If you’re a “true” baseball fan then you know Spring Training has begun and you’re excited to see your favorite team back on the field or hear about it on the radio and you’re counting down the days until regular season play.
Perhaps your love for the game came about on your own backyard ball field, or going to the game with your Dad or Grandpa, or sneaking your radio under the covers to hear the game broadcast late into the evening. We found an awesome article on the relationship of announcers, commercial radio and fandom that really hit to the heart of what we often hear – radio is community and sports radio is no exception, in fact it may be the inception.
Vice Sports Writer Mabel Rosenheck wrote – When we listen to games on the radio, we commune with our cities and our fandoms. Why radio particularly persists has something to do with nostalgia, certainly, but it also has to do with particular relationships of privacy and publicity that were created in the first half of the twentieth century and which are still with us in the twenty-first.”
There are folks who regularly call us to try to figure out what options they have for receiving the game. They love the play-by-play of their favorite announcers and often take a pocket radio to the game so they can listen while they watch. If you’ve been to a game – it makes more sense. So much of the time you have no idea what just happened if someone was injured or there’s a delay, but if you have a radio – the announcer keeps you informed and is communicating throughout the game what’s happening and what might happen (this hitter has 4 home runs, or has struck out the last 6 at bats).
We’ve written before about how Sports Radio is one of the few areas of radio that actively grooms talent and often keeps long term local talent because of the knowledge base required in order to have credibility in a particular market. If you grew up watching the Cubs and are an avid fan, it would be tough to pick up those roots and go over to cover the Giants on a deep level. Sports listeners expect their announcers and broadcasters to know who played 1st base for a club in 1972 and when a particular player retired or was traded. ListeEners know when you’re not credible and will tune out. The best announcers are story tellers, they make you feel like you are watching a game with a good (very knowledgeable) friend who is introducing you to each player.
Baseball continues to be a radio favorite and if you’re a true fan, you’re a part of this special community. It’s game day and you wear the hat or t-shirt or at least sport the colors. You can be out walking and have something in common with a complete stranger who is representing the same team and while listening you can enjoy the action and share in the camaraderie knowing there are others listening the same way you are.
Enter to Win! Please tell us in the comments – “Why do you enjoy listening to baseball on the radio?” and be entered to win a CC Pocket Radio. Drawing to be held 4/10/19. Please, one entry per person.
*Only comments from 2019 will be entered into the drawing.
2019 Winner!
Congratulations to Chris Hosford for winning a new CC Pocket Radio! Thank you to everyone that participated and good luck with any contests we do in the future!
2018 winner!
Congratulations Bill Cain for winning a brand new CC Pocket Radio! Thanks to all who participated. We value our TRUE C. Crane fans too. So many enjoyable comments that took us all WAY “back in the day” as if we were there with you! See you next contest!
I just like the nostalgia of listening to the Red Sox on the Radio. It reminds me of my youth plus you can go about your business not tied to a television and still not miss any of the action.
Listening to baseball on the radio lets me dream of being at the game while doing something else.
The nice thing about listening to a game, any game, on the radio is that you have to use your imagination. That’s always been true of radio listening. And the commentators are usually a little warmer and not quite so rough on the edges as on TV. That’s my feeling.
I’m a senior citizen. I can still recall as a boy listening to baseball games on the radio, especially during the World Series every year. I used to bring my radio to school and listen to the World Series and once recall my teacher catching me listening. I thought I was in big trouble, but the teacher merely asked me, ….. “what’s the score?” A good baseball announcer can paint a vivid picture of the action on the field and I still enjoy listening to ballgames late at night or when I’m driving long distances. It still takes me back to the 1950’s and 60’s.
When I worked for my Father years ago on his wholesale egg route,he always had the truck’s radio tuned in to 720 WGN,as he was a die-hard Cub fan! I remember many games that were announced by Jack Brickhouse; and later on by Harry Caray and Ron Santo. And if;in the rare event that the radio in the truck should decide to” go on strike”, he always made sure that we took a portable along with us during the time it was being repaired. Gary Gordon.
