7 Burst results for "Jim Mudcat Grant"
Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast
"jim mudcat grant" Discussed on Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast
"Some size at the end, just like at the beginning. So part of the reason why I think they're fan base is in the mood that it is in, is that they got promised a lot. They got a lot of talk about multiple championships. They got a lot of talk about how the White Sox basically sold 2016, 2017. At least bet at the time, we had not seen a team that had like two friendly rotation starters locked up on a really team friendly deals and even at the time had a meeting it was a big trade asset. We had not seen the team that had that level of core in place with that level of value stripped out. And so this was supposed to be this big rebuild that set them up for good for the long term. They're going to be a dynasty the way the Astros have become where they're annually in the playoffs regularly and you could have a 5 to 6 to 7 to 8 year competitive window where they have multiple World Series appearances in there. So I don't think there's really any way they can match up with the level of expectations they set. I think any reasonable standard would just be winning the Yale central getting back to playoffs winning a playoff series being relevant in the late playoff discussion. All I think would be a reasonable successor seems certainly given what was actually put into this off season, which was more two real major additions, one, which is now Paris fraught around the core that that's probably a reasonable expectation for them if everything goes right. I don't really think that given what they've sacrificed for this to be the competitive window given the fact that kind of abundant three years and hyped us up as a time where they'd be annual contenders. I don't think just when he had division is really going to satiate their fans because they were promised a lot more, but I think just looking at this rasa day and what they have, I think that if they won the AL central, they won 93 plus games. I would certainly write that Pedro go folded a really good job with what he had. And it'd be hard for me to give another F to the front office if the pieces they put together delivered that. It's hard to win the divisions. I would know because I covered the White Sox now. They haven't won that many. So I think that's what a success is. I think when he a playoff series, they haven't won one since 2005. Even if they just get flattened in the LCS by an Astros or a Yankees team that I think is a tier above them, I think that'd be a successful year. But theoretically given that they were 81 and 81 last year and really bad that maybe even worse from a run differential perspective, even just add winning 90 games and being a wild card team or just being in the hunt all season long and just looking better, but obviously better, but there's this gulf between what they say to their expectations where and what I think is actually reasonable to expect from the group that they've assembled, which is a lot more just, you know, win a bad division. I think that'd be a good year for them. Right, well, we will see if going to summer school can help the White Sox salvage their GPA. You can read about their studies, I'll see you some lung at the athletic, and you can find James on Twitter at JR vegan, James, thanks, as always. I thought this had to end with me doing a prediction is that sometimes last year. Yeah, we've scrapped it. But if you've got one holstered and ready to go, I don't want to waste your time. If I'm out, I don't have to be wedded to some prediction. I would definitely not do more than what's required me. I will take, I will give a sea level performance where I do nothing above. What is it? Perfect. Okay, we will conclude with the past blast, which comes to us from 1970 and from David Lewis and architectural historian and baseball researcher based in Boston. David writes, 1970, Finley covers his bases. In 1970, ever eccentric athletics owner Charlie Finley was, as UPA put it, at it again. In an effort to liven up opening day in Oakland, Finley requested and received permission from baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn to use bases painted a bright gold on a one game trial basis. The experiment called for first second and third base but not home plate to be painted, finlay was quoted as saying it should make players want to reach base more often. Which is an interesting hypothesis. Should it? The fact that the bases are painted gold is the idea here that we will fool the players into thinking that they're golden that they get to take the bases back with them. I don't know that it would make them want to reach base more often, but I guess it's pretty to look at. Continuing here, adding to the opening day spectacle, a's pitcher Jim mudcat grant was tapped to sing the national anthem, reportedly the first active player to do so. Finley evidently liked the experiment enough that he suggested colored