Bobby Richardson was a standout second baseman on the great Yankees teams of the late 1950s-early 1960s. His faith in Jesus has been a constant pretty much his entire life. In this extended conversation, Richardson talks about his life, his career, and shares some surprising names who gave their lives to Christ - including the much-hearalded story about Mickey Mantle.
The Dan Scott Show Podcast
Dan Scott Sports/Faith Show - Bobby Richardson (10-27-24)
You may not realize it, but every minute of every day, you're enjoying your First Amendment freedoms. You can wear what you want, give out your opinion for free, even if it's unpopular. Listen to your playlist. You can put a sign out on your front lawn that says, "Vote for Bigfoot, someone you can believe in." Create to the God of your choice, or don't. You have the right to hang with a posse that thinks like you do. Tell the government what you think about its policies. They're the freedoms that let you be you, and they're all brought to you by the First Amendment. Learn more at freedomforum.org. The following program is presented by Ingalls, and is a service of Grand Slam Ministries. Good Sunday morning, everybody, and welcome to this week's edition of the Dan Scott Show, presented by our friends at Ingalls. I am Dan. It is great to be with you on Fox Sports Upstate and ESPN Asheville. Hope that you have had a great week. You got your college football fix in yesterday. You're looking forward to the NFL today and kind of right in the middle here. We are trying to be a little bit of an oasis where we combine sports and faith over the course of the next hour and share some great talks and great memories with a fantastic guest today. The name Bobby Richardson should be very familiar to everybody in our listening area. Whether you're a baseball fan or not, but particularly if you're a baseball fan, Bobby Richardson was a second baseman on the last great Yankees teams of the late '50s and early '60s before they went into a bit of a demise until the '70s. He went on to coach baseball at the University of South Carolina, has done so many wonderful things in his life. The best thing, though, has been his consistent witness for Christ from his playing days all the way through now as he approaches the age of 90. And you're going to hear some great stories from his playing days. You're going to hear some stories about Mickey Mantle, not only as a player, but coming to faith right before he died. And some other surprising people who came to faith as well. It's just a remarkable conversation by a guy who is still as sharp as a tack. And we will talk with Bobby Richardson when we come back in just a moment. Before we got to break, though, did you know that Ingalls has donated more than $18 million to schools in our market areas? You can help by linking your Ingalls Advantage card to the school of your choice. And when you shop, you're also earning money for that school. Schools can select from the number one supplier of school supplies in the world, everything from pencils to computer labs to STEM. Visit the website Ingalls-markets.com and click on tools for schools to learn how you can help students and teachers right here at home. Our conversation with Bobby Richardson when we come back on this week's Dan Scott Show presented by Ingalls. 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Visit our website Grand Slam Ministries.org to find out more about our mentorship mission and prayerfully consider how you may be able to assist us. Again, that website is Grand Slam Ministries.org. Upward Sports equips churches to run self-sustaining sports ministries in their communities. Whether you're a sports fanatic or on staff at a church, Upward Sports will give you all the tools you need to run a first-class sports ministry that allows you to reach families in your community. Upward Sports offers basketball, soccer, flag football, cheerleading, volleyball, baseball, and softball through league and camp offerings. At Upward Sports, we want to help your church make a difference and give you increased opportunities to share the gospel. Learn more today at Upward.org, that's Upward.org. Got a question or a comment? Maybe a guest suggestion. Send an email to Dan@danscotchow.org or private messages on social media. You're listening to the Dan Scott Show. Did you know that Ingles has curbside service? This, unlike other delivery or pickup services, Ingles has designated full-time employees who pick each piece just like they were shopping for themselves. Simply place your order online. Tell us when you're coming by to pick it up. And when you get there, check in and never leave the comfort of your car. Just pop the trunk and we will load it all for you. Ingles curbside is safe, convenient, and the quality you expect from Ingles. Ingles, low prices, love the savings. Hope you're having a great Sunday morning so far. I hope you're getting ready or maybe already on your way to church and going to celebrate and worship the Lord today, trying to give you a little bit of sports-related inspiration as we do every Sunday morning. And today we're bringing you a conversation I actually had last year with one of the all-time greats, Bobby Richardson, as we mentioned, was an integral part of those late '50s and early '60s New York Yankees teams. You remember the 1962 World Series, or at least maybe you've heard about it, where it's a one-nothing game, game seven out in San Francisco and Willie Maccovey hit maybe the hardest ball he ever hit in his life, but he hit it right at Bobby Richardson who made the catch to clench the World Series for the New York Yankees. That was back in 1962 again. Anyway, Bobby had a long career as a college baseball coach at the University of South Carolina and the great thing about him, his Christian witness has been strong and consistent from his playing days all the way through now. We recorded this interview last year, so you'll hear him open up by saying he's 88. He's actually 89 years old now, but he's got some great stories in here, some baseball stories and some incredible faith moments as well, but I opened the conversation by just letting Bobby introduce himself and tell us what his life is like right now. Then I'm 88 years old. I live in the same house in some type of building in 1960. That's a long time to live in one house, but my family sort of grew up here, and even though we've traveled in other places, we've always come back, kept this home, and it's a part of something. Now, not many of my children and grandchildren live in something more. In fact, live in South Carolina. They went off to college and didn't come back