Episode 271
Former Mets Pitcher Pete Falcone
Host Bill Donohue welcomes former New York Mets pitcher Pete Falcone about his career and the hurdles he faced as a pro athlete. Falcone reminisces about growing up in Brooklyn and making the jump to the majors, sharing stories that give listeners a sense of the friendships and camaraderie among players. He recalls his memorable debut game; winning it but also dealing with an unexpected twist that nearly spoiled a no-hitter. The conversation covers the evolution of the Mets, standout players like John Stearns, and the personal side of baseball, from loss to friendship. Falcone’s reflections offer a heartfelt look at the sacrifices athletes make and show that behind every stat is a story of dedication and resilience.
Transcript
The views expressed in the following program do not necessarily represent those of the staff, management or owners of wgbb.
Speaker A:Live from the WGBB studios in Merrick, New York, this is Sports Talk New York.
Speaker B:Good evening and hello again, everybody.
Speaker B:Welcome welcome to SPORTS Talk New York on WGB in Merrick, Long Island, New York, USA.
Speaker B: st and final day of August: Speaker B:There'll be no 32nd, right, Brian?
Speaker B:No, that's the 31st.
Speaker B:And our engineer, of course, Brian, is with us as always.
Speaker B:Glad to have you aboard tonight.
Speaker B:Leading off this evening, we will welcome back our friend, former Mets pitcher Pete Falcone.
Speaker B:And he will regale us with some great stories from his great baseball career.
Speaker B:In the second half, we'll speak to the co authors of a new book titled Summer Skate.
Speaker B:That's Leslie Cohen and former New York Ranger Sean Avery.
Speaker B:They'll talk to us about this great new novel that they've collaborated on.
Speaker B:So relax, sit back, enjoy the show tonight.
Speaker B:We got some great sports chat coming up for you.
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Speaker B:Well, our first guest, he hails from Brooklyn, New York, usa, a product of Lafayette High School, the same high school that graduated another left hander a few years before, a guy by the name of of Sandy Koufax.
Speaker B:He played for the Giants, the Cardinals and Braves.
Speaker B:But we remember him, of course, from his time here in New York with the Mets.
Speaker B:I welcome back to SPORTS Talk New York tonight, Pete Falcone.
Speaker B:Pete, good evening.
Speaker A:Hey, how are you?
Speaker A:Bill to speak to you tonight.
Speaker B:Yeah, we're doing good, Pete.
Speaker B:We're doing good.
Speaker B:Now I want to ask you, growing up in the borough of churches, who are your teams and favorites when you were a kid?
Speaker A:Well, my dad was a Yankee fan, you know, when I grew up with the Yankees in the late mid-60s because I was born, I'm 53, so I was a big Yankee fan with the what they call the harlot clock era in my 80s, you know.
Speaker A:And when the Yankees finished up with their World Series time, I was still young.
Speaker A:I think their last year was like 65 or 60.
Speaker A:And after that they went on a real, real drought, I recall.
Speaker A:Oh yeah, that's when the Red Sox and the Orioles and the Twins, all those teams took over and they, and they just beat the Yankees up, you know.
Speaker A:But I was a die hard Yankee fan back in those days until I, I went to professional baseball.
Speaker A:Really, I was a big Yankee fan.
Speaker A:I used to die with the Yankees, you know.
Speaker A:Got to know, got to know a few of those guys.
Speaker A:Later on I became good friends with old.
Speaker A:Remember old Fritz Peterson?
Speaker A:Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:Fritz and I became good friends and I heard he passed away recently and we spent a lot of time together, me and Fritz.
Speaker B:Yeah, we've had him on a few times, Pete.
Speaker B:A real good guy.
Speaker B:A real good guy.
Speaker A:Wonderful man.
Speaker B:Yeah, wonderful man.
Speaker B:He was great on the radio.
Speaker B:He did a great job.
Speaker B:And some great stories from Fritz as well.
Speaker B:Aside from the obvious one that everyone wants to know about, you know.
Speaker B:But he talks about it pretty openly.
Speaker B:He was really good about it.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, I knew, I knew his wife Susan.
Speaker A:I spent, you know, at their house in Chicago years ago and yeah, I spent the night there, hung out.
Speaker A:They were normal people, they were just good people, you know.
Speaker B:Right, right.
Speaker A:Yeah, genuine people.
Speaker B:People think it was a big, you know, orgy like scene, but no, that wasn't it at all.
Speaker A:Yeah, I didn't go there, but I didn't delve too deep into their personal lives.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker A:They were just good men.
Speaker A:Good people.
Speaker A:Great people.
Speaker B:Yeah, I hear you.
Speaker B:Now, your first game that you pitched, I believe it was the second game of a double header the count.
Speaker B:John Montefusco pitched the first game.
Speaker B:In fact, he pitched a complete game, shutout.
Speaker B:The second game, there was a two run homer by a catcher by the name of Vic Correll.
Speaker B:Good job.
Speaker B:For eight innings, score tied 2 2.
Speaker B:In the eighth, Gary Maddux, Daryl Thomas, Bobby Mercer hit singles to give the Giants a 42 lead.
Speaker B:And you got the win.
Speaker B:Randy Moffitt pitched the ninth inning to record the save.
Speaker B:And you got a win in your major league debut.
Speaker B:You were quite upset about the passing of Randy.
Speaker A:Yes, I was.
Speaker A:Randy, you know, this is a long time ago now, but Randy and then days, he was really very, very nice to me.
Speaker A:I was a young, I was a young naive rookie, 21 years old.
Speaker A:And you know, I deserved a lot of rebuke back in those days.
Speaker A:I didn't, you know, I was just.
Speaker A:But he was so nice, he was so genuine and I got to know him really, really well.
Speaker A:Spent a lot of time in his house.
Speaker A:And when I finally passed away this week and we lost also Mark Hill, Mark was on that team, too.
Speaker A:Mark was a catcher, and we were both rookies that year.
Speaker A:But Randy, when I found out about that, I just broke my heart.
Speaker A:Broke my heart.
Speaker A:Broke my heart.
Speaker B:For people that don't know, Randy Moffett, the Giants pitcher, passed away this week.
Speaker B:And people may not know he was the younger brother of Billie Jean King, the tennis legend.
Speaker B:And Randy will be missed.
Speaker B:That's for sure.
Speaker A:He will be missed.
Speaker A:I saw a picture of him recently and he was at a Giants Old Timers game in California.
Speaker A:And I saw him standing in a picture with the cap.
Speaker A:And I looked at him and he had a cane.
Speaker A:He looked really, really frail.
Speaker A:It looked like he had shrunk a foot.
Speaker A:And I just shook my head.
Speaker A:I said, oh, my goodness, look at this.
Speaker A:I remember these guys back in those days as they were.
Speaker A:I can't look at these guys today and see them as they are.
Speaker A:I just cannot.
Speaker A:I can't face it.
Speaker A:I saw a picture of.
