Since 2009, every player wears the number 42 on this date, evoking Robinson’s former Dodgers teammate Pee Wee Reese who told him, “Maybe one day we will all wear 42. That way they wonāt be able to tell us apart.ā
C.J. Nitkowski played his high school baseball in Bergen County at Don Bosco Prep, went to St. Johnās University in Queens, and then enjoyed a lengthy MLB career that included pitching for both the Mets and Yankees.
He played the role of Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Dutch Leonard in the 2013 movie 42 about Jackie Robinson.
Currently a broadcaster for the Atlanta Braves, C.J. spoke with Jim Monaghan back in 2013 when the movie came out.
They talk about the making of the movie, re-creating Ebbets Field, and yes, those old wool uniforms were VERY uncomfortable.
C.J. Nitkowski on WDHAĀ April 2013
INTERVIEW EXCERPTS
C.J. Nitkowski On the Filming of 42
JIM MONAGHAN – You figure very prominently in the movie 42, which my wife and son and I saw last night in a game between the Phillies and Dodgers that takes place in Ebbets Field in the spring of 1947.
You are the Phillies pitcher Dutch Leonard and not to give anything away for anyone who hasn’t seen the movie, but the Phillies manager at the time, Ben Chapman, is so over the top in his verbal assault on Jackie Robinson.
And as we’re sitting in the theater, you could hear a pin drop as this is all going on. I was wanted to ask you, what was it like to be filming that scene and to have a man screaming these racial comments towards Jackie Robinson or the character playing Jackie Robinson?
C.J. NITKOWSKI – Well, I tell you, you think about, like you said, for those who haven’t seen you don’t want to ruin it, but for those who have and you’ve seen the scene, it’s pretty jarring.
And so just think about that. So you only have to see it and hear it once. Basically, his rants, you go through it once.
Now, when you shoot a movie, which I’ve now learned, I’ve never been on the movie set before, but everything in its regards to how could you do it is going to be between four and six takes and they’re going to do it from a handful of different angles.
And so we shot that scene and I was standing on the mound like he was out in the dugout, probably for about six hours.
And so we heard that nonstop for that day. And it was for me out there for about 10 days shooting.
It was certainly the most awkward day to be there on set and to listen to that consistently, especially with the, you know, with the sincere hatred and anger behind it and to see an actor who knows what he’s doing to really be able to dig deep and bring that out.
And so to have to listen to that all day was extremely uncomfortable.
And at one point, one of the makeup ladies was standing next to me and she said, “I cannot wait for the day to be over.”
And it was just, it was just that bad. It was just a long, long day and really uncomfortable.
And I think the only benefit to it was that it, you know, for this generation and a couple of generations, I mean, we’re almost on the seventy year anniversary mark now is that you can get a little bit of taste of what it’s really like.
And you can read stuff all day long, but to actually see it and hear it, especially at that level was, I guess, interesting to say the least.
Chadwick Boseman Portraying Jackie Robinson
JM – You watch the young actor who plays Jackie Robinson, Chadwick Boseman. And as I’m looking at the expression on his face as the character playing the Phillies manager is just one racial remark after the other to him.
And I’m looking at this kid’s face and I’m thinking, what’s going on in your head right now as you’re playing Jackie Robinson?
CJ – He did a great job. And that a really good job was a huge break for him.
And I, you know, I’m thinking now that I tell you what, I was surprised with the mood was how much they brought Jackie’s personality out. I think Chad did a really good job with that.
It was, you know, I kind of expected it was going to be really serious, especially after shooting that scene, but there was more lighthearted moments with him.
And I think he did a really good job of capturing everything, not just the seriousness and dealing
with the heavy racial epitaph, but also, you know, the lighter side of Jackie too.
And I thought Chad would that really be, but did a really good job with us.
Major League Baseball As a Business
JM – Harrison Ford plays, Dodger President and General Manager Branch Rickey. He’s tremendous in it.
And you really get an understanding for what a shrewd businessman he was. This was a business decision that he made as much as it was a sense that he needed to get baseball integrated.
