WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.080 --> 00:00:02.720 It's Nightside with Dan Ray. 2 00:00:03.399 --> 00:00:06.080 I'm telling you fleasy Boston Radio. 3 00:00:07.320 --> 00:00:09.599 All right, welcome back. Before we get to my guest, 4 00:00:09.679 --> 00:00:15.080 and we're going to talk about stadia or stadiums in 5 00:00:15.119 --> 00:00:19.199 the Latin night the plural of a stadium venue for 6 00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:21.879 a sporting event. We think about stadiums in this country 7 00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:26.120 as baseball parks and football fields and all of that. 8 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:28.440 We're going to talk to my guest in just a moment. 9 00:00:28.559 --> 00:00:31.440 Had him on a couple of weeks ago. He's written 10 00:00:31.480 --> 00:00:33.880 a book called The Last Kamiski. I thought it'd be 11 00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:36.840 a great guest to talk to and give you an 12 00:00:36.840 --> 00:00:41.039 opportunity to check in. Before we get to Ken Smaller. 13 00:00:41.600 --> 00:00:44.320 Let me just take a moment here to remind all 14 00:00:44.320 --> 00:00:45.960 of you we have a couple of very important programs 15 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:48.280 coming up here on Nightside. Every night is an important 16 00:00:48.280 --> 00:00:51.200 show as far as we're concerned. But next Monday night, 17 00:00:51.759 --> 00:00:57.200 we'll be doing what we call our annual College Admissions Panel. 18 00:00:57.840 --> 00:01:01.439 We've done this program for eighteen years. Every one of 19 00:01:01.479 --> 00:01:04.560 those years we've been joined by Bill Fitzsimmons, the dean 20 00:01:04.599 --> 00:01:10.280 of Admissions at Harvard. Grant Goslin is filling in. I 21 00:01:10.280 --> 00:01:16.719 shouldn't say, filling in. He succeeded a great representative of 22 00:01:17.519 --> 00:01:22.599 Boston College, Paul Mahoney who was there for many, many years. 23 00:01:23.239 --> 00:01:27.599 And so Grant Goslin and Bill Fitzsimmons who join us 24 00:01:27.680 --> 00:01:32.519 at eight pm on Monday night, December the ninth. Uh 25 00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:36.319 they start at eight o'clock. And if you have John, 26 00:01:36.359 --> 00:01:38.599 when I said Paul Mahoney, I meant this John Mahoney, 27 00:01:38.640 --> 00:01:40.680 how can I say, Paul Mooney, John Mahoney of Boston 28 00:01:40.719 --> 00:01:47.040 College who succeeded to become the provo of Boston College. 29 00:01:47.040 --> 00:01:50.680 And now Grant Goslin is he's not pinch hitting, he's 30 00:01:50.719 --> 00:01:52.959 now he's now a regular on the panel. We've done 31 00:01:53.000 --> 00:01:56.000 this every year for every year of Nightside, and it's 32 00:01:56.040 --> 00:02:02.599 great for individuals who are facing the college admissions process 33 00:02:02.719 --> 00:02:05.159 for the first time, families who have never had. You know, 34 00:02:05.159 --> 00:02:09.120 if you've been through this grind, if you will for 35 00:02:09.400 --> 00:02:14.520 many times or several times with older students, you kind 36 00:02:14.520 --> 00:02:17.639 of know the roopes. But if you have a high 37 00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:22.800 school freshman, sophomore, junior who are approaching the selection of 38 00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:26.319 a college, there's some great information and be available free 39 00:02:26.319 --> 00:02:29.759 of charge right here on Nightside. Next Monday Night, at 40 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:32.960 eight o'clock with Bill Fitzimmons of Harvard and Grant Goslin 41 00:02:33.039 --> 00:02:39.560 of Boston College. And then on Friday night the twelfth, 42 00:02:39.719 --> 00:02:44.479 the twentieth of December, we do our fourteenth annual night 43 00:02:44.599 --> 00:02:50.159 Side Charity Combine. And that is excuse me, not the fourteenth, 44 00:02:50.240 --> 00:02:54.479 my mistake. It's the twelfth annual Nightside Charity Combine. And 45 00:02:54.560 --> 00:02:57.080 if you have, if you're involved in a charity, I'd 46 00:02:57.120 --> 00:03:00.280 like to get some free publicity. We will into view 47 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:04.400 upwards of twenty charities that night, the last couple of 48 00:03:04.400 --> 00:03:07.919 hours of my