Friday, April 9, 2010

Interview with Rick Cerrone

No, not the ex-Yankee catcher, but the ex-Yankee Public Relations Director. Rick Cerrone was the PR director for the Bombers for 11 year, and also was the Vice President of PR with the Pirates when Barry Bonds played there. Here is one of the more interesting, and funny interviews I have had in a while.

BW: What was the hardest part of being the Director of PR?

RC: The hardest part of the job was probably the hours. Once spring training starts, there are very few days off during the season. You also have to be able to handle many, many things at once. You could be in the middle of doing something important and something else will come up. Sometimes maybe two, three or four things would happen at once.

BW: Who was nicest player you worked for? Why?

RC: Most players were very nice. Of the stars, I would say Bernie Williams, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte and Darryl Strawberry. Hideki Matsui was unbelievably nice and a pleasure to work with. Roger Clemens was also very nice and very professional.
But there were so many others like Tony Clark, Mike Myers, Ron Coomer, Nick Green, Homer Bush, Aaron Small. almost too many to name.

BW: Who was the toughest player you worked for? Why?

RC: Let's say the most challenging player was Hideki Irabu, a Japanese pitcher. Nothing I did or suggested to him worked. He seemed like a very unhappy person. David Wells was challenging because he would say and do controversial things. He even got fined for writing a book. But I liked him,

BW: How was Barry Bonds to work with?

RC: I liked Barry...still do. He was challenging as well.

BW: Funniest story of being with the Yankees?

RC: I'll have to think about the funniest story with the Yankees. That's a good question.

BW: What was your favorite press conference?

RC: There were a lot of great press conferences, Brad. The signing of Matsui was ther biggest...mayber the biggest ever held. I also enjoyed the big announcements we made at the Stadium--A-Rod, Mussina, Sheffield.

Upcoming probable interviews include Anna Kournikova, Vincent Jackson, and more.

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