- Publish date:
HARD TO KEEP IN A SHOEBOX
Fans won't learn from a standard baseball card that, say, Oakland
rightfielder Mike Davis collected bugs and rats when he was a child
or that A's second baseman Tony Phillips had an Uncle Al who chased
him around the family house in Georgia kicking him in the pants every
time Phillips missed a ball thrown to him. But such tidbits are the
staple of what production director Fred Greene of San Francisco radio
station KSFO calls his ''radio baseball cards'' -- 60-second,
up-close-and-personal interviews with players that Greene hopes to
market to stations nationwide next season.
''It's PEOPLE magazine-type stuff,'' says Greene, whose spots on
the A's now run on KSFO. ''I think fans are interested in knowing
the players as people, and this is a way players can tell their
stories directly, in their own words.''
Greene says his cards ''remind us that baseball players have
hometowns and heroes, too,'' and the taped minutes are both
informative and enjoyable to listen to. But they do have one
shortcoming: Even if a fan records them on cassette, they aren't much
fun to flip.
Photo(s):
SAM Q. WEISSMAN NO CAPTION