CJ – Yeah, absolutely. I think anybody who’s played or to put that matter in your hands, if you’ve ever been suspicious of your owner or you want to think he’s a good guy or doing the right thing, at the end of the day, it’s about making money for these guys.
They’re not in the baseball business to be a nice guy. And I think that’s continued from generation to generation. Not much has changed.
I think the bottom line for him, yes, I think there was some motivation to maybe, I don’t know if I want to say change the world, but kind of throw in baseball’s face a little bit.
But, you know, if Jackie Robinson wasn’t a good player, Branch Rickey wouldn’t have been interested.
There was some motivation there.
It wasn’t that people were just trying to do a nice thing and break the color barrier. He actually wanted to win baseball games and you win baseball games to make more money.
JM – There’s another very poignant moment in the movie. The scene with the father and the young boy, I guess he’s between the ages of 10 and 12. So he was about the age of my son and I guess your son’s what, 13 now your oldest?
The scene with the father and the son are talking about baseball and it’s this iconic classic American moment – dad, son, watching the game, reminiscing, and all of a sudden the dad starts yelling at Robinson and the kid looks over at him. And the kid repeats what he’s just heard.
I’m watching that little, that young boy’s face and that iconic moment all of a sudden becomes extremely ugly.
CJ – It sure does. And I think that, you know, you can take away from that scene as a dad that sometimes it’s easy to forget how much your sons look up to you, how much they are going to follow your ways and do things the way you do them, say things the way you do them.
You know, I was watching that moment. I wasn’t really sure how the kid was going to react. They did a really good job of kind of leading up to that. You know, what was this scene going to be about?
What this did was portray how, as a parent or anybody in a leadership position, if you’re not careful about how you handle your business, you’re going to be leading other people down the wrong path.
So I thought it was really a poignant moment made a lot of sense and made you think a little bit about reverse, how serious, how you talk in front of your kids and how much they actually listen and take it in and they’re willing to copy your behavior.
Recreating Ebbets Field
JM – The scenes at Ebbets Field where your character pitches, I can’t get over how well they recreated Ebbets Field. You’d swear it was still standing.
CJ – Yeah, it was great. I mean, you know, for me, we didn’t get to see it until the actual movie was out.
I got to see a screening two weeks ago with the Atlanta Braves. And that’s because we’re basically filming at an old Chattanooga field where I ran off as why I started my career, historic Engel Stadium down there in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which had been closed and run down.
The only thing that was real there was the scoreboard. They had actually replicated the scoreboard in right field, which was really cool, but the rest of it was just green screen.
So as much as it was fun to put on the old, old uniform and feel like an old time baseball player, you didn’t really feel like you were in Ebbets Field until you actually got to see it on the movie, which was for me really cool.
Those Old Wool Uniforms
JM – Did those old wool uniforms itch as much as players used to say they did?
CJ – Miserable. So we had to wear them longer than players did. We shot sometimes up to 14 hours a day.
And it was hot, you know, it’s June and Tennessee. By the third or fourth day, because what they were doing is they didn’t want to watch the uniforms because they don’t, you know, the following scene is all of a sudden you got a brand new clean uniform on, but really it’s later in the game.
So I just, I think that just made it worse by the third, fourth, fifth day. Oh my goodness.Ā But they were heavy. They were uncomfortable.
I mean, we were wearing everything period. The spikes, I mean, the spikes were, you know, built for guys. They were, you know, probably on average, five foot eight and weighed 160 pounds. You know, here I am at, you know, six foot three at about 215. And these shoes have just absolutely no support. So your feet are killing you using this old glove.
You know, not that I’m in any position to complain, because I would do it again in the heartbeat.Ā It was so much fun, but there were certainly some moments where it was very, very uncomfortable.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT – Jim Monaghan and Chris Swendeman discussed the alarming increase in baseball arm injuries last Friday on the Two-Minute Drill.
Madison, NJ's Danny Buckelew, Overcoming MS, Running In the 2024 Boston Marathon
When the 2024 Boston Marathon takes place on Monday, April 15, Madison NJ native Danny Buckelew will be among the runners.
