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ESPN's Jeremy Schaap Interviews Dick Stockton on Podcast

In the latest installment of the Stockton! podcast, hosted by hall of fame sportscaster Dick Stockton: Tony La Russa, three-time World Series champion manager and current Chief Baseball Officer with the Arizona Diamondbacks, talks about his career in baseball and what makes a manager and player successful. Among the many interesting topics covered, La Russa discusses his time after leaving St. Louis, working for Major League Baseball, and how “when you watch the game as a neutral it just seemed unnatural.” As part of the Diamondbacks organization, La Russa says he is “doing what I like to do, which is care about the Diamondbacks winning and losing.” The complete interview can be heard at the Stockton! podcast website. The baseball hall of famer is the latest of a star studded list of guests that Stockton has had on his podcast, which include Alex Rodriguez, Joe Buck, Bill Walton and John Lynch.

Below are more quotes from La Russa is below:

“That’s a good way to start, that a good question because you go back to after I retired in 2011 I had this wonderful opportunity to stay close to baseball with MLB, I did some assignment work with the commissioner, got to meet the Commissioner Rob Manfred, and all the crew in New York and it was really a lucky way to stay close to the game when you weren’t going to be in uniform but what you realized after a couple of years, that when you watch the game as a neutral it just seemed unnatural.”

“The Diamondback opportunity came up about the middle of 2014. I have always loved responsibility, it was a big responsibility and I enjoyed it. It was, we always understood a qualifier to it, that is, they put me on top of the way we compete, but really, my expertise is looking at players and teams and evaluating whether they are good enough to play in October…”

“The most haunting thing about the 2016 season, Dick, was we went from making a lot of progress to really having a terrible year, going 20 something games under .500, and I thought man…if I leave, and that is the last time I ever compete, that I am part of a competition, I’d be haunted by that because you know, we just had a really tough year.”

“I said, I can’t leave unless they tell me they don’t want me, and when the new guys came on board, they felt like that one kind of consistent contribution which was to evaluate players and teams, was something they still warned me to do, and I just don’t have the authority to make final decisions, but, I’m doing what I like to do, which is care about the Diamondbacks winning and losing.”

“It’s the best of both worlds, I get a chance to watch the big leaguers, and get a chance to go to the back field during the season, go down to the minor league operations and see a young player or pitcher grow through the system.”

Hall of Fame sportscaster Dick Stockton will team with CRN International’s Collisions division to launch a sports podcast appropriately dubbed “Stockton!” The first episode featuring controversial baseball superstar Alex Rodriguez will debut on Tuesday, February 14.

In the preview episode of “Stockton,” ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap turns the tables on the Stockton, and interviews the sportscaster on his storied career, providing a unique and detailed look at one of the most distinctive voices in sports broadcasting. Visit www.stocktonpodcast.com.

A-Rod provides revealing insights into his life, legacy and lessons learned. “It took me four months to build up the courage to tell my daughters about my mistakes,” Rodriguez says in the podcast episode. “Looking back, the suspension [from baseball for the 2014 season] was a pivotal turning point in my life.” A-Rod has two young daughters, Natasha and Ella.

“You don’t need to be defined by your mistakes; it’s how you handle them,” added A-Rod. “I feel like I’m still rounding first base.”

Rodriguez also discusses his legacy in the game, his experience as a sports commentator on Fox, and who he admires today in Major League Baseball. Listen to the entire interview HERE.

The “Stockton!” podcast brings a thinking man’s depth to podcasting with humor and curiosity. Listeners will get a fresh perspective on core issues affecting sports, its fans, the teams, the athletes and even the weekend warriors. “Stockton!” also will offer listeners behind-the-scenes peeks of how broadcasts come together and share the microphone with some of today’s sports legends. The podcast will present stories and newsmakers from different angles never before probed in a public forum.

As one of the most distinctive voices on the airwaves, Dick Stockton has been named one of the 50 top sportscasters of all time and is a member of the Broadcasters Hall of Fame. He has had a unique front-row seat to the major sporting events and sports stories of our time. He has called the shots from the Olympics, World Series, NBA Finals and a wide range of historic sports moments for CBS, NBC, Fox and Turner.  He has interviewed and gotten to know the greats and other personalities in ways that transcend what the average fan sees and hears.

“Most of my career I've been behind the microphone doing play-by-play of so many events in so many sports,” says Stockton. “Now I have the opportunity to share my views on not only what's happening currently, along with the perspective of over four decades of experience in sports, but the ancillary aspects as well.”

