A Lead Anchor

night are not enough. We do this eight days a week. We thank you for finding the podcast, We're supporting the podcast, for downloading the podcast, telling friends about the podcast, and we we do appreciate it. And joined by the guy West of the four oh five. He's on Gascon Time, right over David Gascon and making his way in to the podcast. I'm on I'm on two time zones, three time zones Pacific, Eastern and Central European time mclock A little like the brag about that you know what what

you operate with? Darcy? What time do you? Guys? Usually go on Darcy down under Darcy walder Grave, which is on Saturday, mornings at eight in the morning eight your time in New Zealand time, but it's like eight thirty or something in the morning. But it's what's their time difference with us? Well, I do it at one thirty California time Pacific like nineteen is it nineteen hours or something? Not good weekend. Yeah, it's a different world. I mean

they're ahead of every they are the beginning. What's the last time zone? I know they're the New Zealand and Australia like the first time zones where the clock turns over where it would it be? Guam? Is that the end of it? I don't know. I know that's a good question. What is the last times on the lot? That brings up the rear? Someone's got to be last if someone who celebrates New Year's last I don't know.

I'll look it up, all right, just google it. That's not what this is about, because this is about hanging out and chatting. We don't have guests. We have people that we like to talk to. And I am excited. This is a guy I go way back with, uh, someone that when I was a radio stringer, a radio reporter and covering games, I spent many a night, hanging out with this guy at games, after games, going to sports bars, eating cheeseburgers in the middle of the night,

having a grand old time. And someone that I encouraged to work at Fox Sports Radio, someone I wanted to get in because because the Fox Sports Radio, which bother Why does that bother you? Because you encouraged him to work here, and you encourage me to go work in China? Like, what kind of an asshole does that? I? I encourage you to work in China, West Virginia Baker's Field. Yes, I'm looking out for you. Yeah, it's all about the story.

You've got great stories. Now, Guessica, You've got great stories. Could you imagine me in China right now? I'll be wonderful. Yeah, I'd be telling. I'd be fucking. I'd been in blowhard right now. Hunt your anniversary, you would be big in China. You would be very big in China. Anyway, let's get into it. Steve Sager a man of mystery, the great Steve Disager, longtime radio personality in southern California, but on

the nationale air waves for many, many years. But speaking of that, Steve, my memory is a bit hazy at this point. I do remember Fox Sports Radio before Steve Disager worked if Fox Sports Radio. But you have been a staple of the fs R radio family for how many years? How long has it been. Racing may not be that good at maths, it's certainly over a decade. It's closing in on fifteen I believe. Also at our anchor studio, I believe Dead Carson was hired two weeks

before I was. So literally there's not been to my knowledge, there's not been a full time opening in fifteen years in the anchor studio because no one leaves. It's like you. I remember actually you brought me into the studios. Of course people probably know Fox Sports Radio headquartered in l A. And that was Deb's first night actually that she was working. And you said, oh, listen to this guy that's on the phone. He's reporting from college football, Dan Buyer. He's

got the greatest job. He just gets to go to a different college football game every Saturday. That's all he does all season. And Dan is now, of course the head anchor. He has the titled manager of Fox Sports Radio.

So yeah, it's been a while. Yeah, And I thank you, by the way, because I remember when you and I would sit in press boxes for years that you used to live in Orange County as well, and when you went up to Fox, you would say more than once you know you ought to work there, and eventually guess what now now I work there. Well, No, listen, I I as you know to say, I think very little of many people in radio, but you're good and I

like good people. And I thought you got We've got to get you in there, and I'm glad it didn't take long. It didn't take long to get you in there. But I remember deb Carson's first night. She came in all dressed up, and I like it with TV. Yeah, I like, Dad, we're doing an overnight weekend radio show. Are you doing? I mean, no one's here, and the trust me. If management comes in, it's only because the radio stations on fire. So that's the only where they're

coming in, yea, or or the only other time. Literally, the only other time I've seen managed it in there on the weekends was when Andy Roddick and his hot wife were both in there on some show. I'm not kidding you. That's the only time I've seen management there on a Saturday. Well, no, I mean, listen, if there is if you look at the setup, there's an ex

athlete in there, like a powerful person. I remember when the late Rush Limbaugh would come in during the week and it was like there were people screwing around trying to make sure everything was clean and you know, it was putting everything in the proper place, and all the executives were there. When when Rush would come walking into his studio, which was the studio was just a crown across the hall around the corner there what he would

do when he was in l A and uh. But but other than that, I mean, I would you know I'm not there during the daytime during the week, which I guess you are, but I don't see I don't see anybody. I love that our offices are actually separate from the studio. You have to go outside across the plaza and go upstairs to where management is. So it's very rare that management comes in. That is a great

thing for the workers. Just for the record, if something happens, you know, they can email you or let you know, but usually you don't see them. And as far as the worst story that I can remember, as far as people being asked to show up because somebody famous or somebody would pull stephen A. Smith. Do you remember that

he was on our network briefly. Oh. Yes, he did the early morning show, and right before he was going to start that, they asked the board operator, Hey, can you come in and maybe you know a chance just say hello and something like that. And so it's a you know, what's four in the morning or something like that, and it didn't mean anything, and the show was off pretty soon after that. It was just workers are being asked to coddle same too often for my taste. Yeah, no,

