From Peanuts to the Pressbox by Eli Gold

“From Peanuts to the Pressbox” is a story about how a little boy from Brooklyn pursued his dream to be a broadcaster.  This book takes you through the life of Eli Gold from his first game at Yankee Stadium, to having non-paid jobs at radio stations to get in the door, to a peanut boy at Madison Square Garden, to, eventually, Eli Gold becoming the “voice of the Crimson Tide”.

The book “From Peanuts to the Pressbox” allows us, as readers, a fresh perspective on the “rags to riches” storyline.  In typical rags to riches storyline, there is more of a focus on events as opposed to thought process and relationships along the way.  This books highlights on the latter.  What went through Eli Gold’s mind as he pursued his dream of broadcasting? Who did he meet along the way? What relationships were formed?  These questions and more are answered in detail and they help add a depth to the story of Eli Gold.

What struck me was Eli Gold’s dad’s involvement in his life.  Read the following quote:

“I remember vividly my first trip to Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.  I was about for years old, and my dad took me to a game between the Yankees and the Cleveland Indians on a Wednesday afternoon.  The funny thing was, my dad wasn’t a big sports fan.  If it was up to him, he wouldn’t be at a Yankees game on a Wednesday afternoon or even on a Saturday, but he knew that I wanted to go.  So we went.”

Having strong involvement from both of his parents helped to provide Eli Gold with a strong foundation of which he could pull encouragement from.

Another aspect of this book that I found interesting was Eli Gold’s passion to be better at broadcasting.  Even as a small child, he would sit in his seat at various arenas and stadiums with a tape recorder and practice his play-by-play.  In addition, as he grew up, he gave his tapes of these play-by-plays to respected people in his field; Eli Gold then leveraged this feedback to help further perfect his timing, voice inflection, vocabulary, etc.

Having put this book down, I am encouraged and challenged by the life of Eli Gold.  As a father, I hope that I can help steer my children in the right direction as Eli’s parents did.  In addition, it gave me a renewed passion to work hard at being who I’m destined to be.

Matt Legere