By Lloyd Carroll
On July 1, 1987 WFAN made its debut from the Kaufman Astoria Studios on the 1050 spot on the AM dial. Nowadays, nearly every burg has at least one all-sports radio station, but WFAN was the first 50,000-watt station in a major market to try this format. The ratings were so-so for the first year of its operation, and it wasn’t until Emmis Broadcasting, WFAN’s owner at the time, bought the rights to WNBC’s 660 slot on the AM dial in October 1988 that the station’s ratings began to improve.

WFAN tried to make a splash by signing such sports media personalities of the era as Jim Lampley, Lou Boda, and Pete Franklin, but the station really did not ratings pay dirt until the fall of 1989 when program director Mark Chernoff paired little-known radio hosts Mike Francesa, a St. John’s alum, with a former weekend talk show host on WMCA, Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo, in afternoon drive time. Their sometimes comedic, sometimes passionate disagreements have become the template for all sports radio talk tandems across the country.

WFAN will celebrate its 20th anniversary by inviting back many of the personalities who were with the station at one time or another, such as New York sports broadcasting icon Bill Mazer, Forest Hills native Ian Eagle, and the aforementioned Lampley to do an air shift during the first week of July. The FAN’s 20th anniversary is also a time to salute two of the personalities who have been there since the start – the vastly underrated Mets pre-game host and occasional announcer Ed Coleman, and the humorous Steve Somers, who smartly treats sports as lighthearted entertainment. A shout-out as well to WFAN producer, Elmhurst native and loyal Good Times reader John Schweibacher, who has been there almost since day one as well.

Many Mets fans bought tickets in advance for the recent series with the Oakland Athletics in the hopes of seeing Mike Piazza play one last time at Shea. Unfortunately, Piazza was still on the disabled list from an injured shoulder sustained in May at Fenway Park when he collided with Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell sliding into third base. In a classy move, Athletics manager Bob Geren followed the advice of a sportswriter who suggested that Piazza bring the lineup card to the home plate umpire during the traditional pre-game ceremony so that Mets fans could once again acknowledge him for his tremendous past contributions to their team. Mike tipped his cap three times and blew a kiss to the crowd Saturday night in response to their thunderous standing ovation.

Mets outfielder Shawn Green, who is the team’s first Jewish player in 35 years, announced last Thursday that he would donate $180 to the philanthropic agency the United Jewish Appeal for every RBI he collects. We wish him mazel tov.

While Green has always been proud of his heritage, the same cannot be said of his teammate, relief pitcher Scott Schoeneweis. In the July issue of Inside Pitch, Howard Megdal, a very thorough and reputable writer, quotes an interview Schoeneweis gave the Canadian Jewish News. “My mom’s Jewish. I’m not. My birth certificate says I’m Jewish, but I don’t practice and my kids won’t be raised that way.” Given the way Schoeneweis is pitching this year, I don’t think any religious or ethnic group will want to claim him as one of their own.
Rickey Henderson has been coaching Mets runners from time to time this season and was in town to watch the Mets sweep his old team, the A’s. Although he is 48 years old, he is still in great shape and said that he would not have minded being a caretaker in the outfield with Moises Alou out indefinitely and Carlos Beltran’s knee acting up. “I was blessed in that I never had a nagging injury in my 24-year career. I can still play. Julio Franco is showing that age is no barrier,” Rickey said with his characteristic smile.

The Yankees have one month to prove that they are legitimate playoff contenders or else general manager Brian Cashman may try to auction off aging players as Mike Mussina and Jorge Posada to the highest bidder. While Cashman has taken a lot of hits this year, he is looking like a genius in his acquisition of Bobby Abreu, who has suddenly rediscovered his batting stroke. C.J. Henry, the prospect the Phillies most wanted in the Abreu deal, has been a total bust playing with the Lakewood Blue Claws of the South Atlantic League. At one point this season, Henry struck out a dozen consecutive times. Even Carlos Delgado has not done that.

While we're on the subject, going to a Lakewood Blue Claws game is an inexpensive way to spend an evening after a fun day at the Jersey Shore. Playing third base for the Blue Claws is Levittown resident and St. John’s alum Pasquale “P.J.” Antoniato.

If you are a Mets fan who wants to get the private thoughts of two beat writers who cover the team, make sure to read David Lennon’s thoughts at newsday.com, and John Delcos who does the same for the Gannett Westchester/Rockland Journal’s website, lohud.com.

Long Island has become a hotbed of some excellent glossy magazines. Gotham Baseball, published by Lynbrook’s Mark Healey, covers everything you ever wanted to know about baseball in our area from the Mets and Yankees to the Long Island Ducks to the Brooklyn Cyclones and Staten Island Yankees to college and high school teams. Joe Pietaro and Joe McDonald have done a nice job touching up New York Sportscene, published out of Ronkonkoma. Keep those photos of waitresses working LI happy hourspots in the back of the mag coming, guys! Clyde Davis, the former editor of Sportscene, is now at the helm of Holbrook’s Long Island’s Ultimate Athlete, which concentrates on Nassau and Suffolk high school sports.

If you are looking for some fun summer reading, there are a trio of books which nicely do the job. 1001 Stupid Sports Quotes (The Lyons Press), edited by Randy Howe, lives up to its title. Among the nuggets are Jason Kidd’s prediction about the Nets: “We’re gonna change the team 360 degrees,” and ESPN commentator Lee Corso’s take on the University of Hawaii’s football team: “They don’t win a lot of games in the United States.”

Dennis Purdy’s Baseball On the Brain (Workman Publishing) features terrific photos such as Yogi Berra and Warren Spahn getting ready to play for the atrocious 1965 Mets, signature calls from the game’s many announcers, and multiple-choice trivia questions on every Major League team.

Boston Red Sox pitcher Bill “Spaceman” Lee has written what he knows best with his debut book, Baseball Eccentrics (Triumph Books). Among the baseball luminaries Lee pays tribute to are Jim Bouton, Steve Hovley, former Mets outfielder George Theodore and reliever Turk Wendell, and ex-Yankees second baseman Chuck Knoblauch.

After a hot start, the New York Liberty has plummeted back to earth. They blew a 16-point lead two weeks ago as the team’s longtime poster girl, guard Becky Hammon, returned to the Garden to lead the San Antonio Silver Stars to victory over her old team.

Playboy pays tribute to two female athletes in its July issue. Olympic swimmer Amanda Beard is on the cover and is the subject of a nude pictorial. Now, I am getting psyched for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It’s no wonder that NBC is scheduling the swimming competitions for prime time. Indy Racing League star Danica Patrick is the subject of a “20 Question” interview in the issue as well.

International Fight League star Bas Rutten claims in the current issue of Penthouse that many future fighters in his sport will be Iraq War veterans because of their training and the fact that the IFL cage will look like Disneyland compared to what they have been through.
For some reasons the big four sports, Major League Baseball, the NFL, NBA, and NHL, continue to avoid the annual Licensing Show held each June at the Javits Center. This is where many lunch box and clothing deals get made. Taking part however, were World Wrestling Entertainment and NASCAR.

Winky Wright and ageless Bernard Hopkins go at it in a light heavyweight battle at Las Vegas’s Mandalay Bay Hotel in two weeks. Although it is not a championship bout, it should be a good one.

The Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Odditorium just opened in Times Square. Besides the usual display of shrunken heads and exhibits of animals with extra limbs is a collection of torches used to open the Olympics going back to the 1932 Los Angeles games.