Longtime Orioles public relations executive Rick Vaughn returns from his home in Tampa to talk Baltimore All Star Game history, Camden Yards memories and his fun “movie” name plus some Bill Murray flashback moments from the Rick Sutcliffe era of Birdland joy.
Nestor Aparicio interviews Rick Vaughn, a longtime Orioles PR director, about his memories of Baltimore and the upcoming All-Star Game in Philadelphia. Vaughn recalls his involvement in the 1993 All-Star Game, including organizing a basketball game for baseball writers at the Baltimore Arena. He also shares stories about Bill Murray’s interactions with the team and the challenges faced by the current Orioles management. Vaughn expresses hope for Baltimore hosting the All-Star Game in 2030, emphasizing the need for community engagement and a welcoming atmosphere. He also reflects on the decline of the Orioles and the importance of maintaining the legacy of Camden Yards.
- [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Locate the missing photo of yourself and Bill Murray taken at Camden Yards during the 1993 All-Star Game workout and share it with the interviewer.
- [ ] Send the interviewer a copy of the high school photo showing your black-rimmed glasses with tape.
- [ ] Search for the videotape of the 1993 All-Star Game media game (including the home plate play and umpire Frank Robinson) and try to locate it among existing recordings.
Rick Vaughn’s Return to Baltimore
- Nestor Aparicio welcomes Rick Vaughn, a longtime Orioles PR director, to the show, mentioning the All-Star break and his plans to visit various crab cake places in Baltimore.
- Nestor reminisces about Rick’s move to Florida and his current activities, including volunteer work and not playing golf.
- Rick shares his nostalgia for Baltimore and Camden Yards, describing it as the best ballpark in the league.
- Nestor introduces Rick to the audience, highlighting his role in Orioles PR and his connection to the movie “Major League.”
Rick Vaughn’s Connection to “Major League”
- Nestor asks Rick about his reaction to seeing his name in the movie “Major League,” which features a character named Rick Vaughn.
- Rick recalls not being informed about the character’s name before the movie’s release and his initial shock upon seeing it.
- Rick shares a story about being involved in a scene from the movie “Dave,” where he had to throw a pitch for Kevin Kline.
- Rick describes the experience of working with Ivan Reitman and Kevin Kline, and the challenges of recreating a convincing first pitch scene.
Bill Murray’s Relationship with the Orioles
- Nestor and Rick discuss Bill Murray’s close relationship with Rick Sutcliffe and his frequent visits to Camden Yards in the early 1990s.
- Rick recounts a story about Bill Murray showing up unexpectedly at a Joe Maddon foundation event, causing chaos and excitement.
- Nestor shares his own experiences with Bill Murray, including their interactions in the Orioles locker room and Murray’s playful antics.
- Rick and Nestor reminisce about the 1993 All-Star Game in Baltimore, including memorable moments and the involvement of local media.
The 1993 All-Star Game in Baltimore
- Rick recalls the excitement and community involvement surrounding the 1993 All-Star Game in Baltimore, including the efforts of the Oriole Advocates.
- Rick shares a story about organizing a basketball game for baseball writers at the Baltimore Arena, allowing them to play on a professional court.
- Nestor and Rick discuss the unique atmosphere of the 1993 All-Star Game, including the juiced home run balls and the memorable moments of the event.
- Rick reflects on the importance of making every resident of Baltimore feel a part of the All-Star experience, similar to the Toronto All-Star Game.
The Future of the Orioles and the All-Star Game
- Nestor and Rick discuss the current state of the Orioles, including the challenges faced by the team and the management changes.
- Rick expresses hope for the Orioles’ future, despite the team’s struggles in recent years, and the potential for improvement.
- Nestor and Rick talk about the possibility of Baltimore hosting the All-Star Game in 2030 and the importance of making it a significant event for the city.
- Rick emphasizes the need for the Orioles to engage the community and create a welcoming atmosphere for the All-Star Game, similar to past experiences.
Rick Vaughn’s Legacy and Future Plans
- Nestor and Rick reflect on Rick’s long career in PR and his contributions to the Orioles and other teams.
- Rick shares his plans for the future, including his volunteer work and potential involvement in future events related to baseball.
- Nestor expresses his admiration for Rick and his dedication to the sport, highlighting their long-standing friendship and mutual respect.
- Rick and Nestor discuss the importance of maintaining the legacy of Camden Yards and the Orioles, and the potential for future success for the team.
