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

By: James R. Walker

Narrated by: Joseph Bevilacqua

Radio has brought the sounds of baseball into homes for almost 100 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 listeners 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.

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 20-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.

The book is published by University of Nebraska Press. The audiobook was published by University Press Audiobooks.

©2015 James R. Walker (P)2018 Redwood Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"A valuable resource for sport and media scholars alike…" (Historical Journal of Film, Radio, and Television)

"Well researched, and equally well written…" (American Journalism)

"Deserves to be on the reading list for courses in broadcast history and mass communication history." (Journalism & Mass Communication Educator)

Great Book

Lots of great knowledge and extremely well narrated by Mr Bevilacqua. Loved everything about the history.

repetitive

many of the chapters contain information that has been addressed or talked about in previous chapters
There is a lot of great info and dialogue and technical data but I would look for another book on the subject

Missing The Announcers

To me it was more about numbers than the announcers which is what I thought the book was going to be about. It was still interesting though.

A wonderful marriage of two of my favorite things

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.

Repeat Repeat Repeat

Very repetitive. Some of the information was interesting....the first time I heard it. The narrator's voice becomes a little grating, at times.