Former Elmirans team up for book chronicling history of the Buffalo Bills
Budd Bailey and Greg Tranter didn't know each other while growing up in Elmira in the 1960s and early '70s, but a connection they shared then led the future friends to co-author a newly released book that chronicles the history of the Buffalo Bills.
"The Buffalo Bills: An Illustrated Timeline of a Storied Team," includes 141 vignettes and accompanying photos looking back at the Bills' history from their founding in 1959 as a member of the American Football League through the drama-filled 2022 season that included Damar Hamlin's brush with death and a disheartening playoff loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
"I’d like to think that it’s the old story of being a combination of a memory book for those who lived through the events once and want to be reminded of it and a history book that can tell people who weren’t around what it was like at the time," said Bailey, a retired sports writer who lives in Buffalo with his wife, Jody.
"Each story will have a different reaction depending on the readers’ own experience. But to have them all in one place is always kind of nice and a handy reference tool."
Over 162 pages, the words of Bailey and Tranter are accompanied by dozens of photos cultivated from Getty Image archives and other sources, including the unmatched Bills memorabilia collection of 108,000 artifacts Tranter donated to the Buffalo History Museum in 2015. Photos from longtime Bills team photographer Robert L. Smith are also included thanks to Tranter's friendship with Smith's nephew.
"To me it's a unique way to tell the history of the team," said Tranter, 66, a retired insurance executive who is now a sports historian and author. "And then just the way the book is illustrated with the photos that go with the stories. Every story has a photo. I think that really brings the stories to life."
Said Bailey: "In a book like this, where the photos are so important, to me that’s probably the best way to tell the story. One thing at a time accompanied by good photos."
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Bills foundation for writers started in Elmira
Tranter and Bailey, who are collaborating on an upcoming book on the NBA's Buffalo Braves, didn't meet until about eight years ago through the Buffalo History Museum.
Bailey, 67, lived in Elmira from 1965 to 1970, attending Hendy Avenue School in fifth and sixth grade and Booth School in grades 7-9 before moving with his family to Clarence, near Buffalo, after the American LaFrance plant his dad worked at was partially closed. Bailey's connection to those he grew up remains strong enough he recently attended Elmira Free Academy's 50-year class reunion even though he didn't graduate from there.
After attending Syracuse University and working for a radio station for about eight years, Bailey went into public relations with the Buffalo Sabres before joining the sports staff of the Buffalo News in 1993. He retired in 2017.
Bailey watched the Bills on TV while living in Elmira, listening to legendary broadcaster Van Miller. He picked up his first copy of The Sporting News at the Elmira Corning Regional Airport in 1965, reading a column from future Buffalo News co-worker and close friend Larry Felser. From 1980 to 1993, Bailey attended every Bills home game.
Tranter moved to Elmira at 9 months old and lived on Clinton Street and Parker Road, along with a residence in Pine City. He played football for Mike Johnston Sr. at Elmira Notre Dame before graduating in 1974 and remained in the Elmira area until a job with Aetna took him to Hartford, Connecticut, when he was 29.
By then he was an avid Bills fan, having grown up listening to games on the radio. After the move to Hartford, his son, Bob, who now lives in Atlanta, became a fan of the rival Patriots. Greg, who resides in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, with wife Tracy, has a 10-year-old granddaughter, Meadow.
A call from Reedy Publishing to Bailey about the possibility of writing something on the Bills led to a call to Tranter, whom Bailey said was "thrilled for the chance to write the Bills history."
"With Budd and I both being in our 60s, we’ve experienced the vast majority of this and we’ve both been Bills fans since we were kids," Tranter said. "So there’s very few of these (stories) that we didn’t personally experience somehow, either watching it on TV or reading about it in the newspaper or actually being at the games."
Said Bailey: "I think we're kind of an interesting mix in the sense that he's a big fan at heart and I more love the games, but not necessarily the teams. The rooting interest in teams that I've covered over the years gets knocked out of you and you wind up rooting for good stories, of course."
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Weaving through Buffalo Bills history
Tranter has written three other books, including last year's "The Buffalo Sports Curse: 120 Years of Pain, Disappointment, Heartbreak and Eternal Optimism."