I remember stephen A. It's really amazing. I mean, listen, you guys. The guy's a huge star at ESPN. But I remember when he started. He actually did a weekend show in the early days of Fox Sports Read. He was a columnist in Philadelphia before he went to ESPN, and he did a weekend talks with John Ireland. Yeah,

the Lakers annouswer for many years. So they did a show together on Saturday mornings, and uh, you know stephen A. You know, he would show up and he came he lived on the East coast, but he'd come into l A and he'd hang out, you know. Part of the year. He did the show from l A and I remember I was doing the you know, I was there on the weekend, so I ran into him a few times. And I'll never get one time John was late coming

back from a Laker roacher. At that time, he was the sideline reporter for the Lakers, so he was traveling with the team, but he was late getting back and Stephen A had to do the show by himself, and he was at that time he hadn't had a lot

of experience working by himself. And you know, Steve, it is a much different animal when you do a talk radio show by yourself than when you've got that well no, I mean you've done some talk as well and the past, but but it's it's like it's a totally the preparation, the amount of laser like focus, and Stephen was not quite prepared for that at that time. And uh, you know, I think it was one of the few people that was listening. But it was very awkward. It was very awkward,

but obviously didn't hold him back. And then and then he got let go by ESPN and he came back and you're right, and they gave him the morning show at Fox, which means by the way it's an l A studio. Three am Pacific I think is when it started, so it would be morning drive on the East. And then the reason why it didn't last, I am told, is because then he couldn't be a games or what have you in the evening because he had to wake

up so early. First thought, maybe maybe we didn't know this. Yeah, yeah, I don't think they're going to change the time of the games to accommodate anybody. I mean, I'm going out of a limb there putting my neck out on that one, Steve. I'm putting my neck out maybe for you Mr Leiden, you know, forget the weekends, for you have on the late night during the week for quite some time. And now, of course with the podcast you're making the big bucks.

Who had a big bucks off a podcast? Well you know I'm raising my hand over here, yes, Scott playing every long have you had this podcast? Out? By the way, here's six months days everything behind the calendar. I could buy a book of stamps now with the money I've made off this. So, in other words, if finally come to your last guest on the list, and that I was asked to be on the show for full blown discolosure. He ridiculed me for booking you on the that I

have text messages. Here's what happens I had. Uh you know, I try to book ahead, right, we try to book ahead. I try to book ahead, and I try to book I try to book ahead and booking a guest two weeks ago, I'll tell you who I failed miserably. A second so I got an email from the publicist of Michael Kay. You know who Michael Ka is to say, Yeah,

the Yankees announcer. Right, So he wrote a book and he wanted to promote the book, and so he does an afternoon drive show on the ESPN station in Manhattan. So he's very proud of that. Yes, and he beat Mike Francesse in the ratings and he loves it, let you know that. Yeah. So anyway, like he can't we normally record at the time his shows on in New York, so obviously he can't do that. So I've been logistically trying to work out with his publicist when we could

get Michael on to do this podcast. So I gave them a bunch of times, which would mean I'd have to stay up even later, which is fine. I mean I do it and record it, and so I'm playing email tag with the publicist. The guy gets back to me on Tuesdays. Is because we were supposed to it was supposed to tap something with Michael Kay on Wednesday or Thursday, and he said, I can't. You know, he can't do it. And I'm still efforting, which when somebody

says they're efforting, that means they're not doing it. The efforting means they're not It's not gonna happen. So then I I said, all right, we we gotta get somebody on the podcast. I went to the guest and then Gascon was like totally gobsmacked, totally like flummixed by the whole the whole situation. So that's I do have a suggestion at this point of the podcast that you could probably get Clipper Daryl because he is always available at

this time of year. You know. Yeah, that's true. And by the way, to say you're listen, I mean, Fillows don't know. One of the reasons I like you is I remember you wearing Clipper paraphernalia. Oh yeah, I used to go to we would have people visit from out of town. We would go to Clipper games. It would. It could always be easier ticket to get. You want