Speaker A:Recently, I saw a picture of Dave Parker in a wheelchair.
Speaker A:I know Dave passed away.
Speaker A:I can't see Dave Parker in a wheelchair.
Speaker A:I see him as a gladiator on the field.
Speaker B:He's in bad shape towards the end.
Speaker A:Oh, my God.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, A real shame.
Speaker B:Another guy, I'm pretty sure, you know this guy during the Mets Old Timers game a couple of years ago, the dude, John Stearns, cancer.
Speaker B:And he, he was a shadow of his former self.
Speaker B:He looked terrible and he.
Speaker A:I did not know that.
Speaker B:Yeah, he passed a few months after that.
Speaker B:He was, he.
Speaker B:He had passed away, but yeah, he looked terrible, but he was pretty heroic to come out there and show the fans that he still was around.
Speaker B:And he did a great job.
Speaker B:He really did.
Speaker B:He'll be missed, too.
Speaker B:Another great ballplayer, John Stearns.
Speaker A:You know John Stearns.
Speaker A:A story about John Stearns.
Speaker A:He was a really, really good catcher.
Speaker A:He was, I believe, a defensive back in college football, if I recall.
Speaker A:He was tough.
Speaker A:He was a tough guy.
Speaker A:Do you know that he, he blocked home plate one night in Pittsburgh, I think it was in Pittsburgh, in New York when Dave Parker came.
Speaker A:You know, Dave Parker was about 6, 5, right.
Speaker A:And he was.
Speaker A:He was bit of like, you know, a heavy fullback.
Speaker A:And John Stearns held his ground and Dave Parker did not.
Speaker A:But did not budge him.
Speaker B:I think he broke his jaw, Pete, if I'm, if I'm remembering correctly.
Speaker B:Yeah, yep.
Speaker B:And there Was another incident with John Stearns.
Speaker B:Some nut bag ran out on the field and he ran out and tackled the guy.
Speaker B:Threw an open field, Open field tackle on the guy.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Took him right there.
Speaker A:I don't remember that.
Speaker A:I remember.
Speaker A:I. Yeah, this Sterns was something.
Speaker A:I do remember one time when he got a very, very bad injury.
Speaker A:He took a foul tip off a bat and the ball, his hand was behind his catcher's bit.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:But somehow his finger got away from the catcher's bit and the ball hit his finger.
Speaker A:Yeah, I think his index finger.
Speaker A:And his career was over after that.
Speaker A:I remember he had a big rod coming out of his.
Speaker A:The bone out of his finger.
Speaker A:He was done for after that.
Speaker A:That's how.
Speaker A:It's pretty much how his career ended.
Speaker A:He could not come back from that.
Speaker A:His finger got smashed up pretty, pretty bad.
Speaker A:He played and that's how I. I think that was like an 81 or something like that.
Speaker A:And he couldn't even look at it.
Speaker A:It's all ugly.
Speaker A:Oh, but he, he was a tough guy.
Speaker B:Tough.
Speaker A:All those guys were tough.
Speaker B:Played on some terrible Met teams too.
Speaker B:He's one of the few bright spots on some of those Met ball clubs.
Speaker A:He made the All Star team every year.
Speaker B:He did.
Speaker B:You know John Stearns, ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Google him.
Speaker B:You'll find a great ball player, that's for sure.
Speaker B:Now you.
Speaker B:Your most memorable start that I found, Pete, you held the Braves hitless through seven innings.
Speaker B:Larval Blanks grounds out to short.
Speaker B:And you're four outs away from being the first National League rookie to pitch a no hitter since Bert hooten back in 72.
Speaker B:But there was an incident.
Speaker B:I don't know if you remember the incident at first base.
Speaker A:Of course I remember the incident.
Speaker A:It was a Sunday afternoon.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:My parents, as a matter of fact, my parents came down from New York all the way to Atlanta.
Speaker A:Yeah, it was a weekend.
Speaker A:It was a weekend.
Speaker A:It was a very, very hot August.
Speaker A:It was in August.
Speaker A:I believe it was hot.
Speaker A:I remember it was so hot.
Speaker A:And I had a no hitter going two outs into da fitting.
Speaker A:And I believe something.
Speaker A:There was a catcher named Vic Correll.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Remember Vic?
Speaker A:Yes, I walked.
Speaker A:Rick Carell walked and he's the same guy I gave up my very first home run to.
Speaker A:Vic was a good catcher for the Braves and he happened to get.
Speaker A:I walked in and we had a first baseman back then, you know Willie Montanez.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker A:Really good Willie.
Speaker A:He played with the Mets too.
Speaker B:A great hitter.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Real hot dog.
Speaker B:That's what people Remember Willie For y. Yeah.
Speaker A:The best home run trot you'll ever see.
Speaker A:The best home run trot.
Speaker B:The chicken used to do a good imitation of Willie going around the base.
Speaker A:Willie had a habit goofing around with the first guy or if the guy in first base took a lead.
Speaker A:Willie fooled around with him and he would take his glove and pat him on the rear end.
Speaker A:Pat him on the rear end, goof around with him.
Speaker A:I don't know what he was doing that for, and I don't know.
Speaker A:But somehow it got to Vic Correll and Vic Correll turned around and threw a punch at him.
Speaker A:If I remember, I think it was something like that.
Speaker A:And next thing you know, there was.
Speaker A:There was a, you know, a brawl at first base.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And here I am on the mound and I'm going, what in the world's going on?
Speaker A:It was like a twilight zone, you know.
Speaker A:You know, and both benches cleared, the bullpen's cleared, everybody's on the field.
Speaker A:There was really no fight.
Speaker A:But the umpires came, the coaches came, they broke everything up.
Speaker A:And it lasted about maybe seven or eight minutes, you know.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:I said, okay, so in the meantime, what I didn't do, I didn't keep throwing.
Speaker A:I didn't take a few warm up throw, you know, it was enough.
Speaker A:It was long enough to where I should have gotten a couple of balls and throw the home plate, you know.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:But so I went back on the mound and I'm going, okay, big deal.
Speaker A:And the first hitter up there after that was a guy named Rod Gilbreth who was a decent infielder with the Braves.
Speaker A:I threw a pitch, it was a fastball, I guess he hit a line drive.
Speaker A:Basic.
Speaker B:There you go.
Speaker B:That was the end of that.
Speaker A:Yeah, that was the end of that.
Speaker B:Another great.
Speaker A:Listen, what am I going to be complaining about, you know, here I am, 21 years old, throwing them.
Speaker A:No hitter.
Speaker A:Almost.
Speaker A:No hitter.
Speaker A:Almost.
Speaker A:I got the win.
Speaker A:I. I'm not going to complain about.
Speaker A:I wasn't mad.
Speaker A:I don't, I don't even remember anybody.
Speaker A:I don't even remember anybody apologizing to me.
Speaker A:We just, we got a win and after the game we flew all the way back home to San Francisco.
Speaker A:I didn't really.
