Having read half the story by Lance Dann, I was brought back to my childhood memories. I grew up in Fort Worth, Texas and come the early parts of summer every radio would be tuned into hear the TCU Horned Frogs play in their regional. Later on in my childhood, the Rangers were added to this list. Sure, you could watch the game on the TV, but where was the fun in that?
Baseball on TV is for the most part rather boring you see how ever play is going to end up once the ball is hit. Often time in a baseball game, minutes can go by where nothing happens. On top of the predictability of TV baseball, having an event playing on a TV preoccupies all of your attention. One gets sucked into the ever changing picture on the screen. Your productivity and ability to hold conversation with others is killed. My dad always insisted that baseball is a radio game. In his words, “it’s something that you listen to while you do something else.”
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1125020-ranking-the-10-best-radio-announcers-in-the-mlb/page/3
The way baseball works, the slowness of the game gives the announcer the time to paint a picture of whatever they want. Some of the more talkative announcers are able to recite the entire history of various statistical records between pitches. It adds a certain richness to the game.
Often times baseball gets criticized for calling itself “America’s Game” when football is much more popular in this country. I agree with the criticism about baseball, instead of calling it America’s game I prefer to call if America’s heartbeat. Baseball is slow, steady, and continuous in ways that football simply is not. I prefer football kid me not, but when I want to relax I will turn on a baseball game and do something while I listen. Watching football can result in me yelling at a TV in a crowded restaurant. Which is not good for the people around me, who wants that happening while they try and eat dinner.
The way baseball works, the slowness of the game gives the announcer the time to paint a picture of whatever they want. Some of the more talkative announcers are able to recite the entire history of various statistical records between pitches. It adds a certain richness to the game.
Often times baseball gets criticized for calling itself “America’s Game” when football is much more popular in this country. I agree with the criticism about baseball, instead of calling it America’s game I prefer to call if America’s heartbeat. Baseball is slow, steady, and continuous in ways that football simply is not. I prefer football kid me not, but when I want to relax I will turn on a baseball game and do something while I listen. Watching football can result in me yelling at a TV in a crowded restaurant. Which is not good for the people around me, who wants that happening while they try and eat dinner.
Baseball announcers use the half a story concept talked about in Lance’s work to perfection. They are offered forth a blank slate on which to paint pictures onto your mind free from the images that come with watching a game on tv. They are able to vividly describe the colors of the jerseys and the smell of the grass. All of these things that they describe are things you can easily see on tv, but you wouldn’t appreciate them.
Baseball announcers are one of those groups that has perfected the use of half a story. They paint pictures inside the heads of millions that can’t see the action that is being described but are perfectly able to understand it because of the words of the baseball announcer. Baseball truly is a radio game.
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