When Francis Xavier Healy was 14 years old, he had a spurt of growth that turned him into a 6-foot, 5-inch athlete of much promise.
Holyoke High School baseball coach Jinx O’Connor saw that promise and gave him a spot on his varsity team even though Healy was just a freshman.
That happened in 1961, and it proved to be the first big step for Healy into what would become a sometimes-dizzying life as a Major League Baseball player and, later, an award-winning broadcaster.
“When Jinx gave me a spot on his team as a catcher, that was a huge confidence builder,” Healy says. “And guess what, the first high school game I ever caught, at Springdale Park, Billy O’Connell threw a no-hitter against Holyoke Catholic, my sister’s school.”
Healy left Holyoke High as a junior to attend Tabor Academy, a prep school in Marion. As a Tabor star, he earned the opportunity to play in Hearst-sponsored all-star games at Yankee Stadium, the Polo Grounds and Fenway Park.
“Tabor was great for me. Their coach, Julius Luchini, was a peach, but I decided to go back to Holyoke because I wanted to graduate with my original class,” Healy said.
On a recent visit to his hometown, he ran into Jim Athas, Joey Griffin and Dan Reid, his teammates on a Pat’s Supermarket Pee Wee baseball team back in the day. Now 73, Healy has a countless treasure of memories from growing up in the Paper City and many more from a career that is still going strong.
As the Houston Astros and the Washington Nationals headed into Game 4 of the World Series last night, Healy had high praise for both teams, noting “Washington looks like a surprise as the wild card, but had a better record (93-69) than the division-winning (St. Louis) Cardinals (91-71).” “They’re both really good clubs with the pitching.”
Healy played nine seasons in the big leagues, including two with the “Bronx Zoo” New York Yankees of 1976 and 1977, before going directly into the broadcasting booth. There, he worked for the Yankees and, later, the New York Mets, teaming with colorful characters like Phil Rizzuto, Ralph Kiner and Rusty Staub.
“Scooter and Ralph weren’t big on statistics, but they could entertain you all night with stories from their baseball careers,” Healy remembers. As he listened to them, he began thinking that he should hone his interviewing skills. That led him into a career of doing shows in which he would chat with stars of all sports.
For three decades, Healy did a “Halls of Fame” series, interviewing big names in a wide sports spectrum from Ted Williams (last of the .400 hitters in baseball) to John Force (drag racing Hall of Famer).
“I find the interviews to be intriguing because everybody has a story,” Healy explains.
He later turned to two other interview shows, “Focused” and “In the Spotlight,” which are broadcast on various Fox regional networks around the country and sometimes on the New England Sports Network (NESN). He recently interviewed two icons of New England sports, University of Connecticut men’s basketball coach Jim Calhoun and Boston Red Sox radio announcer Joe Castiglione.
When Calhoun referred to himself as “a fast-talking Irish guy from Boston,” Healy says he loved it because he considers himself a fast-talking Irish guy from Holyoke.
Healy’s latest stop was in Cambridge, where he did a show about the Harvard men’s basketball “breakfast club,” a team-bonding get-together devised by coach Tommy Amaker.
Over the years, Healy’s shows have won 51 New York Emmys, but he wants to make it clear that it’s a team effort. “Give the whole crew credit for the Emmys, led by my producer, Roman Gackowski,” Healy says.
Although he never forgets his Holyoke roots, he spends much of his time in New York City. “I love the chaos,” he says.
Healy’s long and winding road to New York began in 1964, when the Cleveland Indians signed him soon after his graduation from Holyoke High. That was the last year before the baseball draft of high school and college talent went into effect.
On the day Healy was supposed to sign, his father –acting as his son’s agent – got a call from the Red Sox. “They told him not to let me sign, that they would give me whatever I wanted,” Healy recalls. “‘I gave Cleveland my word,’ my father said, and that was it.”
Healy’s baseball genes can be traced to his father, Bernard Healy, who played two seasons of minor league ball in the St. Louis Cardinals organization, and his uncle, Francis Paul Healy, who had short big league stints with the New York Giants and St. Louis Cardinals of the 1930s.
While Fran Healy was playing in the Cleveland farm system, he attended Holyoke Community College for two years. He was able to do that because farm-system director, Hoot Evers, allowed him to miss spring training and report to his minor league club in June.
The newly-minted Kansas City Royals took him in the 1968 expansion draft, a move which forced him to rethink his college plans, Healy says. He was transferring into American International College, but he only could do the fall semester because the Royals wanted him to report on time for spring training. It took a while, but Healy completed his studies at AIC, graduating as a member of the class of 1973.
Healy reached the major leagues with the Royals in 1970, then was traded to the San Francisco Giants. In two seasons with them, he got to catch future members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Juan Marichal and Gaylord Perry.
“I won’t say who’s the best pitcher I ever caught, but I will say that Juan Marichal was my favorite. Catching him was a delight,” Healy says.
When Healy was 10 years old, he saw Marichal pitch for the Springfield Giants at Pynchon Park and remembers being fascinated by the high leg kick he used in his windup. Twelve years later, when he saw Marichal again – this time as his catcher, Healy heard first-hand the story behind that leg kick.
“Juan told me that when he came to Springfield (as a 21-year-old in 1959), he threw sidearm. Manager Andy Gilbert told him he’d never get left-handed hitters out with that delivery and advised him to throw overhand. They worked on it in the bullpen, and Juan found that the only way he could throw overhand was with the high leg kick,” Healy explains. “He used that for the rest of his career.”
In 1973, the Giants traded Healy back to Kansas City. He did well with the Royals, catching a league-leading 139 games in 1974. Steve Busby pitched two no-hitters for the Royals with Healy as his catcher on April 27, 1973 and June 19, 1974.
Fran Healy was a catcher for the New York Yankees for the 1976 and 1977 seasons before he retired in the spring of 1978 and went to the announcer’s booth. He was part of the 1977 teach that won the World Series.Third Party submitted
In May 1976, the Yankees needed a backup to all-star catcher Thurman Munson. Their scouts recommended Healy, and he was headed to the “Bronx Zoo.”
The Yankees of 1976, 1977 and 1978 won three American League pennants and two World Series despite a clubhouse that was deeply divided. Manager Billy Martin was at the center of most of the turmoil until he would be fired by his boss, George Steinbrenner. Altogether, the Yankee owner hired and fired Martin five times.
It was during those stormy Yankees seasons that Healy and superstar Reggie Jackson became friends, and they remain close today. (It was Healy who helped break up a dug-out feud between Martin and Jackson during a 1977 game at Fenway Park).
With Munson playing virtually every day, Healy saw little game action with the Yankees. He did, however, have the opportunity to catch two aces, Catfish Hunter and Ron Guidry. And he got a World Series ring with those Yankees of 1977.
Shoulder and back injuries hampered Healy during his Yankee years, leading to his decision to retire in the spring of 1978. Steinbrenner offered him a job as a broadcaster, and a new career emerged.
“I didn’t think I was ready, but when the Yankees and Red Sox met in that ‘78 playoff for the American League East title, our producer told me I would be doing the game. Lucky for me (and unlucky for the Red Sox), two of my best friends on the team – Bucky Dent and Reggie (Jackson) – had a lot to do with the Yankees winning, and I got a couple of good interviews after that game.”
Now, as Healy does his television work, he sometimes gets pushed to try something besides sports.
“A woman producer asked me recently if I would want to do some travel stuff. She said I should go to China and do a show about the Great Wall,” he muses. Healy’s response: “To me, the great wall is at Fenway Park.”
Garry Brown can be reached at geebrown1918@gmail.com