Jonathan Schwartz

My dad used to listen to a radio host, on WNEW in New York, named Jonathan Schwartz. My dad liked Frank Sinatra and so did Schwartz who played his music all the time.
What I remember about Schwartz, and it just came back to me on this Super Bowl Sunday, was that he would always have a show on this day titled, "A Salute to Baseball on Super Bowl Sunday." Or something like that.
He would play baseball songs, talk about baseball and it was on this program that I first heard the song that would turn out to be my favorite baseball song, "Van Lingle Mungo."
Even though Schwartz is a New Yorker, he is a Red Sox fan and would always interview former Red Sox players. Never could understand how someone could grow up in New York but love the Red Sox. My uncle Bobby was the same way. Born and bred in the Bronx yet loved the Bostons. Weird.
I remember listening to those shows Schwartz did and getting excited for the upcoming baseball season although, in the dead of winter, to a kid, it seemed like it was months and months away.
By the way, WNEW was, at the time, the radio home of the New York Football Giants. Too bad the G-Men aren't going to be heard on WNEW-AM today. The station no longer exists. But Schwartz is still alive and kicking and probably waiting for spring training. Like the rest of us.