bases as a permanent rule change at the 1970 winter meetings in December. This suggestion, along with a proposal to add a 22nd pitch clock, was ultimately rejected by the playing rules committee. So finlay, he was et cetera is a good word for it. He was ahead of his time in some ways, and he was a showman and promoter and he liked some sideshow elements and he liked colors, colorful uniforms, colored bases, colored balls, right? Orange colored baseballs. Initiative, but colored bases. I don't know. I mean, it's similar to today where we're talking about a change to the bases and an actual pitch clock. So finlay would probably be pleased about that, but I guess you would be disappointed that the bigger bases are still just plain old boring white and not break gold. Yeah, I mean. Wow, wow, could have had an even better photo up. Short air in Arizona earlier this week if the basis were not only bigger, but bright gold. Gold. You know? Championship bases. It's like when it's like when a club wins the World Series and then their numbers get to have the gold outlining, you know? Yeah. Maybe someday. Maybe someday. All right, that will do it for today and for this week. Thanks as always for listening. RIP to Tim mccarver, who died on Thursday at age 81, 21 year playing career, two time all star, two
Bloomberg Radio New York
"jim mudcat grant" Discussed on Bloomberg Radio New York
"He released his tenth book, Ricky. The life and legend of an American original on baseball legend Ricky Henderson, bless will talk with him about the current state of the game coming out of the all star break and heading toward the trade deadline. I am excited for our conversation with Howard Bryant, his book on Ricky Henderson really goes beyond the blockbuster numbers at Ricky put up in his long career. It touches on his impact. It really digs into his impact in terms of diversity and sports as a black athlete and his impact on player salaries, which is fascinating because he was really ahead of his time. He's also in a group of legendary athletes that played in the Bay Area, which made me think of one of our own here at Bloomberg. Seth Magdalene Seth is a producer who has a very unique background in baseball, especially in the Bay Area. Seth produced a documentary called the Bay Area black aces, and I want to bring him into the program. Seth, welcome to the show, tell us a little bit about your background and baseball. I started out in baseball in the late 80s and took that all the way to Bloomberg where I was producing the sports business show portfolio when I first joined the network. You wrote and produced a documentary called the Bay Area black aces that won the Northern California Emmy Award as the best sports program in 2004. And the decade before that, you didn't mention you actually worked for the a's organization during Rickey Henderson's second tour of duty and that that'll be important later on. I want you to explain to us a little bit about the premise of your documentary Bay Area black aces, because Ricky Henderson is not a pitcher, but he's certainly a Bay Area superstar. The black aces concept was generated by one of the 12 African American pitchers in history to win 20 games in a season to be an ace, and that was Jim mudcat grant. Who pitched in the 1950 60s and 70s, and back in the early 2000s, he was promoting the fact that this wasn't exclusive baseball club. And baseball is all about numbers and clubs, right? The 500 home run club, the 3000 hit club. And to that point in the early 2000s, there had only been 12 black pitchers to win 20 games. And mudcat really wanted that to become a thing. And what I noticed, and I had been working in the Bay Area, is that of those 12, four were a Bay Area pictures, a pitch for the Giants and the a's. I know there are people who'd like to make that a trivia question, but it was Sam Jones of the Giants was the first, then Vita blue, then a fellow named Mike Norris, who figures very much in Ricky Henderson's career as Howard Bryant, Howard Bryant's book makes clear. And then Dave Stewart. And so my documentary was about what made it possible for this concentration in one in one city to take place. And that actually since then, there have been two more in the club. CC Sabathia, who grew up in Vallejo and dontrell Willis who grew up in Alameda, California. So it's really kind of a remarkable cluster. As a child of baseball cards, I have my Vita blue baseball. But again, like you said, it was rare to see a black pitcher. You know, for every bob Gibson, there were not a lot of people who were and even bob Gibson and every one of them really had to fight to get taken seriously in that role. And unfortunately, now with the way baseball has evolved, we're probably not going to see 20 game winners very often anyway. And so it's interesting. That category may kind of go to history, but certainly the issue of race and baseball with participation now this year down under I think it's 7.2% of players on big league rosters are black and that's down from a