Episodes

  • 77. Pele: Coming to America

    77. Pele: Coming to America
    Jun 23 2025
    Growing up in the 70’s, soccer was barely a footnote when it came to the sports culture here in the States. The North American Soccer League was trying to compete with the other leagues, but the game just didn’t have the appeal that it does in much of the world. It lacked the star power that other sports had. Until… In 1975, the New York Cosmos signed Edson Arantes do Nascimento, the Brazilian superstar known across the globe simply as… Pele. That’s right, Pele was coming to America… North America, NYC, The Big Apple… and with it, soccer was about to experience a boom in the U.S. Michael Lewis was just a young sports reporter looking to get a beat covering one of the four sports he grew up loving… Baseball, football, basketball, and hockey… Soccer wasn’t on that list. Not even close. But the young scribe was given a shot to cover the Rochester Lancers of the NASL… and his career and life were never the same. Over 50 years later, he’s written 9 books on the sport, including Soccer for Dummies and Alive and Kicking: The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. That opportunity to cover the NASL allowed Michael to get a firsthand look at what he calls the biggest “BANG” for soccer in the United States: the arrival of Pele. He tells us how the global sensation arrived with no ego as an ambassador to the sport that saw him win 3 World Cups for Brazil in 1958, 1962, and 1970. He went from the pinnacle of the sport to a fledgling league, and did everything he could to bring attention to the sport he was famous for playing… Famous everywhere except maybe in the States…. But that was about to change. Pele was a man of the people, and that was apparent everywhere he went. He would talk with the guys in the kitchen of the restaurant as he was about to be introduced at his inaugural press conference in America. He would sign autographs for hours and give the jersey off his back to fellow players. In 1977, he led the Cosmos to the Soccer Bowl, winning in the quarterfinals in front of almost 78,000 fans at Giants Stadium before winning the Soccer Bowl in Oregon three weeks later. After the match, Brazilian journalists on hand to cover their famous countrymen carried him on their shoulders and paraded him around the locker room in jubilation at the conclusion of the superstar’s incredible career. Michael Lewis was in that locker room and says almost 50 years later it’s still the most amazing postgame celebration he’s ever witnessed. Next summer, Lewis will cover his 14th World Cup… and when the finals of that tournament are played at Met Life Stadium, right where Giants Stadium used to stand, his career will have come full circle to when a young reporter was given a beat he didn’t really want… and set him on a course that changed his life and gave him the opportunity to cover the greatest player and ambassador the sport has ever known… Pele. Listen wherever you get your podcasts and leave a review if you wish. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 27 mins
  • 76. Leo Ullman: Survivor... Collector.

    76. Leo Ullman: Survivor... Collector.
    Jun 16 2025
    The Ryan Express was rolling along in June of 1975 as Nolan Ryan had just thrown the 4th no-hitter of his career while pitching for the California Angels. The flame throwing righty was doing things nobody had ever seen before, and would continue to do until his bionic arm finally gave out while with the Rangers in 1993. 27 seasons, 5,714 strikeouts, and 7 no-hitters later, Ryan finally was put out to pasture where he continued to be a success in whatever he did… and people noticed. One such person was Leo Ullman who two years after Ryan threw the final pitch of his Hall-of-Fame career purchased 11 Nolan Ryan baseball cards at a $1 a piece… and so began the largest collection of Nolan Ryan memorabilia that has been assembled. Saddles, cleats, bats, balls, if it had Nolan Ryan’s name attached to it, Ullman purchased it, eventually amassing close to 15,000 different items in a collection that now resides at Stockton University in New Jersey. Ullman wanted the entire collection to stay input, so instead of it going to the Hall of Fame where they might have picked over the items in the collection, he kept it intact at the campus in Galloway Township. A lawyer by trade, Ullman is also an author, having written a book about his collection titled, ‘Nolan Ryan, The Largest And Most Unique Collection Of All Things Nolan Ryan, The Greatest Power Pitcher Of All Time.” But that’s not the only book Mr. Ullman wrote. ‘796 Days: Hiding as a child in occupied Amsterdam during WWII and then coming to America’ is the story of Leo as a 3-year old when he was taken in by a couple and hidden in their attic for over 2 1/2 years during the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam. The Dutch resistance put his parents in a different house and it wasn’t until the war was over that young Leo was reunited with his birthparents… who survived without knowing if their little Leo had as well. Leo comes on the Past Our Prime podcast and tells us the similarities between his life’s story and that of Anne Frank’s. He would later go on to become a Director and Chairman of the Anne Frank Center USA and tells us that his war-parents brought him to stay with them knowing they could be executed if the Jewish boy was found for one reason… “It was the right thing to do.” His parents would emigrate to the States and settle in Brooklyn and 8-year old Leo would fall in love with Jackie Robinson and the Dodgers. A few years later the team would break Leo’s heart and leave for Los Angeles, but Leo’s love for baseball never waned. At some point, his allegiance turned to the Mets and years later, when Mets owner Steve Cohen heard of Leo’s story, he invited him to throw out the first pitch at a game… Leo recalls how, much like a former Mets pitcher by the name of Nolan Ryan, he bounced the pitch in the dirt much to his chagrin. But he refused to let his time in that attic define him. Instead, he joyfully tells us how he spent time with the Mets in a fantasy camp years ago and still keeps in touch with his fellow Mets buddies… At age 86, Leo has gone from the nightmare of the Holocaust to a Mets Dream Week… and in between, put together the largest collection of Nolan Ryan collectibles of all-time. It’s been quite the life for Leo and he tells us all about it on the Past Our Prime podcast… Give us a listen and drop us a review wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 19 mins
  • 75. Bob Kalsu: An American Hero