a jacket, right, a Clipper jacket. Yes, I was given to it when I when I worked in Anaheim, I was given those what is it, silk sat and jackets the eighties, things that you would be like on Lakers Finals videos where the ball boy is wearing the you know, I got one of those with the Clippers and it's the blue. I love those blue Clipper colors in the past. I still have it. Yeah, no, I remember you would

wear that from time to time. And it was that's why the Clippers of the People's team steve because you can go the old the sports marine is gone in l A. But you could go there and you can get a ticket. The sports it was a dump. It was Are you going to tell the story? Because you used to cover Clipper games next to the color see Um in downtown l A. I remember once where were you playing? Like some touch football game in the parking lot? A game like midnight downtown? Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, just

not far from South Central. Yeah we we would, you know in my my as you notice, if I grew up out there in my twenties going to games and I had no girlfriend. I had no life. I had. My life was revolving around my job covering the games. And yeah, we would play in the parking lot, just in the shadow of the coliseum, next to the l

A Sports Arenia. We would play like football in the middle of like after they get to cover the games, you know, get out of there, like eleven o'clock, maybe after the game when you do the post game stuff. And who doesn't want to hang around downtown l A midnight. Yeah, especially, I mean those days. As you know, it's a little bit better now in that area because they build a soccer stadium there. I would built right on top of where the Clippers used to play, next to the color Yeah.

The last time I was in the sports arena, I was at it. I was coming at USC Notre Dame game and the the parking was all messed up, so the overflow parking was on the floor of the l A Memorial Sports so I parked. I parked the mallon Wibile on the floor. Steve, I had a photo. I can't find it. I have it somewhere here. And that was That's an arena that has hosted NBA Finals games, n c A tournament, hosted the Democratic Convention with Kennedy

when it was new. That's how old that, Yes, and my last memory is parking my car on the floor of the arena. Uh it was. I do recall after one of those midnight football games, you came down ill and we're not able to cover the next game or two because of that. Well, I had some you know what I really got. The sickest I got was in ninety five after the baseball strike of I remember they didn't play at the beginning of the year, and so

after we had missed the World Series. Yeah, yeah, so they came back and they had to they had to kind of jam in as many games as they could. And so, and I'm such a knucklebole concept, they'll never try that again in any sport. Yeah, exactly. So I I gotta, I gotta, I gotta go out there and you know, cover every game and the dot it was literally every day Dodges and Angels were playing like you know, either one was home and the one and so I I went out of so much and I got so sick.

I was like, ah, it's brutal, but from the weather, you mean, not the food, well, the food was not helpful. As you know, I eat a lot of press box food. I don't eat much of that anymore, but I used to. You know, I still eat popcorn occasionally, but I can add ladies and gentlemen that in the many years of being in press boxes in Orange County, for example, with one big band Meller, and he used to earn that

nickname in the old days. By the way, that when I was covering Mighty Duck hockey games, for example, I was there as a member of the working press. Ben was enjoying the oatmeal raisin cookie step worth profitable. Now technically I was on assignment for the Mighty six ninety, but I was enjoying the Yeah, they had those nights, and I like the the what was the sugar cookies?

Those were good too. They remember the playoff when they finally made the playoffs, and then a real hockey team, the Detroit Red Wings, came to town and swept them. But one of those playoff games went past midnight, as I recall, and then we with our post game show I used to do. We were until I think two in the morning something like that. I got to sleep at four in the morning, but at midnight at the hockey arena. They had rent of everything, even water at

the box. They were literally trying sending interns to different parts of the arena to try and find something because it went to a second overtime. Of course, hockey overtime could go forever. Yeah. So for those who don't know, and you are a man of mystery, Steve, but you he worked in Orange County. I first met you. Was it It was k easy why right in the Arabs, which used to be a legendary rock station. They had an a m across the hall, which I know you

visited once. I love going to radio station. That was very exciting to go to see I'm a radio nerd. It was cool to be there. Yeah, well anymore it's kind of nerds in that way. But yeah, I worked through nine until that place got sold. I worked in Anaheim and that was a lot of years. Well by the end of it, that was a Korean station. Later I worked at when Pete Carroll's USC team was on radio. We had a Santa station in Santa Monica and we carried USC and then that got sold and that became

a Korean station too. So I'm two for two standby Fox Sports Radio so the investors who are looking to tell yeah, boy, if they turned this network into a Korean format in troubles, that would really think something. But you hosted it was called Duck Calls, right, that was the post game hockey talk, Yes Halls, and then you know, have the analyst on or what have you. And by the end of it, you remember back when there were there was a sports bar at Anaheim near the National

