Voices of the Game Curt Smith is "...the voice of authority on baseball broadcasting." -USA Today #1 New Release in Photography, Baseball Statistics, Photo Essays, and Photojournalism In this second in a series of Baseball Hall of Fame books, celebrate the larger-than-life role played by radio and TV baseball announcers in enhancing the pleasure of our national pastime. Commemorate the 100th anniversary of baseball broadcasting. The first baseball game ever broadcast on radio was on August 5, 1921 by Harold Wampler Arlin, a part-time baseball announcer on Pittsburgh's KDKA, America's first commercially licensed radio station. The Pirates defeated the Phillies 8-5. An insider's view of baseball. Now you can own Memories from the Microphone and experience baseball from author Curt Smith. He has spent much of his life covering baseball radio and TV, and previously authored baseball books including the classic Voices of The Game. Relive baseball's storied past through the eyes of famed baseball announcers. Organized chronologically, Memories from the Microphone charts the history of baseball broadcasting. Enjoy celebrated stories and personalities that have shaped the game-from Mel Allen to Harry Caray, Vin Scully to Joe Morgan, Ernie Harwell to Red Barber. Also discover: Images from the Baseball Hall of Fame's matchless archive Anecdotes and quotes from