    75. Bob Kalsu: An American Hero
    Jun 9 2025
    When Rocky Bleier went to Vietnam he had just finished his rookie season with the Pittsburgh Steelers… wounded in action, Rocky would return to the States and begin a long and arduous rehabilitation. Doctors told him if all went well, he should be able to walk again… but Rocky was having none of that. He was determined to make it back to the NFL… He missed the entire 1970 season and made it back to the Steelers roster in 1971, eventually helping Pittsburgh win 4 Super Bowls as the team of the 70’s. His time in Vietnam is chronicled in the June 9, 1975 issue of Sports Illustrated with Bleier featured on the cover. Bob Kalsu was in the same 1968 NFL Draft as Bleier, chosen by the Buffalo Bills in the 8th round after being an All-American tackle at the University of Oklahoma… and much like Bleier, he too left the NFL after his rookie season to fight in Vietnam. The difference is, Kalsu never came home. On July 21, 1970 a blast took his life and made him the only active duty NFL player to die in the Vietnam War. It also left his wife, Jan Kalsu, a widow, and a single mother of two children. A daughter, and a son, who was born two days later after the father he would never meet was killed in action. Jan gave birth to Bob, Jr. and was informed of the death of her husband while at the hospital giving birth to their son. Bob was the Buffalo Bills rookie of the year in 1968. He was awarded a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart for his service… but at the age of 25, his life was cut short, and Jan was left on her own to raise their two children. And that’s just what she did. 55 years later, Jan is still telling the story of her late husband, Bob Kalsu. How they met, how it was love at first sight, and how they planned to get married in Miami after the Orange Bowl until the head coach at the University of Oklahoma, Chuck Fairbanks, put an end to that. They did get married — after the Orange Bowl — and Bob soon went from being an only child to having 4 brothers-in-law and another 4 sisters-in-law. Jan says Bob loved being part of a big family and took to it with ease and grace. On the Past Our Prime podcast, Jan recounts how she and her 1-year old daughter Jill met with Bob in Hawaii while he was on leave and how he loved his little girl. But she also recalls how loud noises could bring him from a deep sleep back into enemy territory and for a second, understand what her giant of a husband was going through while he was away. Jan says the Bills never forgot Bob and put his number 61 in their Wall of Fame on his birthday 25 years ago. The mother of two, and grandmother of nine lives a happy life in Oklahoma and tries not to play the ‘what if’ game when it comes to Bob. He made a commitment to serve, and, being a man of his word, he honored that commitment, and Jan’s Catholic faith helped her deal with his decision, and the tragic results of it as best she could. It’s a powerful talk with a normal woman who went through a very abnormal time and 55 years later, can talk with pride, laugh with ease, and reminisce about a man, a husband, a father, and a soldier… who just happened to also be a football player. Before there was Pat Tillman, there was Bob Kalsu… hear his story from the woman who knew him best of all… his wife, Jan Kalsu on the Past Our Prime podcast. Please give us a listen and download and share the show… and a review never hurts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 36 mins
  • 74. Mr. Ranger Tom Grieve talks Billy Martin

