© Sergio Estrada | 2019 Aug 11
The KNBR family and San Francisco Bay Area lost a great one Monday, when Ralph “The Razor” Barbieri passed away from Parkinson’s disease at the age of 74.
The tributes to a true legend of the industry have been flowing in since the news broke, and Giants CEO Larry Baer was one of the many to hop on KNBR and remember the legacy Barbieri left behind. Specifically, The Razor’s influence on helping get a new Giants ballpark built in San Francisco.
“He was the lead cheerleader for the ballpark,” Baer said. “And I’d say, I’m not sure it gets built without Ralph leading the way. As you might remember, there were four defeated elections to get the ballpark built before the 1996 election got the vote. Ralph in his own way, he would call people that opposed the downtown ballpark, he’d call them ferrets and weasels. He says ‘We’ve got to get rid of the ferrets and weasels around here and get a ballpark built.’
“The team was saved in ’93, Frank (Jordan) was the mayor, and then Willie Brown was the mayor during the election,” Baer explained regarding the combative interviews Barbieri would have with the two. “And in Ralph’s inimitable style, it was rat-tat-tat-tat. ‘When’s the ballpark coming, we’ve got to get it built. Are you crazy for not supporting it?’ And he would take to task those who would not support it.”
Listen to the full interview below.