One of the things that makes this noteworthy is that Danny was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis 14 years ago.
Given the “normal” progression of MS, Danny should be in a wheelchair right now. Instead, he is running in the Boston Marathon and has even bigger plans for later this year.
Danny has been a guest with us previously here on Jersey Magazine (most recently last April) and he joins us again this morning to talk about this Monday’s event, and something very special coming up later this year.
INTERVIEW EXCERPTS
JIM MONAGHAN – 14 years ago you received the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis and on Monday April 15th you’re going to be running in the Boston Marathon again. I am blown away by what you’ve accomplished so far. First of all, congratulations and second, how has your training been going?
DANNY BUCKELEW – Thank you. The training is awesome and so it’s kind of changed from the first two years that I ran Boston. I run for the MS Society because I just, maybe in an MS patient, that’s something that is near and dear to my heart is doing anything I can to help us find a cure for MS.
That’s why I’m running for the MS Society. I’m not going to be the one that’s coming up with the cure but me running is a way that I feel that I can help contribute towards us reaching that.
I definitely have a different approach on the training. This time, not only do I have my charity team running coach but I also now have a personal running coach that I’m working with. He’s the one who I’m really just more interacting with on a daily basis in terms of what my training is going to be.
Let me tell you, this has really been just extremely exciting throughout the journey over the past four months and going through and having his guidance and recommendations in terms of going about my training. The thing that’s really different too with this is this personalized approach is I’m getting a training plan for two weeks at max.
And then based off of how I’ve performed in the training over the two weeks, he will then adjust whatever needs to be changed on the training plan that he’s providing to me and then giving me the next two weeks. Whereas the original plan was more of a cookie cutter marathon plan for the training that basically was like, okay, each week this is what you’re doing and was a plan for over 20 weeks.
So now with this, I really have a personalized approach in terms of my support and guidance. And yeah, I’ve never run more in my entire life. At the same time, I’ve never felt stronger. I’ve never felt fitter. I’ve never felt faster.
And even the big thing that comes into play too is just the whole strategy on running long distance. When I was much younger and running, it’s like, yeah, as soon as the gun goes off and it’s time to start, I’m just going as I possibly can until there’s nothing left in the tank completely running out of gas.
Now, that’s not at all how I’ll be strategizing or pacing at all. It’s really looking at each mile or chunk of mile, so to say, and coming up with a slower pace, so then you’re actually faster at the end of whatever the distance is that you’re running. And that’s what I’ve been working towards.
Deciding to run the Boston Marathon
JM – What prompted you to decide, I’m going to run the Boston Marathon in the first place.
DB – In battling MS, I’ve been, you know, receiving a multitude of different treatments along the course. And it just so happened, this latest treatment that I had had taken, it was infusion.
And the way that it’s administered the first year, it’s five days of infusion. And then you’re done for the rest of the year. And then the following year, you go in for three days and then receive that infusion.
The infusions themselves, they take anywhere from eight to 10 hours. And so, it’s a big chunk of time that you’re putting towards it. The one thing though with this therapy that I’ve taken, we actually just had a paper get published, a medical paper get published where they had 13-year data for patients that had received this MS medication where about 60%, I want to say, did not need a third year of treatment or any additional treatment.
And that’s where I was like, that’s going to be me. I want to be that patient that, you know, it’s going to be two years of the infusions. And then after that, I’m done.
And so it just so happened when I was receiving my first infusion, it was on Patriots Day, which is a Massachusetts holiday, which is the day that the Boston Marathon is ran every year.
I was sitting, getting my infusion on that first day and watching the Boston Marathon and thinking to myself, you know what, I’m going to finish my infusion marathon by running the Boston Marathon.
And so that’s where I got the big idea. And I did not know really much about the Boston Marathon and how it’s the oldest and most prestigious prestigious marathon in the entire world. And how tough it to get into.
I thought I could just go sign it up for like any other race. And no, no, you either have to qualify to get into the Boston Marathon, or you have to go to the charity route and, agree to raising a significant, you know, amount of donations.