Speaker A:I didn't really didn't affect me, you know.
Speaker A:No, I was just happy to.
Speaker A:I was just happy to be on the major league team in a starting rotation.
Speaker B:That's the way it should be.
Speaker B:Pete.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Be thankful for where you are.
Speaker B:We got Pete Falcone with us tonight on Sports Talk, New York.
Speaker B:Yeah, you're right.
Speaker B:You were lucky to be there and you felt your gratitude and that's all that matters.
Speaker A:That's right.
Speaker A:What can I say?
Speaker B:You come to the Mets from St. Louis.
Speaker B:After your time in St. Louis, come to the Mets for Tom Grieve and a guy by the name of Kim Seaman.
Speaker B:I guess he's lucky he didn't stick around with the Mets because he would have had a hard time with that name.
Speaker B:Sounds like a porno star.
Speaker B:Ken Seaman.
Speaker A:Yeah, I knew Ken.
Speaker A:I knew him.
Speaker A:I think he might have went to aaa.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Tom Greave.
Speaker A:I got to know him pretty well years later when I was doing replay with the Major League Baseball.
Speaker A:I was doing replay, so I'd go to the Rangers.
Speaker A:I was in a lot of Ranger games doing replay on the field.
Speaker A:And Tom was the head announcer for the Texas Rangers.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:And yeah, we would talk all the time about those days.
Speaker A:He was a really good announcer.
Speaker A:He might still be doing it, I don't know.
Speaker A:I lost contact.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:But that was a big transition.
Speaker A:I got traded and I remember getting over there because I had come back from Puerto Rico.
Speaker A:I played baseball in Puerto Rico that winter and it didn't do well.
Speaker A:I was really into doldrums and really having a lot of issues with confidence.
Speaker A:And I found out I got trades in the Mets, and next thing you know, Lee Mazzilli comes to my house and knocks on my door.
Speaker A:But it was an interesting time.
Speaker A:It was a tough time for the team.
Speaker A:You recall those years.
Speaker A:And the Mets were very, very good to me.
Speaker A:Joe Torrey, as a matter of fact, knew that I was really struggling in a lot of ways that the Mets that year, Joe did this and he got permission.
Speaker A:They sent me down to spring training in St. Petersburg almost a month before the whole team got there.
Speaker A:I was treated like royalty.
Speaker A:Joe really was in my corner and Rube was in my corner.
Speaker A:I did not know Rube Walker at the time that well, but Joe and the Mets organization really went to bat for me and they actually brought in my pitching coach from the Giants years earlier and Don McMahon.
Speaker A:McMahon.
Speaker B:Yeah, I remember Don.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A: h when I was on the giants of: Speaker A:So he.
Speaker A:So Joe Tori contacted him and they took Don into pre spring training to work with me.
Speaker A:And every day.
Speaker A:Every day about three weeks.
Speaker B:It's nice to hear that they did something like that.
Speaker B:But back during the tough days.
Speaker A:Yeah, woe I.
Speaker A:They had a lot of high hopes for me, you know.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I Had a miserable.
Speaker A:I had a miserable year that year.
Speaker A:The whole team had a miserable year.
Speaker A:It's just one of those things.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:But I will.
Speaker A:I will always be grateful for that.
Speaker A:You know, Joe went to bat for me.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker A:And did.
Speaker A:And did that, you know, and at the time, my cousin was also a Mets coach at the time.
Speaker A:His name is Joey Pignettano, right?
Speaker A:Yeah, He.
Speaker A:He's my father's first cousin.
Speaker B:Ah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Well, he was growing.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Passed away like 93 years old.
Speaker A:He was living in Bonita Springs, Florida.
Speaker B:Used to grow tomatoes.
Speaker B:Folks in the Mets bullpen.
Speaker B:Joe Pignantano.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah, Tomato.
Speaker A:He had a full garden out there.
Speaker B:Yeah, he did a great job.
Speaker C:That's for sure.
Speaker B:Now, I mean.
Speaker B:Yeah, you had six wins in 79.
Speaker B:And I was reading the strangest of those six wins.
Speaker B:It was 8-21-79 against the Houston Astros.
Speaker B:Two outs of the night.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Lazy fly ball.
Speaker B:Jeff Leonard.
Speaker B:Lima Zilli catches it for the final out.
Speaker B:You remember that?
Speaker A:You remember that?
Speaker A:Yeah, we spoke about this before.
Speaker A:I remember throwing the pitch and it was a shutout.
Speaker A:I was.
Speaker A:It was a night.
Speaker A:It was a complete game shutout in New York.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I remember throwing the pitch, and I think Frank Tavares yelled timeout before I threw the pitch.
Speaker B:He did?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Frank Tavares got a timeout from Doug Harvey, of all people.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I don't know why.
Speaker A:There was nobody on base, if I recall.
Speaker A:I don't remember what happened.
Speaker A:But after that, everybody's world, everybody's coming up to me, you know, shaking my hand, everything, and Doug Harvey comes out.
Speaker A:No, no, no, no.
Speaker A:We have.
Speaker A:Someone called time out.
Speaker A:Frank called timeout.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:So, okay, so I came out of the dugout and Joe came out, and suddenly, you know, they had an argument.
Speaker A:I think that.
Speaker A:I think they had an argument.
Speaker A:So I had to go back on the field, you know, and redo it all over again.
Speaker B:Right, Jeff?
Speaker B:Same thing.
Speaker A:I think it was.
Speaker A:Yeah, I think it was Jeff Leonard again, right?
Speaker A:Yeah, he had.
Speaker A:And so I get out in the field and pick the sign.
Speaker A:And I remember going into my wind up, I just happened to, for some reason, look towards the Mets dugout, and Eddie Crane pool is running out of the dugout to first base.
Speaker A:He was playing first base that night.
Speaker A:And I think Jeff hit a ground ball to Tavares, and Tavares had nobody to throw the ball to.
Speaker B:Amazing.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Eddie wasn't there.
Speaker A:What's amazing, Eddie was in and out of that.
Speaker A:You know, he was all this kind of guys get game is over.
Speaker A:I'm gone.
Speaker A:So he was running out.
Speaker A:But the weird thing to me was, I look back on it, where was the umpire?
Speaker A:Yeah, he had to be right there.
Speaker A:Where was the first base coach?
Speaker A:And Doug Flynn was playing second base.
Speaker A:I mean, can you.
Speaker A:Can't you tell?
Speaker A:And I forgot.
Speaker A:I think Sterns was catching with Trevino.
Speaker A:You can't look at the field and see there's nobody at first base.
Speaker A:I'm a pitcher.
Speaker A:I can't.
Speaker A:I can't be doing that, you know?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:That's not my job.
Speaker B:You got other things to worry about.
Speaker A:And Joe Torrey, Rub Walker, Chuck Cartier, all the guys that dug out.
Speaker A:No one's saying anything.
Speaker A:And I thought, this is weird.
