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The following is an interview with Bob Sly. In 1986 he was the radio broadcaster for the Pittsfield Cubs, a Double-A minor league team in the Chicago Cubs organization, located in Pittsfield MA near the western border of Massachusetts.

Totally Baseball: How did you get the job?

Bob: A lot of things fell into place when I got that job. A friend of mine was a catcher for the 1985 Pittsfield Cubs, and when he came home during the off-season, he told me the team was looking for a play-by-play announcer. He put in a good word for me, and when the team's General Manager came out to San Diego for the Baseball Winter Meetings, I was the first person he interviewed. It was the second lucky break I got: the Winter Meetings happened to be held in my city that year. I took him and his wife to Mexico, and gave them a local's tour of Rosarito and Tijuana. He hired me the next day.

Totally Baseball: Were you a radio or TV broadcaster and what did you do as the broadcaster?

Bob: Radio only. 140 game schedule in 145 days. Once did three consecutivedouble headers. I would arrive at the ball park (Waconah Park in Pittsfield) a few hours before the game to setup my broadcasting equipment, and do research for the game. I recorded a pre-game interview with someone from our team when we were at home, and someone from the other team when we were on the road. Fifteen minutes before the start of the game, I would come on the air. First I would talk about that day's game, give scores from the previous day, talk about news from around the major leagues, and then roll the interview I had recorded from my portable tape recorder. After that, I would give the lineups and start announcing the game. Sometimes thinking of things to say between the action was hard, but I would try to capture the essence of the environment for the listeners: the weather, the crowd, the surroundings, the mood of the game. I always had my endless stream of statistics - sometimes I think I talked about the stats too much. At home games, I would try to get a live post-game interview in the broadcast booth, but on the road, the players wanted me to wrap it up in a hurry so we could all get back to the hotel.

Totally Baseball: Where did you live and with whom?

Bob: I rented an upstairs room in a house in Pittsfield. They rented one room to me and one room to an outfielder on the team, Rolando Roomes. I like to say that Roomes was my roomie. It was about five minutes from the ball park, so I spent very little money on gas that year, and even less money on rent. They only charged me $50 a month.

Totally Baseball: What motivated you to become a broadcaster?

Bob: During my childhood, my father brother and uncle would sit in our living room, listening to the baseball games on the radio. I heard some of the best announcers of all time: Dave Campbell, Don Drysdale, Dick Enberg, Ross Porter, and of course, the king of them all, Vin Scully. I loved listening to the descriptions of the action, and I really liked the way the drama would build as the game progressed (providing it was a close game). Whenever I played my baseball board games or dice games at home, I would do the play-by-play for everything that happened. I did the same thing when I played my baseball game in the back yard - throwing the ball against the steps. I made up all my own teams and players. I even called the play-by-play sometimes when I played little league. When I went to a Padre game, I would talk into my mitt, describing all the action. It probably drove my family crazy. It was always fun for me.

Totally Baseball: Who do you think is/was the best baseball broadcaster?

Bob: Vin Scully - by a mile.

Totally Baseball: What kind of education do you nee to do this job?

Bob: None. Most broadcasting jobs in the minor leagues also require some selling, which would mean the announcer would need some sales or marketing background. But there were no education requirements at all for this particular job.

Totally Baseball: Who do you think makes better broadcasters, trained people or ex-jocks?

Bob: Ex-jocks make better candidates for analysts, because they have experienced the game at the highest level - but that alone doesn't make them better announcers. There's a big difference between knowing a lot about something, and being able to intelligently talk about it. In general, I think trained people make better broadcasters, because their speaking skills are more polished.

Totally Baseball: How did you travel from city to city & what was it like to travel with the team?

Bob: By bus, but I also could have driven to the other cities myself, since I drove my truck across the country, but I never did that. I got to sleep, play cards and laugh a lot on the bus. If I were to write a book on my experiences that year, the bus rides would permeate the novel. It was the most interesting example of a hierarchy I've ever seen. Every player had his own spot on the bus, based on his status. Each row had four seats, two on one side of the aisle, and two on the other. The star players and veterans had their own seats, everyone else had to sit next to someone. I had to get there early, so I could even GET a seat. No one really wanted to sit with the announcer, if they didn't have to. One time I got there late, and no one would let me sit down next to them, but finally the "leader" of the team, Darrin Jackson - who stuck up for me on several occasions that year - told one of the players to let me sit down. And the bus rides were hilarious, everyone ragging each other, ragging the manager, and ragging the bus drivers especially. We had four different drivers during the year, but they kept quitting. Baseball players can be pretty cruel. On the longest trip of the year, we played Jeopardy with an Almanac that I had with me. One of the pitchers was the host, and about 15 guys crowded around his seat and "buzzed in" when they knew an answer. I slept that night in the luggage rack above the seats. We traveled on the Peter Pan Bus Lines, who had a trade-out arrangement with the team for advertising time on the radio. We nicknamed the bus "The Peter Pan Party Bus," until a driver that looked like Captain Stubing from the old television show "The Love Boat" showed up one day. We instantly switched the nickname to "The Love Bus." One time we got lost in a parking garage, another time we ran out of gas, and there were several times when the bus driver took a wrong turn, and then couldn't find the ball park.

