Feder: Chicago media colleagues share fond memories of 'The Grobber'

News Room

The death of veteran Chicago radio sportscaster Les Grobstein elicited an outpouring of tributes and recollections from media colleagues Monday.Grobstein, 69, who died Sunday at his home in Elk Grove Village, was remembered for his five-decade career on the air here, including the last 12 years as overnight host on Audacy sports/talk WSCR 670-AM. He also was remembered for a lot more.Among hundreds of comments on this blog and various social media platforms, here’s a sampling of reactions from Grobstein’s colleagues:George Castle: Wayyy back in 1969, Les staged a cancer benefit game at Thillens Stadium in honor of his grandmother. He was just 17, right out of Von Steuben. He called the Cubs and Chuck Shriver, and amazingly landed Ernie Banks and Fergie Jenkins to appear at the benefit. Fergie actually pitched two innings. The next day, in his scheduled start, Fergie was racked up by the Mets at Wrigley Field. Couldn’t happen like that today. That was the Proto-Les!Tommy Edwards: My family is still in shock over Les Grobstein’s passing. We have so many memories of him and the WLS 89ers. He was kind, thoughtful and he cared so deeply about the sports he covered. His memory was remarkable. And he was a very good friend to my family. RIP, old friend.John Gehron: I was stunned to hear the news. He was such a part of WLS history. I was always amazed by his memory for sports events.Mark Giangreco: Les Grobstein was an eccentric savant with astounding total recall. Armed with that archaic mic, Les captured every sound bite of Chicago sports history. A constant, a fixture. We always celebrated the distinction of being the only ones to get Lee Elia’s infamous rant. RIP Grobber.• Get the full report, and more Chicago media news, at robertfeder.com.

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