Eric Soderholm joins us this week. Eric played in the Majors from 1971-1980 with the Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers and New York Yankees. He had a career batting average of .264 with 102 home runs and 383 RBIs. Eric was a solid player at 3rd base for every team he played for. He had to sit out the 1976 season with a knee injury which led him to be a Designated Hitter in the latter part of his career. A freak knee injury ended his Major League career after he hit .287 with the Yankees in 1980. Eric shares some great stories Back When There Was Baseball.

Lenn Sakata joins us on the podcast this week. Lenn was the 2nd Asian American to play Major League Baseball and his career spanned from 1977-1987. He was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers but played most of his career with the Baltimore Orioles. He was instrumental in the 1983 regular season which led to the Orioles World Series win over the Philadelphia Phillies. Lenn could play multiple positions in the infield and even caught in a game that went extra innings. He started out in the Brewers organization and had to compete with the likes of Jim Gantner, Robin Yount and Paul Molitor. In the Orioles organization, he competed with Rich Dauer and Cal Ripken, Jr. We take the time machine back to the late 1970s through the late 1980s, Back When There Was Baseball, with our guest Lenn Sakata.

Eric Raich joins us this week. Eric played his college baseball at USC coming out of Compton, CA. He was involved in the middle of that great Rod Dedeaux run at Southern Cal where they won the National Championship in 1968 and from 1970-1974. Eric was drafted 1st overall in the 1972 MLB January Draft by the Cleveland Indians. He was a big pitcher standing at 6'4" and weighing between 240-250 lbs. Eric worked his way through the Minor Leagues quickly and was at the Major League level in 1975. He had a solid year in 1975, but arm problems hampered him throughout the rest of his career. One must think, what would Eric have done had he been healthy. Join us Back When There Was Baseball and listen to Eric Raich share his Major and Minor League experiences with us.

Former long-time Phillies broadcaster Chris Wheeler joins us this week. "Wheels" was behind the mic for 37 years of Phillies baseball which included their only 2 World Series championships (1980 and 2008). The Phillies have only appeared in 7 World Series and Chris was a part of 5 of those events. Wheels shares a lot of great stories from his time with the Phillies, which started in 1977, and includes some surprises Back When There Was Baseball.

We celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ten Cent Beer Night which occurred on June 4, 1974, in Cleveland. The game featured the visiting Texas Rangers, with manager Billy Martin, up against the home Cleveland Indians. Our guests are Steve Foucault and Tom Grieve who played for the Rangers, and Jack Brohamer and Dick Bosman who played with Cleveland. This was a promotion that went wrong. Streaking, women bearing their bare breasts and other raucous behavior occurred, which culminated in the fans storming the field and the game being forfeited to the Rangers. We go Back When There Was Baseball this week to revisit one of the craziest games in MLB history.

We are privileged to host one of the best catchers in MLB during the mid-1970s through the mid-1980s. Jim Sundberg joins us to talk about his career. He came out of the University of Iowa and was told by a scout that he was not very good. That "insult" propelled Jim to become the best catcher he could be, and what a successful adventure that was. Jim played 16 seasons in the Majors (1974-1989) with the Texas Rangers, Milwaukee Brewers, Kansas City Royals and Chicago Cubs. He won 6 consecutive Gold Gloves (1976-1981) which is unreal considering he caught in the heat of Texas during those seasons. Jim is also famous for his great slide in Game 6 of the 1985 World Series. We hope you enjoy this look Back When There Was Baseball at one of the best catchers in that time-period, Jim Sundberg.

We look back at the great Baltimore Orioles teams from 1969-1971 with our guest this week. Eddie Watt was a valuable member of the Orioles pitching staff. He was a right-handed stopper coming out of the bullpen during those years with outstanding numbers. He had an ERA under 2.00 in 1969 and 1971. He also was 15-10 during those 3 years (1969-1971) which is outstanding for a relief pitcher. Eddie shares some great stories about those years and his career Back When There Was Baseball.

We take a look back this week into the mid-1970s through the late 1980s with one of the best relief pitchers of that era. Kent "Teke" Tekulve joins us to discuss his career which spanned from 1974-1989. He talks about how he was signed by the Pirates on a somewhat fluke situation. Teke had 3 years where he appeared in 90 games or more, with the final one happening when he was 40 years old as the setup man for Steve Bedrosian which helped Bedrock win the NL Cy Young Award. He was one of the first "submarine" pitchers and you will be hard pressed to find one who pitched better, especially over the length of his career. Enjoy this look Back When There Was Baseball with Kent Tekulve.