Nestor Aparicio 0:01
Welcome home. We are WNST AM 1570 Towson, Baltimore. It is Baltimore positive. It is the All Star break around here, which gives me a chance to have some crab cakes as well as some cheesesteaks and maybe some pretzels. Do it up proper. Some wood ice, some crab fries up in Philly, the All-Star Game, first time in 30 years, it’ll be there. I will be there. We’re going to be doing the Maryland Crab Cake Tour. Fadelies this week. Koco’s, Pizza John’s, Costas, and I’m wearing my Costas gear just to make my guest a little hungry because he left Crablandia for Florida many, many years ago. Our friends at GBMC also putting us out on the road in the Crab Cake Tour, and of course Farnham and Dermer. They are the comfort guys. When it gets a little bothered and a little uncomfortable, you need some HVAC. 410 36777 and we’ll get out on the road, dude. I wish I had you for like a real crab. I mean, I’m at Fadeley’s like later today as we tape this for the All Star break. Like, I want to get you a crab. You only come back to town when people like die or when they honor someone like you, and this particular group of Orioles people certainly isn’t looking backwards at the people that help build Oriole baseball. Rick Vaughn is here. He is not a mythical figure in the major league picture, Major League. He is my wild thing, the longtime czar of all things public relations and communications, and dealing with media types and fan types and nice people in the community back in the 1980s and 90s when the Orioles were built. He went off to Tampa to help build the Tampa Rays many many years ago, and something about those palm trees and like all that sucked him in down there. You’re almost like the real Rick Vaughn, dude. Like the the get me eater, Ricky. That you would move off to Florida and just retire and play golf and serve food to folks who need food in the mornings in places in Tampa. Rick Vaughn, how are you, my friend? Well, I’m
Rick Vaughn 1:53
doing great. I don’t play golf. I I do a good bit of volunteer work, which involves food, but I do not. I don’t play golf, and you’re the
Nestor Aparicio 2:02
only washed up pitcher that doesn’t play golf. I know, I know, yeah,
Rick Vaughn 2:05
but I I I miss it. Believe me, I miss. There’s a lot I miss about Baltimore, and a
Nestor Aparicio 2:11
lot I miss about you. Thank
Rick Vaughn 2:13
you. Yeah, I mean I I’m biased because I was there when it happened. Not that I had much to do with it, but you know, Camden Yards is still the best ballpark in the league, and I I I don’t see that ever changing anytime soon. But I miss it very much. Yep, no question. My whole family, the whole family does.
Nestor Aparicio 2:32
I always like to reset things with you, especially for the radio people or these young kids who don’t know who you are, what you represent. In regard to my career, we just lost Phil Regan the other day, and I can get into that with you in a minute if you wish. And you know the people that Chuck Cottier died last. Just people that just were just wonderful, wonderful people that bring me back to you, Charles Steinberg, the people that bring me back. I can’t call Larry anymore, but bring me back to baseball. Marty Conway comes on frequently, and he’s Yomi Conway, get on here. So, two things for you: have fun to begin with. Where were you when you first saw Major League, and the character had your name? Like that’s the craziest. Like, and you were actually a pitcher at George. Like, I don’t know that I know this story about you, and you are for my audience out there. Anybody listening, one of my favorite storytellers ever is you, especially on Oriole baseball, you and Steinberg for sure. But like, I don’t know your Rick Vaughn story. You’ve been Rick Vaughn all your life, and now anyone who would listen in and say, “Oh, Nestor’s got to get up. That he’s going to get the Hanson brothers on next, you know, right?
Rick Vaughn 3:35
You know, the funny thing was too. Not only did I pitch in college, but I, I’ll have to send you the picture. I had these black glasses, and yes, they had I, and they were broken all the time. You can ask my wife, and there’s a piece of tape you can see on a a lot of the pictures. I actually it was only in high school. By the time I got to college, I got contact lenses, and that all went away. But my my all all the way through high school, I had the black rimmed glasses and the and the tape right away. Is there a little chance
Nestor Aparicio 4:03
that character’s named after you, or no? No, I don’t think so. When it happened, what did like? Did someone see the movie and say, “Dude, I mean, you didn’t-they didn’t text you. It was 1987 or whatever, right? Like, yeah, it was. I
Rick Vaughn 4:17
think it was late 80s, right? When they. I mean, if there was
Nestor Aparicio 4:19
a look, I had one Nestor Cortez in the big leagues, right? And the nasty Nestor, like that, was a lot of fun for me. Still is a lot of fun for me that it actually happened. That there was a Nestor about a Rick Vaughn. If your name’s Rick Vaughn, and it shows up in the movie, and and it’s you know this iconic character of baseball. It’s that that’s kind of unique and cool to your neighbor. Yeah,
Rick Vaughn 4:42
I I saw that movie pretty much right after it came out, and I don’t remember anybody giving me a heads up on that. I think I was watching the movie, and when I heard it, I was just right
Nestor Aparicio 4:52
popcorn choking, right? Yeah, I was
Rick Vaughn 4:54
I was so stunned by it, and then I started thinking, I’m like, you know, no one. Not that anyone would know who I was. I was assistant PR director for the Orioles back then. But maybe they were going through media guides for looking for a name that just fit, and they saw my name and they plucked it out. I don’t know. Him
Nestor Aparicio 5:11
the Ericky. Yeah, you
Rick Vaughn 5:12
know what? The movie that I had more fun with was that movie. I don’t know if you remember Dave.