    74. Mr. Ranger Tom Grieve talks Billy Martin
    Jun 2 2025
    Before Billy Martin ever wore the pinstripes as a manager, he guided three different American League clubs. The Twins in 1969; the Tigers from 1971-73 and the Rangers from 1973-75. In each case, Martin did what he would always do: take a losing club and turn them around. The Twins improved 18 games to 97-65 in 1969, and won their division. In 1971, Detroit won 12 more games than they did the year prior and a year later, they went to the playoffs. But his biggest challenge had to be the Rangers, who were an abysmal 57-105 in 1973… and a year later, 84-76… a 28-game improvement. Sports Illustrated called him a fiery genius when he was on their cover in June of 1975 and that’s just what he was. As smart a baseball man as there ever was who wouldn’t take crap from anyone. Not the owner. Not the GM. Not his players. Not the guy at the bar. And he had issues with all of them. But rarely on the field. Once they said ‘Play Ball’ there was no better strategist than Billy. His players weren’t scared of him… but they were scared to lose for him. Billy wouldn’t stand for it. He got the best out of his players because he believed they could be better than they actually were… and more often than not, he was right… and he has the wins to back it up. Tom Grieve played under Martin and had two of his best seasons in the bigs while Billy was his manager. 50 years later, Grieve says that Martin was the best manager he ever played for. He’s not the only one to think that. Tom Grieve played for the Rangers 7 seasons. He would later become their General Manager for 10 years and followed that up by working as a broadcaster for the Rangers for another 22 years… there is a reason he is referred to as Mr. Ranger and is a member of the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame. But he says those years with Martin may have changed baseball in Texas for good, as fans for the first time showed interest in what had been, until that time, a pretty dreadful organization. “Billy revitalized baseball,” according to Mr. Grieve. On the Past Our Prime podcast, Grieve looks back at those years with Martin and talks about how he instilled in them a fear of losing, and a path to winning. He says that Billy believed they could win, much to the disbelief of many on that Rangers roster, and told them so in the first team meeting upon his arrival. And sure enough, wins started piling up, and the Rangers were making believers out of just about everyone, including themselves. Grieve says that the team knew their manager gave them an edge in the dugout and that carried out onto the field. Six weeks after Martin was on the cover of SI he was let go by the Rangers after another disagreement with management. It was a pattern that Martin had his entire career, and would follow him to his next position… as the manager of the New York Yankees… but before Steinbrenner and Reggie and the Bronx Zoo… there was Billy in Texas… and Tom Grieve, “The man who signed Nolan Ryan!” tells us how it all went down on the Past Our Prime podcast… Please review, subscribe, listen, download… whatever you do with a podcast… when you can. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 31 mins
  • 73. Marty Liquori and the Dream Mile

    73. Marty Liquori and the Dream Mile
    May 26 2025
    In 1975, track and field was a major sport in the U.S.A. and across the globe and there was no bigger race than the mile. So in Kingston, Jamaica, they had the best milers in the world gather for the latest Dream Mile, and for Filbert Bayi of Tanzania, that’s just what it was… a dream mile. He hit the tape with a time of 3 minutes and 51 seconds, setting a world record by a tenth of a second and landing him on the cover of the May 26th, 1975 issue of Sports Illustrated. Two other runners were on the cover with Bayi… trying to chase him down and run to glory. Marty Liquori was one of them and while he would finish 2nd in the race, he ran the best time of his life at 3:52.2. Running sub 4-minute miles was nothing new to Marty. He first did in 1967 when he became the 3rd American high schooler to do so while attending Essex Catholic High School in Newark, NJ. From there he went to Villanova and made the 1968 US Olympic team as a 19-year old freshman but suffered a stress fracture in the finals of the 1,500 meter run. Being on the cover of SI was nothing new to Liquori. Four years earlier he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated in May of 1971 when he beat another legendary runner, Jim Ryun in the original Dream Mile race. Despite the big win for Liquori, he told us on the Past Our Prime podcast that the week leading up to the race was a miserable experience and that he could never get used to what the Jordan’s and LeBron’s of today have to go through on a daily basis. He tells us that his rivalry with Jim Ryun was strictly on the track and that they didn’t get to know each other very well until almost 40 years after their famous race. He says that even though he ran his best in the Bayi race he could have done even better if not for a mistake on the final lap and that the strategy used by Bayi was the difference in the race. And he tells us that he still plays softball, rides a bike, paddles around in a kayak and plays guitar in a band… The man does a little bit of everything and he does it all rather well. While at the height of his career he founded the Athletics Attic footwear chain…at the age of 23! He continued racing competitively until 1980 while also starting a broadcasting career for ABC sports that saw him cover numerous Olympics and major races for over 30 years. He ran into the record books and into at least 16 different Hall of Fames including the National Track and Field Hall of Fame and the Collegiate Athlete Hall of Fame. In the 70’s, track and field was bigger than the NBA and and Marty was in the center of it all. He stops long enough to tell us all about it on the Past Our Prime podcast. Give us a review and a download if you would and share it with your friends. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 29 mins
  • 72. Mr. Indy 500: Scott Gauger