I’ve been listening to baseball on the radio for 50 years. It started with an alarm clock radio that received signals from hundreds of miles away on clear summer nights. I was fascinated as an 11 year old with such signal reception, as well as by a game played in the sunshine during the best season of the year. My fascination with reception helped me pursue an Electrical Engineering degree. Today baseball on the “radio” comes in many forms through various devices, making listening easier than ever. Keep up the good work!
As a fan of talk and sports radio along with being a Yankee fan, there is some magic listening to a game being broadcast on a radio. Unlike watching it on TV, you can really let your senses take over to give you the visual and crowded stadium energy to paint the picture of what is happening. Maybe it’s more nostalgic for me, but radio has always been a Theater of the Mind device. With the technology today, we can watch the game on our phones if need be. But nothing has the warmth you get listening the Old Fashioned way.
Tom Hamilton is the radio voice of the Cleveland Indians. If you watch the game on TV, mute the sound and listen to Tom call the game.
IT IS INTERESTING AND FUN ENTERTAINMENT
Since most games are at night or sometimes on the west coast, I can listen in bed and not have to fall asleep in front of the TV.
It lets me get lost in something fun
Just listen to the words of Terry Cashman’s “I Saw it on the Radio” and you’ll know. No sport translates over the airwaves like baseball. And the personalities that have emerged over the years have just added to the magic. I think Ernie Harwell was the best. How did he know where all those fans were from? What a clever way to make it come alive!
I enjoy listening to baseball on the radio, because to me, listening to baseball, works on a radio. The action in hockey and basketball changes too quickly for those sports to lend themselves well to a radio. I listen to much more baseball on the radio than I watch on television, because while listening to a game on the radio, I am free to do other things. That is not possible when sitting in front of the television.
Not necessarily baseball, but, rather than watching on television, I listen to most sports on radio. It allows me to continue working while keeping up with the game.
I like listening to baseball (Indians, Tigers & Pirates) on the radio because it allows me to do yard work while enjoying the games.
Kruik and Kipe! Need I say more!
This is the one area in which the radio shines! I cannot imagine being without a radio to hear the play by play of the Los Angeles Dodgers when I am not at the game, and with the price of the tickets and the trip down to the stadium going to the game is not a frequent option. I am happy that they have some announcers that I like, and of course, I miss the dulcet tones of Vin Scully as do all true Dodger fans, but they have good replacements and their new “kid” on the block, Joe Davis, it looks like they have a winner in him! In any case, when I am not able to see the games on television I am very glad that they have a radio broadcast and I do enjoy the way that the announcers paint the picture of the games!
I love to listen to baseball because it brings back memories of Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and countless others that captivated my mind as a youth. Radio still has that “Color commentary” to me. I always have a picture in my mind of what could happen next..
Love to listen baseball games on the radio, particularly when working in the garden or traveling in the car. The crack of a well hit ball, the roar of the crowd and the emotion in the announcer’s voice truly. communicate the excitement of a game that can be boring to watch on TV.
We must remember, unlike many popular sports, baseball is not made for a rectangular television set. It’s no fluke that the rise is football was due to the ever increasing number of televisions in the American household. Baseball, however, has a symbiotic link to the wonderful sounds of a broadcast on the radio.
Each Spring and Summer, the magic of listening to the Yankees on radio brings back all the memories of my youth. The late night games from the west coast on hot July night were, and still are, a source of comfort in my life. No matter what problems the day brought there was always the chance to steal away to my room and listen to the game.
One of the great aspects of listening to the game on radio is the ability to visualize what is happening on the field. The excitement of the announcer, Phil Rizzuto in my case, calling a homerun, beat anything witnessed on the tube. It was the portability of the radio that allowed me as a teenager to bring the game to any event. Who could forget when the teachers in High School allowed a transistor radio in class to listen to the World Series! An I-phone won’t conjure up those memories, I guarantee it!
