“By the way, Roger...” Arnold Palmer tells his Maris story one more time.

As we kick off Season 2 of The Fire Pit Podcast, just a short reflection on where we’ve been since March, 2020, which is when, while in quarantine, we hatched the idea of this podcast.

Our first, which aired on what would’ve been Masters Sunday of last year, was the story of how and why John Ashworth caddied at the ’86 Masters for his childhood friend, Mark Wiebe. 

One interview led to the next, Zoom calling with Nicklaus, Griffey Jr., Walter Iooss, Fred Couples, Jim Nantz, Ben Crenshaw, Bill Coore, Mike Keiser, David Kidd and so many more, and here we are again, with an expanded Fire Pit Collective but the same objective, which is to tell compelling stories. 

 

As for the story we tell today—a trip to LaTrobe to sit with The King—it’s one of my favorites, but it’s bittersweet.

 

The events that took place U.S. Open week at Oakmont in 2016 which afforded Gary Williams, Damon Hack and I to not only have lunch with Arnold Palmer, but to get time with him in his office, now all seems like a dream. 

What you’ll hear is that story. And you’ll listen to phone footage from that day that I’ve only shared with a select few in small settings. Plus, Gary Williams, Damon Hack, Doc Giffin and Bob Ford will add their perspectives. Not to mention Arnold Palmer, who tells his Roger Maris story one more time.

Visit the The Fire Pit Collective to check out everything we are doing.

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Got a comment about this story or a tip on a story we should track down?

You can reach me on Twitter (@mattginella) or on Instagram (@matt_ginella).

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