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Major League Baseball on television in the 1950s
BornonJune8: Attribution: content in this section was copied from Major League Baseball on television, Major League Baseball on ABC, Major League Baseball on NBC, Major League Baseball on CBS on August 3, 2019. Please see the history of that page for full attribution
In 1950, the [[Major League Baseball on Mutual|Mutual Broadcasting System]] acquired the television as well as radio broadcast rights to the World Series and All-Star Game for the next six years. [[Mutual Broadcasting System|Mutual]] may have been reindulging in dreams of becoming a television network or simply taking advantage of a long-standing business relationship; in either case, the broadcast rights were sold to NBC in time for the following season's games at an enormous profit.
==Year-by-year breakdown==
===[[1950 Major League Baseball season|1950]]===
By , World Series games could be seen in most of the country,<ref></ref><ref></ref> but not all. 1950 also marked the first time that there was an exclusive network television broadcaster (NBC). West Coast viewers finally saw live major league games on television during the 1951 postseason.
===[[1951 Major League Baseball season|1951]]===
NBC aired the second and third games of the [[1951 National League tie-breaker series]] between the [[1951 Brooklyn Dodgers season|Brooklyn Dodgers]] and [[1951 New York Giants (MLB) season|New York Giants]], necessitated by the teams' finishing the regular season in a tie for first place. The three-game [[pennant playoff]], which featured the first baseball games televised live from coast to coast (with CBS airing the first game), culminated on October 3 when the Giants won the third and deciding game by the score of 5–4 (off [[Bobby Thomson]]'s [[Shot Heard 'Round the World (baseball)|home run]]). [[Ernie Harwell]] called the game for Giants television flagship [[WPIX]] – the [[Independent station (North America)|independent station]]'s broadcast was simulcast nationally by NBC – and his description of the home run was a simple shout of "It's gone!" almost at the moment Thomson's bat struck [[Ralph Branca]]'s pitch. Harwell later admitted he had probably called it "too soon", but fortunately for him, the call proved to be correct. "And then", Harwell recalled, "the pictures took over."<ref></ref>
The 1951 playoff between Brooklyn and the New York Giants and that year's [[1951 World Series|World Series]] were the first major league baseball games telecast live from [[East Coast of the United States|coast]]-to-[[West Coast of the United States|coast]]<ref></ref> to [[East Coast of the United States|coast]];<ref name=TVSignals></ref><ref></ref><ref></ref> transcontinental network transmission lines had been completed and activated in September, in-time for the [[Japanese Peace Treaty Conference]] in San Francisco and the start of the 1951–52 television season.
===[[1952 Major League Baseball season|1952]]===
The [[1952 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1952 All-Star Game]] at [[Shibe Park]] in Philadelphia was the first nationally televised All-Star Game, but it was shortened due to rain.
===[[1953 Major League Baseball season|1953]]===
On January 31, 1953, the [[1953 New York Yankees season|New York Yankees]], [[1953 Cleveland Indians season|Cleveland Indians]] and [[1953 Boston Red Sox season|Boston Red Sox]] joined forces against [[1953 St. Louis Browns season|St. Louis Browns]] owner [[Bill Veeck]]. The respective franchises tried to force the Browns to play afternoon games in an attempt to avoid having to share television revenues. A month later, Major League Baseball owners received a warning from Senator [[Edwin C. Johnson|Edwin Johnson]] about nationally televising their games. Johnson's theory was that nationally televising baseball games would be a threat to the survival of [[minor league baseball]]. The owners pretty much ignored Johnson since the games on NBC in particular, were gaining a large and loyal following.