Nestor Aparicio 5:19
Sure. I was at the game the night that they did the fake first pitch, right? That’s
Rick Vaughn 5:24
right. That’s right. Well, then the the I don’t know if it was the next day, it may have been, or it was that week we were off. We had an off day. I don’t know if I’ve told you this story or not, but we were off, and it was in the middle of a homestand. And I was I went in for a couple of hours to get some stuff done, and this guy knocks on my door, and I knew they were out doing some filming in the ballpark. I didn’t know exactly what they were doing, but I could see they had some extras behind home plate, and they were what they were doing was they were recreating the first pitch because Kevin Kline’s a terrific guy, and I got to meet him, but he is not athletic at all, and his first pitch was not what they were trying to convey. That that first pitch scene was kind of a cool part of the movie because the pitch had a little something on it. had a little. It was like a little cutter, and they wanted you to fart. Like all of a sudden, was like, wait a minute, the president throwing the ball like that. That was what they they wanted that in your mind because it wasn’t the president. Obviously, anyway. So I’m in my office and this guy knocks on my door, and he go. He told me he was from the movie, and he said, “I think you might be able to help us. And I don’t know if they had somebody that was supposed to come in and do it, but they needed somebody to actually throw the pitch and actually have a have a little bit of experience of throwing something, throwing a pitch over the plate. And the guy said to me, “Could you come down and help us out, and I had my running stuff there, so I wasn’t on camera anything. So I put my gym shorts on, my T-shirt. I go down on the field. I meet Ivan Reitman, directed Ghostbusters. He directed this movie, right? So I meet him. I walk up and here’s Ivan Reitman shaking my hand. There’s Kevin Klein over there, and I’m like, you know, apparently Kevin had. I guess they thought Kevin could do it, and he couldn’t get it done. So they were like desperate to have somebody that had. And somebody said to them, “You know what, Rick Vaughn’s upstairs. He’s a PR guy. He pitched a little bit. I’m not sure how that all happened, but you know, remember Jeff Tack at our catcher?
Nestor Aparicio 7:16
Sure,
Rick Vaughn 7:17
Jeff was there for. They had hired him to come in on the off day. He was catching the pitch like he did the night before. So anyway, so they tell me what they want me to do. They want me to, you know, throw a pitch that’s got a little something on it and maybe a little cutter, like a little slider or something. But it needs to be on the plate. So I start throwing. I’m catching with tacking, and we’re laughing and we’re carrying on. And Jeff Klein’s talking to me, and I mean Kevin Klein’s talking to me, and then the light guy comes over and he goes, “We’re ready for you. So you know, I threw about I don’t know eight or nine pitches. None of them were really good. Then this, then the clouds came. We had to stop. You know, they wanted the lighting just right. I don’t remember exactly. I guess they were trying to match what they had had in the matching the
Nestor Aparicio 8:01
movies, right? I mean, yeah, yeah. So arduous, right? It’s not fun. No.
Rick Vaughn 8:06
So finally, you know, I was getting a little nervous that I hadn’t really done it yet, and then I got into a little groove, and I threw about four or five in a row that I knew were what they were looking for, and like two months later, I got a check for like 150 bucks.
Nestor Aparicio 8:20
Does Gary Kendall know you got that gig?
Rick Vaughn 8:22
I don’t know. That’s a good question. Well, he was throwing
Nestor Aparicio 8:26
BP back then, so yes,
Rick Vaughn 8:27
yeah, he was. I probably, I’m sure, I must have told. Probably looked more
Nestor Aparicio 8:31
like Kevin Kline. I don’t know. You know, Kevin Klein was married to Phoebe Cates and still is. So you know, whatever Kevin Klein did,
Rick Vaughn 8:37
I was not on camera. This is all you saw was my bitch.
Nestor Aparicio 8:41
Athletic. I don’t think at that point. Rick Vaughn is here. You know what? You just jog my memory. First things first. You owe me that videotape. All right. I’m still looking for it. Yeah, I’m still. Please find it. I’m trying. I want to see it
Rick Vaughn 8:52
myself.
Nestor Aparicio 8:53
This reminds me of our time together in the beginning in 1992, and maybe I’ll even get to 93. I had my All Star Fan Fest pass from ’93 here in the All Star Game, so maybe that’s why I invited you on. Was that I’m going to an All Star game in Philadelphia? I went to the last All Star game in Philadelphia, and the elbow, the famous Roberto Hernandez elbowed to the face of Cal. I think Maroon was the PR director by then. You had moved off to I
Rick Vaughn 9:18
think that time, yeah. But Roberto, yeah, Roberto almost broke Cal’s nose or something. You know, the whole thing was so bizarre. And then I got to know Roberto because we signed him, and he was our closer. Funny thing is, that was he’s our first closer. He’s still our all-time safes leader. That’s how good he was with us for a team that sucked. He was really a good closer. He got 30-eight saves or
Nestor Aparicio 9:40
50-eight wins or whatever, right?
Rick Vaughn 9:41
Right. We just couldn’t never get to him, you know. We were never had a lead late in the game, but anyway, yeah, I was there for that in Philly. That was great. All right. So the
Nestor Aparicio 9:49
reminder is in ’92, Vaughn’s the PR director, and the stadium’s brand spanking new, 3.8 million people. Ripkins in his prime. Yankees stink. Red. Docks stink, Blue Jays don’t stink. But but we had some fun around here back in the day. And in 1992, not only did Sutcliffe pitch in the first game, you did this really cool media thing. Sometime maybe in June or July, it was kind of warm out where it was print versus broadcast. I’ve used, I’ve shown that picture. Kirkshin’s in it. Frank Robinson called balls and strikes. He rung me up on a schmuck pitch that was way outside the. So I mean, I would have called review right away on that had I had a chance. So I want to ask you this because I’ve told this story a couple of times because Bill Murray is such an iconic figure in life and around the world, and Rick Sutcliffe had this relationship with Bill Murray, and you can correct me if I’m wrong, and certainly correct me if I’m misremembering this in any way. But their relationship was thick as thieves, and Bill Murray just banged around Camden Yards a lot of that summer in ’93, and kind of just showed up. And like we, I would be in the locker room, and Bill Murray would be in the locker room, like hanging out at Sutcliffe’s locker, and Murray and I like hit it off because of Louis and Chicago, and I would feed him Stripes lines. I have him reading a bumper as John Winger from Stripes, and I have Sutcliffe in the background yelling at him, and I remember one day coming in, and you know, Tyler would always check my credential, even 15 years later. Every time I’d walk in the locker room, Tyler would come over to me to make sure that I was me. It was hilarious. It probably infuriated me when I was 20-five years old. But that was Jimmy. So I’m in there, and Suckley isn’t even there, and like Bill Murray’s with like Elrod and Cal Senior. There’s like I was the first guy in the locker room every day because I worked downtown. I worked four blocks away. I had to leave the locker room to go do my radio show around 430-5o’clock So I was always the first guy. I parked in your lot, the B lot, because you wouldn’t give me A because you were trying to screw the young guy. And tell me the Bill Murray thing because you must have stories because I do. I mean, I have a, I have several Bill Murrays. I ran into him later in life, and he recognized me. Was incredibly kind to me, but like he would pick on me. He was he was funny, and he was omnipresent. He wasn’t there one or three times. He was there a lot.
