© 2024 Public Radio Tulsa
800 South Tucker Drive
Tulsa, OK 74104
(918) 631-2577

A listener-supported service of The University of Tulsa
classical 88.7 | public radio 89.5
Donate
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

"Left on Base in the Bush Leagues: Legends, Near Greats, and Unknowns in the Minors" (Encore)

Public Radio Tulsa | By Rich Fisher
Published July 15, 2020 at 12:42 PM CDT
Aired on Wednesday, July 15th.

The pandemic-shortened Major League Baseball season will begin next week, on the 23rd -- and, looking on the bright side, **some** baseball this summer will be much better, of course, than **no** baseball this summer. In that spirit, we listen back to a fine StudioTulsa discussion from August of last year, when our guest was Gaylon White, a former sportswriter for the Denver Post, the Arizona Republic, and the Oklahoma Journal. White tells us about his then-new book, "Left on Base in the Bush Leagues: Legends, Near Greats, and Unknowns in the Minors." As was noted of this work by a reviewer for Baseball Almanac: "Immerse yourself in the magic of being a bush league fan.... [Stories] range from Joe Bauman breaking the all-time single season professional home-run record by hitting 72 home-runs in 1954 [to] Ron Necciai, [who] struck out 27 batters in a nine-inning game."
Tags
StudioTulsa American HistoryNonfictionAmerican CultureOklahoma HistorySportsPopular CultureMajor League BaseballRural LifeSports JournalismSmalltown LifeHistorical ResearchHistoryBaseballprofessional sports
Rich Fisher
Rich Fisher passed through KWGS about thirty years ago, and just never left. Today, he is the general manager of Public Radio Tulsa, and the host of KWGS’s public affairs program, StudioTulsa, which celebrated its twentieth anniversary in August 2012 . As host of StudioTulsa, Rich has conducted roughly four thousand long-form interviews with local, national, and international figures in the arts, humanities, sciences, and government. Very few interviews have gone smoothly. Despite this, he has been honored for his work by several organizations including the Governor's Arts Award for Media by the State Arts Council, a Harwelden Award from the Arts & Humanities Council of Tulsa, and was named one of the “99 Great Things About Oklahoma” in 2000 by Oklahoma Today magazine.
See stories by Rich Fisher
Related Content
  • Chad Harbach jokes that after his success with his book about baseball, hockey, golf and ping-pong are next.
    In 'Fielding,' Baseball Meets The White Whale
    NPR Staff
    Chad Harbach's debut novel, The Art of Fielding, is as much about literary fiction as it is about baseball. The book follows a talented college shortstop destined for big-league stardom — until a routine throw goes wrong and his life starts to fall apart.
  • New York Yankees pitcher Jim Bouton holds two balls that his teammates hope will lead them to victory in the 1964 World Series.
    'Ball Four': The Book That Changed Baseball
    NPR Staff
    Fifty years ago, a young pitcher won his first major league game for the New York Yankees. Jim Bouton went on to become a top-flight player. But he became famous, or notorious, for Ball Four, a memoir that broke the code of silence that kept what happened in locker rooms and on the road off-limits.
  • 'One Last Strike' The Tale Of A Storied Baseball Career
    At the helm of an underdog team that won one of the most dramatic World Series ever, Tony La Russa "retired" in just about the best way possible. Robert Siegel talks with La Russa about his new baseball memoir One Last Strike and his remarkable 33 year career as one of the best managers in Major League Baseball history.
  • 'The Natural' Of 1952 Holds Lessons For Today's MLB
    A new edition of Bernard Malamud's classic baseball story, The Natural, was just released. NPR's Scott Simon talks to Howard Bryant of ESPN about how the 1952 novel is more relevant than ever.
  • StudioTulsa
    "How Juan Marichal and John Roseboro Turned Baseball's Ugliest Brawl into a Story of Forgiveness..."
    Rich Fisher
    "Play ball!" Weather allowing, 26 of the 30 teams that comprise Major League Baseball will be taking the field today. There may have been two games last…
  • 'A Dream Come True' As Baseball Player Joins The Majors
    After years in the minor leagues, Brock Stassi joined the Phillies. His brother wrote: "My brother is a prime example to everyone : chase your dream, prove the doubters wrong, and GRIND!!!!!!!!!"
Load More