We Had 'Em All the Way: Bob Prince & His Pittsburgh Pirates

To veteran fans the title can suggest only one thing: Bob Prince, The Gunner, who did the broadcast of the Pittsburgh Pirates from the 1950's through 1975. You don't have to be a fan of the Buccos to enjoy this book, but it helps to be familiar with Prince as he rooted unashamedly for his beloved Bucs. Like other announcers, he had his pet phrases such as "We have a bug on the rug." "You can kiss it goodbye. Home run!" "Let's spread some chicken on the hill with Will." And, of course, at the end of a close game in which the Pirates were victorious, "We had 'em allll the way." Bob was Pittsburgh's answer to Harry Caray. He was colorful, controversial, and a people person. Most importantly, to me, Bob was a giver of himself to others, and I think it is exciting to know that we go through our life not knowing how we helped someone in some way. An incident that may be totally insignificant to us in behalf of someone else, may have a profound effect on the life of the other person. We live in the memories of our friends, and The Gunner touched the lives in a positive way of those he came in contact. To those of you not familiar with the Prince of Pittsburgh, you missed out. He will always be a treasure to the city of Pittsburgh, and to those who follow the game of baseball. The book is over 400 pages long and full of colorful anecdotes such as the following when he and his wife Betty were going to go out one evening. Bob said, "Betty, your stockings are all wrinkled." Betty replied, "Bob, I'm not wearing any stockings." Another from relief pitcher ElRoy Face" "I remember one game at St. Louis. I threw a forkball down and away and Musial hit it over the right field roof. And I think I'd been 21 innings without giving up a run and we lost the ballgame on that, a good pitch. After the game I'm sitting at my locker and Murtaugh, who had this dry sense of humor, comes in and slaps me on the back and says, 'Relief pitcher, my ass!'" Finally, here is a great quote I would like to share with you from the book. "When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a manner that when you die the world cries and you rejoice."--Old Indian Saying

OK, so this isn't a comprehensive, chronological life of one of the greatest baseball broadcasters of all time. SO WHAT! The fact is, anything on Bob Prince brings me back to my childhood, when i would listen to "The Gunner" root the Bucs on to another win. And this book does the job just fine. I stopped rooting for the Pirates, in fact, when they fired Prince (I'm an Orioles fan now, and they did the same stupid thing with another great, Jon Miller). Iron City Beer was the first beer I ever drank -- thanks to Bob Prince. This guy could call a game and make the experiemce a memorable one. I'm just grateful that his art has not gone unremembered; and this book brings back the memories.