    72. Mr. Indy 500: Scott Gauger
    May 19 2025
    His name is synonymous with sports in the 70’s. You didn’t have to follow racing to know who AJ Foyt was. He’s a part of Americana and in 1975 he was looking to win his 4th Indy 500. A week earlier, he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated after winning the pole position in true Foyt fashion. His first lap in qualifying was a blistering 195.313 mph and his 4-lap average of 193.975 secured the pole position in Indianapolis. But rain and Bobby Unser had other plans… a downpour ended the race after just 174 of the 200 laps, and Unser was awarded the victory with 1974 champion Johnny Rutherford finishing 2nd and AJ a disappointing 3rd… taking it all in was a kid who grew up just north of the famous racetrack and attended his first race at the age of 6 in 1966… Scott Gauger hasn’t missed an Indy 500 since, including the ’75 race that saw Mother Nature end the race before it could properly come to it’s scheduled conclusion. Gauger grew up around racing and started working at Indianapolis Motor Speedway when he was just 13. 5 years later in 1978, he took his first official position with an IndyCar team, and almost 50 years later, he’s still a part of the Old Brickyard, working on two winning Indy 500 teams… In 2016 he worked for the Andretti-Herta Autosport team that won the checkered flag for the 100th running of the Indy 500 with Alexander Rossi behind the wheel… and a year later, he was with Andretti Autosport when Takuma Sato was the first to cross the finish line. And while Gauger works officially for separate IndyCar teams, his unofficial position is Ambassador of the Indy 500. He gives tours, gets tickets for kids, and promotes the race 24/7, 365 days a year. On the Past Our Prime podcast, Gauger tells us about how he grew up near 3-time Indy 500 winner Louis Meyer, who is widely known for starting the annual tradition of drinking mile after winning at Indy… Gauger talks about the greats and says AJ Foyt is the best racer of all-time, and the first person he ever saw have a personalized license plate… He tells us about drinking the milk after winning in ’16 and again in ’17 and he tells us which famous actor was the best racer of the bunch… if you know racing, it won’t be a surprise. And Gauger tells us why the racers of today aren’t as well-known as the ones we grew up watching 50 years ago. The Indy 500. It’s as American as it gets… and so is Scott Gauger, Mr. Indy 500 on the Past Our Prime podcast. Give us a review and a download if you would and share it with your friends. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 33 mins
  • 71. Foolish Pleasure & Jacinto Vasquez win the Derby