Speaker A:So what happened was they had to call it again, Right.
Speaker A:And so Doug Harvey made the call, I believe, to, we're going to finish the game tomorrow night before the other game starts.
Speaker A:So the next night, we had a guy in our good friend of mine, Kevin Koble.
Speaker A:Kevin Cole.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:He later went to the Brewers.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker A:He had to go out there and finish the game.
Speaker A:The next night, he had to get one out.
Speaker B:And that was Jeffrey Leonard.
Speaker A:I. I don't know.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:I don't know if it was Jeff or not, but he got the out and the game was over and I got to win.
Speaker A:But I didn't get a complete game shut out.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Because.
Speaker B:Because of that great story.
Speaker B:That is amazing.
Speaker B:Pete Falcon's with us tonight.
Speaker B:That was one of my favorites, Pete, that.
Speaker B:That story.
Speaker B:How about George Bamberger, who came aboard in 82, pitching Guru with the Orioles.
Speaker C:And.
Speaker B:Well, how was he as a skipper?
Speaker A:I don't remember too much about George.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:I don't think he lasted.
Speaker A:I don't think he lasted a year.
Speaker B:No, it wasn't.
Speaker B:Wasn't that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Frank Howard came in for him, I think.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, George wasn't.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:I can't say nothing bad about the guy.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:He was a good.
Speaker A:He was a good guy.
Speaker A:I think he was from the Northeast also.
Speaker A:He had like, a New York kind of New Jersey accent, if I recall.
Speaker B:Oh, all right.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:But, you know, George is known for the great Oriole pitching staff.
Speaker A:I mean, who wouldn't be known for that?
Speaker A:Pitching staff?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Four 20 game winners.
Speaker A:Anybody?
Speaker A:Oh, yeah, I did that.
Speaker A:You know, he wasn't.
Speaker A:You know, he did.
Speaker A:He didn't make Jim Palmer and Dave McNally and those guys, you know, they were great.
Speaker A:Anyway, he just happened to be in the right place at the right time.
Speaker B:Right, right.
Speaker B:And Cashin, who was an Oriole man to start with, figures I'm going to bring in Bambi to manage the team.
Speaker B:Like you said, he had four, 20 game winners with the Orioles.
Speaker B:He's got to do something here in New York.
Speaker B:But he didn't.
Speaker B:He met with no success at all.
Speaker A:No, no.
Speaker A:He brought.
Speaker A:He brought some nice coaches.
Speaker A:He brought Jimmy, Bill, Mon Bouquet.
Speaker A:He brought him.
Speaker A:He brought nice, nice guys.
Speaker A:Frank.
Speaker A:Howie was there and.
Speaker B:But, you know, wasn't Jim Fry there, too?
Speaker A:Jim Fry was there.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:We.
Speaker A:We needed more than coaches.
Speaker A:We didn't need coaches.
Speaker A:We needed.
Speaker A:We needed leadership.
Speaker A:We need.
Speaker A:We needed mentors, you know.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:All the Met players.
Speaker A:You know, there was some good talent there, but there was nobody.
Speaker A:There was no leader.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker A:You know, and that was the whole thing.
Speaker A:There was no Tom Seaver, no Jerry Kooseman.
Speaker A:There was no guy to look up to.
Speaker B:It was a shame.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:It was just one of those things.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Things fell through the cracks back then, but there was great talent on that team.
Speaker A:Everybody worked hard.
Speaker A:We just got beat.
Speaker A:You know, you had Mike Scott and mt you know, guys come up with Jeff Reardon, Neil Allen.
Speaker A:You had good players.
Speaker B:You know, still don't realize.
Speaker B:Yeah, there was some great names, some great talent in that club.
Speaker B:Like you said, no leadership.
Speaker B:No leadership.
Speaker A:No leadership.
Speaker A:And then.
Speaker A:And then when George got there, Foster, he was coming.
Speaker A:He was like going.
Speaker A:You know, he wasn't the same George Forster as the Red Machine.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker A:But by that time, he was like, you know, over the hump and he was just like, you know, played his last days out, so he wasn't really out there to try to, you know, be a catalyst for the team.
Speaker A:He was just there, you know.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:He was paid.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Collect his check and that's it.
Speaker A:Well, I think it was more than that, but, you know, he wasn't really a guy we looked up to.
Speaker A:He wasn't like a Lou Brock.
Speaker A:Everybody looked up to Lou Brock when I played in the Cardinals, you know, Now.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:Lou Brock and Ted Simmons.
Speaker A:You know, you would.
Speaker A:You would.
Speaker A:You would have looked at these guys as.
Speaker A:As for help.
Speaker A:Nobody, no one looked to anybody on the Met teams back then for health.
Speaker A:You look to yourself, Right.
Speaker A:You couldn't look to the coaches, the press, they were demolishing us week, day after day.
Speaker A:So you were on your own.
Speaker A:You were like, you know, on your own.
Speaker A:Totally.
Speaker A:And you had to make.
Speaker A:You had to make do with what you had.
Speaker A:There's nothing There.
Speaker B:Nothing there.
Speaker C:Yeah, you're right.
Speaker A:Nothing there.
Speaker B:I want to tell you, I picked up a Falcon bat on ebay a couple of weeks ago.
Speaker B:Louisville Slugger.
Speaker B:P72.
Speaker B:Is that what you used?
Speaker B:Yeah, that's.
Speaker A:That was my favorite bat.
Speaker A:A P72?
Speaker B:Yeah, that's what I used.
Speaker A:I can't believe you found that.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah, I. I look through.
Speaker B:Don't tell my wife who's listening, but I. I page through, through ebay every day.
Speaker B:I look at the game, used bats, especially the Mets.
Speaker B:And I saw the pitchers only had their last name on the bats back then.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:And I saw Falcone.
Speaker B:I said, it's gotta be pete.
Speaker B:It's a P72.
Speaker B:It had number 33 on the knob, so I figured this is good.
Speaker B:It had a crack.
Speaker B:The guy repaired it.
Speaker B:So it's a nice bat.
Speaker A:Was it free?
Speaker B:No, no.
Speaker B:But it wasn't that much though, I'll tell you that.
Speaker A:No, no, I wouldn't think so.
Speaker A:I wouldn't think so.
Speaker B:But I picked it up.
Speaker B:Nice souvenir.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's the bat I used to use.
Speaker A:A P72.
Speaker A:It was a thin handle bat, if I recall.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Nice piece of wood.
Speaker C:It is.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Nice bat.
Speaker B:Now, in the couple of minutes we have left, Pete, I know we spoke the other day.
Speaker B:I was watching Dog Day Afternoon.
Speaker B:It was like Al Pacino and John Cazale Film Festival.
Speaker B:On one channel, it was Dog Day.
Speaker B:The other channel I was switching back and forth was the Godfather with Fredo and Mikey.
Speaker B:And then you went through Sal and Sunny on Dog Day Afternoon.
Speaker B:You said you witnessed that event.