In ,<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref> [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]-TV executive [[Edgar J. Scherick]] (who later created ''[[Wide World of Sports (US television show)|Wide World of Sports]]'') broached a Saturday ''[[Major League Baseball Game of the Week|Game of the Week]]'',<ref></ref> TV sport's first network series. At the time, ABC was labeled a "nothing network" that had fewer outlets than [[CBS]] or [[NBC]]. ABC also needed paid programming or "anything for bills" as Scherick put it. At first, ABC hesitated at the idea of a nationally televised regular season baseball program. ABC wondered how exactly the ''Game of the Week'' would reach television in the first place and who would notice if it did? Also, Major League Baseball barred the ''Game of the Week'' from airing within 50 miles of any ballpark.<ref></ref> Major League Baseball according to Scherick, insisted on protecting local coverage and didn't care about national appeal. ABC, though, did care about the national appeal and claimed that "most of America was still up for grabs."
In April 1953, Edgar Scherick set out to sell teams rights but instead, only got the [[1953 Philadelphia Athletics season|Philadelphia Athletics]], [[1953 Cleveland Indians season|Cleveland Indians]],<ref></ref> and [[1953 Chicago White Sox season|Chicago White Sox]]<ref></ref><ref></ref> to sign on.<ref></ref> These were not "national" broadcast contracts since they were assembled through negotiations with individual teams to telecast games from their home parks. It was until the [[Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961]], that antitrust laws barred "pooled rights" TV contracts negotiated with a central league broadcasting authority.
In , ABC earned an 11.4 [[Nielsen ratings|rating]] for their ''Game of the Week'' telecasts. [[Blackout (broadcasting)|Blacked-out]] cities had 32% of households. In the rest of the United States, 3 in 4 TV sets in use watched [[Dizzy Dean]]<ref></ref> and [[Buddy Blattner]]<ref></ref> (or backup announcers Bill McColgan and Bob Finnegan) call the games for ABC. [[Major League Baseball on CBS|CBS]] took over the Saturday ''Game'' in [[1955 in baseball|1955]] (the rights were actually set up through the [[Falstaff Brewing Corporation]]<ref></ref>) retaining Dean/Blattner and McColgan/Finnegan as the announcing crews (as well as [[Gene Kirby]], who produced the Dean/Blattner games and alternated with them on play-by-play) and adding Sunday coverage in . As Edgar Scherick said, "In '53, no one wanted us. Now teams begged for "Game"'s cash."
===[[1955 Major League Baseball season|1955]]===
By ,<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref> [[Dizzy Dean]]<ref></ref> and the ''[[Major League Baseball Game of the Week|Game of the Week]]'' would move from [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] to CBS<ref></ref> (the rights were actually set up through the [[Falstaff Brewing Corporation]]<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref><ref></ref><ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>). "CBS' stakes were higher" said [[Buddy Blattner]], who left the [[Major League Baseball on Mutual|Mutual Broadcasting System]] to rejoin Dean. Ron Powers wrote about the reteaming of Dean and Blattner, "they wanted someone who'd known Diz, could bring him out." [[Gene Kirby]], who had worked with Dean and Blattner at Mutual and ABC, produced the telecasts and also filled in on announcing duties.
Bob Finnegan, who along with Bill McColgan had called backup games for ABC, performed the same role for CBS, working with a variety of color men including future ''[[Wide World of Sports (U.S. TV series)|Wide World of Sports]]'' host [[Jim McKay]]<ref></ref> and future ''[[ABC World News Tonight|World News Tonight]]'' anchor [[Frank Reynolds]].
Another first for NBC during this period was the first [[Color television|color telecast]]<ref></ref><ref></ref><ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref> of a World Series, the [[1955 World Series|1955]] matchup between the [[1955 Brooklyn Dodgers season|Brooklyn Dodgers]] and the [[1955 New York Yankees season|New York Yankees]].
