Legendary 93-year old Newark Star-Ledger columnist Jerry Izenberg visits with Nestor to discuss new book on Larry Doby
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
wrote, jerry, people, baltimore, years, larry, eisenberg, baseball, father, columnist, talk, column, herald tribune, day, week, sit, ran, remember, play, story
SPEAKERS
Nestor J. Aparicio, Jerry Izenberg
Nestor J. Aparicio 00:01
Welcome home we are W n s t test Baltimore and Baltimore positive this this is going to be a fun one. And we’ve had a fun week here we’ve had rock stars. We got the Orioles taken on the tribe and Texas this weekend after getting their butts kicked out Houston and beaten up on the Yankees last week. But this weekend, I made a statement and on social media said we’re going to have the greatest living sports writer on the program this week in America. And a lot of people guessed, and this person will appreciate this evening guests and people that are no longer with us. Like Frank, the Ford of Baltimore, Maryland and many others. But I said so people were guessing lupa or album and I’m like, they’re all great, great writers. But there’s only one writer that I know of. It’s left that still writing books on race on baseball on America and on boxing. And when you think of the greatest when I say the great there’s only one the greatest ever and that was Muhammad Ali and the greatest ones called this guy the greatest that makes him the greatest. I don’t care who you are even our cosell would agree. Sherry Eisenberg. The great Jerry Ize nberg joins us on the eve of his new book on Larry Doby. Jerry is a sports journalist and has been with the Newark star ledger since long before I was born. He began there in 1951. I’m trying to do the math on his age September 10 1930s 3793 years ago. Is that right? Am I getting the right Cheerio?
Jerry Izenberg 01:33
Better than I credit that I went to school in New York? I don’t count so well.
Nestor J. Aparicio 01:38
From Dundalk, that’s a Dundalk math. But 90 3am I right in saying that. Well, I
Jerry Izenberg 01:43
don’t know. 94 in September
Nestor J. Aparicio 01:46
94 In September, I’m Jerry and is a plow. How are you? It’s so good to see you. Nice to talk to you. I’m like, course I’m gonna have Jerry on the program.
Jerry Izenberg 01:56
Well, I’m not I can I put this? I haven’t stroke of truth. I have to right. Look, I walked there we I walk with a walker. I have a man I go to see so many doctors. I felt my name was next. There’s, that’s when I get out. I would get out once in a while to eat. I’ve been lucky this week, my wife turned 85 of my wife of 46 years. And we would give her a different kind of party. We invited all the grandchildren and the great grandkids to come and nobody else.
Nestor J. Aparicio 02:28
How many people is that’s a big place, right? 242 total 2222.
Jerry Izenberg 02:35
So it lasted three days. It was like a nonsexual Bacchanalia. I mean, it just went on and on. It was wonderful.
Nestor J. Aparicio 02:45
Well, your career has gone on and on and on. And on long after the great. I have a picture with Muhammad Ali. That’s all because of you. At the Atlanta Superbowl back in 2000. You invited the greatest to come in and sit with the entire media in the media room. And I have a picture of me and Ali and you’re sitting next to him. Before we get to Larry Doby, speak to me about race as a 93 year old man in this country, a Jewish man who’s covered sports in this country for 80 years, for the better part of 80 years. Speak to me about race. And while you’re still writing books
Jerry Izenberg 03:22
about Larry, when I think about it, but I will say this, I’m not telling this to sell another book. But I wrote a book before this one called baseball, Nazis and needed hot dogs growing up Jewish in New York in 1930. And that was a primer for what I see with race now. Because I thought I thought it was all behind us that oh, we’re done with that crap. I don’t know I doubt at all. I’m not happy about it. For me, the glass was half full always because I knew we were going to work. The worst I have to speak personally said the worst time for us in America started in the 1920s. And the 10 years after World War Two. And it was a long stretch. And in that particular book, I delineate all the kinds of things that I ran into. And but it’s but we beat him. We before the toppling, we’d be doing a William Dudley Pelley we’d be killed out we build lucky Lindy Lindbergh who threw the first show of fight across the Atlantic. He was a Nazi too, and he had a good by the way, he had incense for me. It’s the name of his group was America first. But anyway, we beat them all. And my only I was the only kid at eight. Who knew not only what the Reichstag was, where it was and who birthed it, because my father made damn sure I knew. We will have some people over there. And anyway, it was just we came out of it. That’s the biggest thing. It not did not become fashionable to other racial or ethnic slurs anymore. You know, my father was a minor league ballplayer. And he, I never heard those words in my house. They were I’m not gonna repeat them every year, the words for blacks, the words for a tie into words, repose words reduce this and you’re never going to hear him here. And if you said them, you’re leaving his house, because I was, you know, my father came here in 1882. And they weren’t a lot of Jews playing baseball, because the parents that you’re about to go to school, you’re going to be a doctor. Because my father came here in a way, Lithuania was not allowed to go to school. So he was over me about education all my life, but he was a modeling ballplayer. And he said, You’ll never hear those words in his shots. Because when you want to hit a guy and you’re a pitcher, you don’t throw the ball at him. You throw the ball behind them because of the reflexive action. He said I ducked so many beanie balls. I heard so many names. You’ll never hear them in his house. And I bet to never hear that from you.