to South Carolina, but that's the way things go in life. Well, we always want our children to spread their wings, but it's a little sad when they do it, isn't it? Well, my kids went off to school. Preeting College in Chicago, boarding college in Boston. Five at Clemson, Ford, Carolina, Elon, North Greenville, University of Southern Cal. They kind of went all over, and we have not just one son. There's a pastor in New Charlotte in Rock Hill, and then I have a granddaughter, there's some nurse, and she lives in Columbia. But the rest of them are Atlanta and Michigan and just all over. Yeah, nine years ago, I became a grandfather for the first time. We have three grandchildren now and a fourth one on the way. How long did it take you to figure out that grandkids, that grandkids were the best time going? Yes, right. You know what? I've got 18 grand, but I've got 18 great grands, 18 and 18. I think it's 36. That's a lot. Yes, it is. We do have something going though for the last 25 years. We've leased a place in the beach for March and April, September, October, same place. And give to my three boys and two girls. That's my immediate kid, a week at the beach. And so when they come down there, that's an hour slip over, and that's when we see the adventure. They like to come to the beach, and we like to see them, and that's a perfect time. That's fantastic. I found out. I remember the birthdays, but I see them, I've recognized them. Well, when you got 36 of them, you can't be expected to remember the birthdays, can you? Exactly. Certainly not at 88. When you look back at your life, and we're going to get into your career and all of those things, it is, to me, it's easy to see that God has really had his hand on you from the very beginning. Well, he really has, and it started in Sunday school. My grandfather on my mother's side was Chief of Police in South Carolina. At that time, the town was maybe 10,000, maybe 12,000 people. It was kind of neat because the YMCA was one bought from my home, and everything was centered, especially basketball and baseball around the wide. They headed up the programs, and that was one block from my home, and then my church was a block and a hat from the home, and the elementary schools were blocked from the home. And so all those played a great part in my life, but especially my son of school teachers. I had two guys that just gave her their time to spend time preparing for those Sunday lessons. One was with the power company, and unless it was a storm, he was always there. The other was a farmer. They presented the gospel so clearly, and as a young boy of about eight years of age, they presented it in such a way that I knew I needed a savior. And they made an appointment with my pastor, and I went over and he led me to Christ, and I have two sisters, and one of my other sisters made a decision with me too, and then we were baptized. The other sister followed a little bit later. But those dear men had an impact, and then I got a little bit older, and I had a junior high school teacher, and he was a wonderful Christian, and he too was a mentor. And then the Lord was so good when I signed in baseball at 17, the day I graduated from high school, and I reported to my first training camp, there was a young man that was on the team that loved the Lord, took me under his wing, and ministered to me over the years. And he stayed in my life. He's 97 now. I'm still going strong. He was my assistant coach at the University of South Carolina. When I went to Liberty University, he went up with me, and I named him the baseball coach up there, just a wonderful man, and just a great Christian. So the Lord has put outstanding Christians in my life in a mentoring way for a long time. You know, Bobby Math has never been my strong suit. I was okay until they put the alphabet in it, and that's when it went south for me. But if my math is correct, you've been walking with Christ for 80 years. That's exactly right. And an American young girl, she's five years younger, but she's not only a new Christ to say, "The Liberty was Lord of her life." She comes from a wonderful heritage. Her folks were very active in her church in Alkola, which was close by, and she moved to something the fourth grade, moved to the church that I was in. But the Lord has just really used her in my life as well, just an outstanding mother. And we had a surprise birthday for him just in October of this past year, last month. And I mean, she was totally surprised. About 200 people came out. There was one young girl that came all the way from Naples, Florida, because Betsy had mentored her. Her father just told the Brooklyn Dodgers, and he sold them to Arthur New York Yankees. His name was Larry McPale. Albie Pearson led her to Christ, and she was a wonderful Christian. She'd come in and spend the summers with us. She and Betsy just get along so good. And on this surprise birthday party, she'd go all the way from Naples, Florida, and was able to share in the activity and the surprise for Betsy. That just speaks a lot to the impact that you and your wife have had on people, that they think that much of you, that somebody would drive that far. Well, that's true. And then I had another one that drove all the way from Knoxville Center C. You can hear they working on my yard. I'm going to move over a little bit so we can share a little better. Okay. We're visiting with Bobby Richardson on this week's edition of The Dance Scott Show, and he is getting away from some yard work that's being done at his house, where he still lives since 1960 down in the Sumter, South Carolina area. Yes, I'm moving out now. He's trimming. I just went out and talked to him, and he was a ephemeral that I took part in the other day. Good conversation. There you go. Okay, I'm all right now. So, you just told us when you fell in love with Jesus and you became a Christian at eight years old, when did you fall in love with the game of baseball? Well, my dad loved baseball. He was in the monument business, Richardson, Marbling, Granite Works, Tombstones, and he had played baseball but always had to work. But he afforded me the opportunity of playing both on the mite, midgets, and junior sponsored by the Y. And then, when I was old enough, I went out as a freshman for a high school baseball team. Basketball was a sport I loved as much as baseball, and we were in each other's place. It was about a week late going out. Big catcher and I went out together. And after a three day workout, he told the catcher, "Latson, you've made the team Richardson. You come back next year." And then, "Oh, he's fallen me around. I'm going to move to another