On August 5, 1921 – 100 years ago today – Harold Arlin of Pittsburgh’s KDKA Radio took a box seat behind home plate in Forbes Field and became the first radio baseball broadcaster, EVER! He called play-by-play of the game between the Pirates and their cross-state rivals, the Philadelphia Phillies. To read The History Channel’s account of that historic broadcast, click here.
I remember Daddy telling me about trips, after he and Mother married in 1938, to visit Mother’s Aunt Beuna and Uncle Bob in Weimar, TX. He and Uncle Bob would go out to Uncle Bob’s car and turn on the radio to listen to a ballgame together. Thank you, Harold Arlin & KDKA, for paving the way in 1921.
We moved from Dallas to Kansas City in July 1962 when I was 11. A week after we moved there, Daddy took me to see my first major league game at Kansas City Municipal Stadium, where we saw Whitey Ford pitch for the still-mighty Yankees, with Mantle, Maris, Kubek, Richardson, Boyer, Howard, et al. The Yankees beat our A’s, 3-1, but from that day on I was hooked on baseball.
I grew up listening to baseball on the radio in the 1960s. The local Kansas City (MO) A’s showed only about 40 games a year on TV, so I listened to most of their games on radio. Thank you, Harold Arlin & KDKA, for paving the way in 1921.
I couldn’t catch my REAL favorite team – the St. Louis Cardinals – on TV in KC at all, so I listened to their games on KFEQ, a St. Joseph’s, MO, radio station that came in loud-and-clear in KC. Thank you, Harold Arlin & KDKA, for paving the way in 1921.
Daddy had served as an Army chaplain in the European Theatre in WWII. After the war, he had remained in the Army Reserves. In June 1963, he served his annual 2 weeks of active duty at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, as chaplain in the disciplinary barracks. On Father’s Day weekend, Mother and I drove out there to visit him, barely an hour’s drive. That Saturday afternoon, we all went to the post exchange, where Mother and I planned to buy Daddy a Father’s Day gift. We bought him a GE transistor radio. Little did I know that he and Mother had “cooked up” a plan whereby they would also buy a transistor radio for me! Daddy and I had matching GE transistor radios, only his radio’s case was black, and mine was cream-colored.
I still have that radio today (see photo), and it still works (though I have seldom used it over the past 40 years or so). It would not be an exaggeration to say that it became my most treasured possession during my teen years; it surely became my most-USED possession. I was rarely without it. Whenever the A’s or Cardinals were on, my ears were glued to that radio. And when one of my teams was playing on the West Coast – in other words, a LATE game? Well, let’s just say a lot of batteries died during those games, because I would put the radio under my pillow when I went to bed, and I would almost invariably fall asleep, but the radio would keep running – until it didn’t!
Play-by-play for the A’s was handled by Monte Moore, who – from the time we moved to KC in 1962 until the A’s moved to Oakland following the 1967 season – had a succession of partners in the color analyst seat, including, for a brief period in 1964, a WOMAN. Yes, Betty Caywood joined Monte Moore and George Bryson in the booth for the last couple of months of that season. A’s owner Charlie Finley may have been exasperating (constantly threatening to move the A’s and finally following through on his threats), but I have to give him this – he had imagination, and he had guts!
The Cardinals, of course, had legendary broadcasters Harry Caray and Jack Buck. Harry Caray was a showman, and I loved listening to him. In fact, when I decided to stop rooting for the Cardinals following the 1969 season, it was partly because I was frustrated with the team’s effort that season, but the biggest reason was the firing of Harry Caray. In fact, I wrote him a letter, telling him how much I had enjoyed listening to him over the years and how angry I was about his firing, and he responded with a very nice and appreciative letter.
About 20 years ago, I learned that Monte Moore’s daughter was in Texas; she had been named a basketball coach, if memory serves, at Abilene Christian University. So, still the letter writer, I wrote her to tell her how much I had enjoyed listening to her dad broadcast the A’s when I was growing up in KC. Well, she put me in touch with her dad, and Monte & I had a very nice exchange of letters, and he sent me a postcard featuring his picture from his KC days, and signed the picture, “For a great A’s fan, Bill Jones! Monte Moore.” (see photo)
On the other side of the card, he wrote, “Bill – I tried to find a picture from KC days to send – this is the only one I found. Sorry it is so messed up – you might recognize Ed Charles in background. Here’s to the ‘Good Ole Days!’ Monte”
(NOTE: Ed Charles had been the A’s 3rd baseman back in those days; he ultimately wound up winning a World Series with the Mets in 1969.)
During the 2 years – 1963 & 1964 – that Monte was teamed with George Bryson in the broadcast booth, they published little booklets, following each season, with summaries of highlights from the season. Yes, even a team that went 73-89 and 57-105 (gulp!) had its moments. Those booklets are still special keepsakes reminding me of the fun I had listening to Monte and George (and Betty, of course) on my transistor radio. (see photos)
Today, almost all of my Texas Rangers’ ballgames are on TV, so I’m usually on the couch in front of the TV during baseball season. If I happen to be in the car during a game, though, I listen on the radio. Texas Rangers radio listeners are privileged to have one of the best play-by-play men in the business, Eric Nadel, who has been broadcasting Rangers games since the late 1970s, and his broadcast partner Matt Hicks; in 2014, Eric received the Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in baseball broadcasting and was inducted into the Broadcasters’ Wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.
Thank you, Harold Arlin & KDKA, for paving the way in 1921, for Monte Moore, George Bryson, Betty Caywood, Harry Caray, Jack Buck, Eric Nadel, Matt Hicks, and the many, many others who have kept baseball fans (including Daddy and Uncle Bob) entertained for a century – and counting!
Bill,
I go back farther with radio broadcasts. As a kid I listened to the Nashville Vols AA team on radio with my dad. When I went to college in Nashville I rode the bus down to the ball park and attended some games. I don’t think my dad ever went to any of their games, but he instilled in me a love for baseball that lasts until this day (I’m 87). My favorite major league team became the Brooklyn Dodgers. After I moved to Texas & the Dodgers moved to LA, I became a Rangers fan. I, too, spend a lot of time in front of the TV watching Rangers games, and have been to quite a number of games. beginning in the old minor league park, where I took my boys when they became Junior Rangers. My dad had played on a community team that played Saturday games when he was young. Let’s hope the Rangers have a better year next year.
It’s so good to hear from you, Edlyne. I love your stories about the Nashville Vols, as well as the Dodgers and Rangers. My sister – who was born in Aug. 1941, 9-1/2 years before I was born – tells stories of going with my dad in the 1940s – when they lived in Fort Worth – to see the Fort Worth Cats minor league team, which was a farm team of the Brooklyn Dodgers. So my sister became a Dodger fan back then and has remained a Dodger fan to this day (though I doubt she could name a single current Dodger). Yes, the Rangers have a long way to go to rebuild, but hopefully some of this young talent will begin to bloom next year.