Nestor J. Aparicio 06:10
Larry Doby and Jackie Robinson is feeded they were the patches that were the 40 twos. We just had Rick Woodfield this week down in Alabama and Reggie Jackson with some I don’t say costly things, things that were very obvious to anybody that was around or knows anything she’s not spoken about. And a lot of these folks have been not so quick to speak and a lot of people in the media have been not so quick to record it and want to write it your lifelong chronicling of race, whether it’s Muhammad Ali, Jackie Robinson growing up in the New York area watching teams of your youth leave and go west Willie Mays, we lost him last week. Larry Doby, tell me about Larry Doby, you know, the second guy and doesn’t get the books. Usually. It’s always the first guy, right?
Jerry Izenberg 06:59
Well, Larry said to me, a lot of people thought lie was jealous. On the focus that Jackie got. But what I will say beyond that, I don’t know that they spoke every night that first year. How are we going to get through this? There is no animosity, yeah, in fact, he will not call him Jackie every time when he’s gone now, but allow him but every time I mentioned quote him, Mr. Robinson to me, which is a great mark of respect, because Larry’s son Lowry, Jr. who helped me a little bit a lot in terms of Adobe family. I knew I knew the immediate one, but I didn’t know that went to South Carolina where he helped me. And he said there is no I’m going to help you Mr. Eisenberg is my father had a really hard life. And he trusted no writers. But he trusted you completely. So I’m going to help you on this. But we were friends. I’ll tell you if you want to know how we met what mate what started this friendship. They weren’t very good be idiots. They weren’t very good. And then come to New York. I had no reason to see them, you know. But if I was up there for the Yankees for some reason, yes. Then. Hi, Jerry. Hi, Valerie. How are you? Okay, well, but we’ve lived in the same town at that point. And I never realized I was his hometown columnist when he was in playing baseball. And I wrote a lot of social issues while my life I did because I believe that’s why you’re here a long time ago. Dr. Joe welcome crazy my rabbi oh boy veteran me. He was the warm up speaker for Martin Luther King and the mall A Million Man March. And he kept drilling into my head and Hebrew phrase. The corner love the corner alarm. It means fix the world. It’s you know, to break philosophical terms, because the theory is and it ain’t gonna happen. If everybody could do it. In one day, the world will be fixed. You wouldn’t have any more problems. But that thing drove me Oma. I ran a football game, because nobody paid attention to the kids in New York. Guesses I believe not many pay attention to the kitchen board because of race and other things. And this football game wasted 29 years and often with Army and Navy Junior Varsity. And they bought the goats and the mules and panning in the marching. You could see the Army Navy game, we only had 10,000 seats, you could actually see the game in the pilot fleet. But we did it for 29 years and we sent 1100 North kids to college.
Nestor J. Aparicio 09:48
Well, you know, stepping up and having people step up and do that. Did you have editors that didn’t want to run some of your pieces through the course of time? Because that that that would not show Ask me, you know, because, well I in
Jerry Izenberg 10:03
terms of alley, I tell a great story. The guy who now knows survivor of a founder who owned the game, we have always had 45 papers at one point, we go into more, or at agreements with the moon. And when I the first piece I wrote, When I was a little kid, I didn’t use to hide the radio to hear baseball. Because it was baseball. My father goes three in the morning so you could listen Go ahead. I heard so called town hall of the year. debates between brilliant, brilliant statesman and Congressman senator. One night. Alvin Barkley, Vice President knighted states did a debate with Everett Dirksen. And the question is, is the constitution dead? Or is it still a living document? And Barkley says, The constitution is very much alive. And the day it isn’t, we will all take it and put it in some dusty back room and forget about it and make a new one. But this one is working fine. I quoted that guy how many years later so 40 years later, whatever. I used to I often I want quotes at the top of the car above the car, give me a will. And usually it’s two opposites two opposing quotes. So you know it’s coming up point counterpoint. Yes. Very good at that I couldn’t afford it. Anyway. I ran that. And we got 4000. That was my first defensive ally. That’s before Coachella even knew his name. And that was anybody’s first defensive ally really destroyed a friendship that, you know, I’ll tell you I’m wondering because I’m 93. And I’m taking advantage of that. My three best friends in the world, not in any order at all. Muhammad Ali, Marie Dobie Mani Irvin, and I’m blessed to have those trees, friends. They’re all gone now. But while they were here, they taught me a lot. They taught me a lot.
