Tony Kubek

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Template:Mlbretired Anthony Christopher Kubek (born October 12, 1936[1], in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is a retired American baseball player and television broadcaster.

Playing career

A left-handed batter, Kubek signed his first professional contract with the New York Yankees and rose rapidly through the Yanks' farm system. He was 20 years of age when he played his first game in Major League Baseball in 1957, and — except for one year (1962) spent largely in the U.S. military — remained with the Yankees until his retirement due to a back injury at the close of the 1965 season.

Kubek played 1,092 games, 882 of them at shortstop (although he also was an outfielder and utility infielder in his early career), compiling a lifetime batting average of .266 with 57 home runs. During his nine years with the Yankees, he played on seven American League pennant winners (1957-58, 1960-64) and three world champions (1958, 1961-1962).

1957

In 1957, Kubek won the American League Rookie of the Year Award. In Game 3 of the 1957 World Series, he had one of the best World Series games a rookie has ever had. In his prime he was a dangerous hitter and formed a top double play combination with second baseman (and roommate) Bobby Richardson on an infield that also featured third baseman Clete Boyer.

1960 World Series

In Game 7 of the 1960 World Series, Kubek was victimized by a bad-hop ground ball that struck him in the throat; Kubek was badly injured and the batter, Bill Virdon, reached first base, enabling the Pittsburgh Pirates to rally in a game they eventually won 10-9 on a ninth-inning homer by Bill Mazeroski. Kubek was curiously sensitive about the Bill Virdon incident. When future broadcasting partner Bob Costas once referenced Virdon's smash on the air, Kubek put his hand on Costas' thigh to stop him. (Just before the 1963 World Series, TV personality Phil Silvers, a Dodger fan, provided a reporter with a list of Yankee players to rattle. He included Kubek: "Show him a pebble.")

Broadcasting career

NBC Sports

See also: Major League Baseball on NBC

Upon his retirement, Kubek became a color commentator on NBC's Saturday Game of the Week telecasts. He spent 24 years at the network, teaming with play-by-play announcers such as Jim Simpson, Curt Gowdy (whom Kubek called his favorite partner), Joe Garagiola and Bob Costas.

In addition to the weekly in-season games, Kubek worked over a dozen World Series (1969-1976, 1978, 1980 and 1982), plus the American League Championship Series (1969-1975, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1987 and 1989), and All-Star Games (1969-1975, 1977, 1979 and 1981).

He also worked local telecasts for the Toronto Blue Jays on The Sports Network and CTV after they entered the AL in 1977. The Toronto Star said that Kubek "educated a whole generation of Canadian baseball fans without being condescending or simplistic." During the winter time, Kubek would go hunting, coach junior high basketball, and wait for baseball to resume.

Initial broadcasting problems

Kubek initially had trouble adjusting to the world of broadcasting. Although he had a lot to say, he was gangling, he tended to stutter, and talked too fast. Curt Gowdy soon suggested to Kubek that he should work offseason to improve his delivery. Buying a recorder, Kubek often read poetry aloud for 20 minutes a day. Kubek eventually became a respected broadcaster, doing both play-by-play and commentary.

Outspokeness

As both a local and national sportscaster, Kubek was known for his outspokenness. While calling the 1972 American League Championship Series, Kubek said that Oakland's Bert Campaneris throwing his bat at Detroit's Lerrin LaGrow (who knocked Campaneris down) was justified. Kubek believed that any pitch aimed squarely at the batter's legs could endanger his career. Incensed, Detroit's Chrysler Corporation phoned Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, who then called NBC, which in return pressured Kubek.

On April 8, 1974, when Hank Aaron hit his record-breaking 715th career home run, Kubek, who was calling the game with Curt Gowdy and Joe Garagiola, criticized Bowie Kuhn on air for failing to be in attendance at Atlanta on that historic night. Kuhn argued that he had a prior engagement he could not break.

In the 10th inning of Game 3 of the 1975 World Series, Cincinnati's César Gerónimo reached first base. Then, Boston catcher Carlton Fisk flung Ed Armbrister's bunt into center field. Kubek, on the NBC telecast, immediately charged that Armbrister interfered [with the attempted forceout] despite the fact that home plate umpire Larry Barnett didn't agree. After Joe Morgan drove in the game winning run for the Reds (by a score of 6-5), Barnett blamed Kubek for death alarum. Later, Kubek got 1,000 letters dubbing him a Boston stooge.

With Bob Costas

The team of Kubek and Bob Costas (backing up Vin Scully and Joe Garagiola) proved to be a formidable pair. There were even some who preferred the team of Kubek and Costas over the musings of Vin Scully and the asides of Joe Garagiola. Kubek, at first, wasn't happy about once again being assigned the backup game but considered it to be no big ego deal. One of the pair's most memorable broadcasts came on June 23, 1984. The duo were at Chicago's Wrigley Field to call an unbelievable 12-11 contest between the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals. Led by superstar second baseman (and future Hall of Famer) Ryne Sandberg, the Cubs rallied from a 9-3 deficit before winning it in extra innings. The game has since been effectionately known as "The Sandberg Game."

Kubek and Costas, who worked together since 1983, called the final edition (the 981st over all) of NBC's Game of the Week which aired on September 30, 1989. Coincidentally, that particular game featured the Toronto Blue Jays (a team that Kubek was long associated with as a broadcaster) beating the Baltimore Orioles 4-3 to clinch the AL East title at SkyDome. When the subject came of NBC losing the rights to televising Major League Baseball for the first time since 1946, Kubek simply said, "I can't believe it!" The final broadcast for Kubek and Costas as a team was Game 5 of the 1989 American League Championship Series.

MSG Network

See also: MSG Network
File:Tony Kubek and Joe Morgan 1976 World Series.JPG
Tony Kubek (left) interviews Joe Morgan following the Cincinnati Reds' Game 4 victory in the 1976 World Series.

When NBC lost its baseball TV rights to CBS after the 1989 season, Kubek disappeared from the national scene, joining the Yankees' local cable-TV announcing team (a gig that earned Kubek $525,000 a year). Ironically, back in 1978, Kubek said of Yankees owner George Steinbrenner that "He's got an expensive toy. Baseball's tough enough without an owner harassing you."

Retirement

Kubek spent five years calling games for the Yankees (1990-1994) on the MSG Network, where he earned fans and critics' respect for his honesty. After 1994, Kubek effectively quit broadcasting. He explained his sudden retirement from sportscasting by saying:

I hate what the game's become — the greed, the nastiness. You can't be married to baseball, give your heart to it, but when it starts taking over your soul, it's time to say whoa.

Kubek added.

I want to go home and spend more time with my family. They deserve it more than anyone. I don't need that ego stuff. I feel sorry for those who do.

Kubek's resignation coincided with the bitter strike that wound up cancelling the World Series in 1994.

Trivia

References

  1. ^ Most reliable sources give Kubek's date of birth as 1936 but his Topps 1957 baseball card (visible here) shows his birth date as 1935.
Preceded by American League Rookie of the Year
1957 		Succeeded by
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