Ben Cook (right) with Lindy’s staff members Matt Lowe (left) and Lyn Scarbrough (middle) at an LSU Alumni Kickoff event.
It was a glorious time, the summer of 1958.
Life was simpler then. There weren’t computer games, iPads or cell phones. All televisions were black and white, and they didn’t show multiple baseball games every night. We got one televised baseball game every week.
Dads took their children to the baseball park. They could afford to do that back then. And, nowhere was it better than Rickwood Field in west Birmingham that summer, 57 years ago.
The drinks were cold; the weather was hot; and freight trains lumbered along beyond the right field wall during the games.
Most importantly, the beloved Birmingham Barons were in first place, on the way to their first Southern Association title in years.
First baseman Lou Limmer pounded out 30 home runs and had 100 runs batted in. We had Steve Demeter, Gail Henley, Steve Boros and Inman “Coot” Veal. There weren’t four better pitchers on any minor league team than Bill Harrington, Joe Grzenda, Phil Regan and David Reed.
Ben Cook, who was an only child, and his father, Ben, Sr., were there together many times that summer. So were my dad and I. Ben and I didn’t know each other then, but we talked many times over the years about the likelihood that we all were there at the same games, cheering on the Barons.
He developed a deep passion in those years for the Birmingham Barons and for the sport of baseball. It was a passion that he kept until his death on July 10 at the age of 69.
Ben would’ve loved to have been a professional athlete, especially a Major Leaguer, but like so many in this profession, he didn’t have the speed or the size or the skill. So, he made a career of telling others about the athletes and the games … and few did it as well as Ben Cook.
His 50-plus year career covered a broad spectrum of sports. He worked with the Birmingham News and Birmingham Post-Herald in the late 1960s and early 1970s, later becoming a Post-Herald columnist. He co-hosted a 12-year long afternoon sports talk radio show on WJOX in Birmingham with co-host and friend, Herb Winches. Ben was lead host for the “Triple Play” show on that same station. After the Post-Herald folded, Ben joined the staff at Lindy’s, where he had worked as a freelance writer and editor. He was still a member of our staff at the time of his death.
He was on hand for some of the greatest sporting events of his era. He was in Legion Field when Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant won his 315th game, becoming college football’s winningest coach at the time. He was in Turner Field when Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run, making him the all-time career leader at that time. He covered Major League All-Star Games and World Series, NCAA Final Fours and many Sugar Bowls.
He wrote five books, including “Good Wood,” the history of Rickwood Field — and his memories of it.
In 2013, Ben was inducted into the Birmingham Barons Hall of Fame, enshrined in a four-man class which included baseball greats Roberto Campaneris and Jimmy Piersall, along with Ben’s friend Curt Bloom, the longtime Barons’ broadcaster. It was an honor he considered among the most significant in his life.
Ben cut his sports journalism teeth in Tuscaloosa when he was a student at the University of Alabama. He worked in the Sports Information Department with Charley Thornton during the time when Coach Bryant was re-establishing the Crimson Tide as a national football power. He never lost his loyalty and appreciation for those times with the legendary head coach and the friendships that he made there.
But, Ben was not just an Alabama homer. He recognized colleges for their cooperation with the media, for their accessibility and for the personal relationships that he developed at those places. Mississippi State and Georgia were among his favorites, and Kentucky … and, yes, even Auburn. He appreciated Auburn for its community and for its people, one of whom is his stepdaughter, Amber, who attended Auburn University.
Before I knew Ben Cook, I knew his parents, attending Green Acres Baptist Church in Midfield with them in the early 1970s. I remember his mother telling me that I needed to meet her son.
“He lives in Atlanta and covers the Braves,” she told me proudly.
I did meet her son in 1977 when he became editor of The Sportspage weekly newspaper, replacing longtime friend, Roy Riley, who had joined the Nashville Banner staff. That was 38 years ago and, since then, there has not been a time when we weren’t working together in some sports area or another – newspapers, magazines, radio.
