Farewell “Bat Man”… and thanks.
I felt a twinge of sadness when the Sabres news release hit my email box this afternoon.
After a 33 year stint with the Sabres - 7 as a player and 26 as a broadcaster, color commentator Jim Lorentz is retiring from the broadcast booth. He cited the long season and the grueling travel schedule as the main reasons for his decisions.
Jim Lorentz is one of the nicest and most down to earth persons you would ever want to meet… I have shared many an elevator ride at the arena with him and have seen him down around the locker room area, and he always says hello and offers a nice word or two. On a couple occasions he has given me his time for an interview or shared his wealth of knowledge with me as I was doing an article.
Of course, my signature “Jim Lorentz Moment” surely has to be Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals back in 1975. Yes I was fortunate enough to be in the building that night, and the picture of Lorentz waving his stick in the air above the face off cicle and knocking that bat down is still seared in my memory.
Another interesting tidbit in that release… doing the color for Wednesday’s radio broadcast will be none other than Matthew Barnaby.
Heh heh… “Bam Bam” the new color guy? If that’s what ends up happening that works for me!