===[[1956 Major League Baseball season|1956]]===
In 1956, CBS Sports director [[Frank Chirkinian]] devised an earplug called an Intercepted Feed Back (or IFB) in order to connect the announcer, director, producer and thus, smoothing on-air flow.<ref></ref>
===[[1957 Major League Baseball season|1957]]===
In 1957,<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref> NBC started airing weekend ''[[Major League Baseball Game of the Week|Game of the Week]]'' telecasts<ref></ref><ref></ref> (Sunday telecasts were added in 1959) with [[Lindsey Nelson]] and [[Leo Durocher]] calling the action. During this period, NBC (as rival [[Major League Baseball on CBS|CBS]] had the rights to broadcast at least eight teams) typically broadcast from [[1957 Pittsburgh Pirates season|Pittsburgh]]'s [[Forbes Field]], [[1957 Chicago Cubs season|Chicago]]'s [[Wrigley Field]] or [[1957 Milwaukee Braves season|Milwaukee]]'s [[Milwaukee County Stadium|County Stadium]]. NBC purchased the rights to 11 [[Milwaukee Braves]] games, 11 [[Pittsburgh Pirates]] games, two [[1957 Washington Senators season|Washington Senators]] games, and two [[Chicago Cubs]] games. Leo Durocher was succeeded as [[color commentator]] by [[Fred Haney]] in 1960, and [[Joe Garagiola, Sr.|Joe Garagiola]] in 1961, while [[Bob Wolff]]<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref> replaced Nelson on [[play-by-play]] in 1962.
Also in , CBS added a Sunday ''Game of the Week''.<ref></ref><ref></ref><ref></ref> ABC's [[Edgar Scherick]] said "In [[1953 in baseball|'53]], no one wanted us. Now teams begged for "Game"'s cash." That year, the [[National Football League]] (NFL) began a US$14.1 million revenue-sharing pact. By , Major League Baseball ended the large-market [[Blackout (broadcasting)|blackout]], got $6.5 million for exclusivity, and split the pot.
With CBS now carrying the ''Game of the Week'',<ref></ref> the network's stations in [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]] ([[KSAZ-TV|KOOL-TV]]), [[Little Rock, Arkansas|Little Rock]] ([[KTHV]]) and [[Cedar Rapids, Iowa|Cedar Rapids]] ([[KGAN-TV]]) were finally receiving the broadcasts. Bud Blattner said "America had never had TV network ball. Now you're getting two games a week [four, counting NBC, by ]."
===[[1958 Major League Baseball season|1958]]===
In , Dizzy Dean ruffled the feathers of CBS Sports head [[Bill MacPhail]] when he said "I don't know how we come off callin' this the 'Game of the Week'. There's a much better game – [[1958 Los Angeles Dodgers season|Dodgers]]–[[1958 San Francisco Giants season|Giants]] – over on [[Major League Baseball on NBC|NBC]]." Dean also once refused a Falstaff ad because the date was [[Mother's Day]]. When [[United Airlines]] backed CBS' ''Game of the Week'' telecasts, Dean – who hated to fly – said "If you have to, pod-nuh, [[Eastern Airlines|Eastern]] is much the best." That year, [[George Kell]] served as host for the pregame show. During one broadcast, Kell hoped to ask guest [[Casey Stengel]] about the [[1958 New York Yankees season|Yankees]]' batting order. When asked about how it went, Kell said, "Fine. But in our 15 minutes, Casey didn't get past the leadoff batter."
From 1958 to 1960,<ref></ref> NBC aired a special regional feed of its games in the [[Southeastern United States|southeast]], where the network had a different sponsor (such as [[National Bohemian]] beer) than for the rest of the country. This feed featured its own announcing team, with [[Chuck Thompson]] calling the games with [[Bill Veeck]] (1958) and [[Al Rosen]] (1959–60). NBC never had a true backup game until 1966, when the network got exclusivity for the ''Game of the Week''. In the process, NBC brought in [[Curt Gowdy]] and [[Pee Wee Reese]] for the primary game, and [[Jim Simpson (sportscaster)|Jim Simpson]] and [[Tony Kubek]] for the alternate game (which was always shown in the markets of teams playing in the primary game).
