Hamilton pens memoir of radio career
02/25/2006
KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Milo Hamilton's memoir, "Making Airwaves: 60 Years at Milo's Microphone," is what the broadcaster described as a "culmination of wonderment," and a somewhat therapeutic look back at a lifetime of six decades in the radio business.
"Making Airwaves" has been a smashing success for Hamilton, a 60-year veteran of the broadcasting business who is entering his 22nd season with the Astros. He sold 400 copies during a two-day jaunt through Astros FanFest a few weeks ago, and sales since then have been equally fruitful.
Hamilton reveals details about his entire life, not just the years of his broadcasting career. He grew up during the Great Depression, lived through the stock market crash and learned the value of the dollar from his father, who, as Hamilton said, "had a job for $12 a week and was glad to have it. A lot of people didn't."
Hamilton grew up in Iowa listening to Ronald Reagan on the radio, and got his first broadcasting assignment as a fluke: his commanding officer in the Navy needed someone to announce a game in Guam, just after the end of World War II. After Hamilton admitted he played baseball in high school, he was placed behind the microphone on the Armed Forces Radio Service. And a new broadcasting career was launched.
Hamilton's book, co-authored by Dan Schlossberg and former Cubs PR director Bob Ibach, includes several juicy stories of his well-known clashes with Harry Caray, when the two were broadcasting partners in St. Louis and Chicago. Hamilton cited Caray as a continuous thorn in his side, beginning in 1954 in St. Louis.
Hamilton writes, "I was hired by KXOX to travel on the road with Caray and help him out on the air. From the beginning, he wanted no part of me. I'll never forget how the 1954 season opened. At his re-introduction to me, he looked me right in the face and said, 'Kid, don't worry about your mike being on because I am the announcer here.' It was going to be a very long season, and it became obvious Caray was going to try to make me feel like a jackass."
The fireworks rekindled in the early 1980s, when both were with the Cubs.
"On occasion, I wasn't too shy to tell him what I thought," Hamilton wrote. 'Harry,' I once said, 'The people down there in the stands didn't come here to hear you sing or watch you sing.' And he said to me, 'Whaddya mean?' I replied, 'Let's do this. Suppose next Thursday is an open date and there's no game here at Wrigley Field. Let's announce in the papers you are going to be here that day, at three o'clock, and see how many of those fans come over to the park to hear you sing."
Through his writings, Hamilton felt he finally had the platform to set the record straight after stories -- some accurate, some, not so much -- had escalated over the years.
"If it would have been one time only, or even twice ... but when it carried on for decades, I felt it was a definite part of my life," he said. "Especially if it alters your life. Those things altered my life, like losing jobs. So that's why it's in there. Why now? Because this is my book, and I hadn't written a book before."
Harry Caray's Restaurant in Chicago recently fired back, offering a new 25-cent drink called The Milo, and said it was a cheap shot of beer with a side of sour grapes.
Hamilton's supporters at Trulucks restaurant in Houston countered with a drink called the "Harry Canary" -- two ounces of Bud, a dash of bitters and a side of (Red) Bull. According to Dave Mattern, managing partner, at Trulucks, they sold it for 50 cents: "overpriced, just like Harry."
Antics aside, Hamilton's book, which also takes shots at former broadcast partner Larry Dierker, offers praise for a myriad of baseball figures, including Houston legend Nolan Ryan and current stars Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio.
The memoir is also a charitable effort, as proceeds from select books will go toward the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Houston. In conjunction with Nikco Sports, 5,000 sets that include a copy of the book, a special baseball autographed by Hamilton and an acrylic display case are available for $79.95.
Source: http://houston.astros.mlb.com/
KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Milo Hamilton's memoir, "Making Airwaves: 60 Years at Milo's Microphone," is what the broadcaster described as a "culmination of wonderment," and a somewhat therapeutic look back at a lifetime of six decades in the radio business.
"Making Airwaves" has been a smashing success for Hamilton, a 60-year veteran of the broadcasting business who is entering his 22nd season with the Astros. He sold 400 copies during a two-day jaunt through Astros FanFest a few weeks ago, and sales since then have been equally fruitful.
Hamilton reveals details about his entire life, not just the years of his broadcasting career. He grew up during the Great Depression, lived through the stock market crash and learned the value of the dollar from his father, who, as Hamilton said, "had a job for $12 a week and was glad to have it. A lot of people didn't."
Hamilton grew up in Iowa listening to Ronald Reagan on the radio, and got his first broadcasting assignment as a fluke: his commanding officer in the Navy needed someone to announce a game in Guam, just after the end of World War II. After Hamilton admitted he played baseball in high school, he was placed behind the microphone on the Armed Forces Radio Service. And a new broadcasting career was launched.
Hamilton's book, co-authored by Dan Schlossberg and former Cubs PR director Bob Ibach, includes several juicy stories of his well-known clashes with Harry Caray, when the two were broadcasting partners in St. Louis and Chicago. Hamilton cited Caray as a continuous thorn in his side, beginning in 1954 in St. Louis.
Hamilton writes, "I was hired by KXOX to travel on the road with Caray and help him out on the air. From the beginning, he wanted no part of me. I'll never forget how the 1954 season opened. At his re-introduction to me, he looked me right in the face and said, 'Kid, don't worry about your mike being on because I am the announcer here.' It was going to be a very long season, and it became obvious Caray was going to try to make me feel like a jackass."
The fireworks rekindled in the early 1980s, when both were with the Cubs.
"On occasion, I wasn't too shy to tell him what I thought," Hamilton wrote. 'Harry,' I once said, 'The people down there in the stands didn't come here to hear you sing or watch you sing.' And he said to me, 'Whaddya mean?' I replied, 'Let's do this. Suppose next Thursday is an open date and there's no game here at Wrigley Field. Let's announce in the papers you are going to be here that day, at three o'clock, and see how many of those fans come over to the park to hear you sing."
Through his writings, Hamilton felt he finally had the platform to set the record straight after stories -- some accurate, some, not so much -- had escalated over the years.
"If it would have been one time only, or even twice ... but when it carried on for decades, I felt it was a definite part of my life," he said. "Especially if it alters your life. Those things altered my life, like losing jobs. So that's why it's in there. Why now? Because this is my book, and I hadn't written a book before."
Harry Caray's Restaurant in Chicago recently fired back, offering a new 25-cent drink called The Milo, and said it was a cheap shot of beer with a side of sour grapes.
Hamilton's supporters at Trulucks restaurant in Houston countered with a drink called the "Harry Canary" -- two ounces of Bud, a dash of bitters and a side of (Red) Bull. According to Dave Mattern, managing partner, at Trulucks, they sold it for 50 cents: "overpriced, just like Harry."
Antics aside, Hamilton's book, which also takes shots at former broadcast partner Larry Dierker, offers praise for a myriad of baseball figures, including Houston legend Nolan Ryan and current stars Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio.
The memoir is also a charitable effort, as proceeds from select books will go toward the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Houston. In conjunction with Nikco Sports, 5,000 sets that include a copy of the book, a special baseball autographed by Hamilton and an acrylic display case are available for $79.95.
Source: http://houston.astros.mlb.com/
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