broadcast year. It's all done remotely. You 49 00:03:07.960 --> 00:03:10.599 don't have to drive to the studio, will set you 50 00:03:10.680 --> 00:03:13.680 up as a time. We run this like clockwork, and 51 00:03:13.719 --> 00:03:15.759 we'll give you an opportunity to talk about the charity 52 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:17.960 doesn't It can be big, it can be small. Just 53 00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:20.879 has to be legitimate. We'd like them to be five 54 00:03:20.879 --> 00:03:22.639 o' one c threes, but they don't have to be. 55 00:03:22.759 --> 00:03:25.639 We don't want Uncle Harry's Beer Fund. Nope, that's not 56 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:28.560 something like that. These are charities that are helping other people. 57 00:03:28.840 --> 00:03:31.639 And you tell us what you need. Do you need volunteers, 58 00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:35.560 do you need money? Do you need financial support? Many 59 00:03:35.599 --> 00:03:39.080 of the charities have been very pleased with the benefits 60 00:03:39.080 --> 00:03:41.360 that they received from being on for three or four minutes. 61 00:03:41.960 --> 00:03:45.000 We talked with a wide there were so many great charities, 62 00:03:45.319 --> 00:03:48.840 big and small, that are serving the needs of our 63 00:03:48.840 --> 00:03:51.159 fellow New Englanders. And it's anywhere in New England. To 64 00:03:51.199 --> 00:03:52.639 be honest, we do. We've actually had a couple of 65 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:55.319 charities on from other parts of the country which were 66 00:03:56.080 --> 00:03:58.199 they were kind of exceptions. But all I gotta do 67 00:03:58.479 --> 00:04:01.960 is send me an email at Dan Ray at iHeartMedia 68 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:07.000 dot com, or you can call our producer Marita aka 69 00:04:07.159 --> 00:04:10.599 Lady Lightning during the day. Her office number is seven 70 00:04:10.639 --> 00:04:13.840 eight one three five zero one seven two six. That's 71 00:04:13.879 --> 00:04:16.560 seven eight one three five zero one seven two six. 72 00:04:17.120 --> 00:04:20.720 And it is really a great opportunity to tell the 73 00:04:20.720 --> 00:04:23.000 world what you do, what you're involved in. And we've 74 00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:26.240 had some very interesting charities. You think of some of 75 00:04:26.240 --> 00:04:28.600 the bigger ones that we've had on, you know, Big Brothers, 76 00:04:28.680 --> 00:04:32.360 Peak Sisters and Great Charity and all of that United 77 00:04:32.360 --> 00:04:34.720 Way and things like that, but there are some great 78 00:04:34.759 --> 00:04:37.519 small charities out there that do specific work in one 79 00:04:37.560 --> 00:04:41.480 community or on one particular topics. So email me with 80 00:04:41.560 --> 00:04:44.879 a daytime phone number of the person who would represent 81 00:04:44.920 --> 00:04:47.399 the charity. We will call that person and then we 82 00:04:47.439 --> 00:04:49.800 will give them a half an hour window and they 83 00:04:49.800 --> 00:04:52.160 will be interviewed during that half an hour window. Trust me, 84 00:04:53.120 --> 00:04:55.560 Dan ray d A n R e A at iHeartMedia 85 00:04:55.560 --> 00:04:58.079 dot com or Marita. You can just call Marita on 86 00:04:58.120 --> 00:05:00.800 her phone seven eight one three five zer zero one 87 00:05:01.079 --> 00:05:06.040 seven six. Now I'm delighted to welcome back to Night's 88 00:05:06.040 --> 00:05:10.519 Side the author of the last Kamiski my guest who's 89 00:05:10.560 --> 00:05:16.040 a boss well Brookline resident, Ken Smaller, Ken, welcome back 90 00:05:16.079 --> 00:05:17.040 to Nightside. How are you? 91 00:05:17.680 --> 00:05:19.839 I'm doing great, Thanks so much for having me back. 92 00:05:19.879 --> 00:05:20.720 It's great to be here. 93 00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:25.079 So you've written, you've you've visited somewhere around twenty five 94 00:05:25.240 --> 00:05:32.439 hundred stadiums in operas of twenty four countries worldwide. I 95 00:05:32.480 --> 00:05:37.759 think you're Your Twitter handle is is it stadium vagabond. 