Totally Baseball: Did you eat a lot of hot dogs?

Bob: The Pittsfield Cubs had the best hot dogs I have ever eaten. If the team didn't sell all of them at the concession stand, they would leave them in the clubhouse for the team as a cheap post-game meal. VERY good dogs. all beef, oversized. I want one right now. I would eat two or three after every home game, and I think my record was six. Let's see, 140-game schedule, so 70 home games, that means I ate over 200 hot dogs that year.

Totally Baseball: What was your home run call?

Bob: "This ball is outta here!!!"

Totally Baseball: Who were the players on the team that made it to the majors?

Bob: The most famous one is a guy that many feel is the greatest pitcher of all time, Greg Maddux. He almost threw a no-hitter against the Nashua Pirates that year. He lost it in the eighth inning with two outs. He was 19 years old, and very cocky, but I don't think anyone saw then that he would turn out as good as he has (four Cy Young awards). He was just starting to develop his circle change, which - because of his success - became the pitch of the 90's. He'll be in the Hall of Fame one day. Another pretty famous player from that team was a guy who I think will also end up in the Hall of Fame, Rafael Palmeiro. He was our left fielder, and he led the league in RBIs on the way to the Eastern League Most Valuable Player award. Some of the others: Jamie Moyer, who only spent a month with our team (4-0 with an ERA under 1.00) before being called up. Damon Berryhill, our catcher, who later played with the Braves in the World Series. Rich Amaral, who became a 30year-old rookie several years later with the Mariners, and is still in the big leagues. Our first baseman, Phil Stephenson, who was mostly a left-handed pinch hitter in the majors. My buddy Darrin Jackson, one of the best center fielders I've ever seen. Gary Varsho, a right fielder who led the Eastern League in stolen bases that year. Some others that had "a cup of coffee" in the big leagues (which means they were up there for a short time): Rolando Roomes, an outfielder who was my roommate. Drew Hall, our big left-handed pitcher. Mike Capel, another pitcher. Mike Martin, another one of our catchers. Our manager, Tom Spencer was a third base coach for a long time in the big leagues, and our pitching coach, Dick Pole has been in the majors since 1987 or '88.

Totally Baseball: Who was the best player you saw while you were a broadcaster?

Bob: I think it was a tie between Ellis Burks and John Marzano. They played for the New Britain Red Sox, and Burks is still in the big leagues with the Giants. Marzano never did much in the majors, but I can't understand why, because the big leagues always needs catchers, and Marzano was the best catcher in our league - and he could hit the cover off the ball.

Totally Baseball: Did you have a nickname?

Bob: My college buddies call me "Bigsly."

Totally Baseball: What was the best part of the job?

Bob: Watching the team take infield every day, and having my own room on the road trips.

Totally Baseball: What was the worst part of the job?

Bob: Being alone. I really missed my family and friends - and my hometown -a lot.

Totally Baseball: What is your current job and did the broadcast job help you get your job and does it help you do your current job?

Bob: I am currently the Creative Producer on a show for DirecTV called "This Week ON SPORTS." It's on 24 hours a day on channel 212, but you need to have DIRECTV in order to see it. My broadcasting background didn't help me at all to land this job, since I worked my way up in the production world to get to where I am now. The knowledge I gained about the game of baseball during my one season as a minor league announcer helps me in my current job, because I can create story ideas based on that knowledge.

Totally Baseball: Do you have any advice for kids that might want to do this type or work?

Bob: Play the game. Listen to games on the radio. Learn as much about the intricacies of the game - especially pitching. And announce games any way you can: high school, little league, college, amateur. Use a tape recorder and listen back to yourself. It'll sound funny at first, but it will really help. Let someone else listen - someone you trust will give you and honest, constructive evaluation. If you don't know who the players are, make up some names, stats and backgrounds, so you have something to say about them. But concentrate on the what is happening, the strategy, and what the players might be thinking about. After all, baseball is "The Thinking Man's Game."