part of the house." That's okay. We can still hear you fine. You know? Okay. That's really what I've always seen today. Yeah. But anyway, my dad said, "Well, why don't you go out for the American Legion team?" Said, "Someter is a great American Legion town. Why don't you go out for that?" And I did. I made the team, and we won the state championship, regional championship, and we were playing in Charlotte, North Carolina against Richmond, Virginia. And one of that last game would go to the American Legion World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. And before the game, they took us to see the film prior to the Yankees. So, it was Lou Gehrig did a couple of places for it. Dave Ruth had his own part in that film, and I'm ever seeing it and thinking, "What a great organization. How I'd like to be a part of that." Got to the game that night, and the Yankees had a scout there by the name of Sput Channel. He came over to me after the game and said, "When you graduate from high school, I'll see to it you have a chance to sign with the Yankees." Well, he kept his word that kept in touch. And sure enough, it was 17 that they had graduated. At that time, there were eight in the American, eight in the national teams. And out of the 16-12 of them afforded me the same opportunity. They all offered $4,000. If you get more than $4,000, you would have to go up and spend two years on the parent roster. And that would be the waste of time for a 17-year-old. But I just signed with the Yankees and got a quick trip to New York, the local dealer on the ball club, that had Coca-Cola in a private flame. And he wanted to fly me to New York. He had arranged for a three-day workout with the Yankees. And I told him, I said, "Mr. Heath, I've never been on a plane. Can we go any other way?" And he laughed. He said, "We'll go on the train." And we took the train, and I did work out with the Yankees. Frank Chris said it a long time. Coach Hitchman found balls my way. And I was told to go up and take some swings. And they're not going and shouting, "What's the game?" I stood around the cage for a little while and wasn't about to step in front of Hank Bao. You'll give a Mickey Mantle, came up behind and said, "Hey, kids, step in here and take some swings." And it started a friendship that lasted a lifetime, a dozen years of teammate, and then after baseball a long time too. Yeah, I want to come back to Mickey Mantle in a little bit because you were involved in just an incredible story at the end of his life as we continue visiting with Bobby Richardson. Just looking at some of your bio stats here, and it said, "When you made your debut in 1955, you were 5'9" and 170 pounds. That was not all that unusual at that time in baseball, was it? No, it was not. They weren't as big. They weren't as strong. We didn't have full-time trainers. We didn't have workouts during the offseason. We were not involved in that. We would just run, basically. I would quail hunt and pretty much stay in shape because of that. But it's different now. It's a year-round job, but so is the salary. The salary is a little different now as well. What was the most money you made if you don't mind sharing that as a major league baseball player? Mantle was a high salary at 100,000, and I got up to half of that, 50,000. I remember one time we had a big save with cubicles number seven, and we had just come back and start the season off. So from the last year, we opened number seven up. It was a check in there for $15,000. He forgot the cash. We thought that 100,000 was a million at that time. But the number of salaries started out for me at 5,000, jumped up to 7,500, and probably 12 to 14,000 before I left baseball. Something like that. Yeah, there are a lot of people listening to the show right now who have no concept of what it was like prior to what we have in really all major sports now, but particularly baseball in the free agent era we've been in since the mid-1970s. But you played under the reserve clause, which meant that you had no choice about who you were going to play for, and you basically had to sign pretty much whatever contract they put in front of you year after year, right? You're exactly right. Either that or just go inside and go to the two-stop business where you're there. You didn't have options at that time. We have a young boy from Sumter right now that started out with the Yankees. They traded him Jordan Montgomery, and he's making $10 million a year. About to sign a multi-million dollar contract. I'm sure he's got a great agent and he's had a good enough season with people. I can't imagine, well, even now $10 million is making a million a month. They usually pay 10 months a year or something like that. You can get it anywhere you want to, but that's the way I got it. Can you imagine a check coming in for a million dollars? And that's the law. There's so many patients, so much more now. But we are hurting also in the college world with the amount of money they're paying high school athletes to go to college now. It's going to be a mess, and I'm not sure they're going to be able to work all that out. I see what happens there. Yeah, the NIL right now is the Wild Wild West because there's no regulation of it, and it's causing a lot of issues. So what was negotiating with George Weislich? Well, I was the under the assistant general manager. His name was Roy Haman. I never did. Roy, Roy, I went to him one time. I was a young player. I wasn't getting to play very much. We had great main pillars. Rizziro was still there, gave him to go. Jerry Coleman, Billy Martin was all there. Jerry Lumpy and I were young players, and Jerry was traded to Kansas City. I went to Mr. Weislich and said, "I'd like to go somewhere where I could play every day." And he said, "Just pay attention." He said, "You go get your time. I'll go trade you." And sure enough, it wasn't too long after that that broke in. But he was a good man. I liked him. He was all business, and he dealt with the guys that were making a lot of money at that time. But as young guys, we saw the assistant general manager. I didn't know how to go straight. I'd go in, and I remember one year. I had a really good year. I thought it was a good year. I wore the $15,000 raise. He said, "Well," he said, "That's a little bit steep. We'll just go ahead and give you the $10,000 raise." And we'll see how you do next year. I said, "Okay. Okay. Whatever you say, you don't have any options." But you're right. But it was fun, and I was playing with a great ball club, and we were the last team to travel. And I used to love traveling on a train with a batting car in between two poor