Russ Saltzberg is a name that many of us sports fans have grown up with. In New York, he has reported the biggest and most powerful sports stories for over thirty years.
Russ developed such a wonderful reputation that he was trusted by many in the limelight that may have gotten into trouble.
When Russ would come on the air young and old were always curious about his famous sweaters. They were just as famous as him.
He became so popular that he co-hosted the Jerry Lewis Labor Day telethon with the great singer-entertainer Tony Orlando and helped raise millions of dollars for kids and adults suffering from muscular dystrophy. Tony told me that Russ is truly like a brother to him. He said that their relationship grew when he saw that Russ was always willing to put others before himself.
When baseball’s greatest owner George Steinbrenner came back from a suspension he insisted on talking to Russ first. The reason being, he knew that Russ would not try to sabotage him.
These last few years Russ has been covering the Giants football team.
Recently he was visiting Yankee Stadium and ran into Yanks President Randy Levine. After a short conversation, Randy came up with the idea of having Russ host a show on the YES network’s very popular app. It will be called GET A LOAD OF THIS. Russ will do the show once a week covering some of sports and entertainments important topics.
When I asked Russ how he felt about coming over to YES and being a part of the Yankees Universe, he said he felt extremely excited and very nostalgic about it. He also said that he couldn’t help but think about and miss George Steinbrenner at this time. Even though Randy Levine has told Russ on several occasions that there is no need to thank him, Russ can’t help but to emphasize how grateful he is for the great opportunity. He also loves the great professionalism he has seen in the great people at YES.
Frankly speaking, I think that YES is very lucky to get such a Pros Pro like Russ Saltzberg and maybe his sweater too.