Rick Vaughn 12:27
Well, first of all, Sutcliffe knows everybody. There’s nobody that Rick doesn’t know. I mean, he’s just that kind of person. He
Nestor Aparicio 12:35
took you to a Springsteen concert one day. Yes, yeah.
Rick Vaughn 12:38
Oh, it was unbelievable. You know, I mean, it was we we had so much fun, but anyway, you know I guess obviously it it went back to his time with the Cubs. You know I think that had that’s where it started. I don’t have a lot of great stories, but what you did say was how he just kind of showed up. You know when I was working with Joe Madden’s and his foundation up in Pennsylvania, every year we did a fundraiser up there in December, and Joe had invited Bill Murray to come. Never heard from him. Never heard back. Nothing. So now we’re at the event, and it’s about an hour into it, and there’s like this big noise coming from the front door of our the place we were at, the country club, and it was him, and he had like 12 people with them, and they were trying to get in, and and somebody there for whatever reason was giving them a hard time. But that was Bill Murray. You know, we didn’t even know he was coming. It’s Bill Murray. We might have wanted to tell a few people, but we didn’t know he was even going to be there. And he showed up, and of course, the whole night was so much fun. Chaos
Nestor Aparicio 13:36
ensues wherever he shows up. Literally, right? It
Rick Vaughn 13:39
was it was exactly what you would think would happen. Yeah, it was it was exactly that. Well,
Nestor Aparicio 13:44
I mean, I just found it to be amazing that I’ve had all of these intimate moments. By the way, and and this is God’s honest truth. I don’t have a lot of regret in life. I can’t find my John Wooden interview that I did on our birthday. I share the birthday with John Wooden. He did my show like his 93rd birthday or something. It was crazy, and and I didn’t get a tape of it. Right, I can’t find the full first Ray Lewis interview at the barn. So these are like iconic crazy things. The picture that’s missing in my life that was absolutely taken. All Star Game, 1993 It was taken by Jerry Walker. The files were all stolen by the Angelo’s family, literally. I mean, there was a big Scott, the whole deal, but there is a picture that Jerry took of me and Bill Murray, Bill in Cubs gear, head to toe, helmet, all star workout day, pinstriped, at home plate. Bill and I took a picture together. I don’t have the picture, but it but it exists. The other thing that will break your heart would really break your heart if you knew this, Rick. I once played in a media game on the field at Camden Yards. I hit a single off a schmuck. I’ll edit out the part where he struck me out on the three-two pitch outside to lead off the game. I made an incredible defensive play in foul territory. A third baseman, Keith Mills played shortstop, and someone lost a tape. And I know a guy that has a tape. It might be you.
Rick Vaughn 15:10
I have got to find that tape. I’ve got I’ve got all that stuff somewhere. It must be in a box that I just cannot. I obviously cannot find, but I’d love to see it because I love that group. I love that whole group of media that we had. Frank
Nestor Aparicio 15:24
Robinson to to umpire a game of Baltimore media people. He was the general. Is this general manager team and the former manager and the Hall of Famer and Frank effing Robinson? He called balls and strikes. I I want the videotape of this, even though I schmuck I struck out in schmuck. It wasn’t. It was a. I want to reconfirm how bad the pitch was. I’m gonna get measured. This is gonna be like a. This is gonna be like a Kenny May. I’ll bring Kenny May in like wiffle ball. I’m gonna get measured to see whether it was really a strike or not, and we’re gonna make Schmuck hold him accountable that I should have been standing on first base and leading off.
Rick Vaughn 15:58
I’m for anything that holds Schmuck accountable, dude.
Nestor Aparicio 16:01
Phil Wood was running around with a mitt. Come on, dude. Find the tape. Find the tape.
Rick Vaughn 16:06
Well, at least you have the team picture. I’m glad of that. But I, I
Nestor Aparicio 16:11
beat Mike Flynn up for 24 years. He had the videotape of he and I on the Humvee, the parade. Super Bowl Purple Rain won. I rode on his Humvee, and my whole role was to take his video camera. David Modell gave everybody cameras, the little camcorder Johnsons that were in your hand, you know. And I held that thing up for the parade the whole length of the parade, and he, like you. lost the tape, and then the tape appeared, and he sent me a picture. And the next day it was FedExed up here. And the next day, Greg Landry had it over to House and Transfers and turned that thing into H and E. All right,
Rick Vaughn 16:54
all right, I get it, I get it.