Ben’s life was always busy. And the schedules and pressures of meeting deadlines can be stressful in the sports journalism industry.
There’s usually not much sleep; not a lot of free time. Then, for many years, Ben faced challenges – physically, financially and emotionally. But, Ben always met his deadlines. He served the Birmingham community, and he always found time to help people.
There were a lot of messages corresponded via email and social media as family, friends and colleagues found out how critical his condition had become during the past week.
“So many people in life we meet, yet so few we truly remember,” wrote Lindy’s staffer Matt Lowe. “He taught me a lot about sports writing/journalism. … It was an honor to work with you and get to know you Ben.”
“He helped me get my first interview in radio at Citadel Broadcasting,” wrote Cliff Chappell from Birmingham.
A lot of people working in sports journalism today, at media outlets and with colleges and teams, were mentored by Ben and were given opportunities by him early in their careers. He was “one of my writing mentors” and “he mentored so many starting in this business” was a common theme.
When the Birmingham Bowl started 10 years ago, known then as the PapaJohns.com Bowl, Ben became active with the event, serving as chairman of the Gameday Program committee. He was active with the Friends of Rickwood, the historic preservation group that has helped keep the 105-year-old park alive.
While Ben wrote about famous athletes and championship teams, he especially enjoyed writing about the “little” teams and the lesser known athletes … Birmingham-Southern, Samford, journeyman Double-A baseball players still hoping to live out their Major League dreams. The last feature that he wrote about the Barons for al.com on June 25, just one day before his first heart attack, was about Devon Davis, a left-handed pitcher, his college career at the University of Montevallo and his fiancé, Rachel.
He used his award-winning column, “Cook’s Corner,” that way. He wrote about back-up catcher Patrick Wootton, from Alabaster, when he played in his first game at Auburn. He wrote about “Benny the Janitor,” the black man who comically swept the floor of the old “Barn” in Auburn before every game. He looked for stories about real people and their achievements in life, and he put as much into those features as he did writing about world champions.
There are a couple of ironies in the timing of Ben’s death.
Legendary Alabama quarterback Kenny Stabler also died a few days ago. The announcement of Ben’s death and Stabler’s were made within 24 hours of each other.
Those two enrolled at Alabama during the same year. Ben worked with sports media then and they became lifelong friends. One of Ben’s favorite photos was Stabler in uniform, Ben standing to his side, probably shot sometime during the 1966-67 seasons.
“He (Ben) was one heck of a writer,” wrote author Roland Lazenby, who serves as editor of Lindy’s professional basketball publication and recently wrote a biography on legendary basketball star Michael Jordan. “I’m sure he’s interviewing Snake Stabler in St. Pete’s waiting room as I write this message.”
Ben’s funeral service is at Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church in Hueytown on Tuesday, July 14 … the second day of SEC Media Days in Birmingham.
Ben and I attended that gathering together for the first time 30 years ago, and he never missed one until his health started to decline a couple of years ago. A lot of people who would otherwise attend Ben’s service will likely miss it due to being on the air on radio row at SEC Media Days or working to meet a print/web deadline there. And Ben wouldn’t have it any other way.
I don’t know if God will have baseball in Heaven, but if He does, it will be played in the most magnificent stadium that any of us have ever seen. If that does happen, I’m confident that Ben will be in the stands with his dad before taking his place in the press box. That will be one of Ben’s finest columns. I’ll look forward to reading it one day.
I had the privilege to co-author one of Ben’s books, “The Big Bad Book of Sports,” in 2008. That book contains information about many sports, stories of important triumphs, and stories that were unique, tragic and obscure. It was Ben’s kind of book.
In the Foreward, Ben wrote these words to our fathers, who had passed away many years before.
“Special thanks to our fathers for those nights at Rickwood Field. For instilling the appreciation of sports and all that it means to people, individually and collectively. Thanks for the popcorn and thanks for the passion.”
Thanks to you, Ben Cook, for all of that and more.
