"I made it really clear I wasn't going to write a tell-all book about The
Howard Stern Show," says
Gary Dell'Abate, who has produced Stern's show for more than 20 years. Instead, Dell'Abate writes about his crazy mother, his brother
Steven, who died of AIDS, his introduction to radio and to Stern, and covers some of his most embarrassing moments on the show in his new book, "They Call Me Baba Booey," which he'll sign at 6 p.m. Thursday at Borders (1 S. Broad).
One of those embarrassing moments was the pathetic first pitch he threw at CitiField before a game of his beloved Mets. The pitch, for which he hasn't stopped getting goofed on since, hit an umpire nowhere near home plate.
"One day under the right circumstances I would consider it," Dell'Abate said, when we asked if he would ever consider throwing out another first pitch. We spoke before he sucked at throwing again on Jimmy Kimmel's late night show last week, and has since Tweeted that he's done pitching forever.
Dell'Abate says that he doesn't expect anybody who isn't a Stern fan to buy the book, and he hopes those who are fans understand that "the perception that I'm Howard's flunkie that Howard just feels bad for and will never fire" is a joke. As for the future of the show, Dell'Abate says that he'd love to continue. "I think Howard will continue to do it," says Dell'Abate of Stern, who has been discussing his desire for a lesser workload, if not quitting. "I don't know where he will do it. He's still negotiating with Sirius."
We had to ask Baba Booey for an update about Artie Lange, the Stern show sidekick who tried to kill himself in January. "I speak to him relatively often,"
Dell'Abate said. "He sent me an awesome joke to do on Letterman.
"People ask me, 'When's Artie coming back?' And I tell them he didn't get that way in a week and he won't get better in a week." Dell'Abate confirmed, however, that eventually Lange will come on air to discuss what happened.
Click here to read more from our column in Monday's Daily News.