Nestor J. Aparicio 12:15
So at the age of tender age of 93, you decide to write a book on Larry Dobies new book out. We’re going to talk about that. Why wait? Why tell Larry story right now, in big because of the deep friendship you had because you their stories that needed to be told that hadn’t been told? Well,
Jerry Izenberg 12:33
I told it now because I should have told it earlier. One day I mentioned to allow you want to do a book later in life. You don’t need to do that. It doesn’t need that. Two people got them in the Baseball Hall of Fame. I mean, fought for years. Jackie got into first eligibility law he got in at age 78. You know, in baseball, everybody, that when they dream at night, sports writers. They dream about decimal points. That’s the that’s the way they see baseball. And the guy says to me, I want him by show me because he was a good guy. And he had a case. He said you keep screaming about Dolby and Hall of Fame. He does not have the numbers. I said, Okay. I will give you Babe Ruth. I’ll give you any five superstars, Ted Williams, everybody wanted me by just going to tell me what their numbers would have been. If their live was threat lives were threatened every day. Their wives and their children were threatened every night by telephone. Tell me what you think their numbers would be? And the guy said, Yeah, but we don’t put people in the Hall of lie anyway. Now he kept telling me stop writing that stuff. You’re gonna embarrass me. You’re not gonna embarrass me. I’m never going to get in to stop writing that stuff. Because you’re gonna embarrass yourself. I said, don’t tell me what to do. The guy who signs my paychecks couldn’t tell me what to do when I was defending ally and didn’t try to. Don’t tell me anything. I’m going to do one more shot, if you will. I’m not going to read it. I’m going to California. I’m going to go to newcomers condo and let them find me if they put me there, which happened. So I read this nasty, nasty column. And the key of the column was oh, and you’re the Veterans Committee. Why am I surprised? You’re not going to put him in the Hall of Fame question. A lot of you guys had the sons of bitches who didn’t want to play single game anyway. Then I mailed the column to every member of the committee. I got one answer, dear. So that’s how I started. Mani Irvin. Mani Ervin, Yogi Berra and I have fought to get him in since he came to the Veterans Committee. She’ll get off the couch. Take your fat as you have the couch. Now get us the votes we need sign Ted Williams. Whoa. Well, I got my William Spitz I got my ass off and try to help a little bit. We have a choice here we go for Ron. I mean, he tried them out well Oh, Mani was for obvious reasons. He was also black, a yogi. Yogi was the first American Lego tailor story who spoke to my delivery Dolby when it comes to bad as a preacher, and Yogi’s occasion, hey, Larry, how’s the wife? How’s the kids? How’s the family? And he gets he gets a signal. He comes up again the next time you say, hey, I need you to tell me how’s your family doing what’s going on? They’ll be appeals to the umpire Will you please tell him to shut up? We went through the same routine the last time I came up and he got braces. They are you don’t know him yet. But he’s a very friendly guy.