high of 35 in the mid 1970s. So I think about that, how much it's changed. You talked about how four of those pictures were from the Bay Area teams, who were playing for barrier teams and grew up in the Bay Area at the east bay specifically. Economic clusters is something we talk about a lot in business, right? Silicon Valley has a lot of engineers and because there's a lot of work opportunities for them. You have more developing in the region as well. Why is it from where you sit and from what you've observed do we have this precipitous drop off in black baseball players? Yeah, there's a lot of studies on that. One is just in general where the culture has gone that football and basketball have overtaken baseball in general in the culture and now soccer is really close behind and I think those games are perceived at those sports are perceived as being more friendly. They take less baseball, you know, you need more players, not from football, but certainly from basketball. You know, you can play three on three basketball and get really good and you can't play three on three baseball. Right. Lack of fields, lack of mentors, those factors have certainly been discussed. And to some degree, I think, you know, just lack of a welcoming feeling in the game. Also, lack of college scholarships, a lot more players now in baseball come out of college and fewer players who get college scholarships are from the black community. So it's really complex. But undeniable. Seth, you are the man. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. We really do appreciate it. So nice to join you, thanks. Thank you, Seth. Up next on the show more baseball author and ESPN senior writer Howard Bryant joins us to talk everything in LB plus
Bloomberg Radio New York
"jim mudcat grant" Discussed on Bloomberg Radio New York
"With author and ESPN senior writer Howard Bryant. He released his tenth book, Ricky. The life and legend of an American original on baseball legend Ricky Henderson, plus we'll talk with him about the current state of the game coming out of the all star break and heading toward the trade deadline. I am excited for our conversation with Howard Bryant, his book on Ricky Henderson really goes beyond the blockbuster numbers at Ricky put up in his long career. It touches on his impact. It really digs into his impact in terms of diversity and sports as a black athlete and his impact on player salaries, which is fascinating because he was really ahead of his time. He's also in a group of legendary athletes that played in the Bay Area, which made me think of one of our own here at Bloomberg. Seth Magdalene Seth is a producer who has a very unique background in baseball, especially in the Bay Area. Seth produced a documentary called the Bay Area black aces, and I want to bring him into the program. Seth, welcome to the show, tell us a little bit about your background in baseball. I started out in baseball in the late 80s and took that all the way to Bloomberg where I was producing the sports business show portfolio when I first joined the network. You wrote and produced a documentary called the Bay Area black aces. That won the Northern California Emmy Award as the best sports program in 2004. And the decade before that, you didn't mention you actually worked for the a's organization during Rickey Henderson's second tour of duty and that that'll be important later on. I want you to explain to us a little bit about the premise of your documentary Bay Area black aces, because Ricky Henderson is not a pitcher, but he's certainly a Bay Area superstar. The black ace is concept was generated by one of the 12 African American pitchers in history to win 20 games in a season to be an ace, and that was Jim mudcat grant, who pitched in the 1950 60s and 70s. And back in the early 2000s, he was promoting the fact that this wasn't exclusive baseball club. And baseball is all about numbers and clubs, right? The 500 home run club, the 3000 hit club. And to that point in the early 2000s, there had only been 12 black pitchers to win 20 games, and mudcat really wanted that to become a thing. And what I noticed, and I had been working in the Bay Area, is that of those 12, four were Bay Area pictures at pitch for the Giants and the a's. I know there are people who'd like to make that a trivia question, but it was Sam Jones of the Giants was the first, then Vita blue, then a fellow named Mike Norris, who figures very much in Ricky Henderson's career as Howard Bryant, Howard Brian's book makes clear. And then Dave Stewart. And so my documentary was about what made it possible for this concentration in one in one city to take place. And that actually since then, there have been two more in the club. CC Sabathia, who grew up in Vallejo and dontrell Willis who grew up in Alameda, California. So it's really kind of a remarkable cluster. As a child of baseball cards, I have my vital blue baseball card. But again, like you said, it was rare to see a black pitcher. You know, for every bob Gibson, there were not a lot