Sports Grill, the National Sports Grill. Yes, used to do the show from there after the game and once the parking getting out of the Ducks game was so bad, it was the closest I came to missing the start of the show, which, as you know, is the truly horrendous feeling. That's the stuff that for a radio person, literal nightmares are made of. Yeah. I spent many a

night at the National Sports Grill, as you did. We would hang out and we go we'd go there after games and all the finger foods, the sampler by the ten dollar sampler. Yeah. Were you there the night that Jeff Juden uh famous? Were you there that night? Do you remember the Jeff Judan incident? I'm not sure if you were there that incident? No, Yeah, no, no, he was a you know, he was a picture journeyman. Pitcher,

bounced around. The Angels picked him up, and so he was like playing pool by himself at the sports bar. And so one of the guys went up and say, hey, can you know you want you want play pool whatever? And then he asked what we did and said when the radio, and he said no, he wanted to play by himself instead of hang out hanging out with us. But yeah, the Nationals. So he basically said, no, I'm a first round draft choice and you are the great

unwashed forget it. Yeah, but he's also the same guy, if I remember correctly, who missed a start at the beginning of the season when he was with Montreal because he got a tattoo and it became infected. So oh, which brings me to the great point, which be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Maller Show week days at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio AP. Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Maller Show weekdays

at two am eastern eleven pm Pacific. Frankly shows don't do this enough. You were overnight show was always so good and occasionally just conversationally like this bringing up odd baseball injury. Yes, yes, you and I could go back and forth forever with you know, hey, Ricky Henderson wants fell asleep on his ice pack, or you know so and so was playing guitar hero so much that he actually hurt himself and couldn't pitch in the next game.

There's a long list of those injuries. Well, there's Sammy snow Sammy so so sneezing and they claimed back back problem for someone getting a hot flip where they set your cleats on fire and he hopped up so much he injured himself. My favorite is I think it was Ivonne Calderoad of the American League at the hotel room was having a nightmare of being chased by spiders. Oh that was Glenn. That was Glenn Hill. And he in his hotel room like crashed through a glass table. Yeah,

which a nightmare was. There's an outfield Marty Cordova, remember Marty Cordova. Yes, he lay, he fell asleep and a sun sunbathing machine or whatever and he that And I always bring up Richie Sexon, which is one of the greats of all time Ember in spring training. He showed up, he was out of the lineup and he had he

really nasty headaches. They thought maybe he had some kind of cancer in the brain or something like that, and it turned out he's just wearing a hat that was too small and he didn't he didn't get on that one. I did bring this up actually recently on Fox with Brian Know who's a cardinal saying because I brought up the Vince Coleman injury, people who are younger than we

probably don't remember that. For the National League Championship Series, the best stolen baseman in the league was not available because he got his foot run over by the rain tarp on the side of the field the tarp injury. Wasn't he part of the firecrackers at Dodger Stadium? Was he involved in that? Also? You know you covered Dodgers longer than I. I I believe you have stories also lorker than I. Regarding the old days have done. I have a few. I know a few of where the few

of the bodies are buried there. And remember there was a player for the Marlins, Chris uh Coglin. Remember he one of the shaving cream Poesy they had won a game and they he got injured after a walk off win because of a shaving cream pie in the face. He tore some ligament in his leg, which is odd to me, but I mean, yeah, we used to Weller cut his finger once playing with the drone. So yeah, that was the playoff start that was missing. We longed for the days when that was the Trivor Bauer story

that we talked about. We long for speak of longing for days. I don't know if you remember this, Ben, but Steve, we talked about this the day. I have an old picture of YouTube Knuckleheads media day Dog Stadium Man, Steve, Steve, you look exactly the same, I probably do you know? There was this four and it was one of the great points of our professional life that we could actually play a baseball game at the field of Dodgers Stadium.

But the Dodgers for many years would have like before a Saturday night game, they would with nobody in the attendance at Dodger Stadium, they would have a game between the print media against the electronic media of Los Angeles, and they would give you uniforms for the day and you can take batting practice and shag flies in the outfield, and the field was yours for the whole day, and I saw one Ben Maller hit a ball on a

bounce to the left field wall. It was a stunning distance for a media member at Dodger Stadium, the same place where Mike Piazza and all these other guys were hitting back in that decade. I do remember the knee injury at first base, but I got easy the left. Yeah. I I attempted to run, which was a mistake, and I hit the first base bag in my leg kind of went all over the place and I ended up on the Channel eleven news in l A that night.

