Ken Levine's Observations On Walla Walla

The world may finally be taking Walla Walla, Washington seriously, but that didn't stop TV writer/baseball announcer Ken Levine from writing a charmingly funny blog post his visit there to promote the Walla Walla Sweets Baseball team.  Check it out here.

Baseball News From Walla Walla

I'm hoping to get back to Walla Walla for a weekend this summer to watch the Walla Walla Sweets play baseball.  Now, I realize I can watch Major League baseball here in the Seattle area, however cool things are happening for this organization is that is not even a minor league baseball team. 
The team has a new announcer, Howard Hoffman.  Hoffman is a nationally known radio voice talent. He is also now a resident of Walla Walla.  On May 2nd, the team will host it's season party with special guest Ken Levine.    Levine is a network sit-com writer with such shows as Mash, Cheers, Frasier, and Everybody Love Raymond.  He is also a former announcer for the Seattle Mariners.  His blog has been heralded as one of the best.  Undoubtedly, he will do a humorous and light hearted story on his blog about his visit to the "valley of the double Wallas".
The Walla Walla Sweets are a member of the West Coast League, a summer collegiate league.  Another former Mariner announcer, Ken Wilson, is the league president.

Annette Funicello Tributes

Seattle Radio Icon Pat O'Day is shown hear with Disney Star and Teen movie icon Annette Funicello who passed away a couple of days ago.  While I was a little young to get the full impact of her life and the mark that she made on her generation,  Ken Levine wrote a heartfelt blog post that captures it.
Click here.

Ken Levine Should Be Full Time Mariner Announcer

Two years after the sad passing of  legendary announcer Dave Niehaus, the Seattle Mariners have announced they will begin the search for a full time replacement.  My choice would be the man who had the position in the early 90s.  Ken Levine replaced Rick Rizzs, who departed for a brief time to work for the Detroit Tigers.  Of course Rizzs was chosen to replace retiring Ernie Harwell.  When Harwell was talked out of retirement, Rizzs came back to the Mariners, where he has been ever since.  After the sudden death of Niehaus, the Mariners decided it was not a good idea to replace such an icon immediately, they instead, rotated amongst several former players and announcers, Levine was amongst those in the mix.
Levine is an author, a comedy TV writer and a blogger.  He loves the game of baseball and has a distinct descriptive style.  In a current poll on the Seattle PI web site, Levine is running ahead of other proposed replacements.  But first and foremost, he wants the job.

Meet Ken Levine

Part time Mariner announcer Ken Levine will be signing copies of his book "The Me Generation By Me" Monday August 20th at the Mariner team store.  Levine, also a TV writer, will be at the store from 5 until 7.  A ticket to the game is not needed to get in.  Levine rotates with several other announcers  as sidekick to Rick Riczz as the Mariners have not found a replacement for the Late Dave Niehaus.  In addition to Ken's book, you can also get Ichiro gear at half price.

Review--Ken Levine's Latest Book

Part time Seattle Mariner announcer and full time TV writer Ken Levine has a new book out.  The Me Generaton By Me is a fun loving autobiography of growing up in the 60s.  Levine, who grew up as the son of a radio advertising sales in the San Fernando valley, presence a much different view of the decade of the 60s than the stereotype seen in movies like "Forest Gump" and "The Doors".  The whole decade was not all about hippies, psychedelics, and dropping out. 
Levine presents his unique view as an outsider (he was not really about joining cliques in school) of events like the meteoric rise of The Beatles, The Batman TV show, being a contestant on The Dating Game (which he was) and his experiences working in an LA record store and his visit to the set of Rowan And Martin's Laugh-In.  Levine's  writing style that helped make shows like Frasier, Mash, and Cheers popular, make this book a very entertaining read.   The book in either paperback or Kindle is available on Amazon.