ones and just going along. I just liked that so much for the last team to fly. When they went to the coach, we had to fly at that time. But I got every moment of our days in baseball. Bobby Richardson, joining us on this week's edition of The Dan Scott Show. You saved your best performances for when it mattered most. Your World Series performances have become legendary, and the numbers in a short time span, basically a small sample size, far outweighed what you did over your career in the regular season. What was it about you that enabled you to perform your absolute best when it mattered the most? Well, it's just a wonderful time of the year when you play offs. I remember in American League tomorrow, two of the three years, we won the state championship in the regional, and we lost out one game before going to the World Series. And I had some good steps at that time. Now, we need to remember that I played ten years and nine of the first ten years we were in the World Series. And that's a record that no, not too many people can. I hold a record now playing in 30 consecutive World Series games. I don't think that'll ever be broken because there's so many playoffs now and wild cards and no one team will dominate to play five consecutive years before you. You get out of the series. So I did play nine out of ten. And it seemed like in 1960 when it kind of all started off. Every time I came up, there was minimal bass. I enjoy hitting with minimal bass. That's always been something I've enjoyed. But to be honest, I only had 26 RBIs all year, and then 60, I did get 12. The record still stands after 60 years. You have ten minimal bass, of course, to bring them in. And, but the key change in my life was when Ralph Out took over as manager. He was my coach and manager, no minor leagues. He was a coach within the major leagues. And then when he took over from Casey's team, go Casey, had so much talent, he could juggle it around. And he did like to juggle it. He didn't like players just playing every day. And, but when Ralph took over, he said, "Hey, you're my second baseman?" If he had 220, if he had 100, or if you hit, you're still my second baseman. You're still my second baseman, just meant the world of me. I enjoyed playing for him. And, in World Series play, I honestly just enjoyed it. And then, the one time I didn't hit very well, they hit a ball right at me in the game. I'm 62, and they're still talking about how hard, in fact, Willie McCovey hit the ball. He told me later, I didn't see him for 45 years. And, and a new stadium, and he and I were the first ball out at the new stadium. When I saw him for the first time, he said, "I bet your hand's still hurting." And I think he hit it hard. He said it was one of the hardest balls to hit, but, so that was the 62 World Series. But in 63 now, that was a tough year. Colfax was pitching. He struck me out three times. I didn't strike out three times ever, ever, ever. But, Kubek struck out, I struck out, Madele struck out. Makes time up, same thing. And then I was just trying to be a first ball hitter. And I struck out again, and when I walked by Madeleine, he said, "No use for me to go up there." He got him three times, too. And we lost fours over that time. Yeah, 1960, the World Series you mentioned, the 12 RBIs, the first, and I think still the only player to ever be voted the World Series MVP from the losing team. You hit 391 in the 1961 World Series against my Cincinnati Reds. And in 1964, you set the series record with 13 hits. It's just, it's... You may not realize it, but every minute of every day, you're enjoying your First Amendment freedoms. You can wear what you want, give out your opinion for free, even if it's unpopular. Listen to your playlist. You can put a sign out on your front lawn that says, "Vote for Bigfoot, someone you can believe in." Create to the God of your choice, or don't. You have the right to hang with a posse that thinks like you do. Tell the government what you think about its policies. They're the freedoms that let you be you. And they're all brought to you by the First Amendment. Learn more at freedomforum.org. It's incredible to sit back and look at those numbers now and see, again, that you played your best on the biggest stage. Because not everybody can handle that kind of pressure or that kind of moment. Well, and the fact that several of those hits was off Rob Gibson. But I made the last out off of Gibson in the '64 series. But are you right? I just enjoyed every moment of each one of those series. It was a wonderful time. My wife could always go to the World Series. The Yankees paid for the wife to go to the series. And so that was a fun time. We had young children. We had all worked out. We had to come back to Sumter. Let's his mother would take the other kids and let's go with us to Pittsburgh or Cincinnati or whoever were playing the World Series. And that was sort of our vacation together. And then wanted the honors that I had in baseball. And this is hard to believe that I was the 10th Yankees to have a day at Yankee Stadium. And George Webberishay came in and sang "High Great Hour." And they let me put together a track that had my testimony on it and passed it out that day. And all of Billy Graham's right hand in. George Webberishay was there. The National Anthem and Grady Wilson, T.W. Wilson, and George Wilson who had a decision magazine where they were in attendance that day. Billy was out of the country. He loved baseball. He always wanted to play baseball. But the Lord had everything to store for him. And he let me play baseball. And it was one time when I considered getting out of baseball. And Ralph Howard just explained to me that if you stay in baseball, it'll open door for you that you won't be able, even in full-time Christian service habit. And he was so right on that. I want to talk about your friendship of Billy Graham. But before we get there, I just can't let this pass. You had seven hits off of Bob Gibson in that World Series. Did he ever throw at you because you were hitting him so well? Well, it's funny you'd ask that because I was playing an old-termist game. I was 75 years old. No helmet. You don't play at all. And the guy in front of me batting against Bob Gibson, hit a home run. And the guys on the bench said I wouldn't go up there if I was you. I said, "Surely." I said, "55. No helmet." He said, "He docked his mother down." Well, I got up there the first pitch for the right. Just like they said, and he was laughing out on the mouth. And I was glad to pop up to the next pitch and get out of it. But now he and I sat on a board together. Baseball Assisted Team Bay is a