Nestor Aparicio 16:56
Rick Vaughn is here. I leaned on him appropriately. He is not the wild thing. He’s the longtime PR director of the Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay Rays, and others. So I’m going to the All-Star Game in Philly this week. I’m credentialed. Luke’s at the beach. Good times, you know. Thank you, John Blundell and Pat Courtney, and every other professional in Major League Baseball. I’m going to come up and like my working assignment on this isn’t what you remember me with a flip phone with Earl Weaver on the field in ’96 or doing the work that I did back in the day with you, I’m sort of like going up to kick around to see what an all-star game is, Vaughn or And because we’re gonna get one. I mean, this is gonna be Katie Griggs. She’s gonna bring it back, put it in her. You know, they’re gonna try to sell tickets. And weirdly, I mean, a couple research pieces: the home run derby to get in five or 600 bucks on Monday night, the the game’s 400 bucks to get in on Tuesday night. So that’s sort of the going rate if you just want tickets for these events instead of buying the $30,000 whatever. But they’re gonna have a game, and I remember the 93 game vividly in so many ways. I mean, I was I was in the dugout when Griffey hit the ball, and I was sitting next to Mark McGwire because the the security knew me and the Orioles dugout and I was sitting in the Orioles dugout where I shouldn’t have been the whole time in the sun. So I mean I have vivid memories of that Getty Lee and I having a buffet moment together at the Science Center at the gala. I showed off all of the gear of all of that. I’m should we be excited about getting the All Star Game in Baltimore 2030 if that were to happen the next week or two?
Speaker 1 18:26
Oh
Rick Vaughn 18:26
God, absolutely! Yeah, it’s it’s a great event. I mean, I I have I’m like you. I have such great memories in when it was back when we had it in ’93, and one of the things that I loved so much was how you know the Oriole advocates. I don’t even know if they’re still around anymore, but they were our ambassadors in the community group, and they those guys they couldn’t wait to help, and they would do the most meaning meaningless thing you know that anything that we needed them to do, and it was such a great feeling to have these 50 businessmen, you know, guarding a trash can or whatever it was they were doing, and they wanted to be a part of it. It was such a great feeling to have all those people wanting us to succeed, wanting the city to be great. That’s the one thing that I really remember is that feeling of a that spirit, that team spirit that that group had. I mean, it didn’t matter what I asked them to do; they did it, and they did it perfectly. You know, and then I’ll never forget. Here’s these are little things you remember. You know, the the writers all at that time there was a younger group. When I say writers, I mean across the country. You know, the baseball writers that were coming in to cover the game, and they loved to play basketball. So I thought, you know what? Maybe I’ll do. I really wanted this to be something special, and I went to the lady, and I cannot remember her name. She was the PR director for the arena. You know the Lady Brown.
Rick Vaughn 19:52
That’s it. So I went to her, and I said, “Here’s what I want to do. Can we get the floor for one morning, maybe?” Be on Tuesday morning because nothing really happens in the morning of the game. You know everything happens Monday and then you have the game, and she let me have the Baltimore Arena. So we had all the guys who came in. There were probably 25 of them that played basketball from all over the country, and we we went and we played basketball on in the Baltimore Arena. It wasn’t just going to play pickup on a playground. We they got to play where pros play, where the NBA guys went. Kareem
Nestor Aparicio 20:26
Abdul-Jabbar played there. West Subsel. Pete
Rick Vaughn 20:28
Maravich. I saw Pete Maravich’s rookie season. All of those Knicks
Nestor Aparicio 20:32
championship. You know, all of that stuff. So we got to play. Sure.
Rick Vaughn 20:36
So they got to play on this court, and you know, it was an empty arena. But they got to play there, and I heard many, so many comments about that for the next for the rest of the season. You know, people were talking about it, and it was just, again, it was the whole spirit of the city coming together. I think you’ll witness that when it happens. I hope you do. You know, at that point, we had pretty good relationships with everybody. The home run hitting contest. You know, I was out on Utah Street because if somebody hit it, hit the warehouse, I wanted to see it. I wanted to make sure that it actually happened. So I was out there. You do
Nestor Aparicio 21:09
know the balls were juiced. Greg Biaggini told me, like literally, Greg Biagini and I were close. Greg was a part of it. Greg’s like, there’s a reason those balls went that far. They, we, we said Sam Hornwood City. We we serve them up. Chris Hoyle’s always tried to hit the ball into the second deck and couldn’t do it. And 15 of them flew up there off of Juan Gonzalez’s back. Yeah. So like, um, the balls were juiced. I I just want to make sure that I’m, I am, I I wouldn’t stake my life on it, but I would stake my reputation on the balls were juiced. So yeah, I
Rick Vaughn 21:42
don’t doubt it. I mean, I remember somebody. Yeah, I guess it was Juan Gonzalez hit a ball in what we were using as the auxiliary press box out in left field in the upper deck up there. You know, in the mezzanine level, and I remember he hit one out there that broke one of our our TV monitors. So that never would never ever happen, but I was out there when Griffey hit the warehouse, and I saw you know, and it was mobbed with people. It was a mess, and it was it was thank we were very grateful nobody got hurt because it was there was a lot of jostling. How about this though? I went back for Jim Henneman’s funeral last year, as you know, and I’m at a restaurant. I’m at somewhere. I don’t even remember where I was. Somewhere out in Towson, and this guy came over to me and said, “You’re never gonna. You’re not gonna remember me, but I remember you. He goes, “I’m the guy that ended up with Griffey’s ball at the home run hitting contest. I’m like, “What? He said, “You took me. I don’t even remember this, he said. “You took me down, and you, you know, you and we, you, we got to meet Griffey, and I’m like, you know, and he donated the ball back to them or whatever. I guess it was at the, maybe it was at the Babe Ruth Museum. I don’t know where the ball ended up, but anyway, how about that? That was like that was last. That was just in 2025, so that was how many or 30 years later, I see the guy that caught that that ball, and you know he he knew enough about what he was telling me that he wasn’t he wasn’t lying about it. He definitely was the guy, so it was crazy. Chris Mellon is here.
