Classic Baseball Radio

Following an injury at the 1937 All-Star Game, Dizzy Dean lost his fastball, and the St Louis Cardinals traded away one of the leading lights of The Gashouse Gang. The Chicago Cubs picked up Dean in exchange for three players and the then-legendary sum of $185,000, convinced that his arm would recover. The fastball never returned, but Dean equipped himself with a new arsenal of knuckles, screws and junkballs ahead of the 1938 season. Six games into the year, and the Cardinals visit the Cubs. Everyone wanted Dizzy Dean on the mound to face his old team, and Cubs manager Charlie Grimm did not disappoint a Wrigley Field crowd of over 34,000. Facing Dean were familiar faces from the Gashouse Gang, including Pepper Martin and Johnny Mize. It’s time for a reckoning. Ewan Spence and the Classic Baseball Radio team bring you this recreated radio broadcast from 1938. This should not be considered a complete or fully accurate historical record. Nevertheless, this is our story of the game. You can find the boxscore here: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN193804240.shtml This game was played on April 24, 1938. We thank Retrosheet, Sports Reference, Sports Logos Net, Tom R Audio, and Crafting The Call.

1956 is a year that Yankees fans have fond memories of... Mickey Mantle will take the triple crown, Don Larsen will pitch a perfect game in the World Series, and Whitey Ford will lead the American League in ERA and winning percentage. Today, let's listen to Ford in action. The Chicago White Sox are visiting the Bronx for a doubleheader. Ford will face a line-up that includes a young Luis Aparicio and the hot bat of Minnie Miñoso, and he's going to use his mix of calm efficiency and ruthlessness that will lead the Yankees to the World Series. Bob Elson is behind the microphone to take you through the game. You can find the boxscore here: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA195605061.shtml This game was played on May 6, 1956.

The Boston Red Sox are in trouble. They are 36-37 at home, and have three games left to avoid the losing record; and they've just lost the first game in a two-game series against the Detroit Tigers. Locked in fourth place, they are playing for pride and to avoid a losing season in Fenway Park. But they have an ace in the line-up. Ted Williams, returning from military service in Korea, is coming back into the Boston lineup and batting .400 for the season. Ahead of him in he line-up is Jim Piersall, finding his form after spending most of 1952 being treated for bipolar disorder. In the Red Sox way is soon to be crowned Rookie of the Year Harvey Kuenn, and Mr Tiger himself Al Kaline… however, at this point in his storied career, Kaline is a rookie who’s only been playing in the Majors for three months. Ewan Spence and the Classic Baseball Radio team bring you this recreated radio broadcast from 1953. This should not be considered a complete or fully accurate historical record. Nevertheless, this is our story of the game. You can find the boxscore here: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BOS/BOS195309170.shtml This game was played on September 17, 1953. We thank Retrosheet, Sports Reference, Sports Logos Net, Tom R Audio, and Crafting The Call.

The SF Giants have just lost a place in the World Series, with arch rivals the Dodgers taking the National League's spot the previous evening. The Giants' 94-67 record with one game to go is not enough. Game 152 has become one to win for the pride of the club and to end the season with a W. The Cincinnati Reds were even further back in the National League. The core trio of Frank Robinson, Vada Pinson, and a young Pete Rose was promising, but as a team, the Reds fell short of the Dodgers' power or the Giants' finesse. Coming into this final game at 89-72, the totemic 90-win mark is within reach and a chance to overhaul Pittsburgh to finish third in the NL. High above Candlestick Park is another final moment, as Waite Hoyt prepares to call the game for the listening Reds fans back home. Following a career that included three World Series rings over twenty-one years and seven teams, he became one of the first players to transition into broadcasting. Now, after 24 years of calling strikes, balls and fouls, this would be Hoyt's commentating swansong. Featuring around two-thirds of the game, today's classic game is not a complete record of Hoyt's last game, but it is a record. And with so much of the early days of broadcasting lost to time, it's an excellent record of a baseball legend You can find the boxscore here: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SFN/SFN196510030.shtml This game was played on October 3, 1965.