Nestor J. Aparicio 16:03
Talk to everybody at the plate. Oh,
Jerry Izenberg 16:05
when they were retired when they were retired both your mother’s made up the honey do their wives revenues, Honey, do this get this fixed the door do that. They put them in a pocket. And they ran away and hid in the American Legion club and white baseball on television and laughed and went through the list of what
Nestor J. Aparicio 16:24
Jerry Izenberg is our guest. He has a new book on Larry Doby as at least 93 good stories from 90 Good three good years. You’re on the Newark star ledger. I want to ask you this. What makes a great columnist, you said to me, you wrote a nasty column. And we used to call them takedown columns. But at the end of the day, there are very few watchdogs left for sports. Now that everybody is under the thumb of the teams. They’ve taken my press credentials, Jerry after 30 years here in Baltimore with the Orioles in the ravens, because they didn’t like my column. So all fair. All factual. We’re at a different point. Now when you would think that further along, we get to say more not get to say less. But the newspapers are drying up. What makes a great columnist? Well,
Jerry Izenberg 17:11
I one thing helped me with with Donald Newhouse. I worked for his father who would never publicly God. But I worked for Donald. So now I’m defending Ali. And I walk and now losing edge. We’re losing the answer with that. Because in the beginning, we were far, far more people against now even for the center type of thing came much, much later, right? Usually it does when a guy dies, and he’s out of the way and then you can say what? You don’t have to be you have to worry, somebody’s gonna yell at you. So I walked in, and I told them, I said, Donald, I’m going to keep writing about this. I think this is going to be my crusade because this is not the American that I really know. He has not exhausted his appeals. He’s entitled to them. And I’m going to say show, and I don’t know what you think of this. But if you want me to start, I know you’re here. And you want me to stop. I can’t do that. Want me to quit? I could do that. You want to fire me? You could do that. I am not going to stop. If you let me tell you something. I own and run this paper. You in the sense of the franchise to write the column. You keep doing your job. I’ll keep doing my instead of mine off data yours.
Nestor J. Aparicio 18:27
Man, that’s that’s a different world. Yeah, we’re we’re told me 668 67 years we’re talking.
Jerry Izenberg 18:36
Yeah, always. I was when he started when he didn’t take the oath.
Nestor J. Aparicio 18:42
He used it late 60s, early 70s. That whole time, but it was.
Jerry Izenberg 18:48
You know, I remember one call my worship people. You don’t understand, Lee, but you don’t understand me? Yes, he is my friend. But I would I have a brother in law who I despise. And if he did this, I would write the same column about him. It’s the issue here and try to separate the fog in your brain. scrape it off and look at the issue. Don’t look at them in Jerry
Nestor J. Aparicio 19:13
Eisenberg. Strong words. The book is on Larry Doby? How many Super Bowls. Have you missed a few lately? I know. You and
Jerry Izenberg 19:24
Jerry agree. You and
Nestor J. Aparicio 19:25
Jerry and my dear late friend John stepped in never missed one before we was a father figure to me. John
Jerry Izenberg 19:32
was seven was when I would if I had to draw a map of Baltimore and my knowledge of both I remember Baltimore in Newark, where I grew up. We’re both in the international league. They had a pretty good library and the Baltimore he liked giants black team. When they stopped growing. They played their home games, a number of them in the Eagles stadium because the North Eagles kept growing to the very end, I had a real and I loved walking Well, I love the block. The block track, the better, I liked it. Things turned around and I hope for Baltimore shake. They’ll turn around again. And maybe it is now I haven’t been in a long time. But the Baltimore Newark were really sister cities under the skin. In those days, Newark had 400,000 people living there. We were the ultimate factory town in America and Baltimore had its share of factories. And the same kind of things. You know, we were, we were what, 12 minutes by train away from New York City and the subway ride to the Yankees, the Dodgers and me giants. You work up the road from the Redskins. You didn’t have a meeting and for a long time the senators until a they’ve you know, they’ve been doing it just the cities were like, they were hot, you know. And that’s why I love John Steadman so much. But I assume that your listeners know who he was. I’m not going to waste your time with it. But you didn’t get to know John Steadman. You want to get to know John sent me two things. One was, understand how warm and loving and giving he was. And two was, say something bad about Baltimore and you would understand John Steadman and 30 sibling seconds. You know what he did when he when he got we’re both members of what used to be the plaque show and it used to be called the sportscasters and sportswriters Hall of Fame. It’s now been national media. And he got in the year before me, and I’ll never forget this. He really was a misguided fellow because he said, I embarrassed your acceptance because I think teary eyes and Murcia could get a hit. And I got it the next year.
