Wes Singletary talks about growing up in Tampa, Al Lopez, neighborhood ballfields, American Legion Baseball, The Negro Leagues, Red Barber &
- Meeting Red Barber
- Wes shares a memorable story of meeting legendary broadcaster Red Barber while at Florida State
- Barber’s weekly Friday show with Bob Edwards on NPR Morning Edition
- Florida’s First Big League Baseball Players
- Al Lopez sparked Wes’ research into the earliest major leaguers born in Florida
- Tampa Baseball Museum & Wes’ Books
- Mark reflects on discovering Wes’ works at the museum, including:
- Al Lopez: The Life of Baseball's El Senor
- The Right Time: John Henry "Pop" Lloyd and Black Baseball
- Florida’s First Big League Baseball Players
- The Tampa Baseball Museum continues to carry Wes’ books year-round.
https://www.tampabaseballmuseum.org/ - Tampa’s Outsized Baseball Legacy
- West Tampa & Ybor has produced a wealth of legendary players and coaches—from Tony La Russa and Lou Piniella to Tino Martinez and Luis Gonzalez—and why many outsiders still underestimate the city’s baseball history.
- American Legion Baseball Turns 100
- Centennial of American Legion baseball,
- American Legion ball in small towns
- Legion baseball predates Little League by more than a decade.
- Rays, Yankees, and Local Loyalties
- Why Yankees spring training in Tampa complicates local loyalties
- How transplants shape Rays attendance
- What it might take to shift support toward Tampa’s home team
- Bitsy Mott, Colonel Parker and Elvis
- Al Lopez vs. Casey Stengel - great stories from the 1954 and 1959 pennant races—including Stengel’s legendary quips
- Show Stopper – Al Lopez was the only manager to interrupt the Yankees’ dominance.
- Hall of Fame a Swing & a Miss - Wes & Mark Question the Veterans/Eras Committee on omitting Lou Piniella by 1 vote from the Hall of Fame
- A visit to Lou Piniella’s house & a lifetime memory – Young Wes receives a baseball signed by Munson, Hunter, and more
Discover more about Wes and his books at : https://bit.ly/481acjG
Mark at baseballbizondeck@gmail.com, at iHeart Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, and at www.baseballbizOnDeck.com
Special Thanks to Williams Ross Chernoff's Nomads for the music Makie Elkino