The records credit Jim Bouton with the win, but everyone who followed the Yankees' 1963 season knows that the driving force in the middle of the year was Elston Howard. Stepping up into a leadership role after Mickey Mantle broke his foot and moved to the Injured List for ten weeks, the Yankees catcher would shepherd the rotation through the summer months with performance like this one, taking the young Bouton through 8 scoreless innings. Howard earned his American League MVP award by putting the Yankees on his broad shoulders. Neither should we ignore opposing pitcher Claude Osteen. The left-hander packed heat alongside an arsenal of breaking pitches. Already established as the Senators' ace, the offence would rarely back him up, and 1963 would end with a 9-14 record. The Dodgers would offer him a lifeline, and in 1965, he would join Don Drysdale, Sandy Koufax, and Johnny Podres in a devastating rotation in Los Angeles. Today? Today, you can see the difference Howard makes when supporting a young pitcher. Ewan Spence and the Classic Baseball Radio team bring you this recreated radio broadcast from 1963. Just as radio stations recreated baseball games from ticker-tape messages, we can research this classic game and present it to you as if you were listening to the radio in 1963. This should not be considered a complete or fully accurate historical record. Nevertheless, this is our story of the game. You can find the boxscore here: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA196306190.shtml This game was played on June 19, 1963 We thank Retrosheet, Sports Reference, Sports Logos Net, Tom R Audio, and Crafting The Call.

You can’t talk about Nolan Ryan without talking about the moments he flirted with Baseball Immortality. In a career that lasted 27 seasons, he threw a record seven no-hitters, three more than the number two on the list, Sandy Koufax. He also threw twelve one-hitters, sharing that record with Bob Feller. Today, we turn back the clock to 1970, as Nolan Ryan returns to Major League Baseball after a stint in the National Guard. The “Miracle Mets” of 1969 have a World Series under their belt, and their young fire-throwing rookie is on the bump, facing the wily legend of Jim Bunning, to bring that momentum into the seventies. You never know when your name is going to be written into the history books; you never know why, you just play the game as best you can. Will this be a memorable day for Nolan Ryan? For Jim Bunning? Or the Phillies' opening batter, Denny Doyle? Bob Murphy, Ralph Kiner, and Lindsey Nelson are on Mets Radio to take you through the game. And if you want a bit of broadcast trivia, Ralph Kiner’s future broadcast partner Tim McCarver is in the Phillies line-up. You can find the boxscore here https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN197004180.shtml This game was played on April 18, 1970.

Knuckleball pitcher Dick Fowler spent his entire career in the Majors with the Philadelphia Athletics. During the Second World War, he enlisted at the age of 22 and served three years with Canada’s 48th Light Highlanders, known as "The Ladies from Hell" thanks to wearing kilts on the battlefield. His first start on returning from service saw him face the St Louis Browns and hurl a no-hitter, the first Canadian to do so. Fowler is on the mound to face the Browns once more in today’s game. The Philadelphia Athletics are sitting in third place in the American League. Managed by 84-year-old legend Connie Mack, the Athletics are coming off 14 years without a winning record. Can the old-school tactic of manufacturing runs with small-ball batting and pitching bring back the glory years? They face a team fighting to escape a slump. The St Louis Browns have lost eight of their last ten games, but took the first game in this two-game series by 12 runs to 3. On the mound is Fred Sandford, who’s looking to find confidence in his fastball. This episode is a new approach to telling the history of America’s favourite game. Just as radio stations would recreate baseball games from tickertape messages, we can research this classic game and present it to you as if you were listening to the radio in 1947. Your comments are welcome. Ewan Spence and the Classic Baseball Radio team bring you this recreated radio broadcast from 1947. This should not be considered a complete or fully accurate historical record. Nevertheless, this is our story of the game. You can find the boxscore here: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHA/PHA194706250.shtml This game was played on June 25, 1947. We thank Retrosheet, Sports Reference, Sports Logos Net, Tom R Audio, and Crafting The Call.

The Boston Braves and Pittsburgh Pirates prepare to meet for the first time in the 1930 season, with the two clubs starting the campaign facing different challenges. The Pittsburgh Pirates, under manager Jewel Ens, have been playing inspired baseball. They have stormed out of the gate with a 9-3 record, establishing themselves as an early pennant contender alongside the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League standings. Meanwhile, the Boston Braves, guided by the steady hand of manager Bill McKechnie, are treading water. They arrive in Pittsburgh playing .500 ball through their first ten contests, holding a 5-5 record that places them in sixth. And while the two teams are preparing for the first of twenty-two meetings this year, rookie outfielder Wally Berger is looking to make his mark on the game. Ahead of him lie 11 years in the majors, four call-ups to the All-Star game, and reaching the World Series twice. This episode is a new approach to telling the history of America’s favourite game. Just as radio stations would recreate baseball games from tickertape messages, we can research this classic game and present it to you as if you were listening to the radio in 1930. Your comments are welcomed. This broadcast should not be considered a complete or fully accurate historical record. Nevertheless, this is our story of the game. Ewan Spence and the Classic Baseball Radio team bring you this recreated radio broadcast from 1930. We thank Crafting the Call, Retrosheet, and Sports Reference. You can find the boxscore here: ⁠⁠https://www.reddit.com/r/BaseballScorecards/comments/1oqumwq/boston_braves_4_at_pittsburgh_pirates_3_may_1/⁠⁠ This game was played on May 1, 1930.⁠