This is book No. 13 for Bailey, with some earmarked for school libraries. Among other titles are "Today in Buffalo Sports History: 366 Days of Milestones" and a biography of former Sabres enforcer Rob Ray.
They separately came up with lists of Bills moments the book should capture, with some expected overlap. They then split the writing duties.
"One thing that I wanted to make sure we did – and Greg really agreed on this – was to get a few stories that are just fun," Bailey said.
Tranter said they wanted to convey the incredible history of the Bills and showcase how much the franchise shaped the sport, including owner Ralph Wilson contributing to the revenue sharing that helped pro football become the most popular sport in the United States.
Tranter and Bailey have differing views on Wilson that played into the book's favor.
"His view was Ralph Wilson was very cheap and cost the Bills a bunch of opportunities to win championships," Tranter said. "My view was Ralph Wilson was a tremendous owner and basically saved the AFL because if he hadn't given money to two different franchises, the AFL wouldn't have survived. We had to go through some of those stories to make them come out balanced. I wasn't making him too great and Budd wasn't making him too terrible."
The book takes a look at the role of Bills players Cookie Gilchrist, Ernie Warlick, both Black, and white quarterback Jack Kemp in pushing for a boycott of the 1965 AFL All-Star Game after mistreatment of Black players in New Orleans, original site of the contest. The game ended up being moved to Houston.
"There's so many of those types of stories that reflect really well on the franchise even though we haven't won the Super Bowl," Tranter said. "So we wanted to bring out a number of those at the same time. You have the highs: They won '64, '65 AFL championships. A lot of people look at the Bills as losers because they lost four Super Bowls, but we won four AFC championships in a row. No team in pro football history has ever done such a thing."
Comebacks, fight songs and more
A few stories of note in the book:
Billy Joe Hobert, a backup quarterback, admittedly came into a 1997 game against the New England Patriots unprepared to take over after starter Todd Collins got hurt. Buffalo lost 33-6, Hobert was waived two days later and he ended up the subject of a chapter in the book called "Billy Joe Hobert's Day Off."
A recap of the greatest regular-season comeback in Bills history, which remains overshadowed by Buffalo's rally from a 35-3 hole to beat the Houston Oilers in the playoffs in 1993. The regular-season comeback in 1997 was spearheaded by quarterback Todd Collins after Buffalo fell behind the Colts, 26-0, in a 37-35 triumph.
The story behind Preston Ridlehuber and why he was the only Bills player to wear No. 31 until 1991.
Why kicker Booth Lusteg told police he deserved to get mugged and beat up following a Bills loss in 1966.
The origins of a Bills fight song written by Marv Levy, head coach of the franchise's four Super Bowl teams in the 1990s.
A look at how the 1978 trade of O.J. Simpson to the San Francisco 49ers ultimately turned into the draft pick that brought Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly to Buffalo.
"My guess is most, if not every Bills fan that reads this, there will be something in there they didn't know," Tranter said.
Highlighting history
Bailey pointed to the conglomeration of stories as an appealing aspect of the book. The format of individual stories also lends itself to being easy to pick up and put down.
Leading up to the release, Bailey saw a high level of enthusiasm from his wife's friends, media and others.
"The word 'Bills' just has people ready to buy books like no other book I've ever written has done," Bailey said. "It's amazing to me how much Bills mania even spreads to something like this. My wife's friends, who know nothing about football, are like, 'I've got to get a copy for me and a copy for this friend and this friend.'
"The level of enthusiasm is amazing and it's been kind of fun to see it a little more up close than I'm used to. I can't wait to see the process going forward on how the book does leading up to the season once I start doing book signings and hearing from people. I would hope they'll enjoy it and I'm looking forward to enjoying their enjoyment, if that makes sense."
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To purchase
"The Buffalo Bills: An Illustrated Timeline of a Storied Team," is published by St. Louis-based Reedy Publishing and has been available since the end of July.
Suggested retail price is $42 and it is available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other book sellers.
Follow Andrew Legare on Twitter: @SGAndrewLegare. You can also reach him at alegare@gannett.com. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today
This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: This new book chronicles the history of the Buffalo Bills
