WBZ Radio legend Jonny Miller held nothing back in 54 years of covering the Red Sox
One of the first lessons you learn in Journalism 101 is that your job is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. Champion the underdog and hold the powerful accountable.
Read more The Comeback Knicks do it again, as Jalen Brunson leads New York to its first NBA title since 1973
Few in our business afflicted the comfortable quite so persistently as Jonny Miller.
Miller was back at Fenway Park on Saturday, celebrating his 77th birthday in the press box and watching the Red Sox play the Rangers.
Fenway was his office for 54 years when Miller was a reporter for WBZ Radio. From Eddie Kasko to Alex Cora, he asked managers tough questions when that was required.
Miller also covered the Celtics for many years and tells stories about sitting in Red Auerbach’s office at the old Garden and asking him about roster moves before going to the locker room to see Dave Cowens and John Havlicek.
Miller covered a variety of events for WBZ over the years, but the Red Sox were a particular passion. The Newton native saw his first game at Fenway in 1958 with his father and was in the stands throughout his time as a student at Boston University.
From Carl Yastrzemski to David Ortiz and then Rafael Devers, Miller interviewed every notable Red Sox player before he stepped away during spring training in 2023 for health reasons.
For years, Miller would cover the Super Bowl, then drive directly to Florida for spring training to get started on the Sox. He was usually the first reporter to arrive.
For those of you who have followed the Sox for a while, Miller’s raspy voice was the one you heard on NESN asking the first question after a game.
Miller always got right to the point, asking a player why he had blown a save or struck out with the bases loaded. Managers got the same treatment.
He could be mischievous, too. A few years back, the Sox lost a game in the late innings against the Yankees when Aaron Judge hit a towering home run over everything in left field.
Miller was perched in the back of the interview room when Alex Cora arrived.
“Do you think that ball has landed yet?” Miller asked.
Cora wasn’t amused, but he laughed about it the next day.
It was like that with a lot of the Sox people. Miller tormented them with tough questions and occasional intemperate remarks. But they respected him for showing up every day and taking all the road trips for years despite having cerebral palsy and needing a cane to get around because of a back injury.
“When I first got called up, one of the older guys told me about Jonny. I think it was Matt Barnes,” Sox reliever Garrett Whitlock said. “He said, ‘Be prepared, his questions are not going to be sugar-coated. He’s not going to beat around the bush. If you sucked, he’s going to ask you about it.’”
My favorite Jonny story came from spring training a few years back. Larry Bird came to a game at JetBlue Park and was seated in a suite down the first base line with his wife, Dinah.
Reporters were told Larry just wanted to watch the game and be left alone.
Three innings later, I looked across the ballpark at the suite, and there was Jonny sitting next to Bird, laughing it up about something. When a security guard stepped into the room, Bird waved him off.
Miller arrived at Fenway about an hour before the game on Saturday, accompanied by his niece, Dana.
Lenny Dinardo and Lou Merloni quickly came over from the broadcast booths to say hello, as did Sox president Sam Kennedy.
The Sox media relations department graciously made sure to have a seat labeled “WBZ Radio” for him. Miller got a round of applause just after the first pitch from his fellow media types. Saluting Jonny was one thing we could all agree on.
The Sox beat the Rangers, 6-3. Interim manager Chad Tracy didn’t know it, but he caught a break. Miller would have had some questions.
Post Comment