But hey, one I can’t resist naming here is Paul Strelzin. I’m sure you remember his days as public address announcer at El Paso Diablos and UTEP games. He was loud, opinionated, controversial and yet oh, so loved by sports fans.
He cheered for the home team over the loud speaker during games with such gusto it drove visiting teams furious. They threw fits of anger and complained to team officials.
STRELZIN’S BOSSES tried to restrain him and he tried to cool things down but it just wasn’t in his nature. The Diablos fired him three times – and rehired him three times after fans complained.
His biggest confrontation was with Bill Cords, athletic director at UTEP in the early 1980s.
Cords, a large man with little sense of humor, tried repeatedly to tone Strelzin down during UTEP basketball games but to no avail. There’s no doubt Cords wanted to keep him but Cords finally fired him right in the middle of a game.
Strelzin is still missed and remembered for many of his calls. The most unforgettable was his shouts of “Mmmmminer ball!” which many announcers have tried to imitate since but have never quite sounded quite the same.
BUT WHY do I bring this up now? It’s because Strelzin has given up his radio talk show. He had surgery on one of his feet and he says he doesn’t plan to resume going back on the air.
But not to worry. I found Paul Strelzin on Facebook.
I quickly signed up as one of his many friends and found that yes, he’s just as loud, opinionated and controversial on Facebook as he has always been. But it’s with a different twist. He’s into politics.
He doesn’t mince words and no doubt he rubs some the wrong way, but his followers are legion. He gets more responses than any other friend I have on Facebook and they’re overwhelmingly favorable. In fact, when he hinted in one of his comments that he might run for a local political office, people by the dozens begged him to do it and indicated they would vote for him.
I don’t’ agree with everything he says, or does, but Paul Strelzin is just as mesmerizing as ever.
HOW CAN one so loud, opinionated and controversial be so lovable?
I don’t know. Maybe it’s because he’s a regular fellow, unaffected, down to earth and states his ideas loud and clear. In person, he greets everyone like a long, lost relative and makes everyone feel like he or she is something special whether you agree with him or not.
Local political office? Heck, some wish he’d run for president.
TRIVIA QUESTION: There was a player who got up to bat in the Major Leagues only once – and struck out. Yet he went on to become inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Who was it? Answer at end.
DIANE PROUD, a world class runner who competed in triathlons and other events around the world and was inducted into the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame this year, passed away Sept. 16 at her home in Dallas. She will always remain in the hearts of those of us who watched her accept her induction into the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame last spring with grace, dignity and humor despite no longer being able to speak. We mourn her passing.
ANSWER to trivia question: Walt Alston, who played for the St. Louis Cardinals and went on to become an outstanding manager.
Veteran sports journalist and author Ray Sanchez welcomes suggestions for his column.
Ray Sanchez