Strange But True Baseball Stories - Airs April 13th

Dock Ellis Pitches a No-No by Neille Ilel
Steroid use in Major League Baseball has muscled back into the headlines as the Barry Bonds' perjury trail jury begins their fourth day of deliberation. But drugs in baseball are certainly nothing new. Dock Ellis tells us about the time in 1970 he pitched a no-hitter for the Pittsburgh Pirates while on a perhaps-not-so-performance-enhancing drug.

The Potato Ball Caper from Long Haul Productions
On August 31, 1987, one of baseball's most peculiar plays took place in the minor leagues in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. It was a variation of the age-old hidden ball trick, except this time around it actually involved a hidden potato.

Nancy Plays for the Sox by Philip Graitcer
The organ is baseball’s loudest fan, and, like peanuts and hot dogs, hearing the national anthem played on a ballpark organ is baseball tradition... but that’s changing. This season only about half of the major league teams have real live organists. Their sound is being replaced by canned music and DJs. Nancy Faust was the Chicago White Sox organist for 41 seasons. She retired at the end of last season - but we get to sit-in with her for a few tunes before she hung up her Molly O'Morgan.

PS. Here's a great animated version of our first tale.

Comments

Kimberly said…
Drugs in sports are not something new, of course, and they are super common in very popular ones. Tennis, baseball, basketball and soccer. I travelled to Argentina last year, I was staying in one of those Buenos Aires apartments close to this bar where soccer games were on the TV most of the time. I asked the waiters there to learn a little bit more about soccer culture and they told me that Maradona (former soccer player) had had problems with drugs and he is still te Argentine idol. Nowadays, it seems the drugs problem is much more controlled. I hope so!
Kim
11:26 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Computer Love - Airs Feb 19th

Image
Love and Robots by Anton Foek Dr. David Levy ,  an expert in artificial intelligence,  argues that the automata we once deemed cold and mechanical will soon become the objects of real companionship as well as human desire. He explores many aspects of human relationships and how they have changed over time. Levy believes it inevitable that these same attachments will eventually extend to love for robots . My Sex Robot by Audrey Quinn Brooklyn make-up artist Jessica Jacobs desperately needed a job . Because she had experience sculpting and special effects for the movies , a friend asked her to take over on a very special assignment. We'll hear how this girl-next-door became the woman behind the world's first sex robot, Roxxxy .  TI-99/4A from The Optimist What could be more fun than a Texas Instruments home computer , a dot matrix printer, and a text adventure game on a cassette drive!? Well, all of this and some poorly written BASIC progra...
Read more

Dr. Frankenstein's Monster - Airs Oct 29th

Image
The Frankenstein Family Crypt from The American Forces Network In 1952, announcer Carl Nelson's producers sent him to the Frankenstein Castle near Darmstadt , Germany to explore the family crypt. Little did he know, they had set up a prank which was waiting for him. Despite the rising fear in his voice, Nelson dutifully reports everything as it happens, even going so far as to examine a grotesque statue he thinks he saw moving. Panic and terror rightfully ensue. Frankenstein from The Witch's Tale The Witch's Tale was the first horror radio serial . The series ran from 1931-1943 and was created, written, and directed by St. Paul's own Alonzo Deen Cole . The stories were hosted by an old Salem witch and her black cat, Satan.  In this episode , a young scientist named Victor conducts experiments into human anatomy, physiology, and electro-chemistry; intent on improving the human race. Eventually he succeeds in creating life but is instantly repulsed by his cre...
Read more

Stay Young, Go Dancing - Airs Oct 20th

Image
Stay Young, Go Dancing  from MinneCulture Is there any debate about the most legendary venue in Minnesota history? Well, some say it’s definitely not First Avenue, or even that it is anywhere near the Twin Cities. Deep in the middle of the corn and soybean fields of rural Sibley County, behind a chain link fence topped with barbed-wire, there sits a massive  building  complex that was once considered to be the  polka  capital of the world: The  Gibbon Ballroom . Tonight, in this award-winning documentary, we present the colorful history of this infamous Midwest venue, as told through the voices of the musicians, dancers, and local residents who loved it. Produced for  KFAI  by  James Napoli  and edited by Melissa Olson.   A Toast to the Original Champagne Lady  from MinneCulture During the Great Depression,  her voice  lifted spirits. During the big band era, her beauty radiated from the stage of St. Paul's Prom Ball...
Read more