96 00:05:37.800 --> 00:05:42.040 Correct stadium vagabonds, the Twitter and all social media, as 97 00:05:42.040 --> 00:05:45.720 well as my website stadium vagabond dot com, where I 98 00:05:45.759 --> 00:05:51.079 write about sports, travels and show my photographs and offer 99 00:05:51.160 --> 00:05:54.800 them as prints in framed form as well, which is 100 00:05:54.839 --> 00:05:58.879 a great gift of course for holidays. But yeah, I've 101 00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:02.000 been to I checked my numbers. Twenty four to sixty 102 00:06:02.079 --> 00:06:06.680 five in my current tally of stadiums around the world 103 00:06:06.879 --> 00:06:10.120 in looks like forty eight states in twenty four countries. 104 00:06:10.240 --> 00:06:11.160 Is my current tally. 105 00:06:11.879 --> 00:06:16.639 When did you start this travel? How do you know 106 00:06:17.319 --> 00:06:20.600 all of us remember the first sports stadium that we 107 00:06:20.680 --> 00:06:23.680 walked into. I remember as I was probably six or 108 00:06:23.720 --> 00:06:27.720 seven or eight years old and walked into with my 109 00:06:27.879 --> 00:06:31.680 dad Fenway Park and walked up one of those ramps. 110 00:06:31.800 --> 00:06:33.600 It was an off day for the Red Sox. This 111 00:06:33.680 --> 00:06:37.519 goes back into the nineteen fifties when people could just 112 00:06:37.519 --> 00:06:40.639 just walk into Fenway Park. There was no one's going 113 00:06:40.680 --> 00:06:43.879 to stop you. And I remember walking up the same 114 00:06:44.279 --> 00:06:46.199 walkway that I've walked up. It was just to the 115 00:06:46.279 --> 00:06:49.720 right of home plate and looking out at the green 116 00:06:49.800 --> 00:06:53.160 grass and it wasn't even called the green Monster then, 117 00:06:53.199 --> 00:06:56.360 I don't think the left field wall and the pitching 118 00:06:56.439 --> 00:07:00.480 mound and realizing the pitching mound was elevated and I 119 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:03.040 I cannot erase and Noel would I want to erase 120 00:07:03.079 --> 00:07:05.279 that image in my mind? What was the first stadium? 121 00:07:05.480 --> 00:07:06.120 Did you have one? 122 00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:09.079 Yeah? Yeah, I had a very similar experience back in 123 00:07:09.160 --> 00:07:12.959 nineteen seventy seven at Kimiski Park in Chicago, which of 124 00:07:12.959 --> 00:07:16.000 course is the subject of the book. But I was 125 00:07:16.439 --> 00:07:18.680 probably about six or seven years old at the time, 126 00:07:19.279 --> 00:07:23.879 and my dad brought my sister and me to Komiskey 127 00:07:23.959 --> 00:07:27.079 to see the Orioles play against the White Sox. It 128 00:07:27.199 --> 00:07:31.800 was a summer day. I remember vividly doing something similar 129 00:07:31.800 --> 00:07:35.480 to what you described, walking up the steep stairs behind 130 00:07:35.560 --> 00:07:38.399 home plate. The structure of the stadium was pretty similar 131 00:07:38.439 --> 00:07:42.800 to Fenway, where you had the concourse below the stands, 132 00:07:43.279 --> 00:07:46.319 so you had that dramatic walk up and then the 133 00:07:46.360 --> 00:07:51.040 green grass would unfold before your eyes, and it looked 134 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:53.600 so much different than what you had seen on TV 135 00:07:54.319 --> 00:07:58.120 for all those years. And I was hooked from day 136 00:07:58.199 --> 00:08:04.000 one this theater that was unlike anywhere else. And then 137 00:08:04.040 --> 00:08:07.360 I continued on, you know, through the eighties in Chicago, 138 00:08:07.480 --> 00:08:11.199 going to Chicago Stadium and Soldier Field, and eventually getting 139 00:08:11.240 --> 00:08:13.319 to Wrigley Field despite the fact that we were big 140 00:08:13.360 --> 00:08:16.920 White Sox fans in my family, and then venturing up 141 00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:19.680 north to County Stadium where the Brewers used to play, 142 00:08:20.079 --> 00:08:23.000 which was only about ninety minutes north of Chicago. But 143 00:08:23.079 --> 00:08:26.560 it really blossomed for me in college. I was a 144 00:08:26.600 --> 00:08:30.439 photo editor at the student run Michigan Daily in the 145 00:08:30.480 --> 00:08:33.200 early nineties at the University of Michigan. 146 00:08:32.840 --> 00:08:35.759 And Wolverine then correct, I am. 147 00:08:35.679 --> 00:08:39.639 A happy Wolverine this week. A successful season has been 148 00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:42.080 had after last week as well as. 149 00:08:43.720 --> 00:08:45.720 If I'm not mistaken, at Ohio State. 