This Just In ...
Kevin Fischer is a veteran broadcaster, the recipient of over 150 major journalism awards from the Milwaukee Press Club, the Wisconsin Associated Press, the Northwest Broadcast News Association, the Wisconsin Bar Association, and others. He has been seen and heard on Milwaukee TV and radio stations for over three decades. A longtime aide to state Senate Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature, Kevin can be seen offering his views on the news on the public affairs program, "InterCHANGE," on Milwaukee Public Television Channel 10, and heard filling in on Newstalk 1130 WISN. He lives with his wife, Jennifer, and their lovely baby daughter, Kyla Audrey, in Franklin.
Goodnight everyone and have an organ-ic weekend!
"What's baseball without organ music?"
"What's baseball without organ music?"
A parking lot attendant at Edison Field, the home of major league baseball's
It's Friday night. Time to unwind with our regular Friday night feature on This Just In.
The weekend has finally arrived.
The sun has set.
The evening sky has erupted.
Let's put controversy and provocative blogs aside for the rest of this work week and smooth our way into Saturday and Sunday.
I'd know the best symphony orchestra in the world anywhere!
Thanks Milwaukee Symphony for a great intro for this week’s entry.
The World Series began Wednesday night between the San Francisco Giants and the Detroit Tigers.
AP photo
Behind three home runs blasted by the above Pablo Sandoval, San Francisco easily won Game 1, 8-3. The Giants took Game 2 Thursday night, and now a 2-0 lead in the Series.
The surprise in Game 1 was the total collapse of Detroit pitching ace Justin Verlander who finished the 2012 campaign with a record of 17-8.
Photo: MLB.com
Detroit will need some help from others on the team to lift them after their ace was shelled in the opener.
When the Tigers played in the 1968 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, a similar scenario unfolded. Detroit featured Denny McLain who posted 31 victories that year, the first pitcher in 34 years to win 30 games in a season. McLain went 1-2 in the Fall Classic, but the Tigers beat St. Louis in seven games for the title.
During his rise to the top, McLain showcased another talent: playing the organ. We’re talking major league ballpark organ playing quality. Immediately following the ’68 Series, McLain took a job playing the organ at a Las Vegas hotel. McLain was so good, he released two albums on Capitol Records, a major record label (Can you say, Beatles?).
You won’t be able to find those McLain albums, but some of his material is available on the Ultra-Lounge compilation series.
One reviewer on amazon.com wrote:
“I still love this album after so many listens because the Hammond organ can sound soothing and spooky at the same time. If you're not partial to lounge music or the sounds of the organ, a lot of this is going to seem like baseball park music. Still, it's a lot of fun.”
The following is a standard that Tony Bennett originally recorded in 1965. It’s from the 1964 French musical film “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.”
![Denny McLain - Time Magazine [United States] (13 September 1968)](http://img2.bdbphotos.com/images/orig/e/m/em5r9ngw94tkgn95.jpg)
Here’s classic video. The date is October 13, 1968. On the Ed Sullivan Show, McLain performs, and then is joined by St. Louis star pitcher Bob Gibson. The Tigers had defeated the Cardinals for the World Series championship just three days earlier.
Watch!
About 16 months after that Ed Sullivan performance, life fell apart for McLain. In February of 1970, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn suspended McLain until July 1 for bookmaking activities, one of three suspensions he was hit with that year. The suspension came after Sports Illustrated reported on McLain’s role in a bookmaking operation in Michigan during the 1967 season. McLain was never the same.
Convicted in the mid-eighties of federal racketeering charges involving gambling and cocaine, McLain spent 27 months in prison. Then in the 90’s, he returned to prison, this time for looting a company's pension fund.
That’s it for this week’s entry.
Goodnight.
Sleep well.
Have a great weekend.
We end the way we began.
Maestro!
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