It may never be my good luck to become rich, but I can honestly say I’ve done some interesting and varied things in my life of which I am quite proud. Saturday I added another accomplishment.
First the back story. As some of you know, at one point in my life I was a full-time starving actor and voiceover announcer. For about 11 years I derived almost my entire living from that, while living in upstate New York. I continue to act today, but on a part-time basis when the spirit hits me.
Ironically, my career upstate was far more successful than it has ever been here in NYC. There I was a big fish in a small pond, much sought after for voiceover work in commercials and industrials, in addition to doing theatre and on-camera commercial work. I got most of my work without auditioning. Here, I’m just one in about 15,000 out of work actors. Take a number and get in line. (Consequently, I hold a full-time non-show biz job, with salary and benefits.)
Back in 1997, it was my good fortune to get hired by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, NY to narrate several segments of a then new exhibit they were installing, Pride and Passion, about the Negro Leagues. They liked my work and since that year was also the 50th Anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s breaking Major League Baseball’s color barrier, they asked me to narrate the special commemorative exhibit on Robinson as well as the permanent installation on his life. They have told me his widow Rachel Robinson is quite pleased with it and has used it during Jackie Robinson Foundation events.
Around 2001, after I had moved to New York, they called me again. The Hall of Fame and museums in 10 major cities were combining their efforts on a touring exhibit on baseball’s impact on the nation, called Baseball As America. I narrated several segments of that show, which is now on its final stop, in Detroit.
So I was pleasantly surprised when I got an email a few weeks ago from my contact at the museum inquiring about my availability to do some more work. This year (this week in fact) new inductees will be announced for the Negro League section of the Hall, with additional players from that era as well as Black players who predate the formation of the league under consideration.
Last Saturday, I traveled back upstate and added my dulcet tones to revised pieces for Pride and Passion as well as new segments for all of the 39 possible inductees. While there, they also asked me to narrate the feature on Bruce Sutter, a more contemporary player who goes into the Hall this year as well.
It is quite a personal honor to be associated with this bit of history, albeit peripherally. Many of these players I heard about from my father growing up, or read about in books, or in many cases had never heard of before. Reading their bios helped to educate me and I in turn help to educate future museum visitors who will view these exhibits.
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is, in my opinion, one of America’s great museums. It is just a fun place to tour, even if you only know a little bit about the game itself. In April there will be a ceremony for the Negro League inductees and I may get back up there to see it first hand.