===[[1959 Major League Baseball season|1959]]===
[[Jack Whitaker (sportscaster)|Jack Whitaker]] and [[Frankie Frisch]] announced the backup games on CBS from [[1959 in baseball|1959]] to [[1961 in baseball|1961]]. They usually did games that took place in [[Shibe Park|Philadelphia]], [[Yankee Stadium (1923)|New York City]], [[Griffith Stadium|Washington, D.C.]] or [[Memorial Stadium (Baltimore)|Baltimore]]. Whitaker once said in three years, he would only broadcast three innings because CBS would not switch away from Dizzy Dean. However, he said that he learned a lot of baseball just sitting next to Frisch. CBS had other backup crews for games featuring the [[Chicago Cubs]] and [[Chicago White Sox|White Sox]], [[Cleveland Indians]] and [[Cincinnati Reds]]. In these cases, Bob Finnegan would handle the play-by-play duties with various analysts depending on the city. CBS did not have ''Game of the Week'' rights from any other ballparks in those years.
In , ABC broadcast the [[1959 National League tie-breaker series|best-of-three playoff series]]<ref></ref><ref></ref><ref></ref> (to decide the [[National League pennant winners 1876–1968|National League pennant]]) between the [[1959 Milwaukee Braves season|Milwaukee Braves]] and [[1959 Los Angeles Dodgers season|Los Angeles Dodgers]]. The cigarette company [[L&M]] was in charge of all of the telecasts. [[George Kell]]<ref></ref> and [[Bob DeLaney (sportscaster)|Bob DeLaney]] were the announcers.
[[Chicago White Sox]] announcer [[Bob Elson]] missed a chance to call the [[1959 World Series]] – the [[1959 Chicago White Sox season|White Sox]]' first since [[1919 World Series|1919]], and Elson's first since [[1943 World Series|1943]] – on NBC because the then head of [[NBC Sports]], Tom Gallery (who incidentally, grew up on the same block as Elson) did not like him.<ref></ref> Elson was, however, allowed to call the Series on the White Sox' radio flagship, [[WCFL (AM)|WCFL]].
==References==
[[Category:ABC Sports]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball on NBC| ]]
[[Category:CBS Sports]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball on television history| ]]
[[Category:1950 Major League Baseball season| ]]
[[Category:1951 Major League Baseball season| ]]
[[Category:1952 Major League Baseball season| ]]
[[Category:1953 Major League Baseball season| ]]
[[Category:1954 Major League Baseball season| ]]
[[Category:1955 Major League Baseball season| ]]
[[Category:1956 Major League Baseball season| ]]
[[Category:1957 Major League Baseball season| ]]
[[Category:1958 Major League Baseball season| ]]
[[Category:1959 Major League Baseball season| ]]
==Year-by-year breakdown==
===[[1950 Major League Baseball season|1950]]===
By , World Series games could be seen in most of the country,<ref></ref><ref></ref> but not all. 1950 also marked the first time that there was an exclusive network television broadcaster (NBC). West Coast viewers finally saw live major league games on television during the 1951 postseason.
===[[1951 Major League Baseball season|1951]]===
NBC aired the second and third games of the [[1951 National League tie-breaker series]] between the [[1951 Brooklyn Dodgers season|Brooklyn Dodgers]] and [[1951 New York Giants (MLB) season|New York Giants]], necessitated by the teams' finishing the regular season in a tie for first place. The three-game [[pennant playoff]], which featured the first baseball games televised live from coast to coast (with CBS airing the first game), culminated on October 3 when the Giants won the third and deciding game by the score of 5–4 (off [[Bobby Thomson]]'s [[Shot Heard 'Round the World (baseball)|home run]]). [[Ernie Harwell]] called the game for Giants television flagship [[WPIX]] – the [[Independent station (North America)|independent station]]'s broadcast was simulcast nationally by NBC – and his description of the home run was a simple shout of "It's gone!" almost at the moment Thomson's bat struck [[Ralph Branca]]'s pitch. Harwell later admitted he had probably called it "too soon", but fortunately for him, the call proved to be correct. "And then", Harwell recalled, "the pictures took over."<ref></ref>
The 1951 playoff between Brooklyn and the New York Giants and that year's [[1951 World Series|World Series]] were the first major league baseball games telecast live from [[East Coast of the United States|coast]]-to-[[West Coast of the United States|coast]]<ref></ref> to [[East Coast of the United States|coast]];<ref name=TVSignals></ref><ref></ref><ref></ref> transcontinental network transmission lines had been completed and activated in September, in-time for the [[Japanese Peace Treaty Conference]] in San Francisco and the start of the 1951–52 television season.