So for me, I had to raise over $10,000 to run as part of the charity team, which thankfully I’m there. And a huge thank you to everybody that has donated and supported me through, you know, all of this and helping me even get to the starting line at the Boston Marathon.
And yeah, it’s just been fantastic to have all of this support. And, you know, every dollar that gets sent my way is going to be MS Society or National MS Society.
And helping, you know, patients who are impacted by MS be able to live the best quality of life that they they possibly can. And it’s not even just patients.Ā That could be a caregiver as well.Ā So anyone relatively impacted by MS is benefiting from what the MS society does.
The importance of having a positive attitude with multiple sclerosis
JM – One of the things that I’ve noticed about you in our conversations over the past few years, Dan, is your positive attitude. How much of a factor is that? Because, you know, after 14 years, the majority of people who have been diagnosed with MS, as you know, are in a wheelchair, they’re not about to run the Boston Marathon. How much of a factor is having a positive attitude?
DB – It’s huge. I mean, there was a point through my MS journey where I didn’t really necessarily have a positive attitude.
It was it took a while for me to get to the mental state that I’m in today. And it was really just relying on others.
It was others that I was seeing, you know, there’s a specific individual that I, you know, had gotten in contact with who also the MS patient.
But when I when we were exchanging emails, I saw in his signature that he was a founder and CEO of a company. And I’m like, you know what?Ā You know, he’s hugely involved with the MS community. He’s a founder and CEO of a company.
That to me was like a light bulb went off. Aha. Like life’s not over after you have an MS diagnosis. And that’s kind of what really got me, you know, a change in my mindset in terms of, okay, yeah, this is awful right now. You know, I’m barely even, you know, able to walk. I’m barely able to even put a sentence together. I’m having issues with my vision.
But you know what? If there’s other patients that have MS that have gone on to really achieve great things, that’s that’s the path that I want to follow. Why can’t I do that?
And so that’s really what changed my overall mindset in terms of, you know, coming out of, you know, that kind of, you know, dark, dark phase of my life of not thinking that there was much ahead.
And now, you know, just completely changing that and trying to do everything that I possibly can and to just get better as much as I can at everything that I’m doing. Because now I have the opportunity.
I’ve been in the place where things that I had taken for granted had gotten taken away from me. And now, you know, almost having a second lease on life and being able to do those things again has really just been something that like I’m going to take full advantage of.
JM – And I understand there’s something really big coming up that you and I were kind of alluding to in our conversation before we came on the air. Tell us about that, Dan.
DB – So I’ll be running Boston Marathon. I got my big, my big goal in terms of the overall time. I want to break four hours this year.
So first time I ran Boston, I did it in about little under six hours. Last year when I ran, I did it in a little under five hours.
This year, I want to do it well under four hours. I feel like with my running coach and all the work that I’ve been putting in that that I’ll get there.
But then I just was fortunate to also have an opportunity through through my employer who’s a French company.
We have the Olympics coming up in the end of July, early August. And they’re one of the main sponsors.Ā And I have been blessed and fortunate enough to be able to have received a bid to go run the Olympic Marathon. Not as an Olympic marathoner. They will still have the, you know, the fast Olympians running their events.
But what they’re doing in this year’s games, the theme of the Games actually this year is Games Wide Open. And so what Paris and the Olympic Committee are looking to do is get as much community involvement in the games as possible.
There’s things going on with cycling. There’s things going on some of the other events where they’re going to have like community members partaking in some of the games or some of the events.
And so the thing that I’ll get to do is I’ll get to run Marathon Pour Tous Paris. So translate that to English is it’s Marathon For All Paris. And that’s going to be on August 10th where I’ll get to go run the same marathon course that the Olympians are going to be running.
So August 10th, the men are going to run their race for the Olympics that morning. Later that night, they’re going to open up the course to 20,024 community runners or civilian runners. It’s a play off of the year 2024.
