All-Stars on video
A special night of baseball and music, caught on video by Dennis Darmek.
Mark Shurilla leads the cheers as Warren Spahn arrives in a spanking-new 1979 Chevrolet Monte Carlo.
Dennis Darmek has documented Milwaukee life since the earliest days of video recording. Darmek and the late Mark Shurilla, a pillar of Milwaukee’s music scene for decades, were friends.
Back in 1979, the Milwaukee Brewers announced that they would honor Warren Spahn, a great pitcher during the glory days of Milwaukee Braves baseball. Shurilla, a great fan of baseball and of Spahn, approached the Brewers about writing a song for the occasion and playing it on the field for Spahn. The Brewers, incredibly, said yes. Dennis Darmek documented the result, including Shurilla taking some of the worst hacks ever at Warren Spahn pitches.
“To think that he could pull this off…” Darmek said. “Mark might not have been the greatest musician in the world, but his great qualities were his enthusiasm and his energy. He just kept going.” — Tom Strini
