I found out this week that people really love the MLB Network! My appearance for Shea Stadium Remembered with Brian Kenny, John Hart, and Ryan Dempster was better than I could have imagined. Those guys were phenomenal! And the interview with Brian Kenny (take a look) was great. Glendon Rusch even texted his old Cubs teammate Dempster about Shea shenanigans during the show and he shared that story on air. I didn’t tell them my pal Jim Humiston texted me during the show and told me to sit up straighter. I did!
MLB has a vast complex in Secaucus, NJ—just down the road from the former longtime home of Mets baseball, Channel 9. There are dozens of people studying baseball in the MLB building (the NHL Network is there as well). There is a separate building for taping. A lot of times these sets are small when you see them—this place is bigger than Citi Field before they brought in the fences.
Celebrity sighting: I got my makeup done next to Heidi Watney, who was talking to new Hall of Famer Jim Thome. That’s about all the name-dropping I can do right now, but one for the road—show producer Micah Karg put everything together and made me feel like “I got this.”
And thank goodness for a snowstorm that same day! The cabin fever got many people in front of the TV in the middle of the afternoon to watch it live. Several people I know up here were flipping the channels to see if Bryce Harper or Manny Machado (ever) sign. Instead, they saw me. Sure, the snow made the drive home a little hairy, but I was gliding on air—and no I didn’t have anything to drink until I got home. Thanks to all for the kind words and good thoughts. And for buying the book! Shea Stadium Remembered is the #1 new sports history book on Amazon!