View Full Version : Philly Park plays musical announcers
So, Keith Jones is out having neck surgery, and the Phabulous Pha can't find a reliable substitute. In the last two weeks, the bucolic Bensalem oval has turned the mike over to:
1. Ken Warkentin
2. Larry Lederman
3. Vince Reed
4. Pat Cummings
Lederman is the best of this lot, and Reed - a TV host and a high school football announcer, for gosh sakes - is stumbling through the assignment like a drunk trying to walk a straight line. Reed is calling the races today.
Get healthy quick, Keith!
Doc :bang:
46zilzal
09-19-2006, 12:55 PM
Keith Jones has the gift of an economy of effort. Please come back Keith...
Zman179
09-19-2006, 01:03 PM
and Reed - a TV host and a high school football announcer, for gosh sakes - is stumbling through the assignment like a drunk trying to walk a straight line. Reed is calling the races today.
Get healthy quick, Keith!
Your assumption of Reed is way too kind. A race call? This guy would have trouble making a phone call.
Please get better soon, Keith!!!
I met Pat Cummings on Haskell day, and he is a very nice guy. He called the last two races that day as Larry had to host the press conference and did a fine job.
He still has a regular job, so I imagine that is why he isn't doing it all the time. It doubt it is worth giving up to be a fill-in announcer.
jballscalls
09-19-2006, 02:28 PM
I met Pat Cummings on Haskell day, and he is a very nice guy. He called the last two races that day as Larry had to host the press conference and did a fine job.
He still has a regular job, so I imagine that is why he isn't doing it all the time. It doubt it is worth giving up to be a fill-in announcer.
This post is absolutely correct. Pat is a solid caller, and i think that if he wanted a full time job calling somewhere, he could get one. Its tough being the back up announcer, because people get used to the normal guy,whether he is good or bad. People hate change in this world.
But Pat is the best fill in on the list!!
Stevie Belmont
09-19-2006, 03:19 PM
I like Ken Warkentin, of course i'm familiar with him.
Kieth Jones is solid. He is also off his show "Lets Go Racing" on Comcast.
46zilzal
09-19-2006, 03:32 PM
today's calls are PAINFUL to listen to. Not denying calling a contest is difficult, but my goodness.
skate
09-19-2006, 03:44 PM
don't know why, Lerderman is not the call.
seems simple to me, he is the best i've ever listened to, race call or otherwise.
timtam
09-19-2006, 04:06 PM
wheres my old pal jack lemar with my favorite call , He bids the field adieu!
Keith Jones is great but whenever I walk into the PHA I fondly remember
Jack LeMar. :)
wheres my old pal jack lemar with my favorite call , He bids the field adieu!
Keith Jones is great but whenever I walk into the PHA I fondly remember
Jack LeMar. :)
Umm, that would be KEY, not PHA! :) Jack was awesome.
46zilzal
09-19-2006, 04:15 PM
Umm, that would be KEY, not PHA! :) Jack was awesome.
Keystone Liberty Bell...which was which in Bensalem?
Bensalem is the home of Philly Park, which was formerly called Keystone.
Liberty Bell was a nearby harness track. I did several double headers. I once made a special trip to Liberty Bell just to see the trotter Go Get Lost. Yes, I'm a degenerate. The really scary part is I did this stuff in my mid to late teens and early 20s!
CJ, my old road trip circuit was Keystone, Liberty Bell, Penn National, Pimlico, Pocono Downs. My buddy and I shred the driving while the other one.....drank! :eek:
I could make it from Key's last race to Penn's first with time for a round while we doped out the doubles.
Ah, to be young again! (and gas at about 40 cents a gallon!)
timtam
09-19-2006, 08:47 PM
I can remember going down to Keystone for the first few races then driving up to Allentown to work the 3-11 shift. wow how time does fly I would never do that again ( or would I?) ;)
Zman179
09-19-2006, 11:11 PM
Aaah, Jack Lamar. That was one heckuva race caller. I still remember his pre-start descriptions (all of you Lamar fans will know what I'm talking about):
"Horses moving into the gate for the third race here at Keystone Racetrack.....a beauuuutiful day here in Bensalem, Pennsylvania....just a small cloud in the sky over my right shoulder....last horse now moving in....goes in....they're all in line....looks pretty good from here....settle down....eeeeeasy (when fractious in the gate)....settle down....just about ready....starter Russell looking 'em straight in the eye, wants to be sure before he springs the latch and sends them on their way....looks good from here....THEREFF!!!"