wonderful guy and I know that he had, I remember there's one time there was a meet there with a modeling baseball player and financial difficulty. The baseball assist team was running a little short of money. They said, "I'll pick that up." I think it's $15,000, $20,000. He said, "I'll take care of that." So he had a real heart for the world. So I appreciated that. I was visiting with Bobby Richardson on this week's show. You decided to retire at age 31. Why so young? Tony Kubak and I roomed together by minus the majors. He got mad a little later than I did. He came to the Lord in a wonderful way. Just took a new testament and realized that a different background and he did the Savior and all out for the Lord. And we both agreed that it would be time to spend a little more time with our family. We both agreed with one nine out of ten years and this is a good time to retire. Sports Illustrated heard about it and they were going, they sent a photographer down. He took the picture, we were going to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated. And what happened then was we even had a news fund that would go right in the story and everything. But Ralph Hout moved up to General Manager and they signed Bobby Mercer. And he came over and he said, "I want one of you to run. We want to retire. We want to play one more year and break Bobby Mercer in." And I said, "Well, I really do want to retire." And Tony said, "Okay, I'll do it." One week later he got called in the reserve program for a year, so he couldn't do it. And Ralph asked if I played that year. And that nullified the Sports Illustrated situation, but I did play that year. And as it turned out, Tony had an injury that might result in a permanent paralysis, which did come his way later in life after he became a Hall of Fame broadcaster. He lives in Appleton, Wisconsin now and he had a little small stroke but he was doing fine. He can do anything. Wonderful guy. That's the Lord. Yeah, when I was growing up in the 70s and 80s, Tony was featured prominently with Joe Garaziola on the game of the week, which I'm still old enough to remember. That was really the only game we would get there for a long time. So that's great to hear that he gave his life to the Lord. I did not know that about him. You spoke at a number of the Billy Graham Crusades over the years, didn't you? I did. And I didn't finish my story. I tell you about the young girl who rolled the Yankees and owned the Dodgers. And his daughter was Jeanne McPrayal. And she used to spend the weekend, but Albie Pearson had led her to Christ. And she invested just out of unique relationship, but she'd always been praying for her dad. He was helped by this time and she wanted him to come to the Lord. He was way up in the years. And we arranged, I happened to be given a testimony at Madison Square Garden, arranged for him to come to the Crusades. He got there with one of those deals, 16 weeks and it was filled with capacity. The fire marshal wasn't letting anybody else in. And he was turned away, but Grady Wilson heard about it, went down and got him, sat him on the stage between George Billy Graham and when Billy gave the invitation, he was the very first to go down and receive Christ. And he wrote about this book, "Just a Wonderful." And that was the first time that I shared. And then I was with Billy at the Astrodome. We had a crusade in the astronaut home, 50,000 people the president was there. And then also in California, excuse me, Hawaii on National Television. I shared my testimony there. In fact, it's really interesting because Billy's daughter Anne was talking to my wife. We were already married and she was a German athlete, Daniel Oxus, who she was dating at that time. And we played basketball for Dean Smith at North Carolina. And she said, "Go for it." And she did. And what a wonderful career they had as a man of life. And then Anne is a fantastic still is, of course. And then twice in Japan went with Billy twice. We start up interest in the crusades, visiting the baserling training camps, and then at the Buddha Khan to give my testimony. The Larry McFell thing really interests me because I'm a big baseball history guy. And I've read just, I can't tell you how many books that he's been featured in. He was the guy that brought night baseball to Cincinnati. He was the guy that really brought baseball on the radio into prominence. He busted up the gentleman's agreement in New York when he took over the Dodgers that they would not broadcast home games. But he was also known as a hard-drinking, hard-living guy. And so I had never heard that he had given his life to Christ toward the end of his life. So for me, that's breaking news. I'm, you know, all you've ever read about him was the type of person he was. I've never by be seen anything written about Larry McFell given his life to Christ. Well, he did write one of his books toward the end of his life. He wrote about it, told about the decision he made. But his son was leaving fail. And leaving fail was General Manager the Yankees. And he's the one that when I, he gave me a five-year contract instead of just that one when I played that extra year. And after three years, I wanted to be the baseball coach. And I had to get a release. And I went back and he said, "Well, now wait a minute." He said, "If you want to, you can come back and be our major league coach. You can be our broadcaster, or you can be our AAA manager." And I said, "No, leave the reason we get now is to travel involved with separation from family." He said, "Well, we'll just pay you off then." But he said, "Any time you want to come back, let me hear from you." And then he made the statement, "When you get settled, give us a call. We'll bring the Yankees down to play the ball club." And three years later, we lost out to Miami by one run. I called him up and I said, "I'm ready for you." And he said, "Well, we've got a problem." I thought that was metal. He said, "We're traveling north with the New York Mets." I thought that was the reason for the middle. And then he made the statement, "Would it be hard if both teams come?" I said, "Oh man, that worked out perfect. We put the Yankees three hits the Mets, and Yogi was managing the Mets." And it couldn't have gone better. In fact, Yogi, I drove the bus out to pick up the Mets. And Yogi said, "What are you doing driving the bus?" And I said, "I wanted to make sure you were safe." I didn't trust motor pool with your whole team. He said, "What are we doing today?" And I told him. He said, "Well, y'all can't compete with us." He said, "I'll pitch back and practice every day. Let me pitch to your ball