And so we’re going to run that same exact course that the men had just run earlier in the day for their event. The other thing that’s really cool, which has never been done before in Olympic history, is they’re actually going to close the Games with the women running the Olympic Marathon.
Ever since the marathon started, it’s always been the men’s marathon that would be the final event to wrap up the summer games. Whereas now it’s going to be the women that’s going to be the closing event.
And that’s just really, really exciting to see that now it’s going to be the women’s closing event as a runner.
And so I’m going to be really excited to see that. And I think it’s perfect too. If I’m running the marathon on the 10th, not really be wanting to do too much running around Paris and stuff around them. So sitting back and just watching the marathon on the 11th and watching the women and see what they do, it’ll be a nice way to stay off the feet for a little bit. Then we’ll run around Paris and get to take in all the sights.
Contributing to Danny Buckelew’s Multiple Sclerosis Society team
JM – For a WDHA and WMTR listeners who want to learn more, maybe they want to join your team, help contribute to what you’re doing. How can they do that?
DB – If you go on to the MS Society website, they have links for all different types of events that they’re doing.
And it’s not always Boston. It’s nationwide where they have events because that’s one of the things too. So I’m going to be running Boston this year.
I don’t know if I’m going to run Boston again until I actually get my Boston qualifier. So that’s going to be another hour that I need to cut my time down by.
But yeah, I’m going to definitely be running obviously other marathons to be able to get my Boston qualifier. And so one of them might be New York or Chicago.
And so that’s the other thing too, is the MS Society has teams that are partaking in marathons all across the country.
You don’t need to be a marathoner to get involved with the MS Society. They have walks that are all over the country as well. They have other different events, whether it’s the climb to the top at a certain stadium and things like that they’ll do. There’s also flight events.
So there’s all types of different kind of challenging fun physical activities that you can do that get supported by the MS Society to help contribute.
Newark Fire Fighter Michael Petrone - NJ Fight For Air Climb April 14
Coming up Sunday April 14th it is the Fight For Air Climb at Red Bull Arena to support one million people living in New Jersey with lung disease.
My guest this morning is one of the participants, he’s been doing it for a number of years.
JIM MONAGHAN – Michael Petrone good morning and welcome to WDHA and WMTR. What kind of shape are your legs in right now?
MICHAEL PETRONE – They’re in pretty good shape. I know I look a little old but I’m pretty much in a gym every day so I feel pretty good.
JM – You should be you should be in shape you’re also a firefighter in the city of Newark. Let me ask you how did you get involved…this is not your first time you’re doing this run how did you get involved in this?
MP – Years ago Karen Isky was the coordinator for this for the Newark Fire Department she was the liaison between the American Lung Association.
She would come out to each firehouse and she would bring a fire representative would go around what her take her each firehouse and she would pitch the Fight For Air Climb and the benefits so I kind of just jumped on board with it.
JM – It’s 780 stairs we should point out, so it’s not like you just walking up a couple of flights of stairs. It’s a it’s a pretty good haul.
MP – It is a good haul. It’s designed to to kind of give you a perspective of how people with lung disease feel just walking down a street.
So if you’re climbing you get out of breath and this is what people go through every day just so just to walk from the bedroom to the bathroom.
JM – There are a number of different levels including a beginner’s level and then there’s a firefighters level and you are as we mentioned a firefighter city of Newark. How does your firefighter training help you with something like this?
MP – When we do the climb you you have the option to either wear full turnout gear.
At my age I prefer I wear my turnout gear but I don’t put on a mask, I don’t put on a tank, I don’t carry that stuff around.
Just the the years of carrying this stuff on your back and and performing your job with 30 plus extra pounds on your back it makes it a little bit more doable for us.
We’re kind of more used to you know working with extra weight.
JM – do you come from a family where a firefighting has been an occupation?
MP – I do.Ā My dad was a fireman in Newark for 27 years, retired in 1997.Ā My great grandfather was a fireman, two uncles and a number of cousins, all in Newark.
I always found it rewarding. I really love the job so that’s what I did I was around in my whole life watching my father do it and kind of just fell right in line.
JM – How many various fire departments participate in this climb every year Michael?