===[[1952 Major League Baseball season|1952]]===
The [[1952 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1952 All-Star Game]] at [[Shibe Park]] in Philadelphia was the first nationally televised All-Star Game, but it was shortened due to rain.
===[[1953 Major League Baseball season|1953]]===
On January 31, 1953, the [[1953 New York Yankees season|New York Yankees]], [[1953 Cleveland Indians season|Cleveland Indians]] and [[1953 Boston Red Sox season|Boston Red Sox]] joined forces against [[1953 St. Louis Browns season|St. Louis Browns]] owner [[Bill Veeck]]. The respective franchises tried to force the Browns to play afternoon games in an attempt to avoid having to share television revenues. A month later, Major League Baseball owners received a warning from Senator [[Edwin C. Johnson|Edwin Johnson]] about nationally televising their games. Johnson's theory was that nationally televising baseball games would be a threat to the survival of [[minor league baseball]]. The owners pretty much ignored Johnson since the games on NBC in particular, were gaining a large and loyal following.
In ,<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref> [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]-TV executive [[Edgar J. Scherick]] (who later created ''[[Wide World of Sports (US television show)|Wide World of Sports]]'') broached a Saturday ''[[Major League Baseball Game of the Week|Game of the Week]]'',<ref></ref> TV sport's first network series. At the time, ABC was labeled a "nothing network" that had fewer outlets than [[CBS]] or [[NBC]]. ABC also needed paid programming or "anything for bills" as Scherick put it. At first, ABC hesitated at the idea of a nationally televised regular season baseball program. ABC wondered how exactly the ''Game of the Week'' would reach television in the first place and who would notice if it did? Also, Major League Baseball barred the ''Game of the Week'' from airing within 50 miles of any ballpark.<ref></ref> Major League Baseball according to Scherick, insisted on protecting local coverage and didn't care about national appeal. ABC, though, did care about the national appeal and claimed that "most of America was still up for grabs."
In April 1953, Edgar Scherick set out to sell teams rights but instead, only got the [[1953 Philadelphia Athletics season|Philadelphia Athletics]], [[1953 Cleveland Indians season|Cleveland Indians]],<ref></ref> and [[1953 Chicago White Sox season|Chicago White Sox]]<ref></ref><ref></ref> to sign on.<ref></ref> These were not "national" broadcast contracts since they were assembled through negotiations with individual teams to telecast games from their home parks. It was until the [[Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961]], that antitrust laws barred "pooled rights" TV contracts negotiated with a central league broadcasting authority.
In , ABC earned an 11.4 [[Nielsen ratings|rating]] for their ''Game of the Week'' telecasts. [[Blackout (broadcasting)|Blacked-out]] cities had 32% of households. In the rest of the United States, 3 in 4 TV sets in use watched [[Dizzy Dean]]<ref></ref> and [[Buddy Blattner]]<ref></ref> (or backup announcers Bill McColgan and Bob Finnegan) call the games for ABC. [[Major League Baseball on CBS|CBS]] took over the Saturday ''Game'' in [[1955 in baseball|1955]] (the rights were actually set up through the [[Falstaff Brewing Corporation]]<ref></ref>) retaining Dean/Blattner and McColgan/Finnegan as the announcing crews (as well as [[Gene Kirby]], who produced the Dean/Blattner games and alternated with them on play-by-play) and adding Sunday coverage in . As Edgar Scherick said, "In '53, no one wanted us. Now teams begged for "Game"'s cash."