150 00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:48.919 You know, some some teams just don't know how to 151 00:08:49.720 --> 00:08:54.399 behave after games, and those those guys down south of 152 00:08:54.639 --> 00:08:58.159 the border of uh Michigan, Ohio just you know, couldn't 153 00:08:58.200 --> 00:09:02.399 really deal with the adverse. But I was really lucky 154 00:09:02.440 --> 00:09:06.039 when I was in college. I got to trail Desmond Howard, 155 00:09:06.519 --> 00:09:09.559 who went on to become the Heisman Trophy winner that year, 156 00:09:09.600 --> 00:09:12.519 and I got to watch and photograph every one of 157 00:09:12.559 --> 00:09:16.000 his games throughout the Big Ten. And actually he played 158 00:09:16.039 --> 00:09:19.480 over at BC and the Heights that year and scored 159 00:09:19.519 --> 00:09:24.279 four touchdowns against Boston College. And I also got to 160 00:09:24.279 --> 00:09:28.279 cover a year later the Fab Five, which, for those 161 00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:30.919 folks who don't remember, was a rarity at the time. 162 00:09:30.960 --> 00:09:34.919 There were five freshman basketball players who came to Michigan 163 00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:37.039 and ended up getting all the way to the NCAA 164 00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:41.120 Championship game, only to lose to Duke Chris Webber being 165 00:09:41.159 --> 00:09:44.519 the biggest star in Jalen Rose and Juwan Howard, and 166 00:09:44.600 --> 00:09:48.399 I got to watch and photograph from the court when 167 00:09:48.399 --> 00:09:52.519 I should have been studying for my econ midterm. In 168 00:09:52.559 --> 00:09:55.960 the Metrodome, I got to cover the final four in 169 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:59.559 the NCAA Championship game. And after college, I decided to 170 00:09:59.559 --> 00:10:03.159 go to law school and find myself a sort of 171 00:10:03.159 --> 00:10:06.919 a straight career, but always wanted to continue to photograph 172 00:10:07.000 --> 00:10:11.279 sports and stadiums on the side, and everywhere I've gone 173 00:10:11.320 --> 00:10:15.679 since then, I've done something to either go to a game, 174 00:10:15.879 --> 00:10:18.639 or go on a tour, or see the stadium or 175 00:10:18.639 --> 00:10:21.759 arena or a ballpark in a particular city, and it's 176 00:10:21.799 --> 00:10:25.000 just become kind of an obsessive hobby that really will 177 00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:27.639 never end as long as I can keep walking and 178 00:10:27.720 --> 00:10:32.039 keep taking photographs. And now you know, I bring my 179 00:10:32.080 --> 00:10:34.480 wife along, and now that I have two teenage boys, 180 00:10:34.519 --> 00:10:37.840 they come along with me to these various adventures and 181 00:10:37.879 --> 00:10:41.080 it's like a worldwide scavenger hunt. I always look for 182 00:10:41.120 --> 00:10:44.200 the unusual stadiums in a new city that I'm going to, 183 00:10:44.320 --> 00:10:47.000 and it takes me to parts of the stadium the 184 00:10:47.000 --> 00:10:50.159 city that I probably wouldn't otherwise, never visit that wouldn't 185 00:10:50.200 --> 00:10:53.679 necessarily make the dour guides, but it really provides an 186 00:10:53.759 --> 00:10:55.879 interesting foray into a. 187 00:10:56.080 --> 00:10:57.559 Do you work as a full time lawyer. 188 00:10:58.200 --> 00:11:00.759 Yeah, I'm a full time real commercial real estate lawyer. 189 00:11:01.360 --> 00:11:03.679 So this is a business for me. 190 00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:05.639 This neck of the woods out in Michigan. 191 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:08.360 I went to law school down in Philadelphia at Penn 192 00:11:09.039 --> 00:11:11.559 and got to see some terrific stadiums down there. One 193 00:11:11.559 --> 00:11:14.399 of the best is the Plaster in Philadelphia. Uh, the 194 00:11:14.440 --> 00:11:17.080 old Basketball Arena which is home to Penn but also 195 00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:18.759 the Big Five Basketball tournaments. 