Vince Lloyd apparently passed the audition. The former Cubs play-by-play man, who had been reunited with Lou Boudreau and Jack Brickhouse for a one-night stand at Wrigley Field earlier this season, returns to the WGN Radio and TV booths Friday through Sunday in St. Louis, filling in for Harry Caray.
“I’m flattered,” said Lloyd earlier this week from his home in Sioux Falls, S.D. “There are an awful lot of guys closer to Chicago and St. Louis than I am (WGN and Cubs officials) could have called on. I’m pleased they remembered me.”
They would have been hard pressed to forget the impression made in May by Lloyd who, at 77, was as sharp as ever.
“Once you’re a fan, you’re always a fan,” said Lloyd. “But I paid more attention to the Cubs and the White Sox than any other teams, and I never lost that feeling.”
After retiring from WGN seven years ago, Lloyd returned to his boyhood home, where, when weather permits, he plays golf-“or my version of it”- with the same group of friends as much as possible.
“I’ve been very, very fortunate,” said Lloyd. “You get some twitches from time to time. Good heavens, when you see what happens to people a lot younger, the suffering and torment they go through, I just count my blessings every day. When you’re able to get up and play golf four or five days a week at my age, you have to consider yourself tremendously lucky.”
He also feels lucky to come back with a Cubs-Cardinals series, “which is something that’s always been special,” Lloyd said, “whether it’s in Wrigley Field or in St. Louis, the new ballpark or the old one. That’s as great a rivalry as there is.”
But Lloyd also issued a word of warning: “As I told people at the station, don’t expect any expert commentary or analysis from me. I don’t pretend to know the players nearly as well as I should. But you never lose your familiarity with the game. I’ll expect Ron Santo on radio and Steve Stone on TV to provide all the expert analysis that’s required. I just want to report what I see.”
A refreshing thought.
Just a start: Norm Van Lier, who helps on SportsChannel’s live telecast of the Chicago Housing Authority’s Midnight Basketball League All-Star Game at 4 p.m. Saturday, has his own views on the importance of such a contest. “We have so much emphasis on sports, I wonder sometimes if that’s the right direction,” says Van Lier, who will be announcing the game with Tom Dore. “While this is what the kids relate to, it’s important that the people involved push the other things. But if this is a way to get them off the streets, then God bless them. I just hope the right message is put out there. Sports is the way to meet, perhaps, but it’s not the way out.”
Van Lier used to toil for the CHA while coaching at Chicago State, and Gil Walker, who now runs the Midnight League, “used to work for me. I knew then he was someone who was really dedicated to the kids.” While Van Lier, who just agreed to a new three-year deal with the regional cable outlet, praises SportsChannel for taking the time and effort to telecast the event, “I sure hope (the players) don’t go out there like the NBA and start trash-talking. I’m against that. This is where we can correct all that.”
Everything’s Rosey: Jack Rosenberg, who helped build the reputation of WGN Radio and TV as sports editor, spends his last day as a Tribune Radio Network executive on Friday. “After 40 years, I’ll still be heavily involved with the Cubs’ and Bears’ networks,” says Rosenberg, but the rest of the time will be spent consulting. Rosenberg says he should have had an inkling semi-retirement was near when Cubs telecaster Stone walked into the Wrigley Field press dining room and saw Rosenberg sitting at a table with Lloyd, Brickhouse and Boudreau. Said Stone: “This looks like Mt. Rushmore revisited.”
More Top Picks Best Vox Amps
Baseball stuff: If the players strike Aug. 12 as threatened, ABC and NBC probably will show movies and ESPN could wind up with minor-league games again. Locally, WGN-Ch. 9 also plans on movies to replace Cubs and White Sox games, while SportsChannel hasn’t made a decision yet on Sox telecast replacements. Under the new Baseball Network arrangement, no rights fees were paid. Instead, ABC and NBC agreed to share costs and profits with the owners, which protected the networks from huge losses up front. . . . Like the product or not, ratings continue to climb for The Baseball Network. Monday night’s White Sox-Royals telecast had a 9.4 Nielsen rating on WLS-Ch. 7 and a 12.4 in Kansas City, Mo., helping “Baseball Night in America” to a best-yet 8.3 national average. . . . Cubs broadcaster Thom Brennaman’s 10-game NFL deal with Fox Broadcasting begins in September. Word is that while WGN-AM officials gave Brennaman their blessing to miss four baseball dates, they also insisted he stay away from Bears games as not to conflict with the radio station’s “Listen to the Home Team” promotion.
Other stuff: WMVP-AM officials should know Friday the status of host Jay Mariotti after he meets with his newspaper bosses. Mariotti was scheduled to take over ‘MVP’s 1-3 p.m. weekday slot this week until his other employer stepped in. Mariotti’s newspaper was “being difficult,” according to station exec Greg Solk.