Speaker A:Well, I.
Speaker A:You know, I'm from Brooklyn.
Speaker A:I'm from Baked Hearst.
Speaker A:And that day, it was a summer day.
Speaker A:We heard, man, you get what's going on over there?
Speaker A:I forgot where.
Speaker A:I think it was like Avenue U or something.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Which was not too far from my house.
Speaker A:And we all.
Speaker A:I got on my bike and we all run down there.
Speaker A:It was off McDonald Avenue.
Speaker A:And by the time I got there, there was crowds everywhere along the streets and the cops were keeping people away.
Speaker A:So I was in a place where I can look at the.
Speaker A:It was a bank, if I recall.
Speaker A:Yeah, it was a bank.
Speaker A:And I could see the bank for where I was.
Speaker A:And I was maybe a block and a half away.
Speaker A:And we stayed there for hours.
Speaker A:And I remember when they brought pizzas.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I remember the guy coming to the window looking through the.
Speaker A:Looking through the curtain, and he opened the door and everybody was cheering for this guy like they wanted.
Speaker A:You Know, like, let the guy go.
Speaker A:You know how cynical Brooklyn people are back in those days, maybe even today, too.
Speaker A:But this is back in the, what, early 70s, maybe.
Speaker B:Yeah, right.
Speaker A:But that was.
Speaker A:There was hundreds of people there and there was a lot of cops.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And we, we didn't say that.
Speaker A:I didn't stay the whole time because I know they, they came and they, I think they, they had limos took them to the air, was supposed to be taken to the airport, something like that.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:But that, that was it.
Speaker A:Everybody was there.
Speaker A:Everybody was cheering.
Speaker A:Every time the guy came to the window, they were cheering.
Speaker B:The, the crowd was on the side of.
Speaker B:Of the guys in the bank.
Speaker B:They were against the cops.
Speaker A:Exactly right.
Speaker A:Yeah, exactly right.
Speaker B:Anything the cops did, they booed.
Speaker B:When Sonny and Sal, anything with them, they were loving it, the folks.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker A:And next thing you know, there's a movie coming out a couple of years later.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Pacino and Cazale, two great actors together in both those movies.
Speaker B:Who would think?
Speaker B:John Cazale, I think, was in five movies and every one of them was nominated for an Academy Award.
Speaker B:So that's pretty good odds right there.
Speaker B:And he was Meryl Streep's boyfriend.
Speaker B:Unfortunately, he passed away shortly after that.
Speaker B:But he was a great actor.
Speaker A:Yeah, I did not know.
Speaker C:I don't follow.
Speaker A:I don't follow that too much.
Speaker B:I don't know Fredo and the Godfather.
Speaker B:Yeah, Fredo.
Speaker A:Yeah, I know who he was.
Speaker A:I know that.
Speaker A:But I didn't know he passed away.
Speaker B:Yeah, he's been gone a while.
Speaker A:Pacino's still going, though, right?
Speaker B:Oh, yeah, he's still alive.
Speaker B:I think he.
Speaker B:Well, he's.
Speaker B:He's quite advanced in age, but he's still around.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:Well, Pete, we're just about out of time.
Speaker B:We'll do this again and some more great stories.
Speaker B:It's been a pleasure.
Speaker B:Thanks for taking time out of your Sunday night to spend it with us here in New York.
Speaker B:And we'll talk to you soon.
Speaker A:Yeah, I'll see you on Facebook here and there.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:That's the great Pete Falcone, ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker B:Up next on Sports Talk New York, we will welcome in co authors Leslie Cohen and Sean Avery to talk about their new book about Summer Skate is the name of it.
Speaker B:It takes place in a hockey setting.
Speaker A:So stick around, folks.
Speaker D:Foreign.
Speaker A:You are listening to Sports Talk New York.
Speaker A: FM and: Speaker A:You're listening to Sports Talk New York on Long Island's wgp.
Speaker A:And now back to.
Speaker B:All right, folks, we are back with Sports Talk New York on WGVB AM FM radio, live from beautiful downtown Merrick, Long Island, New York, usa.
Speaker B:Pennant races heating up in baseball.
Speaker B:The Yankees gaining ground on Toronto.
Speaker B:The Mets sweep the Phillies then struggle versus the Miami Marlins, the team behind them in the standings.
Speaker B:Not the actions of a playoff club there, folks.
Speaker B:I'm sorry.
Speaker B:Very frustrating watching this team.
Speaker B:Next, they're going to Detroit to play the team with the best record in the American League, the Tigers.
Speaker B:As I continue to lament, it's not easy rooting for the New York Mets, as any real fan can tell you.
Speaker B:Well, NFL and college football starting.
Speaker B:How about the Florida Gators welcoming Long Island University into the swamp on Saturday and sending them away with a 55.0whooping.
Speaker B:Not far down the road, the NHL is on the horizon, which is a nice segue to our next special guests.
Speaker B:They are co authors of a new novel.
Speaker B:It's a dual POV romance story titled Summer Skate.
Speaker B:A novelist who's married with children and a hockey player who's about to start his rookie season for the New York Rangers.
Speaker B:They meet in a heated exchange that sets the pace for a hot summer.
Speaker B:Let's get right to it.
Speaker B:Welcome to Sports Talk New York.
Speaker B:Tonight.
Speaker B:Leslie Cohen and Sean Avery, welcome, folks.
Speaker D:Hi.
Speaker D:Thank you.
Speaker B:Great to have you both with us.
Speaker B:How you doing, Sean?
Speaker B:Good.
Speaker C:Pretty good.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Good.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Here we go.
Speaker B:Well, we know of Sean's background in hockey.
Speaker B:What experience did you have in the past, Leslie, in sports, hockey, hockey in particular?
Speaker D:Well, I grew up on Long island and my dad had season tickets to the Islanders.
Speaker D:So I was going to Nassau Coliseum for my whole childhood, since I was 3 years old and I never played any hockey.
Speaker D:But I was a competitive tennis player.
Speaker D:I was the number one player on Long Island.
Speaker D:I was nationally ranked.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker D:So my dad would take me to tennis matches throughout Long island and I would, we would have some time to kill.
Speaker D:So he would take me to hockey games at night and there was no NHL team.
Speaker D:We would see some minor league team play.
Speaker D:So the hockey and tennis wires are very much crossed in my brain.
Speaker D:Before my tennis matches, my dad would tell me not to come home without two points, which in tennis means nothing, but in hockey means you better get the Win, right?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker D:So, yeah.
Speaker D:So I was watching hockey my whole life, and then my family moved into the city and we became Rangers fans, and I watched Sean play throughout my 20s, and hockey was just always a big part of my family and a big part of my life.
Speaker D:And, you know, along with tennis, just like a huge passion of mine.
Speaker B:Wonderful.
Speaker B:Well, Sean, when you were growing up, who were your teams and favorite players?