of people who were and even bob Gibson and every one of them really had to fight to get taken seriously in that role. And unfortunately, now with the way baseball has evolved, we're probably not going to see 20 game winners very often anyway. And so it's interesting. That category may kind of go to history, but certainly the issue of race and baseball with participation now this year down under I think it's 7.2% of players on big league rosters are black and that's down from a high of 35 in the mid 1970s. So I think about that, how much it's changed. You talked about how four of those pictures were from the Bay Area teams, who were playing for barrier teams and grew up in the Bay Area at the east bay specifically. Economic clusters is something we talk about a lot in business, right? Silicon Valley has a lot of engineers and because there's a lot of work opportunities for them. You have more developing in the region as well. Why is it from where you sit and from what you've observed? Do we have this precipitous drop off in black baseball players? Yeah, there's a lot of studies on that. One is just in general where the culture has gone that football and basketball have overtaken baseball in general in the culture, and now soccer is really close behind. And I think those games are perceived at those sports are perceived as being more friendly. They take less baseball, you know, you need more players, not from football, but certainly from basketball. You know, you can play three on three basketball and get really good and you can't play three on three baseball. Right. Lack of fields, lack of mentors, those factors have certainly been discussed. And to some degree, I think, you know, just lack of a welcoming feeling in the game. Also, lack of college scholarships, a lot more players now in baseball come out of college and fewer players who get college scholarships are from the black community. So it's really complex. But undeniable. Seth, you are the man. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. We really do appreciate it. So nice to join you, thanks. Thank you, Seth. Up next on the show more baseball author and ESPN senior writer Howard Bryant joins us to talk everything in LB plus
Bloomberg Radio New York
"jim mudcat grant" Discussed on Bloomberg Radio New York
"Writer Howard Bryant. He released his tenth book Ricky. The life and legend of an American original on baseball legend Ricky Henderson, bless will talk with him about the current state of the game coming out of the all star break and heading toward the trade deadline. I am excited for our conversation with Howard Bryant, his book on Ricky Henderson really goes beyond the blockbuster numbers that Ricky put up in his long career. It touches on his impact. It really digs into his impact in terms of diversity and sports as a black athlete and his impact on player salaries, which is fascinating, 'cause he was really ahead of his time. He's also in a group of legendary athletes that played in the Bay Area, which made me think of one of our own here at Bloomberg. Seth Magdalene Seth is a producer who has a very unique background in baseball, especially in the Bay Area. Seth produced a documentary called the Bay Area black aces. And I want to bring him into the program. Seth, welcome to the show. Tell us a little bit about your background and baseball. I started out in baseball in the late 80s and took that all the way to Bloomberg where I was producing the sports business show portfolio when I first joined the network. You wrote and produced a documentary called the Bay Area black aces that won the Northern California and the award as the best sports program in 2004. And the decade before that, you didn't mention you actually worked for the a's organization during Rickey Henderson's second tour of duty and that that will be important later on. I want you to explain to us a little bit about the premise of your documentary Bay Area black aces because Ricky Henderson is not a pitcher, but he's certainly a Bay Area superstar. The black aces concept was generated by one of the 12 African American pitchers in history to win 20 games in a season to be an ace, and that was Jim mudcat grant, who pitched in the 1950 60s and 70s. And back in the early 2000s, he was promoting the fact that this was an exclusive baseball club. And baseball is all about numbers and clubs, right? The 500 home run club, the 3000 hit club. And to that point in the early 2000s, there had only been 12 black pitchers to win 20 games. And mudcat really wanted that to become a thing. And what I noticed, and I had been working in the Bay Area, is that of those 12, four were Bay Area pitchers who pitched for the Giants in the a's. I know there are people who'd like to make that a trivia question, but it was Sam Jones of the Giants was the first, then via the blue, then a fellow named Mike Norris, who figures very much in Ricky Henderson's career as Howard Bryant, Howard Bryant's book makes clear. And then Dave Stewart. And so my documentary was