Nestor Aparicio 23:13
He is the longtime PR director for the Orioles, and not the wild thing, but my wild thing for sure. Also working with the Joe Madden folks and the foundation and all sorts of things in life after the raise and doing all sorts of charity work. If you know them from LinkedIn or whatnot, but the All Star Game thing for me isn’t the game or the players or the Derby or who wins or loses or like all of that at this point for the city for for what I’m researching in Philadelphia. It’s we had a gala. They don’t have a gala as much anymore. Players come in. They do a red carpet thing. The fan fest is now called a village. I remember the card show being the memorabilia thing being enormous. I remember it was the first time I ever stepped in a batting cage, and there was a video: Randy Johnson, Mike Messina throwing at me. I remember Messina saying, “What was I throwing? 50-860-four. So, but but it was kind of neato torpedo. I was 20-520-four, at the time. Young guy, last time I was here, my kid was 10 years old at the time. My kid’s 40-one now. I’m just wondering the footprint for it. You know, I the convention center. I want to see what baseball cards, what stuff they’re doing, what autographs they’re doing, what legends they’re like. I just want to see and smell it in the way that I just didn’t do it in Baltimore, Rick. I had a press pass for 15 All Star games. I actually did that in Washington in whatever 17, whatever year it was in Washington. I went down to the convention center. I walked around. I saw it. I don’t say it’s a shrinking event or a big event or whatever. I think a city like Baltimore to have time to put it on. And one thing my buddy Todd Radom told me about Philadelphia this week is they’ve known they’ve had it for like six or seven years because of the 250th anniversary and all that that Philly’s going to put on. And I know like this is not going to be. Small event in Baltimore, Rick. Like we, we we have we’ve had one AFC Championship game here. Clearly, not a lot of postseason baseball. We didn’t even get to have the parade event with the Ravens because Angelo screwed that up 10 years ago. So like, or 12 years, 13 years ago. Now they all run together, but we don’t we don’t get those kinds of events here. We haven’t had an NFL draft here, so I would think that you know whatever Katie Griggs comes back with for Major League Baseball and labor notwithstanding next year, not even the team on the field, how good or bad, or what happens to Henderson and Ruchman or Holliday or any of that. But having the game and having time to work into it and trying to make it as big a thing as it can be for Baltimore. That’s where my head is on this. That if I took you with me to Philadelphia and you and I were on the steering committee for the for the All Star game here, we’d be looking at like, how does this fit in Baltimore now versus what it was then, and can we get the frigging harbor rebuilt in time for it? Because I know that’s a big part of it too.
Rick Vaughn 26:07
That’s going to be a huge part of it. No, no question about it. Yeah, I, I hope the first thing I’m, I’m praying that they get the game. I definitely would try to come up for that. I don’t know if I could get a ticket, but I would definitely be, you know, want to want to just soak in the atmosphere of it all. I think it’s super important to, you know, you you’re right. Baltimore hasn’t had that opportunity in a good while, and and it hasn’t been done right for a bunch of different reasons. This is going to. I think this will probably be done really, really, really well, and the first thing that I would do if I was them is I would, I would try to keep, I would want everybody to see. One of the things I went to the Toronto All Star Game. I think that was in 91 No, it wasn’t 91 Maybe it was. Yeah,
Nestor Aparicio 26:56
maybe it was that
Rick Vaughn 26:57
90 somewhere around there. Cal, Cal won the home run hitting college. Yeah, and you know what? Everybody, it felt like everybody in that city felt like they were a part of it. I don’t know how they did that, but I mean, Toronto people are very sweet people. They’re welcoming people. They’re really good people. But everywhere you went, it felt like you know, it was a part of the All Star experience. You know what I mean? I don’t know how. And that’s the way
Nestor Aparicio 27:24
World Cup they wanted World Cup to feel here, right? And Baltimore has not. We didn’t get a World Cup. We we bid. We we got screwed. DC got screwed. DC and Baltimore did not get World Cup games. That’s how effed up the bid was, Rick. Yeah. You know what I mean? We
Rick Vaughn 27:39
know all about FIFA. We know what they are all about. You know, they’re they’re they’re not point well made.
Nestor Aparicio 27:45
Point well made.
