You missed the money quote (albeit 13 years old):

"“George is a detriment to an organization,” he said. “He’s a loser, is what he is. The guy is a loser, and you don’t work for losers. I don’t care how much money he throws at people or charities, you don’t balance the scale by treating people like crap.”"

You missed the money quote (albeit 13 years old)

I figured everybody remembered those quotes...

Kubek really had been around baseball for awhile. He'd finished a complete season in the minors while he was still 17, and played in his first World Series by the age of 20. I can see where the burnout factor came in.

That first World Series must have been quite an experience. It was against the Milwaukee Braves, and Kubek was a Milwaukee native. And in his first plate appearance before his hometown crowd, he hit a home run on the first pitch. And then hit another home run in the seventh. He'd hit all of three home runs in the regular season.

In all my years of watching baseball---and I think Harvey would back me up on this---no stadium has ever given a more complete silent treatment to an opposing player than County Stadium gave Kubek that day. TV fans all over the country were reaching for their volume controls, certain that someone had switched off the sound.

Lots of fans nowadays throw opponents' home run balls back out onto the field. I think if some fan in Milwaukee that afternoon had even acknowledged a home town boy's moment with a single clap, they would have thrown him (the fan) onto the field. They really did love their Braves.

I remember as a kid in the 1970-80's watching NBC baseball's game of the week with Kubek and Joe Garagiola and what a treat is was listening to those two. I never knew why they never got more credit. Now we have self-serving idiots like Buck and McCarver, Brennenman, Mark Grace, Eric Karros and others. Although Dick Stockton is still pretty damn good.

I wonder how many people remember that on Saturdays NBC would sometimes show two games-the morning game would be the East Coast game and the afternoon would be the West Coast or Midwest game. It was truly the game of the week not this bull$hit we see now from Fox. During those times we would see Yanks vs. Redsox, Dodgers vs. Reds, Pirates vs. Phillies and other great battles.

Fox totally sucks! I Fukking hate FOX! Last week we had the pleasure of seeing the last place Padres vs. the Cardinals. Wow, what a classic. In an ideal world we would have gotten the Redsox vs. Angels feed but this is Fox. I can recall several years ago when the Yanks and Redsox matched up in the Bronx and it was Pedro vs. Roger Clemens. Think we got a chance to see that game, not on your life. We probably got the DBacks vs. Rockies both fighting for last place.

Anyone know where one can write to Fox to complain about the $hitting games in our area?

I'm with Living Legend. I'm too young to have watched NBC's edition of the Game of the Week (I was 5 when the deal with CBS was made). However, based on the dozens of old videos I've seen, I've really developed an appreciation for the old Garagiola - Kubek duo. Garagiola's more famous work came with Vin Scully, after Scully moved to NBC in 1983; still, I think Garagiola was much fresher and funnier during his days with Kubek. For my money, nothing beats NBC's broadcast of the 1980 World Series -- still a joy to watch, even 28 years after the fact.

As a side note -- we got the Red Sox - Angels game here in Utah last week. I'm not sure when that changed. I remember that we'd only get Padres and Rockies games as recently as '98 and '99. Someone over at KSTU has made sure that we get either the Cubs, Yankees or Red Sox every single week.

Personally, I could really go for two games on Saturday. Sure as hell beats watching Stargate reruns and "Wacked Out Sports" before FOX's coverage begins! Oh well -- at least I can always flip over to Superliga coverage on Telemundo on Saturday evenings.

Garagiola came in for a lot of grief for his style. If there's been an Internet back then, it wouldn't've been firejoemorgan.com, it would've been firejoegaragiola.com. Kubek was aces though, all business.

Sure as hell beats watching Stargate reruns and "Wacked Out Sports" before FOX's coverage begins!

"Hisssssss!! The sun, aagh! It burns! This stuff I'm breathing...fresh...*gack*...air...aargh..."

Garagiola came in for a lot of grief for his style. If there's been an Internet back then, it wouldn't've been firejoemorgan.com, it would've been firejoegaragiola.com.

Especially after his hundredth or so observation about players with long hair, his two hundredth snide remark about Jim Bouton, and his five hundredth recycled Yogi Berra anecdote. He was damn lucky that the internet wasn't around then.

Kubek was aces though, all business.

Although he often got put in situations that had to be embarrassing, such as the inordinate amount of time he spent between innings in the 1969 postseason interviewing David Eisenhower in the stands.