    71. Foolish Pleasure & Jacinto Vasquez win the Derby
    May 12 2025
    In the middle of the 70’s horse racing was huge, and in the middle of it all in 1975 was Hall of Fame jockey Jacinto Vasquez who had the pleasure of riding some of the greatest horses of that era. And on May 12, 1975, he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated as he helped guide Foolish Pleasure to victory in the Kentucky Derby. The great horse had lost but once entering the race at Churchill Downs, yet some didn’t think he could handle the distance. They were wrong. Vasquez knew he had the right horse at the right time to win his first Derby. The same held true 5 years later, when aboard Genuine Risk, he won it again. Only one of three fillies to win the Derby ever and the first since Regret in 1915! Despite being on the Kentucky Derby winner, Vasquez would get off of Foolish Pleasure to mount another great horse and another filly later that summer of ’75 when he rode Ruffian in a match race against Pleasure. One of the greatest horses ever, Ruffian had been in 10 races since May of 1974… and won all of them… in fact, in all 10 races, she won wire-to-wire. That’s right, she never trailed in a race. And in the 8 stakes races she entered, she set new stakes records in all 8 of them. But on that summer day at Belmont Park against Foolish Pleasure, Ruffian broke down, breaking two bones in her right foreleg. After surgery, the great thoroughbred came out of anesthesia and reacted poorly. She had to be put down. Vasquez and the racing world mourned the loss of one of the top 100 American horses of the 20th century. With over 5,200 wins, and a member of the United States Racing Hall of Fame since 1998, Vasquez is one of the all-time greats, but he tells us on the Past Our Prime podcast, that great horses make great jockeys and he would know. He also recounts the three times he beat Secretariat… the only jockey to ever beat the iconic horse three times. And he tells us why he was suspended from racing for a year and how to this day he vehemently denies the charges that were brought up against him. Vasquez is one of the all-time greats and at 81 years old, you can hear the competitive fire still burn inside of him when he recounts his rides on Pleasure, Ruffian and Forego or his battles with other great jockey’s of his time such as Angel Cordero and Willie Shoemaker. It was a great time for fans of horse racing and Vasquez was one of the greats. Listen and subscribe to the Past Our Prime podcast for weekly shows that look back at sports icons like Jacinto Vasquez wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 11 mins
  • 70. Dan Shaughnessy on Fred Lynn and the '75 Sox

    70. Dan Shaughnessy on Fred Lynn and the '75 Sox
    May 5 2025
    In the spring of 1975, the Red Sox came racing out of the gate led by a trio of outfielders who were making a mark in the American League… Dwight Evans first came on the scene in 1972 and was now the everyday right fielder. Joining him in ’75 in left was future Hall of Famer Jim Rice who would have a spectacular rookie season finishing 3rd in the league in the MVP race and 2nd in Rookie of the Year. That’s because the guy manning center in Fenway had an even better first season in the bigs. Fred Lynn would go on to become the first player ever to win MVP and Rookie of the Year in the same season, a feat only matched one other time when Ichiro Suzuki did it in 2001. And for Lynn and the Sox fans, it was love at first sight. The 23-year old kid won the CF job out of Spring Training and never looked back… He would finish the season with a .331 average, 21 home runs and 105 RBI’s while also winning a Gold Glove for his defensive prowess in centerfield. It was a season for the ages for Lynn and the Sox that culminated in one of the All-time classic World Series matchups between the Sox and the Big Red Machine that went 7 games after one of the most famous October HR’s ever... a shot by Carlton Fisk that won arguably the greatest World Series game ever played… That Game 6 contest was a moment in sports where the people of Boston for years would ask… ‘Where were you for Game 6?” The answer for a young Dan Shaughnessy was… Fenway Park… Years before the Hall of Fame writer was hired by the Boston Globe to cover the team he grew up loving, Dan was there with his sister taking in one of the greatest games he ever witnessed… and he’s seen a lot… from that Game 6, to Bucky Dent’s blast in ’78, to the euphoria of Dave Henderson’s HR that helped propel the ’86 Sox back to the World Series to the Buckner play that same October that kept the curse alive to Boone’s HR in ’03 and the comeback that ended 86 years of futility in 2004… Shaughnessy has literally covered it all. The author of a dozen books including One Strike Away, The Curse of the Bambino, and Reversing the Curse: Inside the 2004 Boston Red Sox, nobody knows the Sox of the last 50 years better than this kid from Groton, MA who’s had a birds eye view of it all and access to the players and team like no other. Shaughnessy tells us on the Past Our Prime podcast how his friend and mentor Peter Gammons told them all to watch out for this kid from USC who was going to be the next big thing in Boston and how Freddie Lynn started hot, and never stopped in that magical Rookie season of ’75. It would be almost 30 more years before the Red Sox broke the curse and Shaughnessy relives the highs, the lows, the ups and the downs of that Sox ride beginning 50 years ago, when a young phenom from L.A. took New England by storm and had a season we're still talking about on the Past Our Prime podcast. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 21 mins