about what made it possible for this concentration in one in one city to take place. And that actually since then, there have been two more in the club. CC Sabathia, who grew up in Vallejo and dontrell Willis who grew up in Alameda, California. So it's really kind of a remarkable cluster. As a child of baseball cards, I have my vital blue baseball card. But again, like you said, it was rare to see a black pitcher. You know, for every bob Gibson, there were not a lot of people who were and even bob Gibson and every one of them really had to fight to get taken seriously in that role. And unfortunately, now with the way baseball has evolved, we're probably not going to see 20 game winners very often anyway. And so it's interesting. That category may kind of go to history, but certainly the issue of race and baseball with participation now this year down under I think it's 7.2% of players on big league rosters are black and that's down from a high of 35 in the mid 1970s. So I think about that. How much has changed? You talked about how four of those pictures were from the Bay Area teams, or were playing for barrier teams and grew up in the Bay Area at the east bay specifically. Economic clusters is something we talk about a lot in business, right? Silicon Valley has a lot of engineers and because there's a lot of work opportunities for them. You have more developing in the region as well. Why is it from where you sit and from what you've observed do we have this precipitous drop off in black baseball players? Yeah, there's a lot of studies on that. One is just in general where the culture has gone that football and basketball have overtaken baseball in general in the culture as and now soccer is really close behind and I think those games are perceived at those sports are perceived as being more friendly. They take less with baseball, you know, you need more players, not from football, but certainly from basketball. You know, you can play three on three basketball and get really good and you can't play three on three baseball. Right. Lack of fields, lack of mentors, those factors have certainly been discussed. And to some degree, I think, you know, just lack of a welcoming feeling in the game. Also, lack of college scholarships, a lot more players now in baseball come out of college and fewer players who get college scholarships or from the black community. So it's really complex. But undeniable. Seth, you are the man. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. We really do appreciate it. So nice to join you, thanks. Thank you, Seth. Up next on the show more baseball author and ESPN senior writer Howard Bryant joins us to talk everything in LB plus
Bloomberg Radio New York
"jim mudcat grant" Discussed on Bloomberg Radio New York
"His tenth book, Ricky. The life and legend of an American original on baseball legend Ricky Henderson, bless will talk with him about the current state of the game coming out of the all star break and heading toward the trade deadline. I am excited for our conversation with Howard Bryant, his book on Rickey Henderson really goes beyond the blockbuster numbers at Ricky put up in his long career. It touches on his impact. It really digs into his impact in terms of diversity and sports as a black athlete and his impact on player salaries, which is fascinating, because he was really ahead of his time. He's also in a group of legendary athletes that played in the Bay Area, which made me think of one of our own here at Bloomberg. Seth magdalena Seth is a producer who has a very unique background in baseball, especially in the Bay Area. Seth produced a documentary called the Bay Area black aces, and I want to bring him into the program. Seth, welcome to the show, tell us a little bit about your background in baseball. I started out in baseball in the late 80s and took that all the way to Bloomberg where I was producing the sports business show portfolio when I first joined the network. You wrote and produced a documentary called the Bay Area black aces. That won the Northern California Emmy Award as the best sports program in 2004. And the decade before that, you didn't mention, you actually worked for the a's organization during Rickey Henderson's second tour of duty and that that'll be important later on I want you to explain to us a little bit about the premise of your documentary Bay Area black aces because Rickey Henderson is not a pitcher, but he's certainly a Bay Area superstar. The black ace is concept was generated by one of the 12 African American pitchers in history to win 20 games in a season to be an ace, and that was Jim mudcat grant, who pitched in the 1950 60s and 70s. And back in the early 2000s, he was promoting the fact that this wasn't exclusive baseball club. And baseball is all about numbers and clubs, right? The 500 home run club, the 3000 hit club. And to that point in the early 2000s, there had only been 12 black pitchers to win 20 games. And mudcat really wanted that to become a thing. And what I noticed, and I had