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The best interview that wasn’t done

Just a recently, a local sports fan asked me who were the most interesting people I have ever interviewed.

Pondering for a few moments, I answered that interviewing Sparky Anderson, Warren Spahn and the duo of Herman Gundlach and Dominic Vairo all were in the tossup category for that distinction.

Anderson was in his first season with the Detroit Tigers when I caught up to him at Tigers Stadium in late September of 1979.

Easily one of the warmest and personable people you would want to meet, Sparky answered every question with humor and sincerity.

He had certainly answered these questions many times before. But he took the time to talk to a reporter from a small newspaper in the Upper Peninsula like he would have one from the New York Times.

During that interview, he said he planned to have the Tigers win a World Series within five years. Sure enough, they won a title in 1984.

I had the chance to talk to Spahn at a baseball show in Iron Mountain in 1987.

The Hall of Fame pitcher for the Milwaukee Braves was a warm and humble person. When I told him that I had been an avid Braves fans in the 1950s and once saw him pitch against the St. Louis Cardinals, he really opened up.

The promoter for the card show had to tell him that he had other people to sign cards for and talk to. But I had the chance to converse to him for 20 minutes and ask questions about Hank Aaron, Eddie Matthews, Del Crandall and other Milwaukee favorites of mine.

The interview with Gundlach and Vairo was done at the Miscowaubik Club in Calumet in 1998. It was like going back in time to a quieter and more innocent era.

The two had gained All-American football honors at Harvard and Notre Dame in the 1930s. Gundlach talked about the Notre Dame-Army game at Yankee Stadium – a game that saw Vairo catch a touchdown pass in a 14-7 Irish win.

The two sports legends, who actually saw the legendary George Gipp play, talked about their days of glory as though they had taken place 10 years ago.

But the one interview I regretted not doing was the day in 1977 when Fred “Cyclone” Taylor visited the Daily Mining Gazette offices.

Taylor was in town to see his grandson Mark play for the University of North Dakota hockey team against Michigan Tech.

A key member of the 1905 Portage Lake world champions, Taylor was in his early 90s. But he was still sharp mentally and could relate stories about those days when copper ruled.

I suppose I didn’t think to do the interview because I was working part-time news and part-time sports at the time.

But I still think about what a great interview Cyclone Taylor would have been.

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