Speaker C:So I grew up in Toronto, which, you know, in most situations, it would make you a default Toronto Maple Leaf fan.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker C:But Brett hall was my favorite player, so I was a little bit torn.
Speaker C: an, But my first NHL game was: Speaker C:And I had a sign that said.
Speaker A:Hull of a shot.
Speaker C:So, you know, I think I've been kind of torn ever since.
Speaker C:And then years later, I ended up having the pleasure and luxury of playing with Brett Hall.
Speaker C:So it all kind of came around full circle.
Speaker B:Nice.
Speaker B:Not many people get to play hockey with their idols, Sean, that's for sure.
Speaker B:Now, I want to talk to you quick about your acting career.
Speaker B:How did you break into that and what did you start with when you started acting?
Speaker C:Yeah, so, I mean, it's been a.
Speaker C:It's been a journey now, probably seven or eight years.
Speaker C:A friend of mine, Peter Berg, great American director, he directed a movie called Patriots Day.
Speaker C:And I just finished my last season with the Rangers, and I didn't know if I was going to play again.
Speaker C:And I think.
Speaker C:I don't know.
Speaker C:You know, Pete's a wise man.
Speaker C:He said, why don't you come down to Boston?
Speaker C:I'm making this movie.
Speaker C:I got a small part for you.
Speaker A:Very small part.
Speaker C:I'm a cop.
Speaker C:I play a Watertown police officer.
Speaker C:It was the Boston bombing story.
Speaker C:You know, I'm on set, there's like 200 people.
Speaker C:Mark Wahlberg's in the scene, and they call action.
Speaker C:And that was really the closest thing that I had felt to maybe just pure fear since I had played.
Speaker C:And then I just kind of dug in, and I found a teacher in New York and chipped away at it.
Speaker C:And now, you know, today I'm a working actor, and I see.
Speaker C:I see that impenetrable mountain that nobody can either get inside and get through or get over.
Speaker C:I've kind of cleared it now, and I feel pretty good.
Speaker B:Yeah, you're doing very well.
Speaker B:For folks that may not know, Sean is in Oppenheimer which was an Academy Award movie, and now in Happy Gilmore 2, which is gaining popularity.
Speaker B:And check out those movies to see Sean.
Speaker B:And I want to ask you, Leslie, is this your first foray into writing a sports centered work?
Speaker D:Yeah, this is my third novel, but my first two were more just straight romantic comedies, and this is my first sports romance.
Speaker B:Okay, now, who spawned the idea for Summer Skate?
Speaker B:Who got the light bulb over their head for Summer Skateboard?
Speaker D:It was actually our agent.
Speaker D:I played competitive softball in Central park with my agent for, like, five, seven years, and we would always talk about the Rangers.
Speaker D:So he knew that I loved sports, and he knew that I loved hockey.
Speaker D:And one day his agency signed Sean for his acting.
Speaker D:And so he texted me out of the blue and said, I have a great idea for your next novel.
Speaker D:You should write one with Sean Avery.
Speaker D:And I was like, why would I do that?
Speaker D:Just, like, didn't make any sense.
Speaker D:I had no idea hockey romances were a trend.
Speaker D:So I started looking into it, and I saw that they were, and I started reading them, and I thought, well, I think I can do better than this.
Speaker D:And that's how it started.
Speaker B:You see a lot of hockey romances that are publicized.
Speaker B:I mean, you have Alexi Yashin and Carol Alt, things like that.
Speaker B:That's just one of them.
Speaker B:But there are a lot of stories out there featuring hockey players.
Speaker B:And you two, of course, you found each other for the collaboration through your agent, Leslie.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:But this one, I think, is just really different from all of the others that are out there, because there's never been a collaboration like this between a novelist and a former professional hockey player.
Speaker D:So.
Speaker B:No, you're right.
Speaker B:That's what makes it compelling and certainly unique.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's for sure.
Speaker B:The two main characters.
Speaker B:Let me fill the folks in on that.
Speaker B:Carter Hughes, a rising Ranger star, Dangerous edge, kind of edgy, everything to lose.
Speaker B:He's starting out as a rookie, and he meets Jessica Riley, which is the female character.
Speaker B:She's married, a sharp girl, and a successful novelist, but she's got writer's block.
Speaker B:And anything more you can tell us about the character, Sean?
Speaker C:Yeah, I mean, I think that certainly.
Speaker C:I think we're both pulling from real life experience at some point.
Speaker C:You know, the Rangers, the players.
Speaker C:Some guys go back to Sweden in the summers, and some guys go to the Hamptons.
Speaker C:So it's a very realistic setting.
Speaker C:Jessica, our female character, she's in the Hamptons trying to work through a writer's block.
Speaker C:Her.
Speaker C:Her agent has arranged a house for her to live in.
Speaker C:It just so happens it's in a house next.
Speaker C:It's the house next door to Carter Hughes and two of his former college teammates, who are also Ranger prospects.
Speaker C:And, you know, there's a lot of trouble to be had for the boys, for sure.
Speaker C:And I think that they pull Jessica into their web a little bit, but she also.
Speaker C:She also pulls Carter into her web.
Speaker C:And there's some decisions that are made that are the wrong decisions.
Speaker C:And, you know, I think at a certain point, even a place like the Hamptons is much smaller than people think.
Speaker C:And maybe you dance with the wrong guy's wife at some point in time, or it could lead back to the owner of the Rangers.
Speaker C:You never know.
Speaker C:You never know.
Speaker C:There's a lot of twists and turns in this mixed in with very realistic hockey training scenes.
Speaker C:This kid's getting ready.
Speaker C:All three of these guys are getting ready for training camp.
Speaker C:He's being pulled into the city as the summer goes on.
Speaker C:It's very realistic.
Speaker C:You know, right now, today, this weekend, there's NHL players across the country that are packing up their bags and leaving their summer skate to go to training camp.
Speaker C:And the summer skate, the title, it's really what hockey players call, you know, wherever you go in the summer, if you're on vacation, if you're going to visit a buddy, you always ask, do you have a summer skate?
Speaker C:Because guys got to stay sharp during the off season.
Speaker C:So, yeah, it's pretty exciting.
Speaker C:I think sports fans and romance fans are going to get both.
Speaker C:They're going to get a little bit of both from each character's perspective.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Because it's really written from two really wildly different perspectives, like you say, Sean.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:So I think that's what's unique as well, is that Leslie writes the female protagonist, which is Jessica, and I write the male protagonist, which is Carter Hughes.
Speaker C:So each chapter flips because between her and Carter, as the book goes on and we sort of weave it together into what I think is a real nice ending, a bit of a cliffhanger, because, you know, the romance genre readers get very vested in their characters.
Speaker C:So it's not like a one and done type of book.
Speaker C:These books generally go for 4, 5, 6 in a series until they wrap it up.
Speaker C:That's how you set it up.
Speaker C:So I think we've done a good job with that.
Speaker B:Nice.
Speaker B:Okay, so this could be the first in a series then, John.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker C:Well, it should be.
