Crack of the Bat: A History of Baseball on the Radio

by James Robert Walker, Pat Hughes (Foreword)

The crack of the bat on the radio is ingrained in the American mind as baseball takes center stage each summer. Radio has brought the sounds of baseball into homes for almost one hundred years, helping baseball emerge from the 1919 Black Sox scandal into the glorious World Series of the 1920s. The medium gave fans around the country aural access to the first All-Star Game, Lou Gehrig’s farewell speech, and Bobby Thomson’s “Shot Heard ’Round the World.” Red Barber, Vin Scully, Harry Caray, Ernie Harwell, Bob Uecker, and dozens of other beloved announcers helped cement the love affair between radio and the national pastime.

 

Crack of the Bat takes readers from the 1920s to the present, examining the role of baseball in the development of the radio industry and the complex coevolution of their relationship. James R. Walker provides a balanced, nuanced, and carefully documented look at radio and baseball over the past century, focusing on the interaction between team owners, local and national media, and government and business interests, with extensive coverage of the television and Internet ages, when baseball on the radio had to make critical adjustments to stay viable.

 

Despite cable television’s ubiquity, live video streaming, and social media, radio remains an important medium through which fans engage with their teams. The evolving relationship between baseball and radio intersects with topics as varied as the twenty-year battle among owners to control radio, the development of sports as a valuable media product, and the impact of competing technologies on the broadcast medium. Amid these changes, the familiar sounds of the ball hitting the glove and the satisfying crack of the bat stay the same.

Genres: Baseball, Sports, History

344 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1966

About the author

I am an emeritus Professor in the Department of Communication at Saint Xavier University in Chicago.

I began my career as the producer/host of a daily television program at Penn State University's PBS station. My Ph.D. is in Communication Studies from the University of Iowa. I started my teaching career at the University of Northern Iowa, moving to the University of Memphis in 1983, and to Saint Xavier University in 1993.

I have authored six books and over thirty articles on baseball and the electronic media, and the television industry and its audiences. I also enjoy playing fantasy baseball (with considerable success, I might add).

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Closer to 2.5 but it went south for me as the book went on. It admits to not being a comprehensive history of MLB but the lack of context regarding integration was especially egregious, and kind of plays into the idea of baseball (especially on the radio) as being white, male and English-speaking. The book was published in 2015 but it already feels out of date, especially when I recall trying to get Game 1 of the 2017 World Series on the air less than ten miles away from an MLB city and not being able to hear it at all due to a lack of a local ESPN Radio affiliate. There are quite a few interesting tidbits regarding the birth of the medium (especially if you wonder why broadcasters drone on about "expressed written consent"), but it tends to get rather repetitive, and it relies heavily on the work of Curt Smith, whose own works leave much to be desired. At one point the author mentions how Red Barber recommends reading up on the game, and how skimming a lot of books can be more helpful than concentrating on just a few. This should be among those you skim.

[James Surprenant · Rating 4 out of 5]

This history of the broadcasting of baseball was a delightful read
I'm always looking for good books on either baseball or radio, my two biggest passions, and in Walker's book I found a great read marrying the two!

Walker does a good job not only recounting the names and places and pioneering firsts that led to the development of today's multi-million dollar high tech baseball broadcast empire, he does an excellent job delving into the competing interests that shaped baseball on the radio from the get go. These include, but aren't limited to, the threat radio presented to the long established newspaper sports reporting, and the ongoing debate over whether broadcasting games hinders ballpark attendance or improved it by promoting the teams.

I had never thought about the competition between teams & stations that arose from the fact AM signals can travel cross country and penetrate competitor's markets.

If you have an interest in baseball, radio, or like me, both - this is a must read.

[Du · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit too clinical at times, but very informative and detailed. This is definitely not an overview of the rise and state of two broadcasted baseball. It's incredibly researched and the politics it exposes are at multiple layers and impactful.

[Jefferson Coombs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun baseball stories that I read and re-read as a kid.

[Matthew Perry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very detailed and interesting, takes a true baseball nut though because it is not an easy read