Bob Prince

Junoexpress wrote in
8100481d2fef RemoveThis @26g2000hsk.googlegroups.com:

> Hi,
>
> I'm a Pittsburgh native, and I grew up listening to the great Bob
> Prince announce the Bucs games on the radio. I was reminiscing with a
> friend of mine from the area about the Pirates, and he told me that
> Prince had been canned because he was "too biased towards the
> Pirates". I was kinda surprised to hear that, and I was just wondering
> if anyone knew whether or not this statement was true.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Matt
>

He didn't get along with management and they canned him.

Stupid suits.

I loved the guy. Good memories of the Gunner.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Prince
 >> Stay informed about: Bob Prince 

On Aug 12, 9:35 pm, Junoexpress wrote:
> > > Hi,
>
> > > I'm a Pittsburgh native, and I grew up listening to the great Bob
> > > Prince announce the Bucs games on the radio. I was reminiscing with a
> > > friend of mine from the area about the Pirates, and he told me that
> > > Prince had been canned because he was "too biased towards the
> > > Pirates". I was kinda surprised to hear that, and I was just wondering
> > > if anyone knew whether or not this statement was true.
>
> > > Thanks,
>
> > > Matt
>
> > He didn't get along with management and they canned him.
> > Stupid suits.
> > I loved the guy.  Good memories of the Gunner.
>
> Me too. He was truly one of a kind and we were lucky to have been able
> to enjoy him, because his type won't be seen again.
>
> >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Prince
>
> Thanks for the reply. I saw in the Wiki blurb what you said, about how
> Prince did not "get along" with the new management once Westinghouse
> took over the operation. Does anyone know what the source of
> contention was between Prince and the management? I mean he just sits
> there and calls the play by play, what could he be doing to piss them
> off?
>
> Matt
From: http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&bid=794&pid=16922


"Despite Prince's popularity, he began to clash with his bosses in the
late 1960s after KDKA Radio, owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting,
purchased the rights to Pirate broadcasts from Atlantic Richfield.
Trouble began for Prince shortly thereafter. In 1969, Prince's partner
of 12 seasons, Jim Woods, left the Pirate broadcasting team following
a salary dispute with Westinghouse executives. Soon, Pirate general
manager Joe L. Brown began to closely monitor Prince's broadcasts,
even passing notes to Prince or telephoning the broadcast booth when
Prince and partner Nellie King, a Pirate pitcher from 1954-57, drifted
too far away from the action. Brown also told Prince after the 1974
season that he was dissatisfied with his performance and that he
needed to "sell" the team better (Pirate attendance languished in the
mid 70s, despite consistently competitive teams). As the Pirates were
planning to move from Forbes Field to Three Rivers Stadium in 1970,
Prince helped to design a spacious broadcast booth at the new park,
but unfortunately that decision backfired. By the mid 1970s,
Westinghouse executives were bringing guests and clients into the
booth during games. Sometimes they would try to talk to Prince or ask
for autographs during the broadcasts. On more than one occasion, they
committed the cardinal sin of cheering the opposing team. During a
game in 1975, when the Westinghouse guests became too raucous, Prince
blurted over the air, "Ladies and gentlemen, we've got some idiots in
the box rooting for Chicago." On October 30, 1975, Westinghouse
Broadcasting shocked Pirate fans by announcing that Prince would not
return for a 29th year behind the microphone. He and popular sidekick
King were fired. At the time, no major league broadcaster had ever
spent more years with one team than Bob Prince."

Poor Milo Hamilton didn't stand a chance. Lanny Frattare just
celebrated his 5000 broadcast for the Pirates on Sunday. Damn, I'm
old.
 >> Stay informed about: Bob Prince 

Thank you *very* much for the post.

Sounds like Prince was pretty much a marked man after the broadcasting
changed hands. He probably knew it and no doubt (from the sounds of
your reply), Joe L. Brown helped the process by doing things like
trying to micro-manage Prince (which he had to have known would piss
Bob Prince off). Even though it is sad that Prince was fired for
reasons that were not performance-related but rather the whim/
prejudice of some idiot who had no appreciation for baseball, it is
also great that he went out on his own terms (I love the "we have some
idiots in the box ..." comment. That is just pure undistilled Bob
Prince: he called them as he saw em).

Thanks again,

Matt
 >> Stay informed about: Bob Prince 

On Wed, 13 Aug 2008 09:41:26 -0700 (PDT), Junoexpress
wrote:

>Thank you *very* much for the post.
>
>Sounds like Prince was pretty much a marked man after the broadcasting
>changed hands. He probably knew it and no doubt (from the sounds of
>your reply), Joe L. Brown helped the process by doing things like
>trying to micro-manage Prince (which he had to have known would piss
>Bob Prince off). Even though it is sad that Prince was fired for
>reasons that were not performance-related but rather the whim/
>prejudice of some idiot who had no appreciation for baseball, it is
>also great that he went out on his own terms (I love the "we have some
>idiots in the box ..." comment. That is just pure undistilled Bob
>Prince: he called them as he saw em).
>
>Thanks again,
>
>Matt
It was performance related in that they wanted him to call the games
instead of wandering off on one of his stories...you know, those long
tales, with the Gunner snorting at how funny he was, returning
occaisionally to tell you what was happening on the field.
 >> Stay informed about: Bob Prince