Rick Vaughn 27:46
They’re not exactly above board, but yeah, that kind of that’s exactly right. That’s exactly what you you need to do. What they they did. We were in Boston for a wedding a couple weeks ago when it was going on up there, and the Scotland team was up there, and you could feel it all over the city that they were around, and it was all. It was they their their big practical joke was. I don’t know if you heard this or not, but the Scots, you know, what are there’s probably two or 300 different historical statues in Boston. Every single one of them had a traffic cone on its head. They went around and stuck traffic cones on all the heads of these statues, and it was done with good. It was just done with fun. No one, no one was offended by it. Everybody was like, “Oh, those there’s the Scots. But I mean, it it just was such a all inclusive kind of thing. And I’m just talking about getting everybody to feel a part of the, you know, if you go down to a store, there’s the people that are working behind the counter. Everybody’s excited about it there, but you have to make them feel that way. You know, that’s up to the Orioles to do that. But I just hope they make it so that every single person in Baltimore feels they’re a part of it, and that’s a really good. That’s a big challenge, and I’m sure they’ll do
Nestor Aparicio 28:59
it. Rick Vaughn is here. He was the longtime PR director for the Orioles as well as Major League Baseball. I’m headed off to the All Star game at this point. Look, I we did Bill Murray, we did all that. Now we got to get onto the field and onto we we’re gonna have a tough talk, Vaughnner, about where this thing is. I mean, I’m on record about all of it. I would have fired Elias when he fired the manager 15 months ago and then hid for four days. Like I can’t imagine you as the PR director on a Saturday morning at Preakness when they you fire your manager on Preakness morning and a home series, and then the general manager hid until Tuesday night in Milwaukee to have the press conference in the dugout in Milwaukee for free reporters and coworkers. That’s, I mean, on and on and on. But that’s the baseball side. He was hired by the Angelos Group. They had some measure of success for sure. I mean, two years ago, you and I were like, “This might be the greatest thing we’ve ever seen, and it has been a precipitous, historic, and. Really, really tragic and untimely fall over the last 24 months for what this new group was trying to do. You can go Google me and the Vaughnner and Steinberg and everybody else involved with Conway. Everybody, three years ago when this thing started, we got new all the fresh air, all the bright light, all the young players, all the one-one picks, the young silver-haired Ivy League GM, and like all that, all of it has been baked into being very problematic here. It’s and I don’t know where they’re going to go if they have a work stoppage on top of this, and I know they’re not in control of that.
Rick Vaughn 30:40
Yeah, I mean, I don’t know, mr. Elias at all. Never met him. I, I, I was as a PR guy. I mean, how how would you not be upset about how that all went down? You know, when they fired the manager, that was unfortunate. He either got some bad advice or that was just really unfortunate. And and I don’t and and like you, a lot of people have not forgotten that it’s pretty hard not to. That was so that was poorly managed. I mean, there’s no question about it. I, you know, the good news is, if you want to look at it this way, is they’re four games out of a postseason. You know, I mean, it unfortunately for them, this would have been a year. You don’t have to be real good this year to make the playoffs right now. If the playoffs ended today, you would have at least one team in there that doesn’t even have a winning record to make the postseason. So, you know, yes, there’s about six teams in front of them. You know, but you know what’s going to happen is some of these really smart guys, these Ivy League guys, they’re going to have their they’re going to have their wizards tell them, well, I know we’re only five games or four games or three games out, but with all the teams in front of us, we have about a 11% chance of going to the postseason. So we’re going to tank. So some of these teams are going to tank. So I think they can leap over some of these teams, but it’s not. I mean, trying to be optimistic here is you know is Gunnar and Jackson both going to hit under 220 you know the rest of the season I wouldn’t think so you know they they’ve got to play better you know they is the infield defense going to continue to just crap on itself all the time and the even their PFP they need some pitchers fielding practice I’ve seen too many errors by their pitchers, are all those things going to continue? Maybe they are who they are. I love their manager. You know, we had Albie. Albie was in our system. He never made it to the big leagues, but he was in our minor league system for eight years. You know, from rookie league to Triple A, bounce ball. Do you like really know
Nestor Aparicio 32:35
him as a? I don’t
Rick Vaughn 32:36
know him. I don’t really know him anymore because he was never on the big league club. He was in spring training a lot, and I got. But I I know him because his college coach, he he played at Eckerd College, and Eckerd down here is a good baseball school. Their their their manager or their coach at the time was a guy named Bill Matthews. He’s a dear friend of mine. He’s from up in you know he’s up from New England, and he recruits up there heavily. That’s how Albie from Massachusetts got down to Eckert, and I know how many how many conversations I’ve had with Billy about Albie over the years, and he he loved the guy from the very first day he came to school down there, and so he you know he loves his makeup. He’s a grinder. He’s smart, and he’s tough. And I I I’m really rooting for him to do well. I hope they give him a chance to get through this, whatever it is they’re going through right now. It makes me really sad. I mean, it’s not really just one thing. If you look at they’re they’re in the bottom third in pitching, bottom third in defense, and bottom third in the league in offense. You know, they’re it’s not just one thing. Look, I know they’ve had some injuries. You know, Alonso, he’s been pretty much as advertised. You know, he’s hitting right around where he normally hits, and he’s going to probably finish with close to 40 home runs, and that’s what they got. And he’s been, we have no issues with him. It’s just the other, you know, like I said, Jackson and and the guys have just got to, you know, they’ve just got to be who they are, you know. They’re they’re certainly not that right now. So I I feel I love the franchise. I always have, you know. My heart is. I still feel, you know, like a manorial. And so it hurts. I watch a lot of the games. Although I was happy yesterday, that was a good win coming back late to win that game, but it makes me it makes me sad to see what’s happened to the franchise. You know, it the ballpark the ballpark deserves better. You know, it’s it’s the best ballpark in the country, and it just makes me sad to see it so many nights where there’s not that many people. They’re even in the bottom third in attendance. You know, so that that shouldn’t be that shouldn’t be the case with that that that place.
