Saturday, May 26, 2012

Visual aids

Earlier this week I posted the travelogue from my recent trip to Seattle, New York, Boston, Cleveland, and Denver.  With my trusty iPhone 4s I also took pictures.  Here are some.  
I stay in a luxury hotel when in Seattle.
My view from the booth at Yankee Stadium.
Yes, that's a rat.  Waiting for the D train and bitching 'cause it's late.
Me and my terrific broadcast partner -- Rick Rizzs.   (Thanks to M. McCann for the photo)
Boston.  Some people go for the history, or to see the Cheers bar.  I go for the fried clams.
Oh yeah.  And Fenway Park.
From our booth.  Yes, we're high up.  Above the Timber Line.
Accommodations for our radio reporter, Shannon Drayer, were exceptional.   Here she is broadcasting live from the plush location provided.
My colleague, Dave Sims.  Hey, check out that dapper hat!
Charlie's Diner in Boston.  Notice the sink in the corner.   When you order the pancakes, also order a towel.
Our clubhouse in Cleveland.   The players are all hiding from me as usual.  It's a fun little game they play.
Posted in the Progressive Field press dining room:  Jack Graney was the very first player-turned-broadcaster.   That pretty much says it, doesn't it?
Magic hour in the magic city.
That's the line to get into the Horseshoe Casino in downtown Cleveland... at 1:00 AM.   You'd think they were giving away free iPads, wouldn't you?
View from my window in Denver.  I paid extra but it was worth it.
Coors Field, Denver on a typical sunny/stormy day.

And finally, Monet has his haystacks series.  This is mine.

16 comments :

Markus said...

When you get to Boston, do you actually get Cheers flashbacks of some sort? Sure, it wasn't produced on location there, but the show made such a point of being Bostonian, visiting the city has got to mean something, right?

Max Clarke said...

I like your Haystacks. You presented them in the RGB sequence, too, nice touch.

Monet's haystacks painting -or a Hollywood imitation- was featured in the first few minutes of the Pierce Brosnan remaked, "The Thomas Crown Affair." Brosnan/Crown visits the museum each day to admire the Haystacks, but he's actually preparing his heist.

Mike in BC said...

Ken, sometime when you're in Seattle you should go on the Underground tour. Very cool, very informative and quite entertaining!

Michael said...

It's nice to see them remembering Jack Graney in Cleveland. Red Barber wrote about him as a talented broadcaster who had to overcome having been an ex-player to establish himself. I wondered whether Cleveland has anything there to honor Jimmy Dudley, who is, so far as I can tell, the only Indians broadcaster (other than Mel Allen, who was there for a year), to get the Ford Frick Award at the Hall of Fame.

Bri said...

Cleveland just got casino gambling, so that might explain it.

When I was in Cleveland the casino wasn't open yet, so I just slid my money under the door.(rimshot)

By Ken Levine said...

There's a photo of Jimmy Dudley in the pressbox hallway.

I'm sure before the casino was open the line was smaller.

I have great fondness for Boston because of Cheers. Have visited the bar many times.

Johnny Walker said...

Looking good, Ken!

Paul Duca said...

Actually, that looks more like a series of Mondrian than Monet...

Unknown said...

Ken, for years I've been complaining about Rick Rizzs' nicknaming convention, but nobody listens to me so I'm turning to the professionals. Rick needs a professional writer to come up with more creative nicknames than slapping a y on half of somebody's name. I cringe every time I hear 'Miggy', 'Figgy', 'Guty', etc. It's almost enough to turn me into a Yankee fan. If you can keep me from having to hear him call Montero 'Monty', there are some garlic fries in it for you. And now that I've gotten that off my chest, I'd like to thank you for bringing some entertainment to the booth.

By Ken Levine said...

Thanks for the kind words, Scott.

In fairness to Rick, those are not nicknames he coined. Those are the nicknames the players have assigned them. So you'll hear Wedge in interviews make reference to Miggy, Figgy, etc.

However, no one calls him Wedgy.

Michael said...

Thanks for the update on Jimmy Dudley. I didn't get to hear him much, but a marvelous broadcaster when I did hear clips of him.

DBA said...

When he was with the PawSox the crowds totally chanted "Wedgie" when was at the plate.

iain said...

I'm pretty sure they called him "Wedgey*" while he was managing the Tribe? Check with Tom Hamilton the next time you see him.

*not saying he liked it

Rob said...

Are the Red, Green and Blue images used to color balance the TV cameras?

Dan Raley said...

Not trying to suck up here, because you complimented my book (Pitchers of Beer) but I swear I detect a little Vin Scully in your radio delivery on the Mariners broadcasts. Sort of a pleasant fade in your voice. Thoughts?

By Ken Levine said...

The one thing I've tried to take from Vin Scully is his desire to communicate one-to-one to the listener. I try to talk directly to you, not create some announcer "style".

Like everything else, nobody does it even half as good as Vinny.

Hope you enjoy my broadcasts.