The 1969 World Series saw the Baltimore Orioles humbled by the Miracle Mets. The team carried that burden through the 1970 season, using it not to fall, but to rise. After 108 wins in the regular season, they stormed back to the World Series. Facing them were Cincinnati's "Big Red Machine." While the Orioles' offence delivered the runs, it's widely regarded that the defence won the World Series in 1970. And if the defence won the series, the MVP holding back the Reds was Brooks Robinson. For five games, Robinson put on a defensive clinic that has never been equalled. He repeatedly dove to his left and right, backhanded rockets down the line, and made seemingly impossible throws from foul territory to rob Johnny Bench and Lee May of base hits. And he hit.429 into the bargain. Today's broadcast is Game 5 of the series. The Orioles won two on the road and have split the first two games in Memorial Stadium. Can they seal the win, wipe away 1969, and lift the trophy? Jim Simpson calls the game. You can find the boxscore here: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BAL/BAL197010150.shtml This game was played on October 15, 1970.

What options do you have when your Game 7 starting pitcher falls ill? For the Milwaukee Braves in 1957, the answer was to call back Lew Burdette from two days' rest to pitch in the winner-takes-all duel against the New York Yankees. Burdette had already pitched two complete games and a shutout in the second. Now the weight of facing the Yankees, who were looking to go back-to-back in the Fall Classic. Meanwhile, the ferocious arm of Don Larsen — who pitched a perfect game in the 1956 World Series — was waiting for the Braves. With the respective MVPs of Hank Aaron and Mickey Mantle in the outfields, joined by Eddie Matthews and Yogi Berra offering back-up, the 1957 Series brings action, tension, and stars together. Bob Neale and Earl Gillespie are behind the radio microphones from Yankee Stadium. You can find the boxscore here: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA195710100.shtml This game was played on October 10, 1957.

The 1945 World Series between the Chicago Cubs an the Detroit Tigers is all square heading into Game 3 game apiece. The Cubs starting pitcher is 36-year-old veteran Claude Passeau, and he's about to throw a near perfect game with just 28 plate appearances by the Tigers. While his name is not brought up in discussions of the best pitchers of the era, his performance in Game Three is one of the all-time pitching appearances in World Series history. When the Cubs return to Wrigley Field, the Curse of the Billy Goat would kick in, but for now sit back with Bill Slater and Al Helfer behind the microphone. You can find the boxscore here: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/DET/DET194510050.shtml This game was played on October 5, 1945.

The Seattle Pilots organisation spent just one year in Seattle before moving to Milwaukee and rebranding as the Brewers. With just one year on the books, the Pilots' record brings up some interesting triva. While several players on the 1969 roster would feature in various All-Star games, only two would wear the Pilots in the celebration of baseball. Don Mincher would return following his 1967 All-Star pick, but for today's classic, let's pick out right fielder Mike Hegan. Hegan spent fourteen years in The Show, playing for the Yankees, the Pilots (and staying with the organisation to wear a Brewers uniform), the Athletics, back to the Yankees, and then back again to the Brewers. He made the All-Star game just once. In 1969. For the Seattle Pilots. That’s in the future. Right now, he's about to face his former team as the Yankees visit Sick's Stadium in Seattle. Frank Messer and Jerry Coleman take you through the game. You can find the boxscore here: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SE1/SE1196905130.shtml This game was played on May 13, 1969.

Two years after the Dodgers and the Giants moved to California to establish Major League Baseball on the West Coast, the Dodgers found themselves in the World Series. Following three games in the Los Angeles Colosseum, the Series returns to Cominsky Park with the Dodgers ahead 3-2. Larry Sherry had already won a game, saved two others, and is now on the mound in Game Six. The White Sox Early Wynn also returns as a starter, but on short rest of only two days, the White Sox are taking a gamble – a curious turn of phrase, as this is the first World Series for the White Sox since the Black Sox Scandal of 1917. Mel Allen and By Saam will talk you through the plays in a must-win game for the White Sox. You can find the boxscore here: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHA/CHA195910080.shtml This game was played on October 8, 1959.