MP – We get some from Harrison, some from Kearny, I think Jersey City and then I know a lot of the volunteer companies from around the state participate.
JM – There is a fundraising goal this year of a hundred thousand dollars. For WDHA and WMTR listeners who want more information they can go to fightforairclimb.org/NewJersey.
Again the event is set for April 14th at Red Bull Arena in Harrison and is for the American Lung Association their signature event of the season. Michael, good luck this year and thank you so much for your time and joining us this morning.
MP – Thank you I just wanted to point out real quick that I have been the top fund raiser the last few years come and get the title!
Rock N Ruff
It’s your rock and roll dog lover- Terrie Carr, and I want to introduce this week’s Rock N’ Ruff segment with Fawna and Star From All Humane Animal Rescue in Wanaque! This is their first time on Rock N’ Ruff and the DHA Rock N’ Ruff Program always enjoys meeting new friends that help our furry friends find homes-
ABOUT ALL HUMANE ANIMAL RESCUE- (As Their Website states)Ā
“Our mission is to do our best to have all unclaimed, stray, surrendered, abandoned and neglected/abused animals in our custody adopted into new and loving āfurr-everā homes. These animals did not ask to be forgotten about, abandoned in the streets, or due to circumstances in a home to be given up. They deserve to live a full life with love and a caring family.We are here to make sure that happens!!!!”Ā
Sounds great to us!
All Humane is foster based which means the pups in their care are in caring foster homes until they find their forever homes.
So let’s talk about Fawna and her sister Star! Ā These sweet babies were found in a Rubbermaid container, outside a shelter in Texas and were lucky enough to get transported to New Jersey, with many other puppies and be taken in by All Humane. After being vetted, spayed and neutered, all of the puppies entered foster homes and are waiting to begin their forever lives. Fawna and Star are best buddies (Fawna a bit bossier!) and do not need to be adopted together.
Both puppies are super friendly, affectionate, smart, playful and love people. They are thought to be Dachshund, maybe Basset , hound mixes are are expected to be medium sized dogs (on the smaller size of a medium). They are lovely little pups!
You can reach out to our friends at “All Humane Animal Rescue” at the link below and read about the organization. As will many of our Rock N’ Ruff partners, they are always looking for volunteers.
Jeremy Sheetinger is the head baseball coach at Georgia Gwinnett College where he led the Grizz Gang to the 2021 NAIA National Championship.
These quick hits may, on the surface, be geared toward his fellow baseball coaches, but his motivational message can easily be applied to the classroom, workplace, and your personal relationships.
Today’s message from Coach Sheets – control what you can, and keep your eyes on your own dugout.
š HOW āBOUT THAT RIDE IN? š
Where are we sending on our focus? On our own team & what we can controlā¦ or somewhere else?
— Jeremy Sheetinger | Sheets (@CoachSheets3) April 11, 2024
Local Look
Looking for something fun to do in the area? Chris Swendeman has you covered with this week’s Local Look.
There are always so many fun events happening in our local communities.Ā Check out what’s in store for this week in New Jersey.
Celebrate spring at the Essex County Cherry Blossom Festival today at Branch Brook Park from 11 AM to 5 PM.Ā The park has the largest and most varied collection of Japanese flowering cherry blossom trees within a park in the U.S.Ā Learn more at branchbrookpark.org.
Stop by the 42nd annual Spring Englishtown swap meet at Raceway Park today for the final day of the legendary weekend event.Ā There will be hundreds of cars, vendors, thousands of parts, and so much more.Ā The swap meet runs from 7 AM to 4 PM.Ā Visit etownracewaypark.com for further details.
And you can drop by Red Bank today for the Red Bank Street Fair and Craft Show from 11 AM to 5 PM on White Street.Ā There will be artists, crafters, live music, vendors, food, and more.
And that’s your Local Look for this week on The Jersey Magazine.Ā If you’d like your event to be featured on The Local Look, you can email us at JerseyMagazine@wdhafm.com.Ā See you next week on 105.5 WDHA.
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