===[[1955 Major League Baseball season|1955]]===
By ,<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref> [[Dizzy Dean]]<ref></ref> and the ''[[Major League Baseball Game of the Week|Game of the Week]]'' would move from [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] to CBS<ref></ref> (the rights were actually set up through the [[Falstaff Brewing Corporation]]<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref><ref></ref><ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>). "CBS' stakes were higher" said [[Buddy Blattner]], who left the [[Major League Baseball on Mutual|Mutual Broadcasting System]] to rejoin Dean. Ron Powers wrote about the reteaming of Dean and Blattner, "they wanted someone who'd known Diz, could bring him out." [[Gene Kirby]], who had worked with Dean and Blattner at Mutual and ABC, produced the telecasts and also filled in on announcing duties.
Bob Finnegan, who along with Bill McColgan had called backup games for ABC, performed the same role for CBS, working with a variety of color men including future ''[[Wide World of Sports (U.S. TV series)|Wide World of Sports]]'' host [[Jim McKay]]<ref></ref> and future ''[[ABC World News Tonight|World News Tonight]]'' anchor [[Frank Reynolds]].
Another first for NBC during this period was the first [[Color television|color telecast]]<ref></ref><ref></ref><ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref> of a World Series, the [[1955 World Series|1955]] matchup between the [[1955 Brooklyn Dodgers season|Brooklyn Dodgers]] and the [[1955 New York Yankees season|New York Yankees]].
===[[1956 Major League Baseball season|1956]]===
In 1956, CBS Sports director [[Frank Chirkinian]] devised an earplug called an Intercepted Feed Back (or IFB) in order to connect the announcer, director, producer and thus, smoothing on-air flow.<ref></ref>
===[[1957 Major League Baseball season|1957]]===
In 1957,<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref> NBC started airing weekend ''[[Major League Baseball Game of the Week|Game of the Week]]'' telecasts<ref></ref><ref></ref> (Sunday telecasts were added in 1959) with [[Lindsey Nelson]] and [[Leo Durocher]] calling the action. During this period, NBC (as rival [[Major League Baseball on CBS|CBS]] had the rights to broadcast at least eight teams) typically broadcast from [[1957 Pittsburgh Pirates season|Pittsburgh]]'s [[Forbes Field]], [[1957 Chicago Cubs season|Chicago]]'s [[Wrigley Field]] or [[1957 Milwaukee Braves season|Milwaukee]]'s [[Milwaukee County Stadium|County Stadium]]. NBC purchased the rights to 11 [[Milwaukee Braves]] games, 11 [[Pittsburgh Pirates]] games, two [[1957 Washington Senators season|Washington Senators]] games, and two [[Chicago Cubs]] games. Leo Durocher was succeeded as [[color commentator]] by [[Fred Haney]] in 1960, and [[Joe Garagiola, Sr.|Joe Garagiola]] in 1961, while [[Bob Wolff]]<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref> replaced Nelson on [[play-by-play]] in 1962.
Also in , CBS added a Sunday ''Game of the Week''.<ref></ref><ref></ref><ref></ref> ABC's [[Edgar Scherick]] said "In [[1953 in baseball|'53]], no one wanted us. Now teams begged for "Game"'s cash." That year, the [[National Football League]] (NFL) began a US$14.1 million revenue-sharing pact. By , Major League Baseball ended the large-market [[Blackout (broadcasting)|blackout]], got $6.5 million for exclusivity, and split the pot.
With CBS now carrying the ''Game of the Week'',<ref></ref> the network's stations in [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]] ([[KSAZ-TV|KOOL-TV]]), [[Little Rock, Arkansas|Little Rock]] ([[KTHV]]) and [[Cedar Rapids, Iowa|Cedar Rapids]] ([[KGAN-TV]]) were finally receiving the broadcasts. Bud Blattner said "America had never had TV network ball. Now you're getting two games a week [four, counting NBC, by ]."
