The 1980's weren't pretty for the New York Yankees. It was the first decade since the 1910's they didn't win a World Series. The Dark Ages of Yankees baseball picked up where it left off in in the mid 1970's prior to the Billy Martin, Reggie Jackson, Thurman Munson regime. Bad trades and poor free agent signings (Steve Kemp, Ed Whitson, Ken Griffey and Roy Smalley to name a few) along with George Steinbrenner's 15 managerial changes made going to the "ball orchard in the South Bronx" as much fun as a stroll in Central Park with Robert Chambers.
In mid-1990 a reporter friend of mine asked if I could cover the game for him and send the sound bites to his radio network. It was the first Yankees game I ever covered and I was learning the do's and don't's on the fly. The Yankees were well on their way to a 67-win season under Stump Merrill (that pretty much says it all- a team run by a guy nicknamed "Stump." What comes to mind? I think of the remains of a dead tree with no hope for life) and later by Bucky Dent.
The Yankees won big that night and Claudell Washington had three or four hits, drove in a few runs, so of course he was on my short list of interview subjects. When the cramped Yankees clubhouse opened I saw a bunch of players relaxing on couches and chairs, some playing cards, some eating, others heading to the shower. Washington was at the far side of the room and I noticed that he was sitting by himself with no reporter within 40 feet of him. I bolted from the pack of reporters, turned on my tape recorder and walked over to him. He gave me kind of a surprised look. I asked him four of five questions and he politely answered them all. I thanked him and walked back to Bob, my reporter friend who regularly covered most of the team's home games. Bob gave me a strange look.
"Did you just talk to Washington?"
"Yeah...why?"
Bob laughed. "Because he doesn't talk to the media."
I laughed back. "Well he just talked to me."
I let Bob dub the interview so he could feed the stations he was stringing for, and then headed back to the press room.
A lesson was learned that night even though it was through pure ignorance on my part. The old saying is true after all..."It never hurts to ask."
The Yankees won big that night and Claudell Washington had three or four hits, drove in a few runs, so of course he was on my short list of interview subjects. When the cramped Yankees clubhouse opened I saw a bunch of players relaxing on couches and chairs, some playing cards, some eating, others heading to the shower. Washington was at the far side of the room and I noticed that he was sitting by himself with no reporter within 40 feet of him. I bolted from the pack of reporters, turned on my tape recorder and walked over to him. He gave me kind of a surprised look. I asked him four of five questions and he politely answered them all. I thanked him and walked back to Bob, my reporter friend who regularly covered most of the team's home games. Bob gave me a strange look.
"Did you just talk to Washington?"
"Yeah...why?"
Bob laughed. "Because he doesn't talk to the media."
I laughed back. "Well he just talked to me."
I let Bob dub the interview so he could feed the stations he was stringing for, and then headed back to the press room.
A lesson was learned that night even though it was through pure ignorance on my part. The old saying is true after all..."It never hurts to ask."
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