MA: I should have brought more calzones! God, those were exciting times. You would go to work in the morning; you had no idea what the day would bring, but you knew you’d be on the back page of the News and Post the next morning. It was constant energy.
JF: Who made a better George Steinbrenner: Oliver Platt or Larry David?
MA: Larry David’s voice was pretty good, but Oliver Platt was the whole package. People thought he must surely be exaggerating, but he wasn’t. He was George. I was there when they filmed one scene where he walked into the clubhouse and yelled at Billy (John Turturro) Martin,“YOU!” And I had a nervous flashback and jumped.
JF: How much of a challenge from a PR standpoint was the Fritz Peterson/Mike Kekich situation [the two Yankee pitchers swapped wives and families in 1973]?
MA: I was 25 and in over my head on wife swapping from a PR standpoint. All I could do was tell callers that the Yankees did not condone wife swapping. Now there was a headline, right?
JF: Did working for the team affect your view of being a lifelong Yankee fan? Was there a player you had to deal with that was extremely difficult or that you even hated? Who was your favorite?
MA: Mickey Mantle was my favorite because he was a hero when I was a kid and now, hey, Mickey Mantle knew my name. How cool was that? I had no difficulties with any player—not a one—although Thurman could test your patience by saying, yes he would do something, and then not show up. But I never expected him to anyway, so it wasn’t an issue. I always had somebody else at the ready.
JF: You were in the eye of the storm during the Bronx Zoo era. How crazy was it from your point of view? Did any of the players confide in you?
MA: Players would confide how they wanted anything to get away from the daily controversy. It took a toll on guys who just wanted to play baseball and stay out of all that stuff. Those weren’t easy days, and it was emphasized by how pleasant the feel-good days of Joe Torre were in the ’90s.
JF: I attended the Ron Blomberg Baseball Camp for a couple of summers as a child. What was he like to deal with?
MA: I’m still in touch with him and did the foreward for his book last year. We’re buddies. And he’s still a kid. I hope he reads Munson, but I’m not sure there are enough photos in there to hold his interest.
JF: What was the most thrilling moment for you while working for the Yankees?
MA: The opening of the new Yankee Stadium in 1976 and the pennant clincher with Chris Chambliss’s big home run at the end of the ‘76 ALCS.
JF: When I was nine years old, I wrote a letter to the Yankees asking for free stuff and was sent a 1974 team picture (which I still have). Was that you who sent it to me?
MA: By 1974, I had people who would do that for me. If it was a 1968 or 1969 photo, it would have been me. And it would have been a nice letter you would have written because it cost extra postage to mail an 8x10 picture!
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