crosby tees off at the seventh hole of the Pebble Beach Golf Links during his 1946 Pro-Am Tournament. (Pebble Beach Photo)
Beyond the radio, movies, and singing work, Crosby was an avid golfer. His handicap fell to as low as 2 at tone point and he played in both the U.S. and British Amateur Championships and was a 5-time club champion at Lakeside Golf Club in Hollywood, CA.
He began his namesake tournament in 1937 at Rancho Santa Fe, inviting some friends and professional golfers alike to join him. He ponied up $500 of his own as prize money and when the playing was over a clambake ensued, thus the genesis of the tourney’s original name, “Crosby’s Clambake.”
Following a hiatus during World War II, the tournament moved to its current location on California’s Monterey Peninsula in 1947. The tournament has followed a similar format, including many A-list celebrities, and other’s who can foot the entry fee, to play with professionals during the week, making for an interesting intersection of fun and competition for all.
Beyond his love of golf, Crosby also owned a 25% share of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1946 until his death in 1977. He was part of the ownership group during the 1960 and 1971 Pirates’ World Series-winning seasons.
Highlights from the 1953 tournament set to the tune of Crosby’s 1948 song, “Straight Down the Middle.”
Just to review, The Fan Teaser was the creation of former Ann Arbor News Sports Editor Geoff Larcom. Longtime friend and fellow Ann Arbor News alum, Pat Schutte, took it to heights previously unknown. We aim to keep it alive here at The Sports Fan Project. The cropped photo and the accompanying clue give you an idea as to who or what the image is of. We invite you to use the Comment option to take a crack at solving the Teaser and, if you’re so inclined, participate in some good-spirited banter with your fellow sports fans. The Fan Teaser will appear each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you Sunday.
It wasn’t a police escort, but it may as well have been for what’s likely the most iconic walk-off home run in MLB history.
The New York Yankees visited the Pittsburgh Pirates in Game 7 of the 1960 World Series on October 13.
In the Yankees three victories, they’d outscored the Pirates 38-3. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, had eeked out its three wins by a cumulative score of 14-8.
It was no surprise, then, that Game 7 was both a high scoring and a close game. After the Pirates claimed a 9-7 lead with a 5-run eighth inning, the Yankees re-tied it with a pair in the top of the ninth.
This set the stage for Pittsburgh second baseman Bill Mazeroski leading off the bottom of the ninth against Ralph Terry and what became one of the greatest walk off home runs ever hit.
Bill Mazeroski, center, is greeted by a young fan, right, and third base coach Frank Oceak as he heads for home following his Series-ending homer.
Mazeroski turned Terry’s 1-0 pitch and drove it into the woods beyond left field fence at Forbes Field to clinch the World Series for the Pirates, 10-9. (Check out the full video of Mazeroski’s at bat and the bedlam that ensues below.)
Just to review, The Fan Teaser comes courtesy of longtime buddy, Pat Schutte. The cropped photo below and the accompanying clue give you an idea as to who or what the image is of. We invite you to use the Comment option to take a crack at solving the Teaser and, if you’re so inclined, participate in some good-spirited banter with your fellow sports fans. The Fan Teaser will appear each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you Sunday.
It began with a comment by longtime friend, Derek Meinecke, during his episode on my podcast, “Conversations with Sports Fans.” (Aside: If you’ve not listened to Derek’s episode, please do. He’s an incredible storyteller and his recollection of a special day with his father at Notre Dame Stadium is what being a sports fan is all about.)
Derek noted that a friend had texted him recently, “If you could go back in time to witness any 10 sporting event what would they be?”
And with that, I’ve found myself wrestling with this question for the past three months.
It’s time to, as Huey Lewis and the News once sang “Get Back inTime.” It’s worth noting any one of these 10 would be worthy of being Number 1, but I figured I needed to get them out of my head and into the world.
As you read these installments over the next 10 weeks my hope is to promote some thought and, perhaps, a bit of debate. And, remember, there are no wrong answers. Please comment either on this post or by emailing me directly at hilldouglast@gmail.com.
As I’ve documented in this space multiple times, growing up in rural Decatur, IN, during the 1970s there were myriad options of Major League Baseball teams to root for. My hometown was about equidistance from the two Chicago teams, Cincinnati, and Cleveland. And, thanks to the power of 50,000-watt radio stations, Pittsburgh (KDKA), St. Louis (KMOX), and Detroit (WJR) were all possibilities.
But this was the 1970s and the Big Red Machine was a very real thing to my childhood self.
We begin this journey back in time with the fifth and deciding game of the National League Championship Series (October 11, 1972) played in, of all places, Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium.
While I’d no doubt enjoy seeing my childhood heroes Bench, Rose, Morgan, Perez, et al. play, I’m here to see a member of the opposition.
By the time this game was played, Roberto Clemente was a 37-year-old aging rightfielder. Though he batted .312 during the 1972 season, it was over only 102 games thanks to injuries that began to rob him of some skills. Less-than two weeks earlier, Clemente collected his 3,000th career hit in Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Stadium off New York Met, Jon Matlack.
That aside, I’m venturing 51 years into the wayback machine to see Clemente play – in what would become – his final game.
Unlike my fascination with trailblazing Baseball Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson, I came to be intrigued by Clemente much later in life. In my early 40s I read David Maraniss’s remarkable 2007 biography, Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball’s Last Hero, and grew a deeper appreciation for a player I don’t have any recollection of having seen in action aside from highlight reels.
Certainly the tragedy of his death in that fateful New Year’s Eve plane crash while attempting to bring relief to earthquake-stricken Nicaragua only served to enhance my intrigue.
And, I suppose, that’s why going back to see this game at Riverfront makes it’s way into my Top 10.
Unlike the experience I had this past weekend at Comerica Park in Detroit where over 30,000 fans celebrated the career of future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera, no one knew that day in Cicinnati 50-plus years ago was going to be Clemente’s last. For all anyone knew, he’d be back for the 1973 season, presumably a little older and a little slower, but still … Clemente. That is, going from first to third on a single to center, throwing baserunners out from his defensive position in rightfield, and being the consumate teammate bringing along the younger Pirates who would go on to become Pittsburgh’s 1979 “We are Family” championship team.
While I’m sure I’d have mixed emotions watching Clemente go 1-for-3 in this game while my beloved Reds scratched out two runs in the bottom of the ninth to walk it off when pinch-runner George Foster scampered home on Bob Moose‘s 2-out wild pitch, I do know that it would be an historic moment to be a part of … even if the other 41,887 fans had no inkling.
Joined in progress, the radio call of Game 5 by Reds’ broadcasters Al Michaels and Joe Nuxhall.