196 00:11:19.080 --> 00:11:21.600 When you when when you say stadiums to me, I 197 00:11:21.639 --> 00:11:26.000 think about the outdoor venues. Okay, maybe they're a covered 198 00:11:26.080 --> 00:11:31.279 venue like the old Houston Astrodome or the the Dome 199 00:11:31.360 --> 00:11:35.759 down in Louisiana and New Orleans or Tampa Bay. So 200 00:11:35.960 --> 00:11:39.399 you include you would include on the under the term 201 00:11:39.480 --> 00:11:43.399 stadium hockey arenas or or oh yeah, oh yeah. 202 00:11:43.519 --> 00:11:47.240 Any I kind of kind of mentally have made this decision. 203 00:11:47.240 --> 00:11:51.240 At any place where they built a structure to house 204 00:11:52.159 --> 00:11:56.200 sporting events constitutes the stadium. And sometimes it's something unusual 205 00:11:56.320 --> 00:12:00.600 like the symphony orchestra here Boston Symphony for brief period 206 00:12:00.639 --> 00:12:03.120 in two thousand and two was the home of the 207 00:12:03.240 --> 00:12:07.080 US Squash Open and turned into a stadium for about 208 00:12:07.080 --> 00:12:10.120 ten days back in two thousand and two when they 209 00:12:10.159 --> 00:12:11.720 held the squash Championships. 210 00:12:11.759 --> 00:12:14.399 There in your calculation, that counts, Okay. 211 00:12:14.399 --> 00:12:16.279 I'm going to count that. I'll count that one. They're 212 00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:17.600 not many like that, but a few. 213 00:12:17.840 --> 00:12:22.000 As I say, we have the love of sports arenas 214 00:12:22.039 --> 00:12:28.039 and stadiums in common as well as I'm a Boston 215 00:12:28.120 --> 00:12:32.080 University law school guy, so we have the legal background 216 00:12:32.159 --> 00:12:33.840 and the love of sports. We take a break. I'm 217 00:12:33.840 --> 00:12:38.200 going to invite callers to join the conversation and see 218 00:12:38.240 --> 00:12:41.840 if we can stump Ken. Maybe there's a stadium that 219 00:12:42.039 --> 00:12:45.120 you've seen that Ken hasn't seen. I suspect probably not. 220 00:12:45.360 --> 00:12:48.159 But we'll talk about some of the stadiums that Ken 221 00:12:48.200 --> 00:12:52.279 has seen around the world. Twenty four countries. I mean 222 00:12:52.440 --> 00:12:56.399 most people never travel. I mean the vast majority of 223 00:12:56.440 --> 00:13:00.279 people never travel to five countries in their life, never 224 00:13:00.279 --> 00:13:03.919 mind twenty four, and they never see sports stadiums. They 225 00:13:04.240 --> 00:13:07.720 may pass through an airport or two. But we'll we'll 226 00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:10.600 enjoy our conversation, and this is just sort of a 227 00:13:10.600 --> 00:13:13.080 as we get into December, we we do we do 228 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:15.600 our politics and our serious subjects, but we're also going 229 00:13:15.679 --> 00:13:18.399 to find subjects that everybody can relate to, and you 230 00:13:18.440 --> 00:13:21.240 don't have to be a sports officionado or an expert. 231 00:13:21.600 --> 00:13:24.080 Join the conversation six one, seven, two, five, four ten 232 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:27.080 thirty six one seven, nine, three, one ten thirty. My 233 00:13:27.159 --> 00:13:30.200 name is Dan Ray. We're talking about stadiums that people 234 00:13:30.279 --> 00:13:34.799 have visited. I can I've never done account of. It's 235 00:13:34.840 --> 00:13:37.000 not gonna be anywhere close to what Can has, that's 236 00:13:37.000 --> 00:13:40.799 for sure. But I've been to a few interesting facilities 237 00:13:40.840 --> 00:13:44.240 over the years, including Kimiski Park. So Gaylord Perry and 238 00:13:44.279 --> 00:13:48.200 Wilbur Wood hook up in a pictures duel back in 239 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:52.840 I think nineteen seventy three at that old Ballyard. We'll 240 00:13:52.840 --> 00:13:55.639 take a quick break, coming back on Nightside talking about 241 00:13:55.799 --> 00:13:59.759 sports stadiums, which include arenas. We'll be back on Nightside 242 00:13:59.759 --> 00:14:00.200 after this. 243 00:14:01.440 --> 00:14:04.440 Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World, 244 00:14:04.559 --> 00:14:08.320 Nice Sight Studios on WBZ News Radio. 245 00:14:09.639 --> 00:14:12.360 We'll gome back. Everybody's talking with Ken Smallum. Ken is 246 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:16.639 from the Boston area written a book called The Last Kimiski. 