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Baseball on Radio
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Baseball – one of the popular games in the United States, Canada and other parts of North America, is followed in different ways. Although baseball fans do not wish to miss the opportunity to watch a baseball game live from the stadium, it is not possible for everyone to be present at the stadium in every occasion. Like watching a baseball game on television, many also follow the game of baseball on radio. Various baseball games are broadcasted on radio. In fact baseball was amongst the first few sports that were broadcasted on radio in the United States. Currently, baseball on radio has become a tradition of almost 80 years since the Major League Baseball game was broadcasted for the first time.
A Brief History
The history of radio broadcast of baseball games goes back to 1921 when a game between Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates was broadcasted on radio on August 21 by KDKA of Pittsburgh. In the same year, KDKA, along with WJZ of Newark, broadcasted the first World Series. The next World Series was entirely broadcasted by WJZ.
During 1930s, the teams of Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston and St. Louis decided not to broadcast any away games. In 1932, the New York owners further decided to ban baseball on radio. However, all the major league teams started broadcasting their games once again on the radio in 1939.
Baseball also started becoming increasingly commercialized on radio. The sponsorship rights of the World Series were also sold for the first time in 1934.
However, with the increasing popularity of television, the popularity of baseball on radio started declining gradually. Although the World Series continued to be broadcasted on NBC Radio from 1960 to 1975 and on CBS Radio from 1976 to 1997, there was no national broadcast of baseball on radio until 1985, when CBS Radio started broadcasting Game of the Week. In 1998, it came on ESPN Radio which started broadcasting baseball games. Presently, ESPN Radio broadcasts baseball games on the weekends. Since 2005 season, XM Satellite Radio launched MLB Home Plate.
Types of Radio Stations
There can be different types of radio stations that broadcast baseball games.
Flagship Stations: These radio stations usually have an affiliated network, which re-broadcast the feed taken from the flagship stations.
Satellite Radio: These radio stations offer Major League Baseball coverage seven days a week. This service is available to the XM and SIRIUS subscribers. Besides exhaustive radio coverage, several talk shows, hosted by the experts are regularly organized.
Various Flagship Radio Stations
Following are flagship radio stations of the Major League Baseball teams.
National League:
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Team
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Flagship Radio Station
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Atlanta Braves
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640 WGST-AM & 96.1 WKLS-FM
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Florida Marlins
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560 WQAM-AM (overflow games on 1360 WKAT-AM)
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Washington Nationals
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1050 WFED-AM (night and other select games simulcast on 104.1 WWZZ-FM, 103.9 WWVZ-FM)
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New York Mets
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660 WFAN-AM
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Philadelphia Phillies
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1210 WPHT-AM (Friday night games on 610 WIP-AM)
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Chicago Cubs
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720 WGN-AM
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Cincinnati Reds
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700 WLW-AM
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Houston Astros
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740 KTRH-AM
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Milwaukee Brewers
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620 WTMJ-AM (overflow on 94.5 WKTI-FM)
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Pittsburgh Pirates
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1020 KDKA-AM
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St. Louis Cardinals
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1120 KMOX-AM
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Arizona Diamondbacks
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620 KTAR-AM
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Colorado Rockies
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850 KOA-AM
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Los Angeles Dodgers
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980 KFWB-AM
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San Francisco Giants
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680 KNBR
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San Diego Padres
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1090 XEPRS-AM
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American League:
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Team
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Flagship Station
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Baltimore Orioles
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1090 WBAL-AM
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Boston Red Sox
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850 WEEI-AM
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New York Yankees
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880 WCBS-AM
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Tampa Bay Devil Rays
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1250 WHNZ-AM
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Toronto Blue Jays
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"The Fan" 590 AM
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Chicago White Sox
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1000 WMVP-AM
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Cleveland Indians
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1100 WTAM-AM
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Detroit Tigers
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1270 WXYT-AM
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Kansas City Royals
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810 WHB-AM (night games simulcast on 97.3 KZPL-FM)
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Minnesota Twins
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830 WCCO-AM
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Anaheim Angels
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710 KSPN-AM
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Oakland Athletics
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610 KFRC-AM
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Seattle Mariners
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1000 KOMO-AM
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Texas Rangers
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1080 KRLD-AM
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Last updated on Thu, 03/11/2010 - 10:52.
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