'Radio is what sold me on baseball'-Hossrex

Dugout Central notes Red Sox radio's move back to WEEI. Discussion relates baseball's past growth via its

• 50,000 watt home radio stations:

1. Scott Jensen:

• "Teams make money via tv and attendance, but build the fan base
• through the radio."...

2. Hossrex:

• "Where I live, for my entire life we got 1240 KSMA, which played every Dodger game. I absolutely agree with what you said about building the fanbase through radio, because… as I’ve actually mentioned here before…

• I developed my love of the game in no small part through summer barbecues with Vinny coming through an old boombox. Sitting outside on a warm central California evening, slow cooking a tri-tip, focused on a 12th inning Pedro Guerrero at-bat. Some of my fondest memories.

More so than playing myself… and probably more even than making our bi-annual trip to Dodger Stadium (about three hours away)…

• radio is what sold me on baseball.

Then 1240 KSMA switched to 1240 KSMX (I presume because the “X” makes it sound sexy), and Dodger games disappeared in favor of Lars Larson… or Michael Reagan… or some damn show like that (I really don’t know, or care which). We get every game on television now, and I don’t mind paying $15 a year for Gameday Audio… so the Barbecues still happen, and the long broken boombox was replaced by a laptop with wireless internet…

• but it still doesn’t feel the same.

There’s something classic about baseball,

• there’s something classic about radio, and there’s

• nothing more classic than baseball on the radio."...

3. Michael Crowe:

• "Hossrex: “There’s nothing more classic than baseball on radio.”

Indeed. Back in my childhood there wasn’t any baseball in the south, so most everybody in these parts

• were Cardinal fans, simply because that’s the signal that came in strongest across the mid-south.

These days I have to hunt for the Braves on TV. They might be spread anywhere across FSS, SS, FOX, Peachtree Net, ESPN regional or even FX. Oh for the days of Braves on TBS. Thankfully local 93.9 always has them.

• Regional teams like Atlanta and St Louis owe their “nation” status in large part to radio."

4. Mike:

• "I grew up in the Hyde Park section of Boston and there was nothing better than a warm summer night and Ned Martin’s classic voice on WHDH. He was for us what Vin Scully (the greatest ever!!!!!) was to Dodger fans. I’m sure Tiger fans feel the same way about the legendary Ernie Harwell, or O’s fans love of Chuck Thompson, or the Scooter in New York.

• I’ll take any of these bygone voices over what we have today. A mix of bland sound-alikes and blatant homers who call every home run like it was a game 7 game winner."

5. GK

• "I bemoan the loss of MLB on 50,000 watt superstations.

• As a longtime Ohio resident, I loved the Tigers in the late 1980s because I could hear them almost every night, listening to Ernie Harwell and Paul Carey on WJR. In 1996, it became easy to root for the Yankees despite having to hear the over-the-top antics of John Sterling on WABC. I couldn’t get KMOX out of St. Louis nearly as well, but it was a treat to hear either of Bucks (Jack or Joe) and Mike Shannon on occasion. Hearing the different teams made it very easy to follow the game, and not just the one that was in your city/region.

Sadly, I have no idea what (flagship) station those teams are on now because those teams are no longer on those 50,000 watt flame-throwers.

• At least the Reds are still on WLW. The Brennamans (Marty and Thom) and Jeff Brantley are entertaining, but it’s a shame that the Reds on the field haven’t fielded a product worth listening to since this decade started."

6. Jim:

• "I probably listen to 10 games on the radio for each that I watch on TV,

• so Joe and Dave are regulars...

Those who have mentioned that radio is a proven method of building a fan base are right.

• I learned to love baseball sitting with my grandfather while he listened to the game on a small transistor radio he carried.

As the game went on, he told me stories about the Sox from the 30’s and 40’s, transference of love for the sport and for the team.

• The Twins and Cardinals have a huge fan base throughout the mid west simply from their

• presence on WCCO and KMOX."...

I'm grateful for XM but that still leaves you with half your games without your home team radio booth. In many cases even with XM, you often don't get your pre-game and entire post game show. Sometimes you need to hear those shows. I've traveled in the car looking for Yankee games in small markets between New York city and Florida and never found one. If I was lucky enough to find a station broadcasting baseball, it was a local team, high school, etc. (framus)

• Reference: Dugout Central, "Red Sox Move back to WEEI," by Scott Jensen, 8/25/09

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