been working in the Bay Area, is that of those 12, four were Bay Area pictures, a pitch for the Giants and the a's. I know there are people who'd like to make that a trivia question, but it was Sam Jones of the Giants was the first, then vied a blue, then a fellow named Mike Norris, who figures very much in Ricky Henderson's career as Howard Bryant, Howard Bryant's book to make clear. And then Dave Stewart. And so my documentary was about what made it possible for this concentration in one in one city to take place. And that actually since then, there have been two more in the club. CC Sabathia, who grew up in Vallejo and dontrell Willis, who grew up in Alameda, California. So it's really kind of a remarkable cluster. As a child of baseball cards, I have my Vita blue baseball card. But again, like you said, it was rare to see a black picture. You know, for every bob Gibson, there were not a lot of people who were and even bob Gibson and every one of them really had to fight to get taken seriously in that role. And unfortunately, now with the way baseball has evolved, we're probably not going to see 20 game winners very often anyway. And so it's interesting. That category may kind of go to history, but certainly the issue of race and baseball with participation now this year down under I think it's 7.2% of players on big league rosters are black and that's down from a high of 35 in the mid 1970s. So I think about that. How much has changed? You talked about how four of those pictures were from the Bay Area teams, who were playing for barrier teams and grew up in the Bay Area at the east bay specifically. Economic clusters is something we talk about a lot in business, right? Silicon Valley has a lot of engineers and because there's a lot of work opportunities for them. You have more developing in the region as well. Why is it from where you sit and from what you've observed? Do we have this precipitous drop off in black baseball players? Yeah, there's a lot of studies on that. One is just in general where the culture has gone that football and basketball have overtaken baseball in general in the culture and now soccer is really close behind and I think those games are perceived at those sports are perceived as being more friendly. They take less baseball, you know, you need more players, not from football, but certainly from basketball. You know, you can play three on three basketball and get really good and you can't play three on three baseball. Right. Lack of fields, lack of mentors, those factors have certainly been discussed. And to some degree, I think, you know, just lack of a welcoming feeling in the game. Also, lack of college scholarships, a lot more players now in baseball come out of college and fewer players who get college scholarships are from the black community. So it's really complex. But undeniable. Seth, you are the man. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. We really do appreciate it. So nice to join you. Thanks. Thank you, Seth. Up next on the show more baseball author and ESPN senior writer Howard Bryant joins us to talk everything in LB plus a look at
WTOP 24 Hour News
Mudcat Grant, American League’s First Black 20-Game Winner, Dies at 85
"People have had Major league pitcher of the 19 sixties, has died. I'm Tom 40. His name was Jim Grand, but he was much better known as Mudcat during a near decade and a half long career in Major league Baseball grants. Best year by far was 1965 when he became the first black pitcher to win 20 games in the American League. In the process, he helped pitch the Minnesota Twins to their first pennant, after which he was a star, though in a losing effort in the World Series. In addition to the Twins, he pitched raw number of other teams, the longest for the cleavage. And Indians. Jim Mudcat Grant was 85 Tom
ESPN Chicago 1000 - WMVP
"jim mudcat grant" Discussed on ESPN Chicago 1000 - WMVP
"And that's where I got to read, you know, see some of the great players off all time, including with Henry Aaron came through their Mudcat Jim Mudcat Grant, and I know you cover all these things. But that will be a conversation for another day. Well, I mean, let me quickly ask, we just lost him. Karen, of course, just a few months ago and one of the genuinely great not only players but people and one of the most important people in the history of American sports, and so many ways. Tell me that you're saying that you saw him play when you were a little kid. I'm minus that my grandfather regale me with stories of when Hank Aaron will come through there, along with Jim Mudcat Grant. Cool, Papa Bell, you name them. They all came through Hattiesburg to play And it was not a typical for there to be double header games played them because certainly back in segregated America. That was one of the principal forms of entertainment for the fans. Then he even told me about Satchel Paige and the hesitation pitch back then greening that folks just couldn't hit and just to think. Hey, Greeny! What was Satchel Paige was? I guess he