European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 26, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 26 the stars and stripes saturday August 26.1989 baseball tuned in to to in 39 by Norman Cha the Washington Post this is red Barber speaking. Let me say hello to you  major league baseball telecast aug. 26,1939 fifty years ago this saturday. Red Barber introduced televised baseball on Abc. With Only a few Hundred to receivers in existence the broadcast virtually was unseen but it created a vision that sport sharpest minds eventually embraced. One of those minds then belonged to Brooklyn dodgers owner Larry Macphail. In 1938 he left his Cincinnati reds franchise to save the dodgers from bankruptcy. Macl Hail brought Barber with him from Cincinnati a Friend of Barber s at Abc. Alfred Doc mor Ion inquired if Barber would ask Macphail for per Mission to telecast a game. Abc had televised a Princeton Columbia game in May with Bill Stern at the Mike and wanted to step up to the big leagues. Macphail okayed the idea As Long As Abc provided a receiving set in the press Box so that club officials and writers could watch. Macphail chose the first game of a saturday afternoon doubleheader at ebbets Field he knew would sell out Between the reds and the dodgers. There were two Black and White cameras one ground level on the third base Side of Home plate and the other in the second deck among the fans above third. Barber had no Monitor. And even though he had Headset connecting to director Burke Crotty. It often did t work and Barber often forgot to Wear the ear phones. The Only Way i could have the vaguest idea what the picture being shown was to Sec which relight on one of the two cameras was on. I just did radio play by play on to. That s All i could  the pictures meanwhile naturally did not convey what they can today. As Harold payroll wrote in the sporting news. The players were clearly distinguishable but it was not possible to pick out the  Barber decided to line up Post game interviews. So afterwards. Barber said i walked Down the stands tothe Field. They just waited for me and panned a Cam Era around the Park. There was no sound As he walked and i did t hurry because i did t want to break my  when he got there he had Brief on camera conversations with dodgers manager Leo Durocher reds manager Bill Mckechnie and several  was sports television in its infancy. Everybody knew it was the beginning of something big Barber said we just did t really know what but he knew enough to want a memento of the occasion so Barbe asked Abc for a Small engraved Silver cigarette Box. Abc obliged sending him a Box with an inscription aptly calling him the Pioneer television sports an  the Box was a Hill for $35. I would be been pleased not to get the  Barber said but i paid  red Barber knew it was the beginning of something big. Going from the Wallfield to the Booth sex jocks swing big Sticks on air by George Vecsey new York times new York Mike Shannon re members the Day he suddenly found himself lumped into that species known . He was a former Cardinal nicknamed Moon Man a Home boy admired for his Hustle now broadcasting the games of his old team. Making his rounds before a game Shannon asked some Basic questions of the manager in Orcsi dance vent Rapp. Instead of giving out a few scraps of in formation Rapp said he was t talking to the news Media. He said i m going to do things a Little differently around Here Shannon recalled. I mean i knew the Man. When they were trying to teach me to catch they sent him to help me. But when he said that i thought to myself All right you won t catch me asking you any More questions " no longer judged As one of the boys Shannon was being treated perilously like those scruffy Low paid pot bellies Fumble fing Rcd Short of breath second guessing know it All denizens of the press Box. Welcome to the club brother Moon now covering the regime of Whitey her zog. I go Down and ask Whitey Why he did something Shannon said. To me it s much More meaningful if i say this is Why Whitey did what he did than if 1 give my  if Shannon can raise Whitey s curiously Golden hackles with his relatively cautious remarks imagine the sizzle on dal Las Green s neck when Lou Pinilla said Roberto Kelly s .341 average should be placed higher than ninth in the order. When he gets the Job he can hit him wherever he wants Green said after helpful journalists apprised Green of i Nicola s remarks. He had him last year. He could have hit him. Lou s paid $-100,000 to Analyse. Let him  Pinilla might even have been wrong because Young Kelly is being brought along carefully but Pinilla is entitled to his opinion. And