Fun Baseball Stories To Help Pass the MLB Break (Listen)

Major League Baseball’s All-Star break is upon us as we reach the halfway point of the season. This being the case, I thought I would do a baseball-themed City Talk program this past weekend. If you are a regular listener to City Talk, you are likely familiar with my friend Andy Strasberg, who is best known for telling his story about growing up a fan of the New York Yankees slugger Roger Maris and eventually becoming his friend and Number-One fan.  

Andy has been on the City Talk several times to tell his Maris story which many people have described as amazing and unbelievable. Andy will tell you that as amazing as it all sounds... It’s all very true. The Maris story isn’t Andy’s only story, however. He has shared with me and my audience several other stories about his baseball experiences. Most of them will make you laugh, others make you think, and others might leave you a little choked up.  

I thought I would share with you here the best of those stories. Maybe they will help to fill a bit of the void while you wait for the regular baseball season to resume. Here we go. 

The last time Andy was on City Talk, he gave sort of a cliff notes version of his Maris Story. Here it is: 

If you have heard the full Maris Story, you would agree with Andy that it is unbelievable. I asked him if the full story was available anywhere for public consumption. He told me that it is:  

One of the most memorable parts of Andy’s story is when he asked Maris for a game-used bat and also for a homerun baseball. One of the names you will hear in this story is that of Yankees utility infielder, Phil Linz. If you have been a Yankee fan long enough, you’ll know that name. Here it is:  

Probably the most amazing part of Andy’s Maris story is the way he gets that homerun baseball, and it is by far my favorite part of the story: 

You might recall the HBO Films movie, 61, which was all about the summer that Maris and Mickey Mantle were challenging for Babe Ruth’s All-Time Homerun mark. Well, Andy was called in as a sort of expert to advise on the making of the film. Billy Crystal, who directed the film, offered Andy a cameo role: 

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In 1975, Andy found himself working for the San Diego Padres in the Marketing Department. Here's a quick story on how he got started there: 

At one point in the ’80s, Andy came up with an idea to have a concert following Padres home games. He tells a very funny story about that experience. I’ll just say it involves Padres coach Whitey Wietelmann, Peter Tork of the music group The Monkey’s, and fisticuffs: 

Another very funny story that Andy tells is about the time that he got to be an umpire in an exhibition baseball game. This one involves a very close play at third base: 

Most of Andy’s stories, make you laugh. This one however will leave you a little choked up. It takes place after Roger Maris has died and what transpires between Andy and the Maris family: 

Well, that's all for now. I hope you enjoyed Andy’s stories. He certainly tells them well.