baseball today
by: shanyria
Before August 26, 1939, the only way you could watch Major League Baseball was by actually going to the stadium. Sure, you could listen to the games on the radio since 1921 (which was enjoyable and continues to be enjoyable), but to see Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx or Mel Ott you had to pay your hard-earned 50 cents.
And then, 75 years ago today, an experimental station in New York City (which would ultimately become (WNBC-4), aired the very first contest -- a doubleheader between the Cincinnati Reds and Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets ,Field. The legendary Red Barber had the call, utilizing just two cameras (one aimed down the first-base line to pick up infield throws and one above home plate to give an overarching view of the diamond) to entertain the audience at home. Apparently, he also had to guess as to which camera angle was being shown on TV.
The Reds won the first game, 5-2, while the Dodgers took the second, 6-1. Fast-moving plays (like swinging bats, pitching) proved hard to capture. Vin Scully, Barber's protege, talked about the historic day a couple of years ago:
Babe ruth
The Babe’s achievements loom large in the record books. The left-handler held or shared about 60 records, with 28 made in World Series games. Among them were his record of pitching 29 consecutive scoreless innings in World Series play and his total of 714 major league homers—not including 15 World Series homers. (The pitching and home-run records were later broken by Whitey Ford and Hank Aaron.)