Randy Cardoon put me on the Channel eleven. One of our players, yes it was the Arcia, was on the team. Student Ahan, who was the TV guy in l A before Fred Rogan at Channel four. Stu was like the player manager of our electronic media team. And it got late in STUSI years where he couldn't run. And so I was only there maybe two or three different summers at these media games at the stadium, but one of them I was there. My name wasn't on a list,

so I couldn't get into the lineup. But I'm still there. I still got a uniform on, and Stu couldn't run, So I was his pinch runner for every at bat that he had, and he I would He was a left handed hitter. This is student a hand who was a local legend, but also like was the announcer in the Rocky movies all of this, So he batting left, he would swing and if he made contact, I would standing there near the right hand batters Buck Dodger Stadium,

run down to first. I wasn't a pinch runner like you take over at first base from home like at a T Bowl game or something. I'm running for Stu and I wound up coming around to score and it was one one and you mentioned on the local news. Our game winning run that night was on the local news because a Martinez who could play, wound up having this great slide at home and then we all celebrated,

throwing water on each other. It was a great, great night, and hitting a in a previous game, a line single the right center remains one of the highlights of my professional career. Yeah, I'm right there with you when I I'm glad you were there, and I would have that would have been a home run. Distick. I used a Corey Snyder wooden bat, and if I had used a metal bat, I am convinced that that would have been

a home run. And I'm a knucklehead because I wanted to use a wooden bat and they had metal bats there and she shouldn't used the metal bat. And I also remember, Steve, what was it? What was the guy's There was a guy that was a ringer from Long Beach State? Remember the guy that Stu brought in? Really, because there have been many Long Beach Steak guys into the pros. By the way, Corey Snyder played Olympic Baseball when Dodger Stadium hosted the games. He was on that

game with Chris Gwann and some others. Remember we were losing one year. I don't know if you were there that year, and Stu had brought in a guy from Long Beach State as a ringer to play in the game, and he tried to sneak him into the lineup for some extra at bats there because we were behind. And then at one point ste realized there's so many ex players in the media that he could get ex players to play on the media team, and and kind of give us ringers in that like Rick Monday pinch hit

or something exactly exactly. You have a bonus, Well didn't you? Didn't you hit against Rick Hunty cut the law. I gotta hate against Rick Honeycutt a base at the center field. Rick Huneycutt led the American League and earn run average in like three I think, no, listen, listen if you want to play Ben mallar bingo, there you go that. But who would I describe you as I think your style to say you were like von Hayes. You were reminded me of Vaughn Hayes, like when he was kind

of skinny. Yeah, because you were skinny. You were leaving a mean like who else? Unlike von Hayes. With the Angels, I did not make the five million dollars a year, which, then, as you recall, forced Jackie Autry to start charging the media four meals. But that was it when they started paying Von Hayes and here we breath. Well, how great is it now? I haven't been to an Angel game

in years. The last time I went to an Angel game was when Artie Marino got upset with t J. Simers because of a Columny wrote and moved the press box down near the foul pol still there, I understand the press had very few seats in a suite way down the right field line, and some of the seats you cannot see home played from. Did you guys tell I mean I remember this. I think last season at least when we were a lot of Dodgers stadium. Steve Well, we were there, all three of us were there together.

But Steve, I think you're mentioned that. I forget who. I don't know what former owner was, don't know sorta. But they would come into the press box and start hunting down reporters. Oh, I was there when Stan Caston lent loose on bill shaking of the l A in the Dodger press box. What was that about? It was about the Dodgers had just announced that they were going to have the All Star Game, which of course has

now been for a couple of years postponed. They still had the All Star sign up in the stadium, not moving that, uh, and so something else, uh came into the l a Times article that wasn't more, you know, the pr piece that he wanted for this great day of announcing the Dodgers are going to host the All Star Game in the first time in the decade. So he with I believe his kid or nephew, her grandson in toe looked through the press box seat said we're shaken, and then went after him like like I have not

seen in a Los Angeles press box happened before. Well, I was there the night Steve when remember Tommy Losorda was the briefly the general manager of the Dodgers after his managerial days. Yes, yeah, and it was. It was hilarious because and I loved I love Tommy, and Tommy he said, listen, you guys can write whatever you wrot.

I don't care, you know whatever. So then like a week later, Doug Krikorian wrote something nasty about Losorda in his column in Coin of Columis and Long Beach, and Losorta came in the press Where's where's decor and where's dog? And he's like trying to hunt down Grigorian. And he was in the in the media dining room, and any Tommy comes over and just reads him the riot act.

It was well, of course, even when Tommy was happy with you, you didn't want to be next to Tommy speaking, because that's I recall once I was sitting with Chris Myers and Bill mcdonaldson and some people in the Dodger dining room that you mentioned, and Tommy comes up because he knew then started to chat with him. But he's standing over my shoulder. I needed a rain flicker, man. Just it's just it's like, you know, the Indian name

Dances with Wolves. Tommy would have been spits when he talks, because it just was always the case, don't be around him. Nice guy. He could be a fun guy. But you saw Colin that used to be his personal assistant for many years. I always felt so far so sorry for Coline because he would really take it on the chin sometime being around Tommy that often. Yeah, And it's funny.