===[[1958 Major League Baseball season|1958]]===
In , Dizzy Dean ruffled the feathers of CBS Sports head [[Bill MacPhail]] when he said "I don't know how we come off callin' this the 'Game of the Week'. There's a much better game – [[1958 Los Angeles Dodgers season|Dodgers]]–[[1958 San Francisco Giants season|Giants]] – over on [[Major League Baseball on NBC|NBC]]." Dean also once refused a Falstaff ad because the date was [[Mother's Day]]. When [[United Airlines]] backed CBS' ''Game of the Week'' telecasts, Dean – who hated to fly – said "If you have to, pod-nuh, [[Eastern Airlines|Eastern]] is much the best." That year, [[George Kell]] served as host for the pregame show. During one broadcast, Kell hoped to ask guest [[Casey Stengel]] about the [[1958 New York Yankees season|Yankees]]' batting order. When asked about how it went, Kell said, "Fine. But in our 15 minutes, Casey didn't get past the leadoff batter."
From 1958 to 1960,<ref></ref> NBC aired a special regional feed of its games in the [[Southeastern United States|southeast]], where the network had a different sponsor (such as [[National Bohemian]] beer) than for the rest of the country. This feed featured its own announcing team, with [[Chuck Thompson]] calling the games with [[Bill Veeck]] (1958) and [[Al Rosen]] (1959–60). NBC never had a true backup game until 1966, when the network got exclusivity for the ''Game of the Week''. In the process, NBC brought in [[Curt Gowdy]] and [[Pee Wee Reese]] for the primary game, and [[Jim Simpson (sportscaster)|Jim Simpson]] and [[Tony Kubek]] for the alternate game (which was always shown in the markets of teams playing in the primary game).
===[[1959 Major League Baseball season|1959]]===
[[Jack Whitaker (sportscaster)|Jack Whitaker]] and [[Frankie Frisch]] announced the backup games on CBS from [[1959 in baseball|1959]] to [[1961 in baseball|1961]]. They usually did games that took place in [[Shibe Park|Philadelphia]], [[Yankee Stadium (1923)|New York City]], [[Griffith Stadium|Washington, D.C.]] or [[Memorial Stadium (Baltimore)|Baltimore]]. Whitaker once said in three years, he would only broadcast three innings because CBS would not switch away from Dizzy Dean. However, he said that he learned a lot of baseball just sitting next to Frisch. CBS had other backup crews for games featuring the [[Chicago Cubs]] and [[Chicago White Sox|White Sox]], [[Cleveland Indians]] and [[Cincinnati Reds]]. In these cases, Bob Finnegan would handle the play-by-play duties with various analysts depending on the city. CBS did not have ''Game of the Week'' rights from any other ballparks in those years.
In , ABC broadcast the [[1959 National League tie-breaker series|best-of-three playoff series]]<ref></ref><ref></ref><ref></ref> (to decide the [[National League pennant winners 1876–1968|National League pennant]]) between the [[1959 Milwaukee Braves season|Milwaukee Braves]] and [[1959 Los Angeles Dodgers season|Los Angeles Dodgers]]. The cigarette company [[L&M]] was in charge of all of the telecasts. [[George Kell]]<ref></ref> and [[Bob DeLaney (sportscaster)|Bob DeLaney]] were the announcers.
[[Chicago White Sox]] announcer [[Bob Elson]] missed a chance to call the [[1959 World Series]] – the [[1959 Chicago White Sox season|White Sox]]' first since [[1919 World Series|1919]], and Elson's first since [[1943 World Series|1943]] – on NBC because the then head of [[NBC Sports]], Tom Gallery (who incidentally, grew up on the same block as Elson) did not like him.<ref></ref> Elson was, however, allowed to call the Series on the White Sox' radio flagship, [[WCFL (AM)|WCFL]].
==References==
[[Category:ABC Sports]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball on NBC| ]]
[[Category:CBS Sports]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball on television history| ]]
[[Category:1950 Major League Baseball season| ]]
[[Category:1951 Major League Baseball season| ]]
[[Category:1952 Major League Baseball season| ]]
[[Category:1953 Major League Baseball season| ]]
[[Category:1954 Major League Baseball season| ]]
[[Category:1955 Major League Baseball season| ]]
[[Category:1956 Major League Baseball season| ]]
[[Category:1957 Major League Baseball season| ]]
[[Category:1958 Major League Baseball season| ]]
[[Category:1959 Major League Baseball season| ]]
August 04, 2019 at 09:31AM
