(Document ID: 356042502). Kubek’s distance from the sport makes it unlikely that he will discuss Steinbrenner or the current state of baseball during his speech Sunday afternoon. Why did Tony Romo retire and go into NFL broadcasting? Steinbrenner is 79 and ailing. The cause was the improper healing of a neck injury suffered at an undetermined time. Yankees Acquire Amaro as a Back-Up Shortstop for Medically Doubtful Kubek By JOSEPH DURSO. An injured nerve at the top of his spinal column was getting worse and it was affecting Tony's reflexes. Top Answer. “I don’t like to make speeches,” he said. COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — For a few days here, Tony Kubek will finally be back in baseball, celebrated by the Hall of Fame for a broadcasting career he left abruptly 15 years ago. We will never know if Bill Virdon's ground ball caused Tony Kubek's early retirement, but that single incident had a lifetime affect on him. He thought of himself as a baseball man with a microphone, and while he developed a certain amount of broadcasting craftsmanship, he was largely disdainful of showmanship.”.

The 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates were a better team than the New York Yankees, as they proved by becoming World Champions, but even I was upset when Bill Virdon's ground ball hit Kubek in throat. “They associate him with every World Series and All-Star Game for many years and think of him as a straightforward guy whose judgments could be trusted.

New York Times (1923-Current file),p. 52.

“I just got a different life. But life for Kubek is different, by his own design. An injured nerve at the top of his spinal column was getting worse and it was affecting Tony's reflexes. He missed a lot of playing time from 1963-65 with an assortment of injuries, primarily affecting his neck, shoulder, and arm. Kubek put his hand on Costas' thigh to stop him when he started talking about the bad hop. Take your favorite fandoms with you and never miss a beat. For a few days here, Tony Kubek will finally be back in baseball, celebrated by the Hall of Fame for a broadcasting career he left abruptly 15 years ago. Benedict XVI shocked the world in February when he became the first pope to resign in almost 600 years. It may have happened in a touch football game I played after the 1961 World Series, when I went into the army. There was day that Tony was broadcasting a game with Bob Costas. Kubek, the onetime Yankee shortstop, walked into the Otesaga Hotel on Friday, talking rapidly, greeting friends, acting as if he were preparing to call a game. Tony never was the same. It turned out that Kubek had previously broken his neck. But the series had shifted to his hometown of Milwaukee. His last assignment as the Yankees' analyst on the MSG Network was in 1994. (Document ID: 95005247). “This was after George was reinstated from his ban, and maybe an hour after it was announced, he called and said, ‘I’m coming to your office, I’ve got a problem with Kubek,’ ” Gutkowski said, recalling that having heard that Steinbrenner was building a video case against Kubek, he had countered with a pile of tapes showing positive comments. The cause was the improper healing of a neck injury suffered at an undetermined time. 7 8 9. In the old days, former general manager George Weiss would raid Kansas City or Baltimore. MSG lost the Yankee rights to the YES Network. (1965, November 30). But attention shifted quickly to the succession, and … (1966, January 26). When he went to the Mayo Clinic for a number of tests, Kubek was informed that a vertebrate at the base of his neck was the problem. In 1965, he batted .212. Asked by Wiki User. Major League Baseball has its own network. At the 1965 baseball winter meetings, general manager Ralph Houk, who, unlike me and most fans, refused to publicly acknowledge that the Yankees were no longer contenders, announced that Phil Linz of harmonica fame, had been sent to the Phillies for shortstop Ruben Amaro. Not just because he was the starting left fielder for the New York Yankees, or that he was a rookie who was participating in his first World Series. They also say it could have happened when I got hit in the throat by the bad bounce in the 1960 World Series, but I find it hard to believe because I don't remember having any pain in the back of the neck at that time.". Kubek of Yankees Is Forced to Retire at 29 by an Injury to Spinal Nerve :BROKEN NECK HELD CAUSE OF TROUBLE Reflexes Affected Mantle Is Operated On Pact Accepted by Richardson. Retrieved February 17, 2010, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2006). Wiki User Answered .

Kubek said he tried to follow the advice of Chet Simmons, the former NBC Sports president, who told him, “Every word that comes out of your mouth, you’re responsible for.”, It was advice from which he never wavered. A Broken Neck On Jan. 25, 1966, Tony Kubek announced his retirement at the age of 29. The Phillies intended to use him as a utility player. Silvers once quipped when a reporter asked him how to rattle Yankees' players, "Show him a pebble.". Margaret said, ‘No, just get off quickly.’ It’ll be emotional, which is good, but I don’t need messages. Ernie Bilko on television during the 1950s, was an avid Brooklyn fan, and naturally, a Yankees' hater. Bob Gutkowski, who hired Kubek at MSG, described the day Steinbrenner came to his office armed with 10 or 12 tapes that he felt proved that Kubek had a strong antipathy toward both him and the Yankees. “People finally realize it was a divorce,” he said the other day by telephone from his summer home on a lake in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. When I first heard I was getting the award, I told Margaret, ‘I can go to my thesaurus and write a very eloquent speech,’ and she said, ‘Ha!’ Or maybe I can pull out some old jokes from Garagiola or Uecker, or maybe a message speech. Then, as the players’ strike moved into its second month, he resigned, upset with the greed that he felt had taken hold of the sport. I’m not averse to either side making money, but money was becoming more important than the game itself.”, A conversation with Kubek is a reminder of what he brought to a broadcast — an acute intelligence, a contrarian’s view and a no-frills demeanor — and why he is receiving the Ford C. Frick Award from the Hall for nearly 30 years of broadcast service with NBC, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Yankees. Mary Lynne Munroe roots against the New York Yankees as much as the next woman, but even she felt sorry for Tony Kubek when he was hit in the throat by a ground ball that took a bad hop in the 1960 World Series.

yes he retired. On the lawn outside the hotel, Costas recalled a hot day in Boston in the 1980s when he and Kubek were at Fenway Park for NBC, Costas as the game announcer, Kubek as the analyst. Retrieved February 17, 2010, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2006).
More than once, people have said, ‘You must hate baseball,’ but I never said that because I don’t. The cause was the improper healing of a neck injury suffered at an undetermined time. Costas takes his old friend at his word yet marvels a bit that he doesn’t get involved in a game, if only while channel-surfing. Costas said on the air that the network’s cameras had to be wrapped in dry ice to keep them functioning. He was always engaged.”. “I had the easiest job in the world with Tony,” said Dewayne Staats, Kubek’s MSG partner. His last assignment as the Yankees’ analyst on the MSG Network was in 1994. It was time to move on. For him, Kubek’s legacy stands on its own, with the Yankees just being a part. Underlining Kubek’s individuality, they are staying in a house separate from the Hall of Famers’ headquarters at the Otesaga. As they finished taking pictures, Kubek merrily said of Costas, “Isn’t he a cute little fella?”. Tony Kubek, seen here at the 1973 All Star game, said he hasn’t watched any major league games since retiring in 1994. I considered the trade a desperate move made by a team that knew it was finished, but that would never admit it. Kubek’s television era is now a lifetime ago. After the 1965 season, Tony told the Yankees that he might retire.

Now don't get me wrong. "I really have no idea how it happened. 2008-12-24 02:38:34 ... Did tony hawk retire? He’s flipping in an anti-Tony tape and I’m flipping in a pro-Tony tape. To Costas, the Kubek-Steinbrenner conflict, while intriguing, resonates more in New York than it does nationally. Amaro was an excellent defensive shortstop who was offensively challenged.