When I started covering the Dodgers, sort of was still managing the team, and so I would go in there, and it was two different personalities that when the Dodgers won a game, he was out in front. You know, they had the spread of food in his office, so the players had to come into his office to eat after the game. So there'd be a stream of players on their way out. They'd get a doggie bag and

go home or whatever. Sometimes they eat in the clubhouse, and but when they won sort of would sit on the front of his desk smiling, bubbling, you know, and then when they lost, he'd sit behind his desk eating and not stopping eating while he was answering the question. And if someone as you know, you Steve getting audio here, it yeah, I mean it's and then he would spit all over the mic, you know, the mic cover that

I had, and it was yeah. Well. Also, it's like when Jim Tracy was the manager of the Dodgers, not that many years later. He would always answer your questions putting the first name of the person who asked it into his answer, which would also ruin your audio. You know, in the third inning Steve, well great, if your name's not Steve, you're probably not to be able to use that.

Because I think one of the last times with Tommy and food, which was such a huge part of his life honestly that I was around him, was you know, our friend Petro's, who's the famous local TV host on our l A affiliate. Petro's happened to be in the company suite at Dodger Stadium for one particular night just a couple of years ago, and he his family because his family owned a restaurant, they knew Tommy for a year. Uncle Tommy, he without fail always called him. So Petro's

had the suite for the night. It's his family, his people only. And they called down to where Lasorda always sat near the home dugout, and they asked if he could come up and signed some autographs and take pictures, and sure enough he did. By the sixth sending, the door opens and incomes driving you know those little carts like the people wheel through the aisles of the supermarket. Tommy was in one of those, and he took every picture and signed every autograph, and then everybody filed out

before the game was over. And then it winds up just Tommy and me in the sweet and a bunch of food. So of course Tommy is very interested. Even his security guy had left to go repark the car, get it near the entrance, getting ready to leave, and Tommy looks over at the spread, which of course there's

plenty left. Wow, what have we got here? So I'm trying to see what's in the middle of the sandwiches for him, and so I give him one of these half a sandwiches on the paper plate, and he looks at me like, come on, like get a little more. He got diny sandwiches left over here is his His exact words was, they're just going to throw it away.

So by the end of me piling on and the chicken fingers and everything else, and literally bottles of water that hadn't been opened yet, all in the little cart basket in the front of the scooter that he had, he went out a much heavier cart that he came in. Wow, that's why he's right. Not the water bottles if it's freeze for me. That was always the case with Tommy. I remember one of the Dodger reporters telling me that

Tommy went back to Philly. He was from Pennsylvania. A guy said, hey, come by my tailor shop and you can have I'll give you. I'll give you a suit, And of course Tommy for sure went over there. So he got measured and spent the whole afternoon there and then he comes to the counter with three suits and the looks and is sheepish and says, Tommy, I can I can really only do one suit for free, And Tommy just blew up and through the sittem not worth

this time. Well, it was like that old the Jim Healy Show, Freeloaders, Updates, Media, Freeloaders, Media Dateline, Dodger Stadium, And yeah, that is the radio show that we even long before I knew you used to always listen to. Jim Healy would have a sports commentary show in afternoon Drive where he would now it's commonplace on sports radio that the board operator will play little sound bites clips into the show and they can be really creative and funny.

Jim Healy's entire show was that every couple of sentences. And the thing is he was his own board up. He would be reaching for the cart machine to play while he was trying to read his own script, which in itself was sometimes comical. Well, and the technology that we have today compared to how he did it is just as you reference there, is insane. And he was a big influence on why I wanted to get into radio,

The Jim Healy Show. And I remember when I started, and I started like nineteen years old, and Healy was still on, and everyone would at five thirty wanted to go out and here in the parking lot and hear what he really was gonna say and the dreaded six o'clock tone, and it's it's you mentioned Stunahan, the manager

of our media team. But when I first met Stew as a media again, and I'm still a kid, you know, I watched it on TV growing up, but my memory of Stu every time I saw him was in the press dining room at Dodger Stadium or somewhere else eating,

and I just read. My mind would go to, uh, you know, silver tips, Stew they called, and he would only lay a sound effect of pigs snorting when he mentioned media preloaders and all the food they would come to appropriate And it didn't really matter when I would try to get there earlier games, you know, because I want to soak it all in. And no matter when I got there, Stool was already eating in the press room. It was. It was unbelievable. And also, Healy, I mentioned

Kurt machines. Everything that used to play on the air and radio backs and had to literally be on tape, you know, something advanced from cassette tapes, but something you could physically touch hold. And now I remember you telling me when you first started at Fox didn't you start as the job I have that David and I have as anchor before you got into your own show, And that meant you had to find the sound bites of the ball games or something to play in your report,

but nothing was on physical tape. It was a new system, the computer base, where you could just press play and just as easily delete something accidentally. Yeah, yeah, I remember when I got in I I one of my first games. When I was in San Diego as an intern, I had to pull the carts the spots for the for the shows, and they technology obviously changed over the years.