club and you'll pitch and pitch against both the clubs." And I said, "Sounds great. I won't even press out." I'll get on the field and announce again, which I did. And we'd be both the Yankees and the Mets. I got one the whole Monday in contest. The thousands of fans stayed with us continue until this day going out. Wonderful crowds at the University of South Carolina. We've had back-to-back wins there. Yeah, absolutely. We continue visiting with Bobby Richardson. I want to get into wrap-up mode here in a minute. I want to be respectful of your time. But I got to ask you that error that you played in. You've mentioned two guys who are, as well-known, for their abuse of the English language as they are for being great baseball man, Casey Stingle and Yogi Bear. How much of their personalities were exaggerated? How much of what we read about them and hear about them was real? I'm laughing because I would say it's just the opposite. They weren't exaggerating enough. Especially Yogi, he's famous for saying things that make common sense. Nobody goes that way. He was too crowded. He's just on a new film. It's called "It Ain't Over, It's Wonderful." I'm in the film with him and it's going to take the place, place as a classic as part of the Yankees. His granddaughter helped put that together. She sent us a couple of copies that would fade away after you use it twice. But I got the originals the other day. It's really a good film. As far as Stingle is concerned, he had so much talent that he could juggle, and whatever he did would turn that right. He'd venture to left-end against left-end pitcher, and they'd always come through, whether it was John Blanchard or Johnny Maas, or inner Florida, whatever the name was. He would do well. Both of them were men that were funny. Especially before the antitrust committee took about a half-hour double talk and so forth and then maddled fall with him. What do you think, Mr. Maas? They said, "I agree with Casey. Of course, nobody knew what Casey said himself for now." I remember reading that and hearing about that. Before I let you go, I got to come back to Mickey Mantle. Sometime back in the early part of the 2000s, you came to Anderson, South Carolina and you were the featured speaker at a Boys and Girls Club banquet. They asked me to introduce you. I wasn't a Christian then. My dad, who was 75 and still pastoring and preaching, he and my mom happened to be in town and he grew up a Yankees fan. You were playing in that era that he grew up in. He idolized all of those Yankees. We always joke Bobby that he married into a Reds family, so we converted him. Until then, he was a Yankees fan. And he, until you gave your testimony and told the story about Mickey Mantle at that banquet that night, my dad had no idea that Mickey Mantle came to Christ right before he died. And I can't tell you how that made him feel that evening when we were walking out of there. It was like he was walking on the clouds. Can you relate the story about Mickey Mantle coming to Christ at the end of his life? Well, it started when that 51 years of age, Roger Maris, in a battle with cancer, went on to view of a Lord, a 51. And I'd get him. It led Roger to Christ some days before he died. And I was the one that represented the Yankees and had to use Roger Maris's funeral. It was a wonderful day, really cold. And I remember so well that I called on Fleet Boy. He had a close relationship with Roger. Wanted to say something, but just didn't feel like he could do it. And when I stepped aside and said, "You need to say something," he did. And when I got back on the motorhome, going to the hotel, after the service, Mickey sat by me and he said, "Hey, I want you to have my funeral." I remember I used something about God's whole thing that I had been given by the guy that wrote it. And I really made some sense and hit home with him. And I didn't answer him. I didn't know I'm not a pastor. So I didn't think much about it at the time. But every time I saw him, he provided me. And sure enough, that friendship just blossomed to where it came to that point where he was in the hospital at Baylor Medical Center. And my wife and I were on the bat team and we were in the area in Dallas for the all-star game. My phone rang that the hotel was making it. And that's the answer to the phone. And Mickey said, "Betsie, I want the body to pay for it." And the medical waiting for a transplant liver transplant. I remember that I shared this verse with Mickey that day. I used the first translation. It says, "Do you like yourself, Lord? Find your joy and fame at all times. Never forget your nearness." And it says, "Chail-bodied teacher, your problems, your anxieties." And the promise is a peace of God. It passes all its settings. So keep our hearts and minds as we rest in Christ Jesus. "Betsie, what happens for the next two days with Lord and his wife?" And we remember visiting him and he said, "No, don't forget. I want you to come back." It's been time for me. And I'd give him a hat. They'd give him their hat. And he wore that hat when he was on National Television. And gave his testimony and said, "I'm no hero. I haven't been a good husband. I haven't been a good father. I took so much courage for him at that time." He just said that. But he still had a boy in his heart. He said, "At this time." And it wasn't too long after they had the call came. He'd taken a turn for the worse. "Betsie, now on a plane flying back to a Dallas one more time to be with him." I remember that I went in and I walked in. He just said, "Hey, I can't wait to take this. I want you to know I'm a Christian. I've accepted Christ. That's my savior." And I said, "Make me let me go with it just to make sure you understand what I want over God's plan of salvation that he loves us." He sent us some of the Lord Jesus to shake his precious bread and promised him his word. And if we were to pin him up and receive him and say, "You might have ever left him alive." He didn't wait to get back until Beth said that. And when I did, she said, "Well, I'd really like to talk to him." And she went back and knelt down by him and shared her testimony to him as he made his way over to the climbing sweep. And then she asked me a question. They thought, "Holy God, who did I?" And he would ask you the question, "Why should I let you in my head?" And what would you say? He paused for a little bit. And then he said, "We're talking about God." And then he started quoting John 3.16, "Forgot so of the world." He gave us all of the guidance on it. And he had a real piece that told the doctors he was ready. And I had done an experience of having his service on