Nestor J. Aparicio 22:02
A little speech for you, then she, you know, pushing you along. I mean, well, I mean, it’s there was a brotherhood amongst all of you, who were columnist Jim Murray, I throw all of the Great’s of your ERA into that, then you sort of looked out for each other as well, to make sure
Jerry Izenberg 22:22
to calm and I came in as a as a big writer on 51. I left to go to the Herald Tribune, and like I went to Korea, I came back from that. I went to the Herald Tribune, see me Where were the greatest sports editor. He’s the guy everybody quotes him ashamed to read Smith. But he said it to each one of us. Don’t start guarding up these athletes. And you know what he used to do? He I learned from this guy. Every day I learned about ethics, Ninja and newspaper business came from him. He used to come into the treasury. He was he was my sports editor there at the star ledger at one point. And then when he went back to New York, we set that around with the Herald Tribune. He took me with him. And he come in and they were standing with his strongest human being except for note, there was a window nobody could open up because you’re forbidden. They couldn’t lift the window it shows it. Then they come in up close the window he leans out. Now he can see the top floors of the Times building this he did this right. And he shouts Are you listening you all great lady. Let me tell you do something. The biggest problem you have over there is do you have enough chairs for the copy desk to sit and put out the Sunday paper? Well, I’m telling you one thing will never be able to out crap you and they were bad and those will outlast you every time and he’s slammed he went into it. What are you sitting around for go to work? That was his routine. And we I mean, I went to a wall for him. He man called me back from my first spring training and sat me on the desk for three months. So I was I was a big shot. I’m going to my first spring training and I met my father which great giant he will always wanted to bid for them and never create this enemy to the Giants in famous choice they had moved already and they they kept their spring training base. And we had a lot of interest in New York because we lost to nationally teach show shows me out there. I’m falling in love with my words. I’m writing about the sun set on the Painted Desert and and high cacti reaching for the sky. And about the Lost Dutchman mine is 12 miles up the road and how why avoid the last day. I got a phone call. I want to see you tomorrow. I should say I’m not finished yet. You see your finish if you’re not in my room and my my office tomorrow. I don’t know what I did. But like go standing never had an office. Yeah, the cubicle with us. You always wanted to be with us the one that says he wasn’t afraid to compliment you. And he certainly wasn’t afraid to is the way to lie, we think. So he says to me shut out. Who’s gonna play second base for the Giants? I said, That’s a great question is six standard agent? He said, I didn’t ask it. You should know who’s going to play, you should have a feeling you should have an opinion. I didn’t send you I don’t give a damn on with the sunlight. Said it’s like under painted. That’s it. I don’t care who painted it. I don’t want to know him. But I want to know he’s completely separate. You didn’t do it. Go sit down. He kept me in the office for the next two and a half months. I come in and look at him and I see big insight. How can you not recognize his brilliant talent that I had? He was so smart. He had seven years of Greek and Latin and hammers. And he used to read the Iliad in Greek. They said they’re really good at this pretty very understood it. Oh, yeah, of course. He was blind, legally blind. Wow. Not not. They got an operation to help him. But he was legally blind that he had in a Grade B movie through Japanese American war movies. That Japanese colonel always had these big milk bottle glasses. That’s what he wore. And he, he just he was an arbiter for us. I mean, he would if he would say you’re screwing this up, I better find out when to where I screwed up. And if he would say that was good. I just say Yeah, but he didn’t get to say that tomorrow or the day after that, or the day after. He kept me going anything. I tell you something I’ve never told anybody. Stanley was. First of all, we were the only only newspaper in America that had a bar in the lobby.
Nestor J. Aparicio 26:55
I liked that newspaper already. I wish it would have worked there. Oh,
Jerry Izenberg 26:58
well, I tell you, it was the best newspaper in America by far. The Bartlett school artists, writers, artists and writers that every lampshade in a bar. And a writer of the Herald Tribune, autograph. Show standard would go in and we see me wanted me to do somebody knew I was going to not want to do it. She wanted to have a drink. Finally, I told him, whatever it is telling me I can’t keep drinking that crap. Go down and he’d get a leash, reach over the blind, get a bottle of wild turkey and to waterways and fill them up with wild turkey. So I printed that McGregor down. And he got I couldn’t handle it anymore. But one day, he said to me, let’s go have a drink. And I standing just tell me what you want. No, no, we’re gonna have a great go down there. He said, I want you to take that job as a columnist. And I should stand with you. I’m not taking it. I don’t. Even for you. I’m not taking on the learning here. I’m happy here. We’re kicking the crap out at times. I like the way things are going. And he said, You may like to wait to go home but you’re going to New Jersey, you’re going back. I said I’m like I do. And he said, Okay, your fire. Actually, you know, fire me. He said, I will have to repeat it your fire. And then he leaned over. You really was used as surrogate father. After my dad died, he leaned over and said, Jerry, I’m getting fired next week. And I want you to be a columnist before I leave. Wow, that’s what year
Nestor J. Aparicio 28:36
was that? Jerry? 6262 Jerry Eisenberg is here. He has a memory. Almost as good as mine. But he’s got a few years on me and more things to remember. The new book is on Larry Doby. I want to make sure we’re promoting this so people can find Jerry Eisenberg’s work if you’re listening, it’s spelled with an eye not an easy not like John Eisenberg. My younger a friend here who says that he wrote at the Baltimore Sun during the Golden Age of sports, right? Well, yeah, we He lives down the street. He’s still writing books to the book is Larry Doby, the story of a baseball pioneer in black and white by Jerry Eisenberg. his longtime friendship. Larry Doby was the second black player to play major league baseball. I gotta go back to something because you you’re giving me a lot of wisdom. Jerry, last thing I’m gonna lead. You said something about taught you everything you needed to know about ethics. Yeah, in sports journalism, teach me everything I need to know about ethics. And well, this
Jerry Izenberg 29:31
will get you started. He taught me there are times when you should never be afraid to write. But there are times when you should not like you have to weigh the value risk and reward, not risk and reward to yield by risk and reward to the failure you’re writing about. We does not have he may Yeah, he’ll make $100,000 Here $100 million. But he doesn’t have an audience we can talk to have you not this guy. You gotta go to the park. But if you can’t, you gotta be in the park the next day, and let him yell at you because he’s entitled to that.