The venture represents the latest addition to CRN International’s fast-growing portfolio of podcasts under the Collisions brand, whose shows have all appeared in iTunes’ New and Noteworthy section and whose audience sizes represent the upper echelon of some 300,000 podcasts. Other Collisions podcasts include: “Distraction,” hosted by New York Times best-selling author and leading psychiatrist Dr. Edward Hallowell; the “Car and Driver Podcast,” in partnership with the editors of Car and Driver magazine; “The Official Sasquatch! Festival Podcast,” a Live Nation music festival; and “Just the Right Book! Podcast,” hosted by Roxanne Coady from leading independent bookseller R.J. Julia.

CRN, which for decades has produced thousands of radio campaigns on radio stations throughout the country for hundreds of leading consumer brands, will work with Stockton to create, produce and distribute the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and many other podcast outlets.

About Dick Stockton: Considered one of the most versatile broadcasters with more than 35 years of experience, Stockton's vast resume includes 17 years at CBS Sports from 1978-1994. During that time, he worked NFL regular season and playoffs, NCAA regular season and tournament basketball, the World Swimming and Diving Championships, championship boxing, track and field as well as the Olympic Games. Stockton called the gold medal-winning performances by speed skaters Dan Jansen and Bonnie Blair, moments which he considers to be among the highlights of his career.

Stockton also has called regular season and NBA playoff games for Turner Sports. In 2001, he was honored with the Curt Gowdy Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.

Stockton arrived at CBS Sports full time in 1978 to work NFL games where his partners included Roger Staubach, Hank Stram, Dan Fouts, Merlin Olsen, Terry Bradshaw, Dan Dierdorf and Wayne Walker. In addition to his NFL work, he was the lead announcer for the NBA on CBS from 1982 to 1990, including the memorable Lakers-Celtics NBA Finals in that decade. Stockton also appeared weekly on CBS Sports coverage of Major League Baseball from 1990 to 1992, including three American League Championship Series.

Stockton was the voice of Red Sox baseball from 1975 through 1978 at WSBK-TV in Boston. In 1975 he called Carlton Fisk's legendary 12th-inning home run in the sixth game of the World Series for NBC Sports ("if it stays fair......home run!") NBC also employed him from 1976 and 1977 to cover NFL games and NCAA tournament basketball. He called play-by-play of Oakland A's games for KRON-TV in San Francisco for three years beginning in 1995.

From 2001 through 2008, Stockton called the Super Bowl for the NFL to an international audience of more than 230 countries.

About CRN International
CRN International is the leading radio marketing company, pioneering strategies and producing creative programming that gives major advertisers competitive advantages through radio and emerging audio media. The company recently launched Collisions, which produces “podcasts for curious people.” The company is headquartered in Hamden, CT, with offices in New York, Minneapolis and Detroit.

A-Rod: "I would be lying to you if I said that it didn't mean a lot" (to be in the Hall of Fame)
Hall of Fame Sportscaster Dick Stockton Launches New Podcast; Lands Alex Rodriguez As First Guest
***ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap Interviews Broadcast Legend in Preview***

In the next installment of the Stockton! podcast, which is hosted by Hall of Fame sportscaster Dick Stockton, another Hall of Famer, NBC NHL play-by-play man Doc Emrick, talks about the league, his career as a broadcaster and his time battling prostate cancer.

During their conversation, Doc expresses his sentiment when he was diagnosed, hoping to “get through this, [I] didn’t ask necessarily to be healed, but just to get me through this.” Emrick also shares how grateful you are for like soon after recovery, but after a while, you begin to forget. “Every once in awhile you have to kick yourself in the butt, saying ‘Hey! You’ve got a gift here.’”

The complete interview is available at the Stockton! podcast website. The U.S. Hockey Hall of Famer is the latest in a star-studded list of guests that Stockton has had on his podcast, which include Alex Rodriguez, Joe Buck, Bill Walton, Tony La Russa, Chris Webber and John Lynch.

Hall of Fame sportscaster Dick Stockton has launched a brand new sports podcast appropriately dubbed “Stockton!” The first episode features controversial baseball superstar Alex Rodriguez. Your readers and followers can listen to the podcast by visiting  www.stocktonpodcast.com.

In a preview episode of “Stockton! ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap turns the tables on the Stockton, and interviews the sportscaster on his storied career, providing a unique and detailed look at one of the most distinctive voices in sports broadcasting.

