Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Fawned star: The Old Man recalled as gruff but lovable
Ihave only one story to share about The Old Man. I’ve told it before, but in tribute to Richard Harrison, who was 77 when he died Monday, I’d like to tell it again.
It was a bunch of years ago when I met the TV reality star. He wasn’t yet a pawn star. He was still The Old Man. But it was his son, Rick, who mostly called him that then.
Rick Harrison had a Super Bowl ring that somebody once on the Dallas Cowboys apparently had pawned at the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop on Las Vegas Boulevard. This was when you could walk right in, before you had to wait in line in a misguided attempt to get a glimpse of Chumlee, As Seen on TV. Before the Gold & Silver shop sold souvenir T-shirts.
Richard Harrison was eavesdropping. He was dressed like Johnny Cash. He came over, introduced himself. He extended his hand.
“Come back when you can buy something,” The Old Man said in what would become his inimitable style — gruff but lovable.
It would have been nice to chat with him again, but the trappings of sudden fame combined with those long lines outside the pawn shop prevented it.
For starters, I would have asked if he enjoyed being The Old Man, all caps. About having his own bobblehead doll. Maybe I would have asked about the photo on the wall in the pawn shop office, taken when he was a young man in the U.S. Navy.
I would have reminded Richard Harrison that he told me to come back to the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop when I could buy something, and I would have told him to let me have one of those souvenir T-shirts in an XL.
Reuss rolls
On Wednesday, the 38th anniversary of the big lefthander having achieved baseball immortality, longtime Las Vegan Jerry Reuss posted a link on his Facebook page of Vin Scully describing the last three outs at Candlestick Park for the history books: Ground ball to Cey. Bouncer down to Russell. Little nubber back to the mound and … He’s got a no-hitter! Jerry Reuss at 31 years old has done it! A no-hitter! He missed a perfect game only by an error by Bill Russell in the first inning. What a magnificent moment for the big blond …”
It happened on June 27, 1980.
Thirty-eight years later, Cubs broadcasters Len Kasper and Jim Deshaies talked about it during the Cubs-Dodgers game at Dodger Stadium.
They said Jerry Reuss was broadcasting Triple-A ballgames in Las Vegas, where he lives, that the big blond who had the magnificent moment at Candlestick Park still was one of baseball’s nicest guys.
Chasen trivia
Post on the Twitter account of Paul Sewald (via ESPN baseball guru Tim Kurkjian), the relief pitcher from Bishop Gorman who was with the Mets but is back doing bullpen penance with his hometown 51s: On May 3, the only two
players in MLB history with the first name Chasen, Shreve of the @Yankees and Bradford of the @Mariners, each got a victory.
Chasen Shreve played high school baseball at Bonanza with Kris Bryant. Chasen Bradford played at Silverado with other guys from Silverado. Both pitched at the College of Southern Nevada.
Herculez flip-flops
After Mexico defeated defending champion Germany in the World Cup, former Las Vegas High standout and scorer of six career goals for the U.S. Men’s National Team Herculez Gomez told his ESPN FC audience that “El Tri” could be headed for
quinto partido — an elusive fifth game in the knockout stage.
Now he says the Mexicans have little chance of getting past cuatro partido versus mighty Brazil on Monday.
“What I’ve seen from the Mexican National Team and from Germany (since eliminated), that’s all erased,” Herculez said while rolling ‘R’s on TV.
Bubble boys
For the Las Vegas sports fan who has almost everything, the officially licensed Stanley Cup Final bubble hockey game featuring the Golden Knights and Washington Capitals is available from the SuperChexx Pro company.
The cost begins at $3,345, which is almost as much money as Knights’ fans who resold their Game 5 tickets to Capitals counterparts made on StubHub and the other aftermarket ticket agencies.