Nestor J. Aparicio 30:16
Facing the people you criticize rule number one, right? Yeah,
Jerry Izenberg 30:20
yeah, well yet when you tell a guy, he was great, they come looking for you. You don’t have to look for them and say thank you for what you did. And they shouldn’t be saying thank you anyway. Because ain’t coming around and saying thank you, thank you. But on the other hand, those columns know, well,
Nestor J. Aparicio 30:36
I’m when someone comes up and says, Hey, thanks for writing that nice thing about me. I would say, I wrote what was in my heart. You didn’t tell me to write it? I wrote it. Because it’s what I think you don’t have to thank me for that. Yeah, it’s my job to write the truth. And it’s been my job for 40 years to write the truth. I hope I get to live as long as you and somebody has me on their show when I’m 93. So I can talk about this stuff, because I’ve lifted as well and only people who’ve done it, as long as you know, the intimidation of criticizing someone. And then going in and seeing them this
Jerry Izenberg 31:06
is my 70 of joy for the paper to me do schedule better mind. This is my 74th year in business. And in all those years, only two guys, we thank you notes, sat down and wrote them. And you never got to figure out who they are. Anyway, so one was a third guy didn’t know I didn’t know Greg did not know right, everybody said thank you. When guy was Ken venturi. When 10 When toy play the US Open. It was the last time they played 36 shows in one day. congressional country club, Washington DC, study 9899 degrees, had heat problems during the first night. They brought him in to the area, even after the first day team laid him down and used a catheter to get the urine out and then gave him a shot and poured more water into a more and went out. And he won. And he won. And I will note about I said hey, I saw somebody listen, sit on a stool. Um, what kind of tough guy do you want? Who didn’t go out when he showed up? You know? So I said, this guy showed me real courage. real courage is golfer sport. I don’t care what you think of this water. Not I think he was the most one of the most courageous athletes I saw yesterday. Okay. Years go by. He goes to the Mayo Clinic. He’s going to have an operation on his hand was affecting his golf game. And it’s very possible he would never play another game of golf, although it didn’t work out that way. He sits down at night and a Mayo Clinic he writes me a note. I never thank you for what you’re about. The second guy was Elston Howard Famille said how I get expected, right? The third guy who told me because he doesn’t write letters, Roger Maris. I loved Roger Maris. Everybody hated Roger. Because right? They put magazine writers who didn’t know football or baseball from AIG. They put those guys when Roger is going to break free booth record placements for women. And they asked her why didn’t you hit a home run today? Right? Yeah. And he she, and he would say to me before get my my talk. That
Nestor J. Aparicio 33:45
was portrayed in the movie, the 61 movie that Billy Crystal made, right?
Jerry Izenberg 33:48
Yes. Oh, yeah. There was a lot. He knew what was going on the wrong guy. He said, Mickey hit 63. And I had CTQ. Everything would have been on my Mickey with Mr. Yankee. Jerry
Nestor J. Aparicio 34:03
Eisenberg here educating us. Last thing I keep saying last thing, but I could see your coffee with you all night. Jerry. What do you love about sports at this point in your life, because I’ve had my own struggles lately. I’m 40 years into my career. I’m Peter Angelos here. But but finding the love of sports is still something that I’m in search of.