national television. And I was able to share that he knew and loved and walked with the Lord Jesus Christ. Just one of the things Roy Clark was saying, and I didn't get to Roy to tell him that I wanted him to say an amazing grace after he sang yesterday when I was young, talking about a wasted life. And he did, and that was just so good to say that. Well, I just had to have you tell that story before we wrap it up. Because as I said, I just remember my dad walking out of there that day. He may have had a tear in his eye, Bobby. It was just an incredible moment for him. And I remember this editorial cartoon the day or two after Mickey died. And all you could see was him walking on the clouds through the pearly gates from the back and had his number seven. And God had his arm around him. And he said, kid, that was the greatest ninth inning rally I've ever seen. Let me close with this. The words that were sent my way were so appropriate. It starts out by saying, your name made up here, again, here in this world's Hall of Fame. In fact, you may be so unknown that no one knows your name. The trophies, the honors, the flash books, they pass you by and the unlights are blue. But if you're knowing, love the Lord and I have news for you. This Hall of Fame has only did as long as time showed me. But keep in mind, God's Hall of Fame is for eternity. This crowd on earth, they soon forget the heroes of the past. They cheer like mad until you fall, and that's how long you last. But in God's Hall of Fame, but just believing in his son, it's God, your father name. I tell your friend, I wouldn't trade my name, hire a small. That's written every on the stars, and that's the rest of your hall, for every famous lame on earth, a road that this year. I'd rather be a man known here, had my name up there. So appropriate for me to watch what they wrote those words years ago. I've used them plenty of times. In fact, your buddy from Cincinnati, that wonderful catch at Johnny Vange, had me speak at the Hall of Fame in Alabama. And I spoke and he said, give me a copy of that. And next time I saw him, he memorized the whole thing. Could you talk to me, my wife is on a way to dialysis now, three times a week. I switched because of Thanksgiving instead of Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. We do it Monday, Wednesday and Friday. So I'm going to take a man, but always good to talk to you. Thanks for the call. Bobbi, thank you very much, my friend. I appreciate it. Such a sweet and genuine man, still caring for his wife. And I found it kind of funny. Normally, I would edit certain things out. But I decided to leave in him going from room to room in his house because of the noise that was going on, just so you could hear how intent he was on doing the interview and doing it well. Thank you again to Bobbi Richardson for your time and for your consistent testimony all these years. We will step out for a break. Before we go though, I want to tell you about upward sports. Is your church eager to connect with the community and reach new families? Let sports be the bridge. Customize your outreach experience with upward sports and offer a first-class organized intentional league. Upward sports is ready to be your trusted ministry partner. Learn more today at upward dot o-r-g. That break is now and we'll return on this week's edition of the Dan Scott Show presented by Ingles in just a moment. Upward sports equips churches to run self-sustaining sports ministries in their communities. Whether you're a sports fanatic or on staff at a church, upward sports will give you all the tools you need to run a first-class sports ministry that allows you to reach families in your community. Upward sports offers basketball, soccer, flag football, cheerleading, volleyball, baseball, and softball through league and camp offerings. At Upward Sports, we want to help your church make a difference and give you increased opportunities to share the gospel. Learn more today at upward dot org that's upward dot o-r-g. Here at Grand Slam Ministries, our goal is to share the love of Jesus Christ through multiple platforms while at the same time executing our core missions of mentorship and helping children in need. The primary way we can effectively do all of those things is through the Dan Scott Show, our weekly Christian radio show that airs in multiple markets around the nation and the world. We are asking you to partner with us to not only sustain what we are currently doing, but to grow both our on-air and online presence and our ability to fund those core missions. Can you spare as little as $25 per month? How about $10? If we can get 200 partners to join us at each of those small sustainable levels, we can begin to accomplish everything we believe God has called us to do. So can you help us today with a donation of either $25 or $10 per month? Go to www.Grand Slam Ministries.org to donate to get more information or to ask questions. That's Grand Slam Ministries.org, and thank you for supporting the Dan Scott Show and Grand Slam Ministries. It's time to kick off the perfect tailgate and take your team to Ingles. Chips and Guac made fresh and store every day the best meat in town packaged fresh every day and smiling faces giving you their best every day. Let's be real. In the South, football season is our favorite season of the year. There's a lot to smile about, especially with deals like these. Ingles, low prices, love the savings. Follow us on social media, Dan Scott Show on X and Instagram plus Dance Personal and Public Figure Pages on Facebook. Now, back to the show. Ingles only sells USDA choice or prime beef, and it's always cut in the store. Ingles meat market managers are just like your friendly neighborhood butcher. In order, Ingles, low prices, love the savings. Good to have you back with us for the final segment of this week's Dan Scott Show presented by Ingles, also thank Upward Sports for their continued support. And if you would like to get some information about having your business advertised on this program every Sunday morning on Fox Sports Up State and ESPN Asheville, then shoot me an email in scottshow.org. I would be happy to talk with you and, you know, we are in a very volatile political climate in case you hadn't heard. There's so much negativity in the world today. Wouldn't it be great to have your business associated with good news, and not just good news, but the good news. And something positive coming out on a weekly basis with these stories that God is allowing us to tell from people in the sports realm. So we'd love to hear from you. We'd love to hear your thoughts on the show as well for