Masanori Murakami may only have two lines in his yearly stages, and just 54 Major League games to his credit, but as the first Japanese player in the MLB his place in the history of our Great Game is assured. Coming to the US as an exchange student, when his Japanese team forgot to call him back, he stayed in the San Francisco Giants system. His MLB debut as a reliever took place on September 1, 1964, and he had a total of 9 games for the Giants. The off-season saw protracted contract negotiations, resolved with Murakami playing one more year for the Giants before returning to the Nankai Hawks in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league… and as part of that process, MLB and NPB agreed to honour each other’s reserve clauses. He never returned to play professionally in the US, but his career record of 5-1, 9 saves, and a 3.43 ERA will always have his momentous first alongside it. For today’s game, we move to August 29 in Murakami’s only full season. The Giants are on the road and visiting the Mets at Shea Stadium, the same stadium where he made his debut nearly 12 months previously. Bobby Bolin will start on the mound for the Giants, but Murakami is waiting in the bullpen. It’s the deciding game of a three-game series, and the Mets radio team of Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy, and Ralph Kiner will take you through the ballgame. You can find the boxscore here: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN196508290.shtml This game was played on August 29, 1965.

Some weeks, we pick out a game that is a pivotal moment in a team's history. Other weeks, we have a classic matchup. Maybe it's a game of a storied player early in their career? Not today. Today, it's just a game of baseball. Admittedly, it's one from nearly ninety years ago, but our game is still our game. Sit back as the Senators (31-45) take on the White Sox (50-33). You can find the boxscore here: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHA/CHA193707210.shtml This game was played on July 21, 1937.

The 1969 season is underway, and the Minnesota Twins' Rod Carew is already raking up the hits. After seven games, he's posting .388. That form will continue through the rest of the year, his eventual .322 winning him the AL Batting Trophy for the first of seven times—enough for the title to carry his name from 2016. If you want another 1969 stat, Carew steals home seven times (just one short of Ty Cobb's record of eight). Carew's career record notably contains 15 consecutive seasons batting over .300, starting in 1969; seven 5-hit games; and an overall .328, and elected to the Hall of Fame in 1991. As for legendary status, how about becoming only the 16th player in baseball history to reach 3000 hits? For today's game, we're early in the season, though, and the 6-6 California Angels are visiting the 7-4 Twins at Metropolitan Stadium. Monte Moore & Al Helfer take you through the game. You can find the boxscore here:https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MIN/MIN196904210.shtml. This game was played on April 21, 1969.

The New York Mets put up a strike-less game in the 2024 National League Championship game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. It's a rare feat, but even rare are both sides forgetting to get any strikes. That was the case in the pivotal Game 7 of the 1960 World Series. Naturally, everything is on the line. We know that starting pitchers Bob Turley and Vern Law will impress, but the journey makes it wonderful. So here's the journey, with Bob Prince and Mel Allen taking you through to the fairytale finish. You can find the boxscore here: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PIT/PIT196010130.shtml This game was played on October 13, 1960.

MLB’s first three years of post-season action saw the Baltimore Orioles appear each year. In 1971, the Oakland Athletic appeared for the first time and would have their own consecutive run of five years, reaching the fall knockout. The Orioles had come out on top in 1969 and 1970, winning the league pennant and making it to the World Series both years. Standing in front of them are the Athletes, looking to reach the World Series for the first time since the Philadelphia Athletics in 1931. Your national broadcast callers are Bill O'Donnell and Chuck Thompson. You can find the boxscore here: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BAL/BAL197110040.shtml This game was played on October 4, 1971

As the New York Mets and the Atlanta Braves meet for Game 161 and Game 162 to decide who goes into the 2024 Postseason, it's a chance to look back at some of the tiebreakers in the regular season, and specifically the last significant tiebreaker before the postseason expanded from just the World Series into the knockout format we recognise today. It's back to 1962 and as the season ends, the Giants and the Dodgers are tied at the top of the National League on 101 wins. With just a single spot in the World Series, the teams faced each other over a three-game series. They split the first two games, leading to a win-or-go-home Game 165 and the record for the longest season in Major League history. This is Game 165. George Kell and Al Helfer take you through a remarkable quirk of a game. You can find the boxscore here: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN196210030.shtml This game was played on October 3, 1962.

He started in the major with the Pirates, and 21 years later, he retired from the majors, having never left Pittsburgh. But Willie Stargell was more than a one-club baseball player; he was the club. That's why the Pirates called him Pops. They could also have called him Power. Stargell was one of the big hitters of the sixties and seventies, with a career .282 from 2,232 hits and 475 home runs. That career included two World Series rings and 7 All-Star appearances. For today's game, we turn to a late-season match-up against the Phillies. The Pirates are at the top of the NL East, and the Phillies are 5.5 games back with 20 games left to play. This is a chance for the Phillies to draw themselves closer to the post-seasons and for the Pirates to cement their lead. We join the Pirates broadcast with Bob Prince and Nelson King taking us through the game. You can find the boxscore here: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI197409110.shtml This game was played on September 11, 1974.