Bird Tapes

[John Eisenberg]

Jumping on to make sure everyone here knows about the Orioles history project I've started this season. It's called the Bird Tapes . When I wrote my oral history book about the team a quarter-century ago, I interviewed all the major figures in franchise history and kept the microcassette tapes that I used while recording those interviews. They sat in a shoebox in my closet for years but now I've had them digitized and I'm going to be rolling them out in weekly posts along with some new writing that connects the Orioles' past to the present. The Bird Tapes is housed on the Substack media platform. The web address is birdtapes.substack.com. It's a subscription-based model and subscribers gain access to the vintage interviews for a small monthly fee.

So far I have posted my quarter-century-old interviews with Brooks Robinson, Earl Weaver and Ernie Harwell, the legendary broadcaster who was the Orioles' first play-by-play man. Next up: Paul Blair. I've written articles about Mark Belanger and Brooks, and much, much more is coming.

The response to the rollout of the Bird Tapes has been great so far. Please subscribe if interested at birdtapes.substack.com.

 

[Orange]

Fact: John Eisenberg is one of the greatest sports writers in Baltimore history.

Opinion: Eisenberg was always my favorite.

Fact: He's working on a new project!

Opinion: It's gotta be amazing.

[SteveA]

My God, was your oral history book about the O's really 25 years ago?   That makes me feel really old.

It was a fantastic book, I treasure it and revisit it often.   You can just jump into the middle of any section of Orioles history and read a few pages and find something interesting.

It was one of my primary references when I did this little thread as a project to make the 2017-2018 offseason go by faster:

 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

8 minutes ago, Orange said:

Fact: John Eisenberg is one of the greatest sports writers in Baltimore history.

Opinion: Eisenberg was always my favorite.

Fact: He's working on a new project!

Opinion: It's gotta be amazing.

 

[clapdiddy]

Thanks for posting, John!   I have your book and have read it a couple of times AND still read bits and pieces of it from time to time.  Excellent book!

[justD]

51 minutes ago, John Eisenberg said:

Jumping on to make sure everyone here knows about the Orioles history project I've started this season. It's called the Bird Tapes . 

 

Confess to letting out a small gasp when I saw the name as your handle, then thought nah, some new poster giving you tribute by taking the name

I do keep this book handy for reference, in the scaled-down “shrine” room.

The project sounds awesome!

[TheWall]

Awesome stuff! Can't wait to listen. Thanks for sharing!

[John Eisenberg]

Updating what's happening at the Bird Tapes -- I just posted a column that I wrote about Earl Weaver and the start of baseball's data revolution. And a heads-up, the next interview going up (next Monday) will be with Paul Blair, the legendary center fielder. I spoke to him for 90 minutes in 1999 and he talked frankly about everything that happened during his career. Honestly, an unforgettable interview. Also coming in the near future -- my interviews from 25 years ago with Frank Robinson, Cal Ripken Jr., Dennis Martinez and Boog Powell.

Please subscribe if you haven't already at birdtapes.substack.com.

Edited April 26 by John Eisenberg