A Regular Joe
Posted: Thursday, April 12, 2007 8:20 AM by Jaclyn Levin
(From Antoinette Machiaverna, TODAY Producer)
It's so great to have Joe Garagiola come to town. You may have caught him on the show this morning to talk about his new book, “Just Play Ball," a Valentine to the game he’s devoted himself to for his entire life and a belated sequel to his 1960 book, “Baseball Is a Funny Game,” a classic at or near the top of everyone’s baseball bibliography.
We all get very excited when Joe comes to visit. We don't see him all that often on The Today Show anymore. But you may remember he was a co-host along with Hugh Downs and Barbara Walters, and then again in the 1990's when the show was in transition.
I was lucky enough to work on NBC's Baseball Game of the Week for 10 years with Joe. When I first came on board, he was paired with Tony Kubek, who was the earnest analyst and Joe did play – by – play. They’re still considered one of the best baseball pairings of all time. Joe was inducted into the broadcast wing of Baseball’s Hall of Fame in 1991. But if there were a wing for bench jockeys, he'd be enshrined in there, too.
As a player, Joe's quick wit made him a world-class bench jockey. Many examples of his baseball witticisms can be found in his book. As a ballplayer, Joe was a first-class talent, but early career injuries shortened his time in the big leagues and diminished his abilities. Undeterred, Joe honed his skills as a trash talker and bench jockey, skills that would serve him well when he went into broadcasting.
In the broadcast booth, Joe would sit next to a statistician, who's supposed to give the announcers tidbits of information to use in the telecast. The statistician would write these factoids or stats on index cards and hand them to the announcers at an appropriate time during the game. When Joe thought the info given him was a bit too obvious, he had an index card that he shoved back at the statistician that with two words that left little doubt about how he felt. Joe isn't a fan of meaningless statistics in the game, either. So when he was given one he deemed meaningless, he had a special way of sliding his bifocals up his nose to indicate exactly what he thought.
For many years, one of the greatest pleasures I had was doing spring training trips with Joe for both NBC Sports and The Today Show. In the early 1980's, we were on a trip that any fan would die for. I traveled with Joe, Tony and the young Bob Costas, who was about to become a regular baseball announcer on the Game of the Week. For all I know, it may have been Bob's first spring training trip.
Anyway, every day we would shoot in a different ballpark to get as many teams in as we could. One day midway through the trip, we were in Miami to see the Baltimore Orioles. Earl Weaver was the manager, one of the winningest managers in baseball history and a Hall of Famer. He also was well known for his quick temper. The producer told Bob to get an interview with Weaver.
I was an associate producer at the time and I would approach the person we wanted to interview. A lot of the time, I would want Joe to go ask since he knew everyone and would smooth things out for us. But Weaver’s reputation for being temperamental, and a young inexperienced broadcaster like Bob, made for a perfect pairing in Joe’s impish sense of humor. Even though Joe knew him well, he decided that Bob should ask Weaver for the interview.
The producer, Joe and I sat in the stands and watched. Bob inched closer to Earl, waiting for the right time to ask for the interview. Weaver did look busy talking to other beat reporters. Joe gave me the play by play as Bob moved in. “Look, he's circling in now, I think he's going to go for it. He's getting closer and closer. Oh! He missed his chance,” Joe observed in his best play-by-play voice punctuated with his laugh.
Finally, I begged Joe to get Weaver to do the interview because the game was going to start soon. So Joe yells down to the field, “Hey Earl, can you do an interview for us with Bob Costas? Weaver screams back, “Who?” Poor Bob. But he did do terrific interview. Always prepared, Bob is the best. And in a few short months, everyone would know who Bob was. I apologize to my friend Bob Costas for telling this story, but it is an example of Joe the bench jockey. There's also another side of Joe.
On The Today Show, we did a couple of spring training trips as well. During our 1992 spring training trip, I was seven and a half months pregnant. I had no desire to schlep all over Florida, living out of a suitcase, getting up at 5:30 a.m. for live shots. But somehow, I was convinced to do it. Joe did all the driving and I was given an associate producer as well as a production manager to make it easier.
One cold morning, we were at the St. Louis Cardinals camp in Tampa. Joe Torre was the Cardinal manager. After the live shot, I decided to go rest in a sunny spot and sent Joe G. (who has boundless energy) off to do his own story with the crew. I sat quietly reading up in the stands. An hour and a half goes by when I was startled out of my book by a voice, obviously upset, exclaiming, “Thank God you're all right!” It was one of the Cardinal’s trainers. I told him I was fine, just taking it a little easy because I can't keep up with Joe G. He told me Joe G. asked Joe T. to send him to find me because he was afraid I was in labor. He had come prepared to deliver a baby, although I don’t think either one of us knew what he was going to do with the few towels he was carrying. I thought it was really funny then and now. But Joe was really worried. When I got back he gave me a good talking to for disappearing like that. I told him I’d let him know if I was going into labor.
So if Joe Garagiola is doing a book signing where you live, be sure to go meet one of the truly great guys of baseball and television. And remember, he's just a regular Joe.