Here are a few excerpts of what A-Rod told Stockton in the debut episode:

Q: Were you able to love the game all the way through with the ups and downs:
A: “The answer is that I loved the game but I had some unbelievable highs and incredible lows.  And I think I’ve learned great lessons from both. Overall, after I served my suspension, I came back, and I wanted the end to be different. I wanted to focus on relationships with the Yankees, the Commissioner’s office and with the fans. I wanted to be an example for my daughters going forward and end on a good note.

“When Hal Steinbrenner gave me the opportunity to have night at Yankee stadium to do it in front of my mother, my daughters, my friends and family that flew in, the fans of New York at Yankee Stadium it was a night that I will never forget.”

Q: When you finished your career, did you feel fulfilled
A: “I do (feel fulfilled). For me, coming back from my suspension was incredibly important. When you think about the arch of my career, you can arguably say that my two best years were when I was 19, and when I was 40. And I thought that was very important for me. To go out and do what I did at 40, I was incredibly proud. Now, I have an opportunity (at FOX or other projects) to be a voice for the game.  As someone who loved the game for a long time but made major mistakes. It’s what I say to kids when I go around. We are all going to make mistakes. But you don’t have to be defined by your mistakes. It’s how you come back that matters too.

Q: After suspension...
A: “One of the things I felt that I had to do was to be extremely honest with those around me that I loved and my fans …it was the most difficult thing and a great lesson. My daughters both hugged me (when I told them), and said: ‘daddy we love you and support you.’ That was the boost I needed to move forward, and get back on the horse to try to do it again. When set up for camp no one knew if I would make the team, not even me.”

Q: Do you have regrets:
A: “Sure, you have regrets, I have plenty, but have to get off the mat, wipe yourself off, and learn from the mistakes, and be a different person.”

Inside The Mind of John Lynch: New “Stockton!” Podcast Probes Switch From FOX Broadcaster to GM Hot Seat
Hall of Fame Sportscaster Dick Stockton goes one-on-one with new 49ers GM: “The ‘But’ was the scoreboard: You miss the winning and losing”

New San Francisco 49ers General Manager John Lynch talks about his move from the broadcast booth to the executive offices with his former FOX Sports partner Dick Stockton in a freshly-minted edition of the Stockton! podcast. The Lynch episode will premiere on Tuesday, February 28th. Visit http://apple.co/2lwjg8F for the full interview.

Lynch told Stockton: “I loved what I was doing in the broadcast world. It wasn’t like I was miserable... I was consumed by being the best I could be…But there was always a ‘but’…and that ‘but’ is the scoreboard. Just as much as the wins, it’s the agony of the losses, and how hard you take those that is all consuming.”

The Lynch interview is the latest episode in the new “Stockton!” podcast, which officially launched earlier this month with Stockton’s highly acclaimed interview with Alex Rodriguez, discussing the missteps and lessons learned over his career. The interview is also available on iTunes. To learn more about the show, visit www.stocktonpodcast.com.

On the type of players he is looking for, the nine-time Pro Bowl selection and Super Bowl champ with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers added: “We want to create a fast team. We want guys that love football. When you talk about character, you can’t go get a bunch of choir boys. But there are a bunch of good people in this league. You want tough, you want resilient. You look at this last Super Bowl, the Patriots were down 25 points but never gave up. Those are the type of players with great grit, fortitude…that we’re looking for.”

On the 49ers organization, and observations during his Stamford career: “I think I helps me immensely that I played college football at Stanford. I got exposed to what the 49er way was all about… That’s when they were winning championships. It was a regular occurrence to see Ronnie Lott and Joe Montana at our practices…I have five Lombardi Trophies that I pass in the Lobby every day… It’s a big task, but we’re starting to create a culture that we know is needed to turn this place around to be back on top.”

Lynch is the second Stockton broadcast partner to become the GM of an NFL team, Matt Millen being the first.

“Stockton!” is produced by the Collisions Podcast Division of CRN International (www.crnradio.com), the leading radio marketing company pioneering strategies and producing creative programming that gives major advertisers competitive advantages through radio and emerging audio media. Collisions (www.CollisionsMedia.com) also produces podcasts in the categories of books, cars, music and self-help. The company is headquartered in Hamden, CT, with offices in New York, Minneapolis and Detroit.

Doc Emrick, NBC's Hall of Fame NHL Broadcaster, Joins the Stockton! Podcast to Talk About His Career, Battle with Cancer

"When you watched the game as a neutral it seemed unnatural..." - Tony La Russa
Hall of Fame Manager Tony La Russa Joins Dick Stockton to Talk Baseball, His Transition to the Front Office
Latest Installment of Stockton! Podcast Released