A real treat for our tenth episode of the podcast as we’re joined by Rick Cerrone, who served as the Senior Director of Public Relations for the New York Yankees from 1996 to 2006. Saying a lot happened in that time would be a grave understatement: postseason baseball every year, six visits to the World Series and of course four championships – in addition to a couple of perfect games, a number of big free agent signings, the 9/11 attacks and much, much more. Cerrone, in what Sports Illustrated called “the hottest seat in sports,” had an all access pass to all of it.
We learned so much in our chat with Rick. For example, he attempted to give his resignation on three different occasions in 2003 (Mr. Steinbrenner never accepted it). Overall, he credits his great relationship with The Boss as the reason he stayed over a decade with the Yankees. Cerrone also holds the distinction of being a stand-in for the late Bob Sheppard; on a couple of occasions the legendary public address announcer was sidelined due to laryngitis and the PR Director stepped in.
We also talked about President George W. Bush’s first pitch in the 2001 World Series and heard a few stories surrounding David Cone’s perfect game, which will celebrate its 20th anniversary next year. Our conversation is a must-listen for any kind of Yankee or baseball fan.
By the way, Cerrone now serves as the Editor In Chief of Baseball Digest and the President of Rick Cerrone Communications.
As always, thanks for listening and be sure to rate/review/subscribe wherever you’re listening from!