The Sports Story

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“I trained 4 years to run 9 seconds and people give up when they don’t see results in 2 months.” – Usain Bolt

I was six years old and living in the Philippines when Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier came there to fight the Thrilla in Manila. There was so much excitement in the days leading up to the event that it felt like the city was crackling. It was such a big deal that they even let my first grade class watch it on tv at school.

Whether it’s because of the hoopla of that fight or because I just love a good story, I’m up for watching just about any sporting event when I know the players’ stories. Todd Fulginiti and Brian Hannon wrote some great stories about the Eagles which helped me be all in for the Birds in this last Super Bowl.

The fun continues in Episode 111 of the Sharing the Heart of the Matter podcast because Vicki Atkinson and I were lucky enough to talk about baseball player stories with author and publisher, Rick Kaempfer.

This is the second game in our baseball double-header as we talk with the hilarious and engaging Rick about his labor of love, EveryCubEver. He swears this seventh edition of the book is the last time he’s going to update it until the Chicago Cubs win the World Series.

There are 2600 Cubs in this book – 2296 players and the rest are managers and back office. Rick provides the storytelling in each entry so it’s a great read for history buffs as well as baseball fans. He tells who became a dentist and who ended up in jail, who was on the beaches of Normandy, and who went on to become a governor.  

As an example of the engaging storytelling, he tells us why manager Frank Chance traded for pitcher Jack Harper just to ruin his career.

He gives us the background on the 200 photographs that are included in this edition of the book and where he found them.

Rick tells us the touching story of how he got invited to go to the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony this year. Such a fantastic way to round out a year that includes publishing this seventh edition of EveryCubEver.

Join us as we explore the scenic and beautiful places we go when we tell baseball stories. You won’t want to miss this great conversation with the amazing and entertaining, Rick Kaempfer!

We know you’ll love it!

Please subscribe to our author, creator, and storytelling podcast! Search for Sharing the Heart of the Matter on Apple, Amazon, Spotify or Pocket Casts OR Listen to it from your computer on Anchor: Episode 111: EveryCubEver with Rick Kaempfer

Episode 111 transcript

And please subscribe to our YouTube channel to see great author and storyteller videos from our podcast: @SharingtheHeartoftheMatter. We have so many great authors in the line-up!

Links for this episode:

EveryCubEver

Chili Dog MVP

Other episodes with Rick Kaempfer: The Loop Files

From the hosts:

Vicki’s book about resilience and love: Surviving Sue; Blog: https://victoriaponders.com/

My book about my beloved father: Finding My Father’s Faith

(featured photo from Pexels)

31 thoughts on “The Sports Story”

  3. So much history in your podcast. Love how you point out the story telling Wynne. I think that’s what I love the most about baseball. The game had gotten too long over the years and now some complain with the pitch clock it’s too short . . . but the stories remain. Love how Rick has so many at his fingertips. Cool podcast.

    Liked by 2 people

  6. (I hope Rick sees this comment.) I’m a sports junkie—not just baseball, so I enjoyed this podcast a lot. My parents grew up in the Chicago suburbs, (La Grange and Downers Grove) and the first professional game I attended was at Wrigley Field. It was Bat Day, and all kids accompanied by a parent got a bat. (I still have it today even though I’m 66.) Because my brother and I were attending the game with my dad, he had to find another adult to act as my parent. He asked a Cuban gentleman, and the language barrier prevented him from understanding why we needed to “rent” him. 🤣 Somehow it worked out. I go back to Ron Santo, Billy Williams, Jose Cardenal, Randy Hundley, and Glenn Beckert.

    I was watching the World Series the night Steve Bartman interfered with the fly ball to Moises Alou. I understood why Cub fans were frustrated, but I felt bad for what happened to him. I assume Rick has seen the 30/30 documentary on ESPN about him.

    Though we haven’t been around nearly as long as the Cubs, my team (Padres) have never won a championship. Still, I’m not writing a book about every Padre. 😊

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Oh, I love that story, Pete! We’ll make sure that Rick sees it. Aren’t these sports stories so amazing for all the life they encapsulate? Thank you so much for listening and for sharing!

      Liked by 2 people

    2. Thank you for all of this, Pete! I’m a ‘big red Machine’ girl…a forever fan of the Cincinnati Reds from the 70’s and I bet you have some fond memories of them, too! 🥰

      Liked by 1 person

      1. They were so good. Johnny Bench, Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Ken Griffey (coolest sports story ever when he played the outfield years later with his son), Dave Concepcion, and George Foster to name a few.

        Funny how I can remember all this, but don’t ask me where we went for dinner last week. 🤣

        Liked by 2 people

      2. HaHa….I’m with you! Those heyday memories are the best…and YES! The Ken Griffey story…dear Johnny Bench and even the beleaguered (literally!) Pete Rose. Thanks for these smiles and for tuning into Rick’s podcast. I hope you enjoy his book! You and Rick…two of my favorite storytellers! 🥰

        Liked by 2 people

  7. So many interesting things are packed into this post-the Bolt quote, you watched the Thrilla at school, the Cubs book sounds like a fun read (he did every Cub?!?🤯)… and thanks for the shoutout! Looking forward to listening 😎

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Every Cub Ever! Amazing, right?

      I had to look up the Thrilla in Manila to make sure that my memory was right. It was at 10am Manila time because of the round-the-world audience. Can you believe they let us watch that?

      Liked by 1 person

  8. It’s wild that they let you watch it at school! Maybe the teachers wanted to watch it so they made it a school policy so they could see it too 😂 I may have been part of a scam or two like that in my career😂.

    I’m still amazed about the every Cub aspect of that book …🙂

    Liked by 2 people

  9. I look forward to enjoying this episode later today, Wynne.

    It’s fun to hear you mention you experienced boxing in Philippines. As you know, it’s like a religion there.

    A good sports story and athlete is all about the story that lives outside of the game itself. And this sounds like a fascinating story!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Oh, that is an interesting note, Ab. I didn’t really realize that boxing was so big in the Philippines. I’m sure there are a lot of the wider perspective notes on this story that I didn’t grasp!

      Hope you enjoy the podcast, Ab! Have a great week!

      Liked by 1 person

  10. The interview was lots of fun, but leaves a major unanswered question: why didn’t Rick include the Hall of Fame career of “Rain or Shine” Milt Stein? See his “Heart of the Matter” podcast interview for the answer.

    Liked by 1 person

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