Baseball Over the Air

This narrative contains the documentation and interpretation of two imaginative pastimes (radio and baseball) and illuminates each in a unique manner. It integrates radio and baseball historically, sociologically, and culturally using the common themes of imaginative expression. This book is a unique approach into the magic of radio’s imaginative power. Broadcasting baseball on the radio has brought many millions of Americans an imaginative link to a game that is built upon recollections of athletic achievement that ring far truer in our “sweet imaginations.” Through the use of our imaginations, we can see the game itself as more than just a game, but a gateway to an imaginative realm beyond the reality of everyday life.

Tony Silvia is professor emeritus of journalism and digital communication at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg and had a long career in broadcast journalism. He is the author of seven other titles, including four with McFarland. He lives in Little Compton, Rhode Island and and Dunedin, Florida.

Tony Silvia
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 230
Bibliographic Info: 16 photos, notes, appendices, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2007
pISBN: 978-0-7864-3066-6
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      v
Foreword by Dewayne Staats      1
Introduction      5

Part I. Imagination at Play: Radio, Baseball and the Creative Process
1. Long Distance Dreams: Baseball and Early Radio      19
2. Tall Tales and Recreations: Radio, Baseball, and Manufactured Reality      35
3. A Dark Room Deep in the Woods: Radio and Baseball in Fiction and Nonfiction      56

Part II. Imagination at Work: Radio, Baseball and the Creative Voice
4. Radio’s Pioneer of Poetic License: Gordon McLendon      73
5. Spellbinding Storyteller: Radio’s “Other” Stern      90
6. Casting a Magic Spell: Graham McNamee, Red Barber, and Mel Allen      103

Part III. Imagination at Home: Radio, Baseball and the Creative Listener
7. The Listener’s Club: Radio, Baseball, and a Sense of Community      129
8. A New Community: Radio, Baseball, and Bloggers      146
9. A New Field of Play: Radio, Baseball, and the Future      160

Chapter Notes      173
Appendix A: Recordings of Radio Broadcasts in the National Baseball Hall of Fame Library      181
Appendix B: Gordon McLendon Recordings in the Southwest Collection, Texas Tech University Library      208
Appendix C: Gordon McLendon’s Call of Bobby Thomson’s Famous “Shot Heard Round the World” (October 3, 1951)      211
Bibliography      217
Index      221

“a lot of enjoyment”—DX News; “enjoyable and engaging”—Nordic Sport Science Forum.