247 00:14:17.159 --> 00:14:18.600 I want to talk about the book for a couple 248 00:14:18.639 --> 00:14:22.879 of minutes, then get back to the stadiums and your travels. Obviously, 249 00:14:23.080 --> 00:14:26.480 since Kimiski Park was the first stadium that you have 250 00:14:26.759 --> 00:14:31.480 visited as a child, I'm sure that that is why 251 00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:35.919 that's the subject of your book. How's that book doing 252 00:14:35.960 --> 00:14:37.279 at this point. 253 00:14:37.120 --> 00:14:40.320 Yeah, we're doing pretty well. It started based on a 254 00:14:40.399 --> 00:14:45.519 documentary by a first time documentarian named Matt Flesh, and 255 00:14:45.720 --> 00:14:49.000 he put together in crowdsourced a bunch of photos and videos, 256 00:14:49.000 --> 00:14:52.919 including my photos, to do a documentary during COVID, and 257 00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:55.799 we decided to turn it into a book given the 258 00:14:56.080 --> 00:14:59.159 great feedback we got for the documentary and so many 259 00:14:59.200 --> 00:15:02.200 my photos didn't make the final cut of the film, 260 00:15:02.600 --> 00:15:04.759 and I had over four hundred photos that I wanted 261 00:15:04.759 --> 00:15:08.159 to share with baseball and sports fans, not just white 262 00:15:08.159 --> 00:15:12.159 Sox fans, but really people who love sports history. And 263 00:15:12.399 --> 00:15:17.480 it really kind of guides us through the last seasons 264 00:15:17.480 --> 00:15:20.000 of old Chimiskey Park and some real special times that 265 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:23.399 took place during those last few years. I was really 266 00:15:23.480 --> 00:15:27.600 lucky to have my childhood hero, Azzige and the manager 267 00:15:27.639 --> 00:15:30.200 that helped them win the World Series and five and 268 00:15:30.360 --> 00:15:32.279 was Rookie of the Year in nineteen eighty five for 269 00:15:32.360 --> 00:15:35.679 the team provide the forward to the book, which was 270 00:15:35.720 --> 00:15:39.080 a real thrill to have him give his thoughts and 271 00:15:39.200 --> 00:15:42.279 memories of old Chimisky Park, which was just as special 272 00:15:42.279 --> 00:15:45.559 to him as it was to baseball fans from throughout 273 00:15:45.600 --> 00:15:48.399 the country, if not world, whoever visited it. It was 274 00:15:48.440 --> 00:15:52.879 a real special place, and it's just wonderful to provide 275 00:15:52.919 --> 00:15:56.200 fans who both have memories of it, but even younger 276 00:15:56.200 --> 00:15:59.320 fans who never got to visit it time travel back 277 00:15:59.360 --> 00:16:02.639 into those days to a ballpark that was a real 278 00:16:02.879 --> 00:16:07.159 unique ballpark unlike anything else that ever was built before 279 00:16:07.399 --> 00:16:11.519 or since, and it lasted for eighty years, was home 280 00:16:11.559 --> 00:16:15.360 to the White Sox, the Negro League American Giants, the 281 00:16:15.480 --> 00:16:18.559 Chicago Stings soccer team, and a lot of people forget 282 00:16:18.559 --> 00:16:22.240 the Chicago Cardinals played there for decades, played more games 283 00:16:22.279 --> 00:16:26.120 there and any other stadium, even than their current stadium 284 00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:29.919 in Glendale, Arizona, which I think they'll soon surpass Miski 285 00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:32.279 Park in a few years. And it's just a real 286 00:16:32.360 --> 00:16:36.799 special place, you know. We put together both the photos 287 00:16:36.840 --> 00:16:39.200 and the content from the documentary, it's something that people 288 00:16:39.240 --> 00:16:41.440 can really look at and have as a keepsake. 289 00:16:42.440 --> 00:16:45.480 And how's the how's the book doing? I assume it's 290 00:16:45.519 --> 00:16:46.840 a big hit in Chicago. 291 00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:50.080 Yeah, it's doing well and actually was just nominated for 292 00:16:50.120 --> 00:16:54.720 the Chicago Writers Association non Fiction Award for Book of 293 00:16:54.759 --> 00:16:57.480 the Year for twenty twenty four. We're going to find 294 00:16:57.480 --> 00:17:00.519 out any day whether or not the book was the winner. 