And well, but when you were an anchor, I do remember one point where you you did some home run happened and you did accidentally delete it out of the No, there were some epic disasters when I was that you said for the next three reports you kept replaying the play by play of a single by Craig Pocket like that big Well you play all you had you playing

with you? Yeah, because the editing there's an editing department with a lot of people behind the scenes that edit at Fox Sports Radio and and you know, underappreciated, underpaid behind the scenes people. But in the in the early days, some of the hosts were complaining, we didn't have any sounds, so they they had Craig who's in the back there, they had him and there was that was it had one editor and and then the anchor was expected to cut up the sound as they were, you know, doing

their job or whatever. And we all used to I used to do that in Anaheim. Used to used to wait for the ABC feed to give me the evening sound. Had a late night show, and I can actually get sound from games that happened that night. It was revolutionary. People don't remember that. When we were tiny kids the five o'clock news, the only baseball highlights you would see was if there was a Cubs game because they could take the highlight off w g N or something other

than that. Even before that, they used to literally have to film the local ball game and come back and develop the film at the station, So they rarely had highlights from the late innings because they needed the extra time. So when you go to Dodger Stadium now and they talk about any Dodger great Don Sutton in history or something, usually the only highlights you will see will be stuff

that was televised, like a playoff game. There usually weren't a lot of regular season home games carried or film available from regular season games. Yeah. Hey, by the way, fun fact, I don't know if I've told you this, maybe I have so years ago. Wrong Button Bob Garap we call him wrong Button Bobby. He's shut down. He I told him to reset my computer. You have to go into the what called the rack room, an all computer room kept at a very controlled temperature on like

some of the other rooms. Yeah, that's where the that's where the brains are the heart of Fox Sports radios, the technology stuff. So, and there's literally computers everywhere you look and all this stuff. So he said, can you reset my computer? S S You're no problem. So he goes in the back to reset the computer, and he hit a button that we didn't know exist. He shut the entire network off the air, thus the nickname wrong Button Bob. And so the most amazing thing is he

didn't lose his job. The second most amazing thing is that we found out the emergency programming. If FSR goes off the air, they have up in the master control. They click a switch and they put emergency programming on right, And so the emergency programming. The first voice was you. It was Steve the Seger. Yes, you were on the it's supposed to be an evergreen fee, but it was you giving college basketball scores. And this was like during the summer, which doesn't make a lot of sense, and

so there wouldn't be dead air give old scores. But you're You're happy to know, Steve, if there's like a nuclear disaster or some kind of global event where network goes off the air, your voice will be played because I'm sure they haven't changed that. I'm sure it's the same, the same audio that they've just kept there for all these years, just in case anything. Happy who says you don't learn anything on podcast, that's right, even on one,

I just learned something I didn't know. Yeah, absolutely, Now what then, you have been very good at staying off of Like you're on social media, but you're not on social media. Give you credit, fact because I hate social media and I'm on there for work, but I pick and choose. I don't get paid to be on social media, right, that's my argument. I don't get paid. I get paid by Fox. I don't get paid by the people in Twitter or whatever. You already have a brand unlike some people.

Well no, but I mean I go on there. I mean, people get upset when you got to, you know, deal with the Troulton. I don't have to deal with the trolls when I feel like I'll deal with the trolls. But you've been able to avoid that. I give you credit for that, Steve, because I never have felt like I wanted this. As much as I adore sports, I really do, but I just didn't want the job to consume me. There are days that you know, they won't let me work, and I just want to take those

days off. I'll still watch whatever ball game, you know, from my couch in the evening during dinner or something, but I'm not going to be tweeting during it. So I follow Twitter and it's very valuable during my shift at the studio, but I don't tweet, and I don't tell you, Hey, I'm standing in line at the store and you know that. Yeah, I don't. I don't know anything. And like I stopped years ago, I did like live

tweet during games. I very I might do it for a super Bowl or something like that, but I very rarely or a Clippers playoffs game. Well, only only oh as close as ever this past year though, Yeah, yeah it was I got hurt. It's still a little fresh. I can hear that, yeah, you know, because it used to be the good old days. Remember when Elton brand played a game seven in the second round. So now

you got something past that. I was at that. I traveled the Phoenix when he played the Sons and Clipper Darryll actually got on, he got off the team bus. They took him on the road trip. It was crazy back and yeah, that was of course the Staples Center days. You remember that, like when Mark Jackson was playing with the Clippers at the Sports Arena, which we referenced early I covered. I remember Clippers game was the last game of the season in the nineties, and it was when