In 1973 when NBC's Monday Night Baseball Game had a guest every week (Dizzy dean, Satchel Paige, George C Scott, Danny Kaye) Kubek proposed his former teammate Jim Bouton. Kubek kept to his opinions when he expressed them. In the 1972 ALCS when Bert Campaneris threw his bat at Lerrin LaGrow for hitting him with a pitch on his foot, Kubek said Campaneris was wrong but it was ubderstandable. He made his living off his feet and LaGrow was deliberately throwing there. Primary sponsor Chrysler wasn't happy with criticism of the Detroit team but Kubek didn't back off.
He could be prissy at times though. One year Gowdy and Garagiola made their picks to win at the beginning. Kubek didn't, just didn't feel like it.
There was another time when the start of a game was delayed by a swarm of bees. It was solved when Kubek went down, located the queen and took her away making the others follow.
He did appear several years ago on YES Shortstop show with Scooter Rizzuto, Bucky Dent, Gil McDougald and Derek Jeter. For some reason YES never shows it again. Must be because it was quality.
There was someone at the time in TV Guide (Cleveland Amory?) who did rate the backup crew of Jim Simpson and Maury Wills better than Gowdy and Kubek (Gowdy could ramble on at this time about the Red Sox, the joys of Fenway Park and other myths).

There is a story before the 1957 World series Stengel told Kubek to stay with his parents while the rest of the team stayed at the hotel (I doubt Kubek ever went to the hotel bar which was verboten on a Stengel team because that's where he drank). The Milwaukee fans knew where the Kubeks lived so they heckled his house all night. The Yankees escaped this at the hotel

Can anyone put some tracers on schuey's post? I'd like some verification of a few of those tales.

There was another time when the start of a game was delayed by a swarm of bees. It was solved when Kubek went down, located the queen and took her away making the others follow.

I heard he caught Lee Harvey Oswald's bullet in his teeth. Kennedy's head exploded in sheer amazement.

kubek and garagiola are the first broadcast team i can remember ... i'm sure i saw baseball games before they started, but i don't remember who the talking heads were.
gosh, that's some old memories.

Can anyone put some tracers on schuey's post? I'd like some verification of a few of those tales.

Couldn't find any for those, but I found a story about how Kubek worked out with the Braves when he was a high school star whom the Braves were eager to sign. But apparently he intended to sign with the Yankees all along, and only worked out with Milwaukee in order to get free passes to the games.

oh, heck, now that i think about it, the first broadcast team i remember is kubek and gowdy! when joe g. became kubek's partner i remember thinking 'who is this nutty guy?' of course now, he'd be thought of as pretty mild.

In the 1972 ALCS when Bert Campaneris threw his bat at Lerrin LaGrow for hitting him with a pitch on his foot, Kubek said Campaneris was wrong but it was ubderstandable. He made his living off his feet and LaGrow was deliberately throwing there.

I remember that well, and thought at the time it was lame. Who throws at a guy's legs? Plus LaGrow was lousy. Campy was just being a hothead.

I know more about baseball than Kubek!!! O.K., but still, it sounds lame to me.

Kubek did two things that annoyed the hell out of me. One was "Ozzie Gee-Jen" and the other was his early game descriptions of each starting pitcher's arsenal. The way he'd describe the likes of Dick Drago or Neal Heaton, you'd think they were Bob Gibson. He comes at you with four different fastballs and three different breaking pitches, all of which he can throw for strikes. He's a tough competitor and the Orioles will have their hands full today. Gee, with all those pitches at his comand, why is he 4-11 with an ERA one would normally associate with a Boeing jetliner?

oh, heck, now that i think about it, the first broadcast team i remember is kubek and gowdy!

I'm pretty sure the first GOTW broadcast team I remember was Gowdy and Pee Wee Reese. Might have been Gowdy and Kubek, though.

Remember how bad Sandy Koufax was as a color man?

Steve, you've forgotten more about baseball than I'll ever know, but I think that the first GOTW team was Dizzy Dean and either Gowdy or Buddy Blattner. But the GOTW was on the air long before Kubek had retired as a ballplayer.

it was Diz and Blattner when CBS first got the rights--then Pee Wee replaced Blattner

Reese moved to NBC when they got the rights and was Gowdy's partner for a while

one web site says Kubek started as a color man for the NBC backup games with Jim Simpson--I don't remember that

wow, i never saw sandy as a color man. i seem to remember from leavy's bio that he reluctantly tried it and really didn't like doing it ...

I remember when they used to send the humorless Kubek down on the field to jazz up an interview.

I loved Kubek...but that was torture.

wow, i never saw sandy as a color man. i seem to remember from leavy's bio that he reluctantly tried it and really didn't like doing it ...

he was boring, boring, boring, both in tone and content--I actually felt sorry for him

Kubek was outstanding when he did the Blue Jays broadcasts as well. Was surprised to read he went "cold turkey" on baseball.

Kubek and Bob Costas were a great team in the mid-1980s; I think I preferred them to the "A" pairing of Scully/Garagiola...

Kubek and Bob Costas were a great team in the mid-1980s; I think I preferred them to the "A" pairing of Scully/Garagiola...

These are the pairings I personally remember.