A Talk in the Park: Nine Decades of Baseball Tales from the Broadcast Booth

by Curt Smith

Since radio's debut in the 1920s and television's in the ’30s, the baseball announcer has become entertainer, observer, and extended member of the family. In A Talk in the Nine Decades of Baseball Tales from the Broadcast Booth , many of the pastime's most popular and famous announcers―the Voices―tell their favorite stories in their own distinctive words. It is riveting oral history.Herein is the largest total of active and retired broadcasters featured in any sports 116. Its radio and TV tales include every major-league team and such networks as ESPN, Fox, TBS, and the new MLB channel, and capture the Voices commenting on ballparks, managers, the characters of the game, umpires, special teams, interleague play, improvements to the game―and on one another, including the beloved Ernie Harwell, who died in 2010 and to whom the book is dedicated.Here are Bob Wolff airing the longest-ever wild pitch Howie Rose using the 1969 Mets to pass a high school exam, and Charley Steiner telling why George Steinbrenner "hired" Jason Giambi. Denny Matthews recalls George Scott’s faux uniform number 6-4-3. Ken Harrelson defends his one-handed "With bad hands like mine, one hand was better than two." Eduardo Ortega announces for his mother, who is deaf. Pat Hughes remembers when Harry Caray called a game with a tea bag dangling from his ear. Voices hail Lou dressed, undressed, volatile, and lovable.Columnist Christine Brennan says of author Curt "No one knows baseball broadcasters as well as he does." In particular, A Talk in the Park addresses trends of the past two decades―the rise of Hispanic and other minority announcers, interleague play, ex-jocks' warp-speed climb, whiz-bang technology, 24/7 coverage, and the evolution of broadcasting, from radio to network television to cable. Told by baseball's leading broadcast historian, endorsed by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and the National Radio Hall of Fame, and starring announcers who reach millions, A Talk in the Park brilliantly relates what baseball was, is, and is likely to become.

Genres: Baseball, Sports, Nonfiction

320 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2011

Reviews

[Harold Kasselman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun read but not great in my opinion. It is easy to read in that the chapters are comprised of anectdotes pertaining to the theme of each chapter. You can read as much or as little as you want, stop,and pick it up later without missing a beat.I especially liked the chapter devoted to Ernie Harwell one of the most gracious and gentle men ever to broadcast the game. The anecdotes are told by former or current broadcasters or even former players turned announcers.
Some of the short stories are hilarious. As an example,and because I listened and watched the Phillies all my life, here's one by my favorite Phil announcer Rich Ashburn.(Told by Chris Wheeler)
One day Tim McCarver,for a short while copartnered with Ashburn and Harry Kalas.
McCarver is telling a story about Larry Christianson, former Phils pitcher, who had just returned to Philly from Washington after the Mount St. Helens volcanic eruption. Tim expresses surprise that the ash was so smooth, expecting it to be coarse.Ashburn listens and draws on his pipe, and says,
"That's a fascinating story Timmy that you've just shared with us.But to be honest with you, I always thought that if you'd seen one piece of ash,you'd seen them all."
Then there is the story in Houston where a son throws ashes down the railing in left field and causing quite a stir Security guards surround the fan who explains that they are his father's ashes. His dad's last wish was for his remains to be sprinkled in the Astrodome. The guards all huddle and finally announce to the son. "He can stay, buy you've gotta go."
There are many more that will give you some good laughs.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good collection of stories and memories by baseball broadcasters. Great inside details about baseball stars, managers and ballparks. Some of these broadcasters I grew up listening to and some I don't even know yes one theme pulls them all together. A terrific gift from a friend, this book is what a baseball fan needs in the dead of winter.

[Joe Santoro · Rating 3 out of 5]

I grabbed this at a not all that local library as I was tagging along with my wife on a library 'tour'. The title grabbed my attention. It was a good trip, besides borrowing this, I picked up a couple other baseball books and a pile of Clifford Simak paperbacks from discards/local sales.

The book is not really a book, but rather a collection of hundred of quick stories from broadcasters, of the type and length they would tell in a boring game or a rain delay. Some were great, some less so.

The issue is really the format. If this was coffee table book, nicely organized with good pictures and maybe some stats, it would be fantastic. As is, it's kinda random, and, just like a 3 hour rain delay, you eventually get kinda bored and have to flip a channel.

[Chris Moates · Rating 3 out of 5]

Curt Smith captures some wonderful stories and commentary from broadcast professionals over the ages. He captures these in 16 different themes, disguised as chapters. It is very disjointed in the aspect that he has captured short elements from the same people throughout the book and then weaved them together under these themes. Some of the stories are wonderful, taking the reader back to days before they were born. And some don't make sense, either because they are too 'inside baseball' or weren't written that well, sometimes in a scatterbrained approach. I'd give it a higher rating if it was easier to read and better written.

[Adam Foster · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm torn on this book. On the one hand it had some interesting stories. On the other hand its grammar was atrocious at points. His bios of the announcers was painful to read, using shorthand that was near indecipherable. He and some of the announcers used "aired" as a term for calling games, as in "I aired game x for network y" which drove me batty. I picked it up at a used book sale for cheap. If I had paid the cover price I'd be pissed. Both he and his editor shoud be embarrassed by some of the poor structure used in the book. . . .

[Shelley Alongi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fun part of this book was reading the stories submitted by the broadcasters I’ve listened to for parts of my baseball watching and listening life. I enjoyed the book and I’ll probably add this one to my library. Looking forward to reading other books written by this author.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one is for baseball fans, especially if you grew-up listening to games on the radio more than watching on TV. The author interviewed some of the best (depending on your point of view) announcers in the business and collects their stories in different topics.

[J.W. Nicklaus · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can find my entire review here: http://avomnia.wordpress.com/2011/08/...