Dave Mona has “crossed paths” with many characters including probably a few he wishes he never met during a media career that dates back to the 1960s. Certainly a guy he worked with at WCCO TV who turned out to be a serial killer fits into the category of undesirables.
Mona writes about the serial killer and also about many respected Minnesotans in his book Beyond the Sports Huddle being published by Voyageur Press and targeted for distribution starting with the State Fair in August. The long time co-host of WCCO Radio’s Sunday morning Sports Huddle show plans to promote the book at the station’s state fair booth.
Mona, who once covered the Minnesota Twins for the Minneapolis Tribune before developing a successful public relations career, said most of the book is devoted to sports figures but approximately 25 percent is about other interesting personalities he’s known such as Garrison Keillor.
Not surprisingly, the book will offer plenty of laughs along with reminiscences and trivia. “There’s a general sense of humor throughout,” Mona told Sports Headliners recently. “A lot of stories I hope will make people smile including a few things they’ve probably never heard before. …”
Former Twins owner Calvin Griffith is a Mona favorite. He was interviewing Griffith about Tony Oliva but as was his habit Griffith digressed. He brought up the name of Carlos Paula, a Cuban like Oliva but a player not well known to the general public. Griffith recalled that Paula, a classic good hit, bad field player, once managed to misplay a ball twice on the same play in the outfield. First Paula let the ball go through his legs, and then it bounced off the outfield wall and through his legs again. “Calvin thought at the time that may have been the only guy to ever get two fielding errors on a single play,” Mona said.
Mona, who has written previous books on the Metrodome and the Twins, brought up Sid Hartman’s name, mentioning he has compiled the most complete list ever of “Sid-isms.” Over the years, including on WCCO Radio, Hartman has said one thing while intending to articulate something else.
Mona said, “I’ve been keeping a written list for years. …” On that list is the time Hartman told listeners about the lack of “INCONSISTENCY” by baseball umpires. The quote was later published in Sports Illustrated. Another Mona favorite was Hartman’s defense of Barry Bonds, claiming there’s no evidence the home run king used “stereos.”