Also, if your horse didn't get a call from Jack, that horse was SCRATCHED! Leading horses approaching the sixteenth pole and he's calling horses running 11th and 12th. Simple, but brilliant. :ThmbUp:
melman
09-19-2006, 11:30 PM
That could hardly be called a "special" trip cj since Liberty Bell and Keystone were about three miles apart. :jump: The original home of t-bred racing in the Philly area was Liberty Bell Park which did both t-bred's and s-breds. Then Keystone was built in Bensalem Township which took all of two or three minutes to get to from the Liberty Bell Track which was located in Northeast Philadelphia. That double-header was a piece of cake, the fun one was Keystone to Brandywine which was located in Wilmington, DE. Hi speed driving at it's best. :lol:
The special trip was when I lived in Baltimore. ;)
The double headers were when I was stationed at McGuire, near Trenton. I also did the PHA - Brandywine double header on several occasions.
I did not know that Liberty Bell ran t-breds at one time. Thanks for the info!
Concerning Jack LaMaar, after he got dismissed from Philly he opened a booth at the Columbus Farmer's Market in New Jersey off Rte. 206, he still might be there for all I know. He did get a raw deal, I think Brennan owned the track when he was let go.
My brother and I used to do a similar "double" but in Jersey - we'd spend the day at Monmouth Park, then drive like crazy down to Atlantic City for the nightcap. The racing at AyCee was cheap and the jocks crooked as they come but it was fun, and you didn't mind the crookedness, not after swilling a six-pack.
One time we made the drive to AyCee and discovered they were dark - no racing. This was before simulcasting. My brother was really pissed off and he said he'd never do it again. So I did it myself and had fun anyway.
Bob Weems used to call at Monmouth and then do AyCee, too.
Doc :)
saevena
09-21-2006, 01:43 PM
Morris Tobe was the track announcer at both the old Garden State Park and Atlantic City (his famous call at AC was when Eddie Arcaro once landed in the infield at AC in a helicopter. Tobe announced "it's a bird, it's a plane, no it's Eddie Arcaro") I first met him by accident after applying for a radio job at a station in Camden, NJ. He must have seen me from a studio because I met him in an elevator, he introduced himself and told me, "You don't want to work here." We then had lunch at a nearby cafeteria, during which he regaled me with story after racing story. A great guy. Some years later I saw him at a diner in New Jersey (someone drove him to the races in Maryland every day). I introduced myself and we talked quite a bit. He wanted to give all of his old American Racing Manuals. Incredible guy. One day while at the races in Maryland, the announcer got sick and they requested that Tobe go to the press box, where they asked him to announce the remainder of the card. Without any preparation, he did an errorless job in the next race and then the mike went dead. He had a heart attack and died at the mike. I'll always remember his enthusiasm for racing. R.I.P.
racingrev
09-24-2006, 08:59 AM
Morris Tobe was the track announcer at both the old Garden State Park and Atlantic City (his famous call at AC was when Eddie Arcaro once landed in the infield at AC in a helicopter. Tobe announced "it's a bird, it's a plane, no it's Eddie Arcaro") I first met him by accident after applying for a radio job at a station in Camden, NJ. He must have seen me from a studio because I met him in an elevator, he introduced himself and told me, "You don't want to work here." We then had lunch at a nearby cafeteria, during which he regaled me with story after racing story. A great guy. Some years later I saw him at a diner in New Jersey (someone drove him to the races in Maryland every day). I introduced myself and we talked quite a bit. He wanted to give all of his old American Racing Manuals. Incredible guy. One day while at the races in Maryland, the announcer got sick and they requested that Tobe go to the press box, where they asked him to announce the remainder of the card. Without any preparation, he did an errorless job in the next race and then the mike went dead. He had a heart attack and died at the mike. I'll always remember his enthusiasm for racing. R.I.P.
Outstanding story.. Thanks.. :ThmbUp:
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