David Robinson scored sev on the last day. I wasn't at that one. That was to win the scoring title. And Madonna was there because Dennis Rodman was on the team and they were together at the time, and she's she's sitting in the first row and at one of the time outs, the Clipper girls they're dancing to a Madonna song. She could not have been less impressed. She didn't even look she would busy in her conversation. She

did go in the Spurs locker room afterwards. It was it was a very strange day altogether, capped by the fact that it was a real seventy one that David Robinson scored. It wasn't like let's just not play defense or anything. He was great. Yeah, well she used the material. Girl, she can't be bothered. She was bigger than all of this is what we got the impression. And you know that I have fond memories. I mean those I remember the I covered the Lakers at the Forum unfortunately, and

the Clippers. But like Jack Jack, you know Jack Nichols, he would come in the media room at the Forum and get coffee and I mean just like, well, yeah, I mean, but it was very odd. You know, you see this at that time. He was still a huge Hollywood you know star, and he just be hanging out. Yea. He used to go to road games to back then on the play having having a cup of coffee. And

then the sportsmen it was such a dump. They had those trough bathrooms and it was like the only time there were any real people there was when the Celtics of the Sixers and Nicks and the Lakers were laying the Clippers and so or the Bulls with Jordan's Otherwise, they literally were averaging like six seven thousand for for an NBA season. Yeah, I was there for a preseason game against the Denver Nuggets and we counted the crowd. It was like seven. We counted. We were so bored

on radio road that we counted the crowd. But no, I can bring this conversation full circle because on that Madonna day, I am reminded that one media member who was in our media baseball game Dodger Stadium as well, Norm Peters, happened to have with his notes and everything else in his bag that he brought to the Clipper game that day, happened to have for some unknown reason, and eight by ten of Madonna and she happen to be there, and he that he actually got on one

of the one of the Hollywood news shows and entertainment tonight, one of those the next day with a b real footage of Norm getting Madonna to sign his eight by ten And Norm still has that great now retired. By the way Norman retired, Norm used to be at the first row the table with the Clippers announcers on Prime Ticket as their statistician for years, you could as a camera went left and right throughout the game, you could

always pick out Norm. He was not only a great statistician, but exactly the right mentality to be that you have to be a little picky because that's what the job demands and that's what makes the broadcast better. He was great at the absolutely well, see we have gone way too long, but we you know, listen, you were so much better than most of these people that we have on the podcast. We should have you on again. What

a great idea, What a great fucking idea. You can't curse. Well, if there's gonna be swearing, I'm not sure if I'm going to return now, I can't tell anyone to listen to it. I guess this is kind of an homage to because Bet, I bet, I know you don't do you? Guys haven't seen each other in what like two years? Right? I did see him in the parking lot occasionally, very rare occasion, showed up to the studio post pandemic. Ben

the sneaky little thing. I'm gonna peel the curtain back a little bit for you and for the audience because Steve and I work similar schedules money through Friday, and certain shows that we're on, like typically your show how structured, Like if you're starting at eleven o'clock and you're going to twelve and that hour, you'll typically toss to Eddie at the bottom of the hour to see what's trending at eleven thirty or more along the lines of that time.

Normal host might do that, Yeah, normal host. Well, the shows that Steve and I work on, he taught me this trick. The shows that we work on don't break at the bottom of the hour, they'll break at like so Steve taught me, he said. He sat me down one day and he said, David, I need you to do this and emulate. He says, for as long as they go over the bottom of the hour, your update needs to be equally as long, not equally. It's just that I have no qualms about going along. If you

take eight minutes to get to that's the best part. Clearly, the clock means nothing. You can't suddenly as you should. By the way, and let me tell you some of the shows to say you've worked on, you are better than the people on the shop I'm just I'm just pointing that out. I'm not saying maybe not now, but back in the day, that's all. It's just great though, when you come back from breaking the bottom of the hour for the last segment, in the last segments like

sixty seconds and lea. I have been guilty of that from time to time myself. I have occasionally had committed that cardinal sin. But maybe you ought to tell any to do this. Yeah, exactly, all right, listen, we we love you, Steve. I'll catch up with you. Then I should go. And remember, didn't we go to Tommy's one time? I think we went to since the original location is near Dodger Stadium. That was another eleven PM Burger run. Yeah, I see, I used to eat it Tommy's a lot

back in the day. Anyway, that's right. I'm big and now I do this inter minute fasting, so I don't eat that much. But I'm not like, I can't be like you have the greatest uh your body processes food. I'm sure you eat, Steve. Yeah, I am so jealous. You'll look like von Hayes in a baseball uniform. Yeah, that's an outdated reference. I canna update my reference, but anyway,

thank you, Steve. Appreciated Buddy. Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Meller Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio app. Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Meller Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific