Two ReelChicago contributors are repackaging historic interviews from the old syndicated Diamond Gems baseball radio show for the Chicago Baseball Museum website.
The project reunites George Castle, host through the entire run of the Chicago-originated Diamond Gems, and Lou Carlozo, who recorded, edited and distributed the show in its final three seasons. They are producing the on-line exhibits at Kingsize Sound Labs, Carlozo’s Northwest Side recording studio.
Castle selects the segments from his archives of the weekly Diamond Gems, which ran from 1994 to 2010 on up to 40 radio stations, as far away as Honolulu and Anchorage. He then records new introductions to the segments, putting them into context. Carlozo edits the segments and combines them with the introductions for the museum’s site.
Museum webmaster Carol Kneedler posts the segments at www.chicagobaseballmuseum.org/chicago-baseball-museum-media.php. A fresh segment is rotated in weekly, while previous episodes are available in the site’s archives. Historic photographs of the interviewees, provided by Wilmette sports memorabilia collector Leo Bauby, serve as a backdrop.
Interviews bring baseball heroes to life
In keeping with the museum’s focus on the 140-year track of Chicago baseball, the segments feature some of the most historic personalities in the annals of the Cubs and White Sox. Several other segments feature all-time baseball personalities from visiting teams interviewed by Castle.
“Adding the Diamond Gems archives has brought a different dimension to the museum’s web site, which is our sole daily public exposure,” said Dr. David Fletcher, museum founder/president, who is in the process of fund-raising for a permanent home.
“The content is fantastic,” Fletcher said. “There’s nothing out there like that. This is a tremendous historical archive to add to our web site and for our future patrons to understand the rich history the game has in Chicago. George Castle’s contributions as our resident historian are second to none.”
Included in clips already posted was a 1994 interview with Woody English, the former Cubs third baseman who had a clear view 90 feet away of Babe Ruth’s alleged “called shot” home run in the 1932 World Series at Wrigley Field.
Bonds, O’Neil stark contrasts in interviewees
Also posted was a 1996 Castle interview with controversial slugger Barry Bonds. Later linked to steroid use, Bonds claimed he was not a “golden child” who drew public acclaim like Michael Jordan.
This week’s segment from 1994 re-united eventual Hall of Famer Buck O’Neil, the first African-American big-league coach (with the Cubs in 1962), with ex-Cub Gene Baker, his former player on the Negro League Kansas City Monarchs.
Castle, who saved most of the Diamond Gems shows, estimated he has several hundred potential segments available for the exhibits.
He also just released his 11th book and first e-book. “Alou Makes the Catch: An Alternate History of the Chicago Cubs” presents 10 scenarios of “what if’s” in Cubs history. The book, read via a Kindle, is available at Amazon.com.
Castle joined the Chicago Baseball Museum as historian and writer in October.
Steve Rubinstein is a longtime Chicago-based writer.
