All legendary sports broadcaster Dick Stockton wanted was to call one inning of a Boston Red Sox game. He asked Win Baker, his former boss, just “to do an inning — or two.”

“Dick, you don’t have the ability to do play-by-play,” Baker responded.

After his request to call an inning of a weekend Boston Red Sox game for WBZ-TV was denied, Stockton found himself with an offer to be the voice of the Boston Celtics, calling 20 games a year, he said.

At the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium Wednesday night, in front of a crowd of more than 100 people, Stockton, a renowned sportscaster, offered memories, insight and advice about his life and career in broadcasting. He participated in a question-and-answer session with John Nicholson, the director of the Newhouse Sports Media Center.

Stockton, a Class of 1964 Syracuse University alumnus, said to not make waves and don’t battle against authority when things aren’t going the way you want. He certainly didn’t — Stockton said his last name growing up was actually Stockviss, until Win Baker at WBZ-TV decided the sound of ‘Stockviss’ didn’t quite do the trick.

With a new last name, Stockton rose quickly, but “was lucky.” Stockton worked diligently and Gene Kirby, assistant general manager of the Red Sox, told him in order to tryout to be the voice of the Boston Red Sox, he was to go to Shea Stadium and do play-by-play into a tape recorder.

“I called him, and he says, ‘Dick, you got a legal pad handy?’” Stockton said. “He says, ‘You were horrendous.’ He went pitch by pitch for nine innings and I had seven pages of legal paper written out of things I did wrong.”

As fate would have it, Stockton said, one year later he broadcast the World Series and called one of the greatest plays ever. Known for his call of Carlton Fisk’s game-winning home run in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series, Stockton said it will forever be the “number one moment” of his career.

Stockton said it is difficult to tell when a big moment will be historic and subsequently, when a call will be remembered. In the aftermath of Fisk’s homerun, “all it was that night was a dramatic home run in the 12th inning and the Red Sox sent the series to a seventh game,” Stockton said.

When recalling the night of Fisk’s homerun, Stockton talked about his broadcasting technique and how to call a potential home run. He said he did not know if the ball would stay in fair territory, so he used the phrase, “If it stays fair …” and concluded the statement with “…  home run” after watching the ball hit the foul pole and hearing the stadium erupt.

“It’s instinct, you can’t plan it: if it stays fair … home run,” Stockton said. “Then the place went nuts, I shut up and for 36 seconds, I did not say a word; I said nothing because what’s better than pictures and sounds?”

After the question-and-answer session with Nicholson, Stockton began fielding questions from the audience. Several questions asked about how Stockton’s differentiates himself and is successful in such a competitive business.

“You don’t quit, you don’t let other people tell you can’t do it,” Stockton said.

He said it is not important to worry about how much money you’re is going to make; you should do it because you want to do it and love it. Being persistent, following orders and not fighting are also crucial to maintaining yourself in the industry, he added.

Stockton discussed what it took to be successful, noting times have changed in the broadcast business, especially. He said to succeed, one must bury the pride, bury the ego, do one’s job, know that it’s going to take some time and don’t worry about the money — that’s going to come with ultimate success.

“If you don’t do these things, you’re not going to make it,” Stockton added. “If your pride is so big, and you’re not humble enough, you’re not going to succeed.”

Published on October 28, 2015 at 11:42 pm

Contact Connor: cmlayden@syr.edu