Jerry Izenberg 34:23
I’m going to tell you why I didn’t quit sports. I was very seriously like doing a general account. And I was going to ask the editor, the paper if he would let me do it. I got to see I would do special things that weren’t I did the 1968 Convention in Chicago. And they broke this wrist at that convention. I couldn’t wear my watch on his head for about 10 years. I did the moonshots. They sent me. I happen to stumble into Annapolis jobaline O with a great football player. And he also is a pretty good catcher. And a couple of baseball teams were scouting him ya know when when you come out or you’re willing to come with us, just let me do Billina I’ll do my sketching, running back. I go down here and all of a sudden, that Bancroft Hall, that’s the administrator on the second day that is located here. pindrop often won’t get rid of why I’m saying what discipline had nothing to do, because the doors are open. Shepherd, a marine and Napoli’s Gregor is going up, not into the atmosphere, but goes up and comes down to prove that we can get up and down. Remember that I was the first willing to really I don’t
Nestor J. Aparicio 35:49
remember this early 60s, late 60s, but yes, I’m with you. Yeah.
Jerry Izenberg 35:54
Well, I’m Helen jobaline. I get them and I did Alan Shepard who remembers him and whenever, because to me, if I didn’t do it, nobody was gonna do it.
Nestor J. Aparicio 36:03
That was the story that day Annapolis. Right? Oh, yeah. So
Jerry Izenberg 36:06
now when they were shooting with rockets, practicing to get to the moon and everything. They said, Why don’t you get down and write with your I said, I’ll do that. I did that. And I didn’t go to Kannapolis I went to the beach with the hookers. And the exhibition is the girls went abroad. I mean, no, no topside and a beer salesman. And I was at a festival they were having other beats because it was at a Coffee Festival. That’s what I wrote. Then I did in 1968, when the Democratic Convention, I always really revved up. And I convinced the woman who was married to a very prominent New Jersey politician. We hired her for brownie points. We hired her because if she likes to call him, you know, her husband would like us even more, we’ll get more stories that were always calculated. I didn’t I mean, access journalism in the early days. Yeah. So anyway, what happened was, I showed her I took her down to the Grant Park. And I said, take a walk with me. She said, I haven’t seen you. I’ve been at all a party. She was covering all the points that haven’t seen you. I didn’t know why. But unfortunately, I’ve been working. But take a little walk with me. I’m walking down across the street from Grant Park. We were kids are organizing Michigan Avenue. I know where we are. The air is thick with teargas. I haven’t bought 100 children because I didn’t give it to her into what’s going on with somebody has to do so this is as he says that. We’re standing in front of the Blackstone Hotel. Blam the picture window in the in the coffee shop. blows out. And a guy with shards of glass in his forehead comes running through in two cops with billy club. So Jason, he said somebody Shaivism I said, Well, you could do skip a cop party, right? A ca one calm about what you’re seeing. Though I can’t do that by it won’t be flourishing. I’ll help you. I wrote the column with her name. Now her politician husband is up in a Chicago built not sure if you guys heard he’s up on the 20th floor with her. I’m on the third floor. He wants to know why she did that. He calls the editor of the paper. And it’s just we added a paper. What are you doing with my wife? What made her do that thing? And he should we should I know who said I will take care of the only one person will do that me. So they told me I don’t want you to covering anything ever again. That’s not sports.
Nestor J. Aparicio 39:01
And that was it. There’s the inter your political
Jerry Izenberg 39:04
will fuck him up. And then I said no. And then I wrote this. I wrote a piece of book I forgot what the book was called. But the prologue to the book is why do I do this? After all these things that have been done without me and everything, why do I still do it? And I talked about the Freud’s eSports. And if I don’t say something about him, I have a pretty up patting myself on the back whatever pretty fair opinion that nobody else is doing. It’s more convenient to be friendly with the guys who dominate sports, the athletes that to say what they really are not one of them, of course, you know, Why’d your marriage was dying, which is why like why he was dying and a week to live. Kind of strange doctor comes into his room whether that is your doctor, and he says budget is it Dr. Charles show he wants to tie this story. Here. We’re working on a research. I want to give it to you. It’s going to be painful. And I, I honestly, I don’t think it’s going to help you, but look to help us see what we have to change. And why they said, most people don’t know why they said that it helps someone down the line. They said we think so. He said do it. And they did it. And he had a very tough last week. You know, I mean, there was a guy. I remember the village traded for a guy for Minnesota who had Tourette’s disease. Our Jim Jim Eisen, right? Yes, that guy couldn’t remember his name. Jim Eisen, right. Yeah. And he said, and they had to get rid of him before taking it away. It’s getting embarrassed for those who don’t reset might have a side effect so between your purchasing and scatological raises that people they can’t help themselves. So Incident Reporting tip was who stadium that foot? I remember it’s built in clear water. Yeah. Clear Water, and in which way the Phillies took this wintry? Because it had been predicted
Nestor J. Aparicio 41:20
that Oregon player there, that’s all I remember about it.
