Baseball, radio still go hand in hand

After waiting in line for hours at Richie Ashburn's 1997 public viewing, grown men, tears in their eyes, left behind transistor radios. At a 2002 memorial service for St. Louis broadcaster Jack Buck, a 61-voice chorus and full orchestra serenaded the mourning multitudes.

Tributes like those and the recent outpouring of grief that followed the death of beloved Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas were more than touching testaments to popular announcers. They were also reminders of the powerful allure of baseball on the radio.

It's been nearly 88 years since Pittsburgh radio station KDKA first broadcast a ball game, an 8-5 Pirates victory over the Phillies on Aug. 5, 1921, and yet the marriage remains strong, the romance just as enticing.

Even in this summer of 2009, when every game is televised and Webcast, and when fans can watch on cell phones or laptops, radio has its diehard devotees. Many listen even at the ballpark. Others prefer radio for their audio while watching on TV. And nothing enhances a backyard barbecue, a day at the beach, or a long car trip like a ball game on the radio.

"Radio is the perfect medium for baseball," said Curt Smith, the author of the definitive biography of baseball announcers, Voices of the Game.

"It's active, not passive," he said. "It's theater of the imagination. The structure of the game makes it perfect for radio and imperfect for TV.

"If you were to ask for the most identifiable sound of an American summer, the answer would almost have to be baseball on the radio. You hear it at the beach, in cars, in backyards, in bars. Radio still matters enormously to the game."

According to experts such as Smith, as well as the scores of Phillies fans who called or e-mailed The Inquirer following Kalas' death this spring, the attraction of baseball on the radio is multifaceted.

There's a nostalgic component, of course, one that connects the familiar sounds with youth, summer, and parents.

There's the way the best broadcasters can stir imaginations. There's the game's easy rhythms, which mesh so well with a cool medium. There are, unlike TV, occasional silences, and, maybe most important, there are the intimate connections fans make with broadcasters.