The Times podcast: Baseball, the Iranian hostage crisis and Barry Rosen

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Four decades ago, Barry Rosen was one of 52 Americans held hostage for 444 brutal days in Iran. After their release in 1981, Rosen and the other hostages received a rare gift from Major League Baseball: a “golden ticket.� Signed by then-Commissioner Bowie Kuhn under the words “In Gratitude And Appreciation,� the lifetime pass entitled each hostage and a guest admittance to any regular-season game.

But when Rosen tried to attend a game this year, the New York Mets said they were no longer honoring his pass. What happened next showed just how much baseball continues to mean to Rosen.

Host: L.A. Times national correspondent Del Quentin Wilber

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How baseball saved an Iran hostage, not once, but twice