Episodes
It's the first two-part episode of "My First Ballgame!" There was just too much good stuff to cover with Joba Chamberlain. This Q&A is worth the wait ... we ask Joba to settle the old Mike Francesa question once and for all -- was he a starter or a reliever? What should the Yankees have done? We also find out what it was like to share a bullpen with the great Mariano Rivera, go inside the clubhouse with the 2009 World Series champions and much more! (Stay tuned after the interview as we...
Published 06/28/22
We are joined by Joba Chamberlain, who spent 10 seasons pitching in the big leagues from 2007 through 2016 with the Yankees, Tigers, Royals and Indians. In the first half of a two-part interview, Joba joins us in the DeLorean to revisit his Major League debut pitching for the Yankees on August 7, 2007, called up as a 21-year-old and entering in relief to face the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. We'll discuss his meteoric rise to fame, his thoughts on the "Joba Rules," playing for manager...
Published 06/20/22
We are joined by Marc Carig, deputy managing editor for The Athletic, who has also covered Major League clubhouses as a beat reporter with the Orioles (2008), Yankees (2009-12, '18) and Mets (2012-17). Marc's work has appeared in Baseball Prospectus, the Newark Star-Ledger, Newsday, the Boston Globe and the Washington Post. Marc grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and is bringing us back to October 3, 1989 for Game 3 of the National League Championship Series between the Chicago Cubs and...
Published 05/30/22
We are joined by Jack Curry of the YES Network, a two-time New York Times bestselling author who is looking to make it three with "Swing and a Hit: Nine Innings of What Baseball Taught Me," an upcoming collaboration with Paul O'Neill. Jack sets the time circuits for April 13, 1990, when we'll revisit his first mainbar assignment covering the Yankees for The New York Times. Jack's car was towed by the NYPD hours before Pascual Perez tossed that night's first pitch against the Texas Rangers, a...
Published 05/16/22
We are joined by Lindsay Berra, who gives us the inside scoop about "It Ain't Over," an upcoming documentary about her grandfather, Yogi, which will be shown at the upcoming Tribeca Film Festival. Lindsay brings us back to July 18, 1999, where we will accompany her to Yankee Stadium for 'Yogi Berra Day,' marking her grampa's return to the Bronx after nearly 15 years following a falling out with principal owner George M. Steinbrenner. It was a magical afternoon, with Don Larsen tossing the...
Published 05/09/22
We are joined by Pete Caldera, who leads dual lives as the New York Yankees beat reporter for The Record of New Jersey and an evening performer, singing swingin' Frank Sinatra standards at a variety of New York City cigar bars and nightclubs. Pete brings us to Shea Stadium on August 9, 1974 for the Mets' 4-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds, a game played just hours after Richard Nixon resigned from the presidency. We'll discuss being a Mets fan in the 1970s, the heartbreak of the Tom Seaver...
Published 04/25/22
We are joined by Meredith Marakovits, who has been the YES Network's Yankees clubhouse reporter since 2012. Meredith takes us to her first day on the job -- April 6, 2012, where we'll revisit the Yankees' 7-6 loss to the Rays at Tropicana Field. Mariano Rivera is the greatest closer in baseball history, but Mo didn't have it that afternoon, leaving Meredith to ask some tough questions in her debut. We'll learn how Meredith traded the Philadelphia 76ers for the Yankees, ask what people always...
Published 04/18/22
In this episode of My First Ballgame, we are joined by the great Sweeny Murti of WFAN and SportsNet New York, who has expertly covered the New York Yankees for more than two decades. Sweeny takes us to June 8, 1975, where we'll trot onto the steaming Astroturf of Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium for the Phillies' 4-2 victory over the Dodgers. We'll discuss Sweeny's affection for Greg "The Bull" Luzinski, swap behind-the-scenes stories with Aaron Boone, meet Tim McCarver and Tug McGraw at a...
Published 04/11/22
In this episode of My First Ballgame, we are joined by my good buddy Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, who co-authored one of the greatest baseball books ever written: "Mission 27," with the 2009 New York Yankees. We revisit Mark's first trip to Yankee Stadium on May 5, 1979, a 5-4 walk-off Yankees win over the Athletics. We'll touch upon what it was like to be in a Yankees clubhouse with Reggie Jackson, marvel at Tommy John "working on an 11-hitter," talk about riding the New York City subway in the...
Published 04/04/22
In the first episode of 'My First Ballgame,' co-hosts Bryan Hoch and Connie Schwab Hoch set the time circuits for June 23, 1990. We'll hear the details of Bryan's first trip to a Major League stadium -- New York's Shea Stadium, where Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden and the Mets defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-0 -- and how that one summer evening sparked Bryan's decades-long love for baseball. Stay for the 1990s pop culture references, details on Bryan's current life as the Yankees beat...
Published 03/29/22