Autobiography not exactly kind to Dierker, Caray By BRIAN MCTAGGART Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle In his upcoming autobiography, Astros Hall of Fame broadcaster Milo Hamilton writes about his childhood in Iowa, recalls his battle with leukemia, and remembers highlights from his 60 years behind the microphone. Hamilton also doesn't mince words when discussing a pair of ex-colleagues: former Astros manager and current broadcaster Larry Dierker and former Chicago Cubs broadcaster Harry Caray. In Making Airwaves: 60 Years at Milo's Microphone, a 252-page book co-authored by Dan Schlossberg and Bob Ibach, Hamilton opens up about, among other things, Dierker's managing and a strained relationship with Caray. The book, published by Sports Publishing LLC, will hit Houston-area stores within the next 10 days. "I'm sure a lot of people will be surprised to know what was going on, and that's why I wrote about it," Hamilton said Wednesday. "It's my book and my story, and it was time for me to say some things about some people that have been a part of my life and that I've had some bumps and bruises." In the book, Hamilton, 79, takes a shot at Dierker, with whom he shared a booth for several years before Dierker led the Astros to four division titles in five years as manager. Dierker had criticized Hamilton in his 2003 autobiography This Ain't Brain Surgery. "I didn't think he would be a great manager," Hamilton writes. "His teams did well in spite of him. He did let the guys play, as they say, but ultimately a manager's got to make a difference in some games, and Dierker rarely did. He didn't possess the sort of savvy or strategy that led to winning, especially in the postseason. That's when a manager's moves become magnified. "His coaches openly questioned or raised eyebrows about some of the moves he made. He left his starting pitchers in longer than most managers because as a pitcher he was used to pitching deep into games. But the game has changed since he was a pitcher. With a bullpen of seventh-, eighth- and ninth-inning pitchers, why flirt with disaster? "This is not to say that Dierker wasn't a good manager — he simply wasn't a great one." Dierker, who got an e-mail from Hamilton letting him know he would be mentioned in the book, didn't take offense to what was written. "I don't think that's bad at all," said Dierker, who in his book made allusions to Hamilton's ego. "It's actually pretty truthful. Whether or not it's good or bad, most managers tend to overmanage, and he think it's better if you overmanage. "A lot of guys make every little move, whether bunting or stealing, to make something happen. Generally, I tried to save my bullets. That was my style, and I still believe it. "It's a matter of opinion. I had good players. I'm not going to say I'm the reason we won four of five years, but I really didn't think I messed anything up." Hamilton and Caray worked together in St. Louis in the 1950s and again years later with the Chicago Cubs before Hamilton left for Houston in 1985 because of what the Cubs called "personality differences." Caray died in 1998. "Being around Caray, day after day, was a real challenge," Hamilton writes. "Harry's handling of people was poor, to say the least. It didn't matter if he was dealing with the starting pitcher, traveling secretary, the public relations person or an usher. He treated everyone the same way. In short, he was a miserable human being." Ibach, a former Baltimore Sun sportswriter and Cubs public relations director, recalled Wednesday a handful of examples when Caray put Hamilton through what he calls "a living hell." "When I first came to the Cubs at the end of the '81 season, (former Cubs lead announcer) Jack Brickhouse handed the baton to Milo, and it was announced on air," Ibach said. "All of a sudden, Milo got an invitation to a press conference. He shows up, and Tribune's introducing Harry Caray as lead broadcaster. Milo was shocked. To his credit, he composed himself in the back of the room that day. "Harry said, 'What are you doing? I thought you'd leave town by now.' " Hamilton will be signing copies of his book from 4 to 5 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to noon Sunday at Astros FanFest at Minute Maid Park. The public is also invited to meet Hamilton at a luncheon at noon Monday at Truluck's on Westheimer. Tickets, which include lunch and a signed copy of the book, are $40 and can be had by calling 713-783-7270. Jeez....I never knew Carey was such a sour puss.
I was kind of happy to see it - I've heard stories of Caray being a real jerk for a long time despite his golden boy reputation. I was living in Chicago when he died and the hyper-provincial Chicago sports media made it out to be like a state funeral - the guy was the cubs broadcaster for like 20 years - a long time, but not that long in baseball terms. Hell Larry Dierker was the Astros color man for a comparable period.
I heard Milo throws seeds on Harry Caray's statue at Wrigley so the birds will congregate and **** all over it.
That was my favorite Will Ferrell skit. --- Caray: Hey Ronald! Ya' ever been sucked into a black hole? Ronald: No... Caray: I have. It's an area of infinite gravity and density from which not even light can escape. It's called,'A Weekend at My Mother-in-Law's.'
Milo needs to retire into obscurity. He really thinks that he's God's gift to baseball. He does not need to be badmouthing Dierker - he's just showing sour grapes since Dierker had negative things to say about Milo, which are completely TRUE. Milo is YEARS past his prime and is simply a bad baseball announcer.
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyyyaaaaaaaaaauuuuuuuuuuuuuhoooooooooly- tuuuuuuuuuleeeeeeeeeeeeeeedooooooooooooooooooooo!!!
This is true. The things he said about Dierker as a manager are also true. They do not like each other, going back for quite some time.
I disagree about Dierker being a bad coach. I realize he may have been very hands off, but he had veteran teams and one of the best clubhouses in the league. He didn't need to go out there everyday and get on his teams, partly due to the fact that they were winning. Not to mention he had a knack for starting or subbing in players you came up with clutch plays. Edit: Ok, went back and read the rest of the article. I agree he wasn't a great manager and that he did tax his staff pretty bad.
I don't live in Houston anymore and haven't heard Milo call games for some time. I got the espn gameday package to listen to first round games in the playoffs last year and found Milo to be impossible to listen to. I had no idea what was happening on the field. He couldn't describe the action in any comprehendable way. I had to switch to the other team's feed.
I absolutely cannot listen to Milo on the radio, its that awful. Every time something happens its sounds like he's having a heart attack and an orgasm at the same time. Then he'll finally get around to telling you about what happened... a routine double play. This is why I will miss Alan Ashby, I can't count how many times Milo would talk about calling a game back in the day and reminiscing and not even calling teh game right in front of him and Ash had to jump in many a time and let the listeners know what was happening and bring Milo back to the present.
Milo's too old and probably should be retiring. Even worse than not calling the game is the fact that sometimes he's flat out wrong when it comes to information he decides to enlighten us with. If you're actually trying to figure out what's going on, he's not the guy you're going to turn to. However, in terms of his book, he was dead on with Carey and with Dierker to some extent. Caray was an absolute jerk to him. On one occassion, when Milo was in the hospital getting treated for leukemia, Caray had the nerve to say something like "well at least some of us don't miss ballgames." Not to mention, that Caray was the one who drove Milo out of St. Louis and the Tribune Company changed its mind without telling Milo and gave the head job to Caray when it had already been promised to Milo. It was absolutely dreadful with Caray and I dont blame him when he tries to get birds to **** on Caray's statue. As for Dierker, some of that criticism is definitely valid and Dierker will be the first one to admit it.