you listeners. You can do the same thing, Dan@danscotshow.org, send an email, or use the voice recorder on your phone and leave us a voice message and email it to us at that address. Keep it 60 seconds or less, and we'll play some of them on future shows. You hear when the show opens that is presented by Ingles, but it's a service of Grand Slam Ministries, and some of you may be wondering what that is all about. Grand Slam Ministries is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that the Lord led me into almost three years ago now, and it has three main purposes. The radio ministry is kind of the thing that brings it all together, and I've told you before we have the other weekly radio show that airs on multiple stations across the country, as well as some internet-only stations, two of which are international. And the premise is basically the same in telling stories of God doing amazing things in people's life, but it's not limited to just sports. We're all over the spectrum there, and it is strictly in the nonprofit realm where this one is a commercial show on a commercial station that is dedicated to telling those stories in the world of sports. But just to give you a little bit of a background on Grand Slam Ministries and what we are trying to do once we can get fully funded, we have three core missions. The radio show in telling these stories is one, and everything else kind of falls under that, but the other two core missions are mentorship and helping children. The mentorship is something that I am getting more and more passionate about and really starting to come under conviction that it's time to stop talking and start doing something about it. You probably have noticed that men in society today are being emasculated, and yet, according to the Census Bureau's 2020 Census, the absence of a father or a strong male role model in the home means that a child is four times at greater risk for poverty, seven times more likely to become a pregnant teen, two times more likely to drop out of high school, more likely to have behavioral problems, more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol, more likely to commit a crime and more likely to go to prison. Now, those are U.S. government statistics. Those are not some made up stats or something coming off of an organization that you would say has some kind of bias towards that. Those are official stats from the 2020 Census taken by the U.S. government, the same government, by the way, that is doing everything it can right now to tell us that the traditional family is no longer important. Their own statistics contradict them. So that's one thing. Mentorship, we have got to start reaching young men, teenage boys, middle schoolers, high schoolers, and coaches, that's where you have such a, not just a great responsibility, but a wonderful opportunity because sports done right. And there's a lot of ways we can look right now and say that sports is not being done right. But when it's done right, it prepares young men and young women for life. And if you are doing that and doing it the right way and doing it from a Christian perspective on top of all of that, you are providing that mentorship that these young men, what this focuses on, and young women as well need. We have got to reach this young generation and make them understand their need for Christ, teach them what it means to be a Christ follower. And then once they are, the young men, what it means to be a Christian male, husband, father, leader in the church, leader in the community. So mentorship is a huge, huge aspect of what Grand Slam Ministries is going to be. And the other core mission is helping children in our area. You know, even before Hurricane Colleen did its damage in western North Carolina, just on an everyday basis, there are children who leave school on Friday and don't eat again until they come back to school on Monday. In my community, in your community, in the community of everyone who's listening here. It's happening. And my wife and I found out about this going back 12 or 13 years ago when we got involved with the school backpack program and how much that meant. We have our problems with this country, but it's still the most affluent country in the world. And to have things like that still happening, it's just not acceptable. And beyond food, clothing, shelter, the proper tools to allow them to do well academically, to keep children from being just another statistic. That's what we're trying to do at Grand Slam Ministries. It's a 501(c)(3) IRS-approved charity. And I'll tell you that because if you're led to come alongside us and make a donation either one time or a monthly donation, it's tax deductible. And if you do it through our online platform, it automatically generates a tax receipt for you if that's important to you. But we're asking you to prayerfully consider what we are trying to accomplish here and help us do so. Either in the nonprofit realm or on this particular radio show that we're talking to you from now in the commercial realm with your business, because they're both working in concert with one another. You can go to the website, dancecottshow.org. You can find all of those stats that I just read to you and more at the Grand Slam Ministries page. Grand Slam Ministries.org is a page at the Dan Scott Show website so you can punch in either one and get there. You can also find all of our affiliates. You can find out information about not just this show but the other show as well. My bio is there. If you would like to have me come and speak to your church, your team, your organization, I would love to do so. I love sharing what Jesus has done in my life. In fact God willing by the time this airs, I will have just gotten back midweek speaking in Kansas City at a Celebrate Recovery meeting at the Rock of K.C. Church, which I'm very excited about. But go to the website. There's a donate tab there that you can donate online to the nonprofit and help us do what we do. Or if you're interested in advertising on this show then you can shoot me an email, Dan@dancecottshow.org or email me with questions about either one. We would definitely love to hear from you. And hope you're enjoying this show. We're just getting really started. Had a little bit of a hiccup because of the hurricane and we continue to pray for those folks in western North Carolina especially. But let's join together. Pray about it and let's see if we can't get this thing really rolling. Okay? Thank you for your attention. Thank you to Bobby Richardson again. And we'll see you again next week. I'm Dan Scott. God bless you. So long everybody. [Music] [BLANK_AUDIO]