Friday, August 9, 2013

Bill Murray’s 1988 interview with Harry Caray

Legendary comedian joined legendary broadcaster before Cubs’ first-ever night game 25 years ago, yesterday.


 
 “I think when I completely lose my mind, Harry, I’m going step right up into your spot in the booth.”

20 comments:

Shouting Thomas said...

Damn Cubs still haven't won a World Series! And, we're in a multi-year rebuilding scheme led by our Ivy League genius and former Red Sox savior, Theo Epstein.

The old explanation for Cub's failure was that our boys were getting tired out from being out in the sun and humidity so much during all those day games.

Playing night games hasn't seemed to help our boys stay fresh!

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

(1) Bill Murray is a funny guy.

(2) I assume he's sweating like a pig because he's coked to the gills.

(3) I know a guy who works with Bill Murray's sister or sister-in-law, or something like that, and she claims that Bill Murray is, in real life, the biggest fucking asshole you could possibly imagine.

(4) Substantially true, no doubt, but likely a bit of an overstatement, was my surmise at the time.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Its a small market Chicago is.

If you are not in politics its impossible to make a go of it there.

Shouting Thomas said...

Chicago is a big market for baseball.

Lights did enhance the Cubs' finances. That plus the long running WGN superstation, and the Cubs are a national team.

Yes, politics is brutal in Chicago. The conservatism of the Ricketts' family has, at times, really pissed off the Democratic machine.

Tom Rickets, Cubs' owner, tried to squeeze the money for the Wrigley renovation out of Illinois taxpayers. The Rickets family owns TD Bank and has no business trying to extort money from the taxpayers.

If Rickets were a connected guy, he might have swung the deal with the State. But, he pissed off the machine in Chicago and they told him to pay for the renovation out of his own pocket.

bagoh20 said...

I think Will Ferrell does him better.

Actually, that's the first time I ever saw the real deal, but just from Saturday Night Live, I bet I would know immediately who it was.

rhhardin said...

Apparently Silent Mail has been shut down by U.S.Gypsum, if I remember the ticker symbols correctly.

We now return you to the comment thread.

ndspinelli said...

Murray did a Cubs game as a sub for Harry when he was recovering from a stroke. I have it on VHS.

deborah said...

How did he do, Nick?

deborah said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ndspinelli said...

Deborah, he started off just tipsy, but by the end was shitfaced, making jokes about his family and mother always having to go out for ice because everyone's always drunk. It was funny back then but if I replayed it[I still have a VCR/tv combo] I bet it would be much less so. Murray's act has gotten pretty old for me. He's good when reined in, like Robin Williams.

ndspinelli said...

"reigned"

virgil xenophon said...

I'm old enough to remember the REALLY wild Harry Caray when he was an announcer with St. Louis in the 50s/early 60s at the old Cardinals Stadium (don't think it was called Busch then, that was three stadiums ago, the current "old" stadium which the present Bush Stadium replaced was built in 1966.) Attending a game there was a hoot. The press box was un-airconditioned and Caray's sidekick would announce in nothing but jockey whitey tighties. (Note: ST. Louis in Jul/Aug is just as hot & humid as New Orleans.) The beer being free, they all drank like fish, sweated bullets, and were blasted out of their minds by the 5th inning.

The deal was, you got two games for the price of one: the game one was watching on the field and the game Harry was announcing on the radio. In those days everyone had one of those little small, rectangular approx 2x4'' [3x6"?] portable transistor radios (remember, the ones with the 3' long telescoping antenna that came out of the top at one end that made it look like you had a WW II walkie talkie up to your ear?) and the scene would go something like this:

The batter would hit a lazy pop fly to left field and the fielder would yawn, scratch himself, take a half-step to the right and "plonk" the ball would fall into his glove. Harry, however would describe the same play thusly: "WOW! What a towering drive to left field! It could be outta here! It maybe, it might be......... NO! What a circus catch by Busby! Saved the tying run for sure!" LOL!!

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Sarah Michelle Gellar is aging rather nicely, I'd say.

Robin Williams looks like he's been pressed in one of those Mattel Vac-U-Form toys from the 1960's.

Trooper York said...

Best Harry Carey ever was done by Jay Mohr with Anthony Cumia as Bob Murphy. Not safe for work.

yashu said...

"reigned"

You were right the first time: you "rein in" (a horse), "reign over" (a kingdom).

Another very common error: "free reign." It's "free rein," "tight rein," "reins of power."

Understandable mistakes, of course, since in all these cases "reign" makes some sense too; the context of the sentence involves issues of power/ control.

The rein/ reign confusion is so rampant nowadays, even in published professional writing, in newspapers and academic journals; I come across it almost every day. And every time it appears it infects more and more people.

Heh, sorry, it's a pet peeve. Not sure why it bothers me so. Maybe because it appears so often even in ostensibly well-edited writing, places where you'd never find, say, "principle" and "principal" confused. Maybe because I have a fondness for equestrian metaphors, and it annoys me when that origin is effaced.

Me likes to see the horseys in the sentences.

There's a wonderful name for this type of error: "eggcorn."

deborah said...

Thanks, Nick, yes, people like Robin Williams are best reined in.

I like Murray a lot, but his schtick has gotten old. Lost in Translation was an interesting movie.

yashu said...

He was so good in Rushmore (maybe my favorite Bill Murray performance).

And here he is reading, whad'ya know, Wallace Stevens.

deborah said...

I saw the last half of Rushmore, always meant to go back. The detached, cynical Murray at his best.

I'd say Groundhog Day is my fave of the ones I've seen.

ndspinelli said...

Murray was good in Get Low, playing an undertaker. A quiet role w/ no schtick. Robert Duvall starred in this good, indy flick. Sissy Spacek was her usual superb self.

deborah said...

I'll look for it.