in his early forties when it got to the major league, and they even outlaw Of the picture then, and it wasn't as effective as it was early in those days, So that's why baseball was my first love. My folks thought that I was kind of become a picture, and I played C Y O baseball greedy against them. Some of my teammates there's a blonde haired kid named Steve Garrett, who went on to play in North Carolina. He was a multi sport star, Greenie, a gave up baseball because of this, and it practiced. I'm standing there in the batter's box, and I know Steve has got an array of pictures. He went to play a Chapel Hill, North Carolina Chapel, help he This pitch Greeny. I see it coming up. That's the curveball. Of course, he didn't take this long. Well, that curveball is gonna break in about a nanosecond. You know what? That's a late breaking furball. What's going on here? I dropped into the dirt. And, of course, the ball at the last nanosecond went across the plate, Stevie, right, so I gave up baseball because I did not have what's but the will to stand in there at that time. That's when I picked up. Basketball is my love. Probably wise screening in the great JB one last thing I wanted to ask you Because a little birdie whispered in my ear that you have a story. I'm going to find fascinating that involves Len bias and I am dying to hear it. You know what Greeny. That was a tough story of this was when I was working with the local CBS affiliate, W. USA, and, of course, being a basketball star here in the area, blessed to be working on that station and Larry Bird with the Celtics was so excited when they the Celtics drafted Len Bias it was going to resurrect his career. His enthusiasm or important was Larry Bird was consistently a beast on the basketball floor. But The Celtics were thrilled when our back who was a friend who's lived here in Washington, D. C. He was all excited when I got there early morning news and the call that Lynn Bias had passed from an overdose. First person I called was red are back. He always called me Brownie. And I said, Hey, I still call him coach. I said, Coach, I'm just calling to express my condolences. I'm so sorry to hear about Len bias as I'm sure you are. And Len Bias was a friend. And Red says waking up with a groggy voice. Brownie. What are you talking about? I said, Oh, Coach, You mean to tell me you don't know, he says Browning. What is it, and I told him what the situation was. And of course, that was a very tough phone call, and it shook up the world for sure. But that was one of the It's actually a low light, but certainly a significant amount of stone and I got a chance to talk with the lens. Mom Lenny's bias. Another's. And, of course, his brother also passed not too long after that, but Mrs Lonnie's bias in the family very, very strong folks. And, uh and I thanked him for giving me access during that time to tell the tough story. You broke the news to our back that Len Bias had died. You know, let me just finish it by saying We probably are talking to a large number of people who are not old enough to have seen Len Bias. People like J. Billa's tells me all the time because he played against him, Len Bias would have been One of the three or four best players in the end before 10 years if he had not died before he ever got a chance to set foot on the court. Most people I think, know the story of that tragic death. Tell people who don't know just how good a player he was going to be. And again, you're right, greedy and you'll have to put some context for those who won't remember back then. But David Thompson, as you will recall was just phenomenal athlete in the SEC conference, and he and Lynn Bias used to have some flat out wars. Nickname and what it may not be very delicate, and you know how athletes green and give each other's names. They called him horse H O R S E because he was the strongest, of course, could leap. He loved the crunch time. You could give him that ball in crunch time, and he would deliver using what they thundering slam dunk, But he was flat out a phenomenal basketball player, and we couldn't wait much less Larry Bird and the Celtics. For him to get to the NBA to see what he was going to do, but flat out one of the all time greats ever in college and I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to see what he would have been in the NBA green. How tragic I mean, died of an overdose right after the draft and never got the chance to play in the N B a at all. James Brown. What a what a pleasure. This is. Thank you so much for taking all this time for me The best wishes to your daughter with the excellent taste and be well best to your family. And I hope we get a chance to do this again soon. Thank you so much. Green into your wife, Stacy and your two kids as well to have a great day, buddy. Thanks so much for having me. That's a pleasure. James Brown with me here on ESPN Radio. What is the light? That was for me again? I started out in the business. As a behind the scenes guy at a sports radio station in Chicago..