295 00:17:00.720 --> 00:17:04.359 It's up against some stiff competition, but it's really exciting 296 00:17:04.440 --> 00:17:08.039 to know that other folks, including people in the literary community, 297 00:17:08.359 --> 00:17:12.519 really appreciate this this window back in time through this book. 298 00:17:12.880 --> 00:17:15.240 So you visited, as you said, I think it was 299 00:17:15.359 --> 00:17:19.720 twenty four hundred and sixty five stadium stadiums is the 300 00:17:19.759 --> 00:17:24.200 plurals in Latin, it would be stadia and that includes 301 00:17:24.480 --> 00:17:28.839 not only you know, fields that we think of baseball 302 00:17:28.920 --> 00:17:32.799 parks and all of that, but you've mentioned some others 303 00:17:32.839 --> 00:17:36.240 and arenas and all of that. When we get back, 304 00:17:36.279 --> 00:17:38.519 I want to talk about some of the countries that 305 00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:42.680 you have gone to and visited. And I also want 306 00:17:42.680 --> 00:17:46.039 to talk You mentioned that there was a handball tournament 307 00:17:46.079 --> 00:17:49.039 held at Boston Symphony Hall, and so that's one of 308 00:17:49.079 --> 00:17:51.720 the twenty four hundred and sixty five that you count 309 00:17:51.720 --> 00:17:55.079 as having visited. How many of the Major League baseball 310 00:17:55.119 --> 00:17:57.880 parks have you have you Have you done every Major 311 00:17:57.960 --> 00:17:59.400 League ballpark baseball park? 312 00:17:59.519 --> 00:18:02.519 Yeah, done, recurrent one, and I think about thirty three 313 00:18:02.839 --> 00:18:06.720 former ones, either that were in existence for long periods 314 00:18:06.799 --> 00:18:09.960 or some for very short periods, such as San Juan, 315 00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:13.240 Puerto Rico was the home ballpark for the Expos for 316 00:18:14.440 --> 00:18:16.759 about forty games before they moved to Washington. 317 00:18:17.480 --> 00:18:20.759 Yeah, I forgot that. Oh sure, Okay, what are some 318 00:18:21.000 --> 00:18:24.079 I mean the ballparks that I can remember going to. 319 00:18:24.160 --> 00:18:27.920 I remember going to the Vet in Philadelphia, going to 320 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:31.759 the old Memorial Stadium for the Baltimore Orioles get down 321 00:18:31.759 --> 00:18:34.319 in Maryland. I'm trying to think of some of the 322 00:18:34.400 --> 00:18:37.960 other Arlington There was the Rangers for wild played in 323 00:18:38.039 --> 00:18:41.559 an old park down in Arlington, Texas. Did you get 324 00:18:41.599 --> 00:18:43.039 any of those along the way or. 325 00:18:43.119 --> 00:18:45.480 It's funny you mentioned that, because one of the ones 326 00:18:45.519 --> 00:18:48.880 that I'm really lament never getting to is the Arlington one. 327 00:18:49.000 --> 00:18:52.920 I got to all those old old doughnut sort of stadiums, 328 00:18:53.240 --> 00:18:59.960 Veterans stadiums in Philly Three Rivers and in Pittsburgh, Oakland 329 00:19:01.039 --> 00:19:05.240 Alameda Calism which had just closed down recently, with another 330 00:19:05.279 --> 00:19:09.200 one of them in Atlanta, Fulton County Stadium, river Front 331 00:19:09.240 --> 00:19:13.079 Stadium in Cincinnati and Bush Stadium in Saint Louis. All 332 00:19:13.160 --> 00:19:17.920 those stadiums met either the wrecking ball or the implosion 333 00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:22.279 dynamite in the nineties or early aughts, and we had 334 00:19:22.319 --> 00:19:26.240 a real influx of new stadiums hitting really throughout the 335 00:19:26.279 --> 00:19:29.880 world in the late nineteen nineties and early two thousands. 336 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:33.200 As It's funny, all of those stadiums that were built 337 00:19:33.279 --> 00:19:37.759 in the early seventies sort of you know, Forbes Field 338 00:19:38.759 --> 00:19:45.480 passed on and it became Three Rivers in Pittsburgh. That 339 00:19:45.759 --> 00:19:50.440 and the vet which came along after Shy Park. They 340 00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:52.839 didn't have much life expectancy. I mean, as you mentioned 341 00:19:52.920 --> 00:19:56.480 Kimiski at eighty four years, Fenway still going strong now 342 00:19:56.559 --> 00:19:58.079 in what next year will be the one hundred and 343 00:19:58.119 --> 00:20:00.839 thirteenth year of Fenway Park. I think Fenway Park is 344 00:20:00.880 --> 00:20:03.640 the second oldest ballpark. There's a ballpark, and I think 345 00:20:03.640 --> 00:20:04.960 it's Birmingham, Alabama. 346 00:20:05.039 --> 00:20:06.759 That correct, That. 347 00:20:06.759 --> 00:20:09.240 Is that is still the oldest ballpark. I'm not sure 348 00:20:09.240 --> 00:20:12.839 that it's still in continuous use, by the way, Oh 349 00:20:12.920 --> 00:20:13.640 it is. 350 00:20:13.680 --> 00:20:16.240 It actually recently became a major League ballpark. 