As I age, the traditions and memories of my youth become integral to the story of my life. I, and I’m sure many people, want to recapture a small slice of the past. I have found that listening to baseball, especially on a hot July night, allows me to link the past to the present. No other medium has the capability to evoke such emotions. Whether listening to music, breaking news, or a baseball game, radio is the sound of life. Baseball and radio, past and present, and hopefully a heartwarming and winning season to come.
I am a life long Cub fan and I love to garden & go camping. Having a radio to listen to my Cubbies at any time is so rewarding & relaxing. I love the radio announcers for the Cubbies and their insight on the games is so much fun. This will be my first year with my Crane radio & am ready for “ let’s play ball “ !!!!!! Go Cubbies!!!
At 7 years old, my dad bought me a transistor radio, and what I recall the most was listening the Detroit Tigers. Those times were my introduction to the home town team, and a cheap radio. I’m sure the CC Pocket Radio will be a much better listening experience.
I remember when I was a kid in Detroit listening to Ernie Harwell announcing the play by play of a Tigers game late at night with my transistor radio under my pillow. It was the same size as the C C Pocket. I’d love to relive these memories.
Radio paints the perfect picture of the game in progress more than any other sport. When working in the yard on weekends no need to run inside to catch the game on tv I keep working while listening. While tv is my preference for football, radio for baseball. Being from NH of course I follow the Red Sox. Used to lovee following my favorite NL team the Phillies on the former WCAU 1210.
Listening to baseball on radio is both nostalgic as well as coontemporary. In the past, I would listen to games on radio while driving, in my bedroom, or while out in the yard. Today tv is a wasteland, the web is too slow, complicated, unreliable, full of ads, as well as confusing. A phone may do in a pinch but it uses resources and battery, so give me a radio for my baseball…portable, simple, current, and yes somewhat nostalgic.
I love listening to the baseball game or anything else for that matter because I do other things and still be involved in the game . I can be mobile. Plus I can visualize each play in my mine . So much better than TV any day.
Why simply because I can “be there” while I am somewhere else without causing a disruption in my everyday schedule!!!! I get to enjoy the game with all the sounds and excitement in my head!! How can you beat that???? I love it……
Baseball play by play on the radio takes me back to the days when I snuck my transistor radio under the covers and listened to the Yankees when they played late at night on the west coast. I’ll never forget the voice of the “scooter” Phil Rizzuto calling the action! I still listen to games (I’m now a cubbies fan) on Sirius/XM!
It’s makes time stand still listening to the game all tense and fast action brings back memory’s from past classic games. It makes working outside pleaent. Living in Alaska listiling to the Mariners bring me back to my childhood listening to the Yankees on the radio in Bew York.
The home town announcers keep you informed and entertained. They understand the fact that they are on the radio and have to be descriptive enough for the listener to envision the goings on along with the crowd and game background sounds. Listening to the radio gives you this along with the ability to multi task
Love to listen to baseball on the radio as I can not afford to go to the game.
It reminds me more simple times–listening to play by play with my brother and dad. I liked listening –to the great excitement of the announcer–and so creating the excitement for us. Oh, those were the fun times. Hearing the organ, hearing the announcer–and imagining the popcorn and hotdogs. Just remembering makes me happy!!
j ecoute le hockey a la radio ,ils compte 10 seconde avant la tv , coolll
Radio announcers give much better and more detailed description of events than those doing video reporting. To get the best of both worlds, watch the game in video and LISTEN to it at the same time on radio. You’ll see what I mean.
I enjoy listening to baseball on the radio so I can keep up with my favorite team, the Cincinnati Reds. I’m from Ohio and now that I live in North Carolina, radio is often the only way to hear their games.
Baseball on the AM radio is part of the magic of the game. It transcends generations young and old. The great baseball announcers such as Ernie Harwell would paint a picture in your mind. He would describe the action while telling a story about the game. Often times that story about baseball. Often times was a story of life in disguise. How many of us would take a transistor radio to bed and hide it under the pillow as we carefully listened to the game through the static of a late night thunderstorm?