Jerry Izenberg 41:23
Well, I was gonna say something I didn’t said and I’m not gonna say it was scatological, too. So anyway, we’re talking about Oregon
Nestor J. Aparicio 41:34
93. And get away whatever you want. Just
Jerry Izenberg 41:40
you know, I don’t want to embarrass the children and the dogs in the street. But then which I met a nice Oregon player. And that’s it. Um, anyway. He’s not going to talk. They will never learn if he doesn’t talk. Right. That’s, I mean, that’s how horrible it was. guy come and say, Oh, well, we’re glad you’re here. Boy, we need power on this. And we’re gonna fit right in. We’re happy to have you. That looks and says, Well, it’s been nice talking to you and watch the way that becomes the Phillies joke. And they’re battlecry. The year they when he hits a homerun and he beats the Toronto, the World Series. And every time he comes by, they say nice talk, and that a great relationship. Yeah,
Nestor J. Aparicio 42:29
I covered that team in 93, as well, obviously, I was at those games in Philly in Toronto, so that I would
Jerry Izenberg 42:34
have to write about it. I mean, you have to understand, one of my big causes is the American Indian. And for 29 years, I ran a football game where all the proceeds went to sending kids from Newark to college. I had the Army and Navy Junior Varsity. I had the goat I had the mule I had to cut. And you could see the Army Navy game, which we only had 10,000 seats, you weren’t sitting way up in it. And you know, and it was very successful. We sent 1100 Newer kids to college, over a 29 year period. And that was my little contribution to fix the world.
Nestor J. Aparicio 43:18
Well, you fix me here for the last 45 minutes. Jerry Eisenberg, the young man from the fighting city of Newark in the Newark star ledger has been writing column since 1951. When I found out that I could spend time with you, I knew it would be a gift and it would be a gift for our audience. Cheering
Jerry Izenberg 43:37
thing I like to say about Adobe. Adobe said to me set it to other people too, but I used it. He said people don’t understand about Jackie said, you know, I gave him all credit. He was the first he took a lot of crap. They had a lot of problems where they want to pay a secretary. Nobody ever said we’re gonna be nice to the nephew ego that comes along. But he didn’t see me grow up. Right?
Nestor J. Aparicio 44:02
Well, I mean, we can only imagine the book is on Larry Doby. Formerly on Earth truths and stories and old stories about Larry Doby and razor
Jerry Izenberg 44:13
thin baseball in America. You’ll learn things you never knew. Well,
Nestor J. Aparicio 44:16
I already did. And I appreciate time with you time as always well spent with my, my, my mentors, and anybody that was a friend to John Steadman is somebody I got to have on the program. So thank you very, very much for your time today. Good luck with the book. I know you’ll sell lots of copies. But come back and visit with us soon again, Jerry. Okay. Well, I
Jerry Izenberg 44:33
would love to do I need the invitation. You’ll never get rid of me. Oh, you
Nestor J. Aparicio 44:37
know, Bert sugar was like that with me until the end too. So all of you old sages out there. If I can’t get cosell on the phone today, I’ll reach to you. How about that Jerry? All right. Next time we’re gonna talk cosell Jerry Eisenberg from the fighting city of Newark here with us. We’re doing the Maryland crabcakes we’re out on the road. I have my own my Maryland lottery ticket. I’ve been having so much fun playing with it here. In chatting long. We’re gonna be at Pappas in Parkville on Tuesday, a little respite and then back at fade Lee’s on July 12 When the dreaded New York Yankees come to Baltimore we then fade these election to market all are brought to you by the Maryland lottery conjunction with our friends at Liberty, pure solutions and Jiffy Lube. Multi care. We’re having a really good week. Have a conversation around here we’ve had rockstars on Hall of Famers, and just Hall of Fame writers as well. It’s baseball season here in Baltimore. Stay with us. We’re Baltimore positive