Nestor Aparicio 34:45
Well, I’m trying to will it back by holding it accountable, Vaughn. That’s all I can do. And you know, all these years into this, you know where my heart is. My my last name’s Aparicio. I come at this honestly, yeah, and and want good things for them. And this all star game thing would be a good heartbeat for. Either way, no, it’d be awesome. I want to go up to Philly. I want to see it. I want to feel it. I want to breathe it and bring it in. And yeah, I had I have one picture here from my my All Star Game fandom here that I wanted to share. I shared it the other day because it’s like a little bit of a period piece from the the 1990s. I found a picture of me and Earl Weaver together at the 1996 All-Star Game on a flip phone. I don’t even know what the hell happened to it. I think I’ve lost it again. But oh, here it is, right here. And so I share this because the All-Star Game. This is look. Look at how thrilled Young Nestor was to be 30 years ago this week at the. You see the bunting here, my my All Star Game press pass, and that that by the way, that hat that I’m wearing is the first ever Baltimore Raven hat. It’s a silver and black hat that John Ogden handed me on the podium in New York in April of ’96. And Earl’s looking spry and good, and felt looked like he had his golf game out the right way and got his coffee that morning. So you know, there’s a little period piece for you there, Vaughn. 30 years ago.
Rick Vaughn 36:04
Well, that’s a that’s awesome. I was, you know, I had I had Earl for a couple of years. It was very they were difficult years. You know, it was when he came back, obviously in in 85 and 86 You know, when Alto got fired in 85 and he was a
Nestor Aparicio 36:20
legend when you had him, man, right? Yeah, he he was
Rick Vaughn 36:22
he was. You know, I’ll never. You can’t
Nestor Aparicio 36:26
think of him without laughing, right? No, I can’t. Well, you know, I
Rick Vaughn 36:29
I’ll never forget. It was the end of the ’86 season. I don’t know if you remember that year. I know you do, but you know, on August the third, we were like three games out of first place, not playoffs. First place for with this team that was not that good, and they were getting ready to really collapse horrifically, as we know. But we were we were three games out of first place, and we played the Rangers that night at home, and that was the game where we hit two Grand Slams. They hit a Grand Slam, and we lost a game in which we hit two Grand Slams, and from that point forward, we went 14 and 40-two. And I remember sitting on the in the dugout with Earl late, probably that’s probably middle of September when it was clear we were not going to you know to get there. And he was like, you know, I came back here and I fell into a big pile of poop, although he didn’t say that word, and he said, “But you know what? I started going like this through that poop, and you know it was the bottom of that poop-a big pile of money. You know, I mean, EBW paid him a ransom to come back. You know he was desperate to to get him to come back, and it just wasn’t going to happen. You know we just didn’t have the we didn’t have the players. You know, but it it was had a lot of he was challenging. And next time
Nestor Aparicio 37:52
you come on, we’re just going to tell Earl Weaver story. So Rick Vaughn is, and we and if we don’t put it on the radio, we can we don’t have to sanitize it. Rick Vaughn is here. He is the wild thing, and my friend for going on five decades now, back to the 1980s. You, me, and Bob Miller. I try to tell people that I was Ken Rosenthal’s assistant in the middle of the night when the TR, the trash ’80s didn’t work, and the couplers didn’t work, and in Oakland they didn’t have a payphone that he could even plug into or whatever that I would be taking dictation like this is why I’m crooked like this from Ken Rosenthal back you know down so we just go back a long way so I love you I appreciate you’re one of my favorite storytellers and you always pick up the phone and one day I’m gonna come down there and shovel food for people who need it with you on a Friday morning oh man I’d love to have you either
Rick Vaughn 38:38
Monday or Friday either Friday
Nestor Aparicio 38:41
next time I come down there, and I don’t know when it’s going to be, or why, or how, you know, spring training. If they give me a, if Mark find discovers that I’m really a media member, if I were down there for spring training, I would, I would haul ass up and help you out. So when I get down to Tampa, I will, I will serve on your behalf.
Rick Vaughn 38:59
Well, I’d love to have you. You know who keeps telling me he’s going to come. We kind of knew each other a little bit. Is Adam Jones, so I’ll go with
Nestor Aparicio 39:06
Adam Jones if he’ll go with me. I’ll go with him.
Rick Vaughn 39:08
Okay, good. Love to have you, brother. Tell him
Nestor Aparicio 39:10
that. Tell him when you talk to Adam, tell him Nestor’s in whenever you want to be, and I’ll fly down. I’ll do it with him, no matter what. I’ll do it.
Rick Vaughn 39:16
Awesome. Love to have you, brother.
Nestor Aparicio 39:18
I’d love to have. I’d love to do that. Rick Vaughn is here. He is there, and he is in Tampa, where the sun shines. It’s too damn hot this time of year, and but the taxes are good. But he’s having a good time down there, and and I appreciate him. And if you need to look him up, you can look him up. Look up that final game in 1991 at Memorial Stadium. Him and Charles Steinberg, and you’ll know why I bring these fellows on to tell stories. I am Nestor. We are WNSTAM 1570 Tass in Baltimore. We’ll see at the All Star Game here, there in Philly. I’ll be having the cheese stick.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