Sometime in the mid-sixties, I was about 9 or 10 years old and I got a “Spy Pen” crystal radio purchase from the back of a comic book or MAD magazine. At night,in bed,with the alligator clip attached to the cold air return and much adjustment to the antenna and angling of the Spy Pen…. boom…. Cleveland Indians baseball game. I wasn’t an avid baseball fan ,other that playing every day on the city park playground. My radio only received the local Indians station,so bit by bit I was hooked on listening to play by play. Been that way for the next decades.
Generally free vs TV 📺 nowadays
Radio lets baseball be enjoyed anywhere, with word art that conveys the present while evoking the past.
I love listening to baseball on the radio because it opens up the world of imagination. Radio brings the world to you. It makes you use your mind while you are using your hands for other things.
Radio takes you there. The prose of the announcer, the background noise of the stadium, pulse through the space and time. The fact that the game is not constrained by time, the fact that it is live.
In my mind I am there. In my mind time stands still. In my minds eye plays back all the conversations, debates, and joyful banter with my friends and family I have had through the years. In my mind my dad is there. In my mind I am young.
When I visited my Grandparents in California as a young boy (circa 1950), my Grandfather would always listen to a baseball game on Sunday afternoons. I would sit with him, mesmerized by the sounds coming from his portable radio. We talked baseball while sometimes scoring the game. When I was ten, he game me a radio of my own to listen to the games. Baseball on the radio became synonymous with those wonderful summer days with my Grandpa. Truly wonderful memories for me made possible by baseball and radio.
Yeah. At the game, getting the commentary is nice, and if I score the game, calls are easy to record. Away, it is great to imagine the play and keep track of who’s on first (yes, I went there).
I love to listen to baseball on the radio. It makes me feel that I’m there in my mind.
Reminds me of when I was a kid listening to the Cincinnati Reds on the radio. Good times.
In 1961, I was 2 and the Washington Senators became the Minnesota Twins, and since we lived in the shadow of the Met stadium, I became a die-hard Twins fan and listened to their games on the mighty ‘CCO. (WCCO, 830 on your radio dial!) When I was eight my parents got me a shortwave radio and my Dad even hung a long wire antenna on the eve for me. Not only could I spend half the night in the darkness of my bedroom listening to shortwave stations from all over, I could spend summer nights listening on the AM dial for far away baseball games, which is how I became a fan of the Cardinals, the Dodgers, and the Giants as well. To me, there are no better memories than those nights listening to games on the radio, and even as an adult, I prefer to listen to baseball on the radio.
I enjoy listening to baseball on the radio because that’s the way the founding fathers listened to it.
Seriously though…it is a game you can picture in your head while the game is going on, and it’s usually better in your head than the video ends up being. And it reminds me of a great part of the past when there was more of it on the radio, from several far-away, big-league cities.
My wife is a huge baseball fan. She never misses a Cardinal game, and records every other baseball game that is on TV. One day we were trimming a hedge in our backyard and she was listening to KMOX AM and heard a game that Jack Buck called. She looked at me and said this so much better than TV!
It reminds me of sitting with my Dad, listening to Bob Eucker doing Milwaukee Brewers broadcasts.
We sat in the shade in the yard with a couple beers and just listened… chatted between innings.
It was the best of times.
Yes! That is summertime in Milwaukee!
Radio is the best way to follow a baseball game and the best way to keep up with your team. If the game is on TV I turn down the sound on the TV and listen to the radio. If I am at the game I still listen to the radio. On the radio the broadcasters describe so vividly what they see and as you imagine what they describe, the sounds of the game just pull you in. It is like you are on the field with the players. Radio allows me to move about and get things done. I am not tied to my easy chair paying attention to pixels on a box. With my radio I can work on my car or cut the grass. I can be productive while rooting for my team.
I love “RADIO”.!!!!!!! Nothing will ever take the place of RADIO.