An Interview with Roy Firestone | Bird Tapes Podcast

In a new interview, Emmy Award-winning broadcaster Roy Firestone explains how he became such a passionate fan of the Orioles even though he has never lived anywhere near Baltimore.

There are 58 interviews in the Bird Tapes archive, almost all with former Baltimore Orioles players, managers, front office executives, broadcasters and connected media. There’s even an interview with a scout in there.

The lone exception is a new interview with an Orioles fan, now available to all Bird Tapes subscribers with this post.

But he’s not just any fan.

For decades, Roy Firestone has been one of America’s most unique and famous sports broadcasters. A legendary interviewer with a wide array of talents, he’s also a journalist, commentator and entertainer — as comfortable performing celebrity imitations as he is weighing in on important topics.

He began his career in local television in Miami, his hometown, then moved to Los Angeles. Soon enough, he had a national audience as the host of Up Close, an interview show on ESPN. He is still in demand these days at age 72 as a corporate performer, keynote speaker and interviewer.

Firestone is also an Orioles fan. Make that a superfan. He lives and dies with every game, every pitch. And that has been the case for well over a half-century.

How did a longtime California resident become so passionate about Baltimore’s baseball team?

In the early ‘70s, when he was in high school in Miami, Firestone talked his way into a job as the Orioles’ spring training batboy. (They were in Miami every spring from the early ’60s until the late ’80s.) The job enabled him to get to know the players and manager Earl Weaver, and they grew fond of him when they discovered he was a glib and outgoing youngster who could perform imitations and stand-up comedy as well as pick up bats during games.

“I became a cute kid making them laugh,” Firestone told me.

The Orioles were, in effect, his first audience. And he loved having one.

“If it weren’t for the Orioles. I never would have become a broadcaster,” he said.

He has repaid the club with decades of intense and unconditional support.

Adding Firestone’s voice to my interview archive has been one of my goals since I started the Bird Tapes project in 2024. I was delighted when he agreed to let me turn the tables on him (he’s usually the one asking the questions) and tell the unique story of how he caught on with the Orioles, what he experienced and how Brooks Robinson, Jim Palmer and others became his lifelong friends.

His enduring passion for the Orioles is evident throughout the interview. Firestone is such a respected and prominent media figure that Robinson asked him to give the introductory speech in 2012 when Robinson’s statue at Camden Yards was unveiled. Firestone was so moved by the experience that he calls it the highlight of his career — quite a statement from someone who has interviewed hundreds of legendary figures in sports, entertainment and politics.

No surprise, Firestone was an effusive interview subject. He packed a lot into our conversation — celebrity imitations, nonstop stories, even some poetry. He views himself as a typical American youngster who got lucky, lived out a fantasy and became friendly with some of the most famous athletes on the planet — a one-of-a-kind tale that certainly belongs in the Bird Tapes archive as a snapshot of Oriole history.

SUBSCRIBE HERE

Subscribe to The Bird Tapes here: birdtapes.substack.com/subscribe

You’ll receive instant access to vintage audio interviews with Orioles legends, including:

Jon Miller
Davey Johnson
Earl Weaver
Fred Lynn
Al Bumbry
Peter Angelos
Rick Dempsey
Elrod Hendricks
Mike Flanagan
Eddie Murray
Ken Singleton
Brooks Robinson
Frank Robinson
Boog Powell
Cal Ripken, Jr.
Paul Blair
Dennis Martinez
Harry Dalton
Ernie Harwell

And many more to come, added weekly

SUBSCRIBE HERE