there is no evidence Pinilla is undercutting Green for a Pur pose. I Don t take cheap shots i Don t rip Pinilla said later. I be sat in that chair. I have  there is a lot of blather in football and basketball but the slow Clear focus of baseball makes it almost impossible to avoid opinion. The very act of speaking into a microphone makes a former player More of a critic than he could have Ever imagined. I try to explain the physical mistakes but the mental mistakes bother me Shannon said. Ill gel on even Ozzie Smith if he swings at the first pitch and he s Down by three runs because i be never seen a three run Homer with no body on base. Also the Only easy thing you can do in this game is run. If they Don t Hustle i blast  in new York where opinion is expected Ralph Kiner has rarely been Tough on managers but he will deliver a Hall of Fame slugger s scorn for batters who bunt with two outs rather than take a healthy Cut. With television we have credibility when we explain a replay incr said. We be been there. But even with Opin ions that s our  Tim Mccarver who came from the same mentally Tough Cardinal team that Shannon and Bill White and Bob Gibson did has criticized his old Phillies team mate Darcy Johnson to the Point where the two men had words. Fran scaly has the rare dare one say journalistic Bent for an cd athletic to ask questions of his Booth match. And Rusty staub who started off hesitantly has become much More opinionated about his old team. Nobody discussed Outfield position ing much before i got Here staub said. Now we do More of it. The other night i said i was surprised when Ron Darling threw two great split Finger pitches to Pedro Guerrero and then came in with a mediocre fastball. In that game in Philadelphia i went Back to Darcy s decision to play the in Field Back when the Phillies scored the Only run until the ninth inning. Darcy was probably right but he had to be thinking about it. We re supposed to talk about those  staub shudders when managing is mentioned. He would rather write out a menu for his restaurant than a lineup card. I m just trying to be As Good a Broad Caster As i can staub said. Sure i get some looks and have some discussions in the clubhouse. Welcome to the big  it s a whole new Boll gome when it comes to a Ches by David Grimes Sam Sola world Tribune Many people Are afraid to try out for jobs As sports announcers because they Don t think they  memorize All the cliches. While this is a legitimate concern there is no reason Why cliche Mcmorri a should prevent an otherwise Quali tied convenience store clerk from joining the exalted ranks of sportscast ing. After All if Phil. Ruzzuto Rizzuto can do it so can you. To help you break in i m providing a partial list of some of the most important cliches currently being used by professional sports casters. Please feel free to add any of your own that you find particularly appealing baseball the braves Are Down 9-3. The need to score some  he did t want to give up a run i that  remarking on a Batter who s lying on the ground with a fastball embedded in his neck you know that s got  after Pitcher gives up Mammoth Home run i m sure he d like to have that pitch Over  As pitchers wild pick off throw sails into first base stands thai s no this Good  football the bucs Are Down 21-0. The need to put some Points on the  you can t score touchdowns if Youcan t hold on to the  remarking on a player who has been deprived of some of his key extremities due to a particularly vicious tackle you can Tell he s experiencing some  remarking on intercepted pass that s been run pack for a touchdown i m sure Joe wishes now that he had t thrown that  remarking on 42-3 Blowout this game has been a lot closer than the score would  Golf i m sure All he s trying to do is get this Ball close to inc Hole. He s trying to avoid hitting into the  if he can hit the fairways hit the greens and sink some pulls he s got Asgood a Chance As  if he hits this putt Loo hard it going to Roll past the Hole remarking on golfer who has just Flung his 5-Iron, his Oag and his Caddie into the Lake you can Tell he was entirely satisfied with that  hockey i look for them to try to score in this  remarking on deceased hockey player with stick protruding from his Chest "1 would t be surprised if we Sec a penalty on that last play.", remarking on the use of automatic weapons by brawling players it s get Ting a Little rough out there.". The trick is to score and then keep the other team from  commenting on fans lobbing live hand grenades onto the ice this is a very partisan crowd Here in  everything else Well you know what they say. In Sert sport name Here is a game of Inch