Speaker C:And, you know, I need to say this book elevates the romance genre because everything we do is just more modern and cooler and edgier.
Speaker C:You know, the references we use, the language that we use, the types of characters we've built.
Speaker C:The sports romance, specifically the hockey romance, has been very almost comic book esque.
Speaker C:It's like bubblegum.
Speaker C:It's.
Speaker C:You know, I think it's time that this whole entire space gets elevated.
Speaker C:But I also think that was probably somewhat difficult to do, which just makes me and Leslie a great team, is that most of these books are written by females.
Speaker C:And, you know, so to write a hockey romance novel as a female, it's just.
Speaker A:It's much different.
Speaker C:It's harder.
Speaker C:You know, Leslie has the ability to bounce things off of me, me to her.
Speaker C:It's a really nice combination.
Speaker C:And I think people are going to be surprised at how elevated and how.
Speaker A:Much fun and it's dangerous and it's.
Speaker C:Realistic, and it could happen to any of the readers on any given weekend in the Hamptons.
Speaker C:You know, you never know when you walk into Gurney's and you run into a future New York Ranger rookie or the captain of the team.
Speaker C:So I think it's very exciting.
Speaker B:Very, very possible, too.
Speaker B:As you say, Sean, a lot happening out there in the Hamptons, folks.
Speaker B:As we all know, on Long Island, I could see this being a Lifetime movie.
Speaker B:What do you guys think?
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker C:Yeah, no, I think, listen, Lifetime makes great American Family.
Speaker C:They all make great movies.
Speaker C:This is extremely elevated.
Speaker C:I think that this.
Speaker A:Is it a movie?
Speaker C:Is it a television show?
Speaker C:They're actually making a show right now based on the number one hockey romance novel called Off Campus.
Speaker C:It's an Amazon show.
Speaker A:So it could.
Speaker C:Go either way, but hopefully the phone's going to be ringing quite a bit.
Speaker C:I think once people get their hands on this.
Speaker C:The romance category is a word of mouth category.
Speaker C:Now, Book talk is extremely influential.
Speaker C:These books sell themselves to a certain extent because you read one and you want to tell somebody, you want to tell another mom at the school, or in this case, hopefully it's going to be, you know, another guy at work or on the hockey team, the beer league team.
Speaker C:Like, hey, I read this book my wife was reading.
Speaker C:You should get this for your wife and maybe read it yourself.
Speaker A:So that.
Speaker D:Yeah, it's crazy.
Speaker D:I have so many friends who their husbands, like, they can't remember the last time they and their husbands have read the same book, which is very unusual.
Speaker D:You know, it's really.
Speaker D:There's something for everybody, men and women, so, so interesting.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:We're speaking to Leslie Cohen and the great Sean Avery about their New book, Summer Skate Now, Leslie.
Speaker B:Messy, self destructive characters, which is what we have there.
Speaker B:Why are they so appealing?
Speaker D:Well, I think that that is what makes our book different from the others in the genre is that we really wanted to have people who felt real and authentic.
Speaker D:And a lot of the problem with the romance genre to me is like, it's just a fantasy that we wanted to keep the good parts of the fantasy without the annoying parts.
Speaker D:Like the part where you read and you're like, I don't know anybody who speaks that way.
Speaker D:Like, I don't.
Speaker D:I've never had a friend who this has happened to.
Speaker D:You know, we want it to be exciting and extraordinary, but we also want these characters to have real flaws and real problems.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker D:And just.
Speaker D:And you know, keep it very genuine and authentic to like how people really are.
Speaker D:And we don't need people who are perfect and nothing bad ever happens to them.
Speaker D:Like, that's so boring.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And there really is kind of a blurry line between love and obsession in these two worlds.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:I mean, I think, you know, love and obsession is like, it's interesting because how do you love something, certainly from a hockey player standpoint or an athlete's standpoint standpoint.
Speaker C:How do you love something and not be obsessive about it?
Speaker C:If you want to be a pro, it's kind of like the two ingredients that you have to have, but it's also very dangerous, certainly when you put it into, you know, a male and a female.
Speaker C:And what can happen when that.
Speaker C:When that sort of starts popping off.
Speaker B:Danger.
Speaker B:You're right, Sean.
Speaker B:Now, the book again, folks, called Summer Skate, it redefines romance and injects sports and darkness and kind of realism.
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah, I think.
Speaker C:Listen, I remember when the 50 Shades craze started and what you saw was the initial run was women were reading the book.
Speaker C:And then all of a sudden on the subway or I'd get on an airplane and you'd see a man reading the book, but he'd have the COVID folded over so that you couldn't tell he was reading it.
Speaker C:I think that, you know, that's the holy grail, but that's also how you should be writing because like Leslie said, you know, men and women, it's nice.
Speaker C:It's nice to think about reading the same book and like, but getting different things from it.
Speaker C:And I think as we evolve and as hopefully the series evolves.
Speaker A:We'Ll start.
Speaker C:To play into those things a little bit more, you know, because we're dealing with a young subject too.
Speaker C:Carter's a young kid.
Speaker C:He's a rookie.
Speaker C:He's got a lot to learn.
Speaker B:The target audience for the book, as I said, fascinating in that it's both men and women.
Speaker B:And like you say, a husband and wife could share this book, discuss it, and that's what makes it great.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker D:Characters have such different backgrounds, and I think Sean and I have such different backgrounds.
Speaker D:This doesn't always make for the most peaceful working situation, but I think the friction is what makes the book really great and what makes it, you know, like, we all can get so stuck in our rust and are stuck in our perspectives and ways of thinking about things.
Speaker D:And it's just.
Speaker D:It's so beneficial for a novel to have this cast of colorful characters where you have one chapter and it's a certain feel.
Speaker D:Has a certain feel to it, and another chapter has another feel to it.
Speaker D:Sort of reminds me of, like, a really great song that has different parts to it, like Bohemian Rhapsody or scenes from an Italian restaurant, where it's, like, really fast in one chapter and a little bit slower and more melodic in another, so you never get bored.
Speaker D:And it's just moving from one tempo to another with characters who are very different but come together on certain things and, you know, fall apart on others.
Speaker D:And so it's not just one note.
Speaker B:That's a great comparison, Leslie.
Speaker B:It really is.
Speaker B:Between the music and the book, and with you with the literary world and Sean with the NHL, you really get to see what it's like behind the scenes of these two worlds.
Speaker D:Yes.
Speaker D:And actually, Sean was really good at providing insider information to the point where there was one scene where we wanted to set this really sexy, romantic scene in the laundry room at Madison Square Garden.
Speaker B:Oh, wow.
Speaker D:And I was looking for footage online, and I said to Sean, you know, I can't find any footage of the laundry room at Madison Square Garden, because obviously, where would that exist?
Speaker D:Nobody wants to see that.
Speaker D:And so he actually texted the Rangers equipment manager, like, the current Rangers equipment manager, and was like, do you have any photos on your phone of the laundry room, Madison Square Garden?
Speaker D:And of course, he was like, no.
Speaker D:But, you know, he described it to us, and I was like, does it smell like sweat?
Speaker D:Does it smell like blood?
Speaker D:You know, and it was just really fun to be able to get somebody who's actually there, like, on the ground to tell us how many washers and.
Speaker A:Dryers are in this laundry room.
Speaker B:How often do you do the laundry?
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker D:Like that.
Speaker B:That we need to know.
Speaker B:We need to know what the laundry.
Speaker D:Room Madison Square Garden looks like.
Speaker B:Exactly, exactly.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker D:I bet you've never thought about it before, but we thought it would make for an awfully sexy time.
Speaker B:Yeah, no, that's a good idea.
Speaker B:Boy, oh boy, the feedback that you received thus far, guys, how's it been?
Speaker D:I mean, people are emailing and Texting me at 4 o' clock in the morning.
Speaker D:I read this in one sitting.
Speaker D:You know, everyone is just over the top, excited and hooked on this book.
Speaker B:Now, I saw a photo of you two guys that I used in my social media of you two guys that looked like a book fair.
Speaker B:Was that out in the Hamptons, Sean?
Speaker C:It was, yeah.
Speaker C:We went to the annual East Hampton Authors Night, which is through the East Hampton Public Library.
Speaker C:They do it every summer.
Speaker C:Local authors, they preview them on their upcoming books.
Speaker C:People come out, they get to buy books, support the.
Speaker C:Support the library.
Speaker C:So, yeah, we were out there and signed a book.
Speaker C:A lot of books.
Speaker C:Unfortunately, we didn't sign as many as Hilaria Baldwin.
Speaker C:She was a real hit that night.
Speaker C:Alec was with her, so I think that helped.
Speaker C:But it was a good showing.
Speaker B:Yeah, no, it sounds like it.
Speaker B:I wish I would have attended this year because I would have liked to meet you guys and get a copy of the book.
Speaker B:We're speaking to Leslie Cohen and Sean Avery about their great new book, Summer Skate.
Speaker B:Now, any upcoming projects for you, Leslie, or for you, Sean?
Speaker B:I know there's probably going to be a second in the series.
Speaker B:Anything else on the horizon for you two folks?
Speaker C:Well, now we get out and we do the PR dance and we try and get the book in front of as many people as we can.
Speaker C:As far as personally, I just finished filming a movie that took us all over the world and it was five or six months long.
Speaker C:It's coming out next summer.
Speaker C:So that was exciting.
Speaker C:Really incredible experience.
Speaker C:And then I just, you know, now I wake up tomorrow and try and get the next one.
Speaker C:It's much different than being an athlete where you.
Speaker C:You can have some stability.
Speaker C:The world of acting, you just wake up and every day you're trying to chase a job.
Speaker B:But that's exciting for you, Sean, isn't it?
Speaker C:Yeah, it keeps me on my toes, keeps me young.
Speaker C:I like it.
Speaker C:I like it.
Speaker B:How about you, Leslie?
Speaker B:What's coming up for you?
Speaker D:Writing the sequel and then maybe a tennis romance novel.
Speaker D:I don't know.
Speaker D:We'll see.
Speaker B:Ah, okay.
Speaker B:And we'd love to see who you work with on that.
Speaker B:That would be very interesting as well.
Speaker B:Yes, I know.
Speaker D:They have me, too.
Speaker D:Me Too.
Speaker D:There's some interesting prospects floating around.
Speaker B:They have a real nice laundry room out at the US Tennessee Center.
Speaker D:Well, I'm gonna find out about it, if it exists.
Speaker D:You know, this is.
Speaker D:This is my genre now.
Speaker B:We can try that now.
Speaker B:Any upcoming events to promote the book?
Speaker B:Any book signings that the folks would like to know about?
Speaker D:Yeah, so we're having our launch on September 9 on the upper east side.
Speaker D:Sean Avery hits Madison Avenue is what the informal name of book signing is.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker D:And it's at the corner bookstore, and it's at 3:30 and it's on 94th and Madison Avenue, I believe.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker D:Cute little bookstores where they filmed you've Got Mail, and we're going to be there signing books.
Speaker B:Nice.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Folks would be interested in that.
Speaker B:Now, as a hockey related question, Sean, I want to ask you, you played with a couple of NHL teams.
Speaker B:Where does your time with the Rangers stack up with your other stops in the NHL?
Speaker C:Yeah, I mean, I think.
Speaker C:I think I really.
Speaker C:When you think about it, I probably really only played for the Rangers.
Speaker C:That's sort of how it feels like for me.
Speaker C:You know, it's an incredible organization.
Speaker C:I think Jim Dolan's one of the best owners in sports.
Speaker C:I think the fans, although they've had a tough go the last, you know, four or five years, I think the fans are incredible.
Speaker C:Ranger fans are incredible.
Speaker A:From all over.
Speaker C:You know, the boroughs, Long island, upstate.
Speaker C:You know, it's a.
Speaker C:There's a lot of Ranger fans in the state of New York.
Speaker C:Not so many Islander fans.
Speaker C:You know, there's a few.
Speaker C:And then if God, God help you, if you ever have to go over to Newark, New Jersey, and see the New York or the New Jersey Devils.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:There's something special, Sean, about walking in that building, though.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:No, no.
Speaker C:And you know, the old Garden.
Speaker C:Funny, because if you talk to an old timer, the old Garden means something else.
Speaker C:But, you know, nowadays, the old Garden, which has become the new Garden, it's still the most famous arena in the world.
Speaker C:It's got incredible bones.
Speaker C:We talk about.
Speaker C:We have a very descriptive scene in the book.
Speaker A:Building.
Speaker C:It's its own organism.
Speaker C:It's alive.
Speaker D:It's so good.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:It's really a special place.
Speaker B:Well, Leslie Cohen, Sean Avery, it's been a real pleasure.
Speaker B:Thanks for taking time out of your Sunday night to spend it with us here at Sports Talk New York.
Speaker B:All the best with the book again, folks.
Speaker B:It's titled Summer Skate from Ben Bella Books.
Speaker B:It's available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble your local bookstore, and I wish you guys the best with it.
Speaker B:Thanks for stopping by.
Speaker D:Thank you so much for having us.
Speaker B:That's Leslie Cohen and Sean Avery, ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker B:That will do it for me tonight on special Sports Talk New York.
Speaker B:I'd like to thank my guests Pete Falcone and Leslie Cohen and Sean Avery, my engineer, Brian Graves, and, of course, you guys for joining us.
Speaker B:I'll see you Next on Sunday, September 14th.
Speaker B:More sports talk New York.
Speaker B:Till then, be safe, be well.
Speaker B:Bill Donahue, wishing you a good evening, folks.
Speaker A:The views expressed in the previous program did not necessarily represent those of the staff, management or owners of wgbb.