351 00:20:16.799 --> 00:20:20.039 Well it was one it was, yeah, it was one 352 00:20:20.119 --> 00:20:21.119 night only, right. 353 00:20:21.079 --> 00:20:23.119 Yeah, one night June. 354 00:20:23.400 --> 00:20:25.720 Yeah, yeah, I know that. Okay, Well, take a break. 355 00:20:25.720 --> 00:20:28.279 My guest is Ken Smaller. Love to hear from you 356 00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:31.359 as to what was maybe the first stadium he went to, 357 00:20:31.480 --> 00:20:33.640 or what was the stadium that you fell in love with. 358 00:20:33.759 --> 00:20:38.279 Maybe some of you have been up on the kiss 359 00:20:38.319 --> 00:20:42.240 cam or the engagement camp in some of these ballparks. Look, 360 00:20:42.279 --> 00:20:45.680 there are some ballplayers who have been married at at 361 00:20:45.680 --> 00:20:50.400 at stadium at stadiums. Don Zimmer, the Red Sox manager, 362 00:20:50.559 --> 00:20:54.279 was married i think at the Dodgers Triple A Stadium 363 00:20:54.599 --> 00:20:57.359 back in the nineteen fifties. So feel free to join 364 00:20:57.400 --> 00:21:00.720 the conversation. I'm enjoying it. I hope you will as well. 365 00:21:00.759 --> 00:21:02.759 We'll be back on Nightside right after the News at 366 00:21:02.759 --> 00:21:03.599 the bottom of the hour. 367 00:21:06.440 --> 00:21:11.119 It's Night Side with Dan Ray on Boston's news radio. 368 00:21:12.279 --> 00:21:17.839 My guest is Ken Smaller. He has visited two and 369 00:21:17.839 --> 00:21:22.839 sixty five stadiums, which again includes baseball parks, football fields, 370 00:21:22.880 --> 00:21:27.319 but also arenas twenty four countries. Some of the countries 371 00:21:27.359 --> 00:21:29.720 that you've been to were these were these countries that 372 00:21:29.799 --> 00:21:33.039 you were going to and you just found stadiums along 373 00:21:33.079 --> 00:21:36.200 the way over these countries you went to knowing you 374 00:21:36.240 --> 00:21:39.559 wanted to see a specific stadium a. 375 00:21:39.519 --> 00:21:42.359 Little bit of both. I was in Japan to go 376 00:21:42.440 --> 00:21:45.640 see baseball, but naturally, when I was there, I wanted 377 00:21:45.640 --> 00:21:48.240 to see sumo as well, and got to see the 378 00:21:48.279 --> 00:21:52.720 Grand Championship in two thousand and five of the culmination 379 00:21:52.799 --> 00:21:55.960 of a fifteen days sumo tournament in Tokyo, which was 380 00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:59.160 one of the most amazing experiences of my life seeing that. 381 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:03.359 Another example was being in Dublin. I was there for 382 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:07.799 a brief trip and got to see hurling at Croke Park, 383 00:22:08.480 --> 00:22:11.200 which was something that I knew nothing about and became 384 00:22:11.279 --> 00:22:15.960 hooked on it after seeing it live in person. You know, 385 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:18.200 all kinds of different things. I went to try to 386 00:22:18.200 --> 00:22:22.720 see the Leeds soccer stadium without realizing that a Jehovah's 387 00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:26.000 Witness rally was occurring right there and then, and that 388 00:22:26.160 --> 00:22:27.799 was the only way I was going to gain entry 389 00:22:28.079 --> 00:22:30.480 if I grabbed a prayer book and went in and 390 00:22:31.000 --> 00:22:35.720 quietly was reverent while I took my pictures, and my 391 00:22:35.759 --> 00:22:38.359 wife sat there quietly looking at a prayer book while 392 00:22:38.599 --> 00:22:41.079 while I roamed around taking some photos of this legendary 393 00:22:41.079 --> 00:22:41.759 soccer ground. 394 00:22:41.839 --> 00:22:43.319 And you almost got arrested in one. 395 00:22:43.359 --> 00:22:47.960 You told me yeah, I almost got arrested in Barcelona. 396 00:22:48.440 --> 00:22:51.599 It was the week of the Real Madrid Barcelona match 397 00:22:52.319 --> 00:22:56.880 and I snuck in trying to take photos of the stadium, 398 00:22:56.960 --> 00:23:00.880 not realizing they were practicing at the time. I got 399 00:23:00.960 --> 00:23:04.200 grabbed by a guard I'm not quite sure whether he 400 00:23:04.279 --> 00:23:06.839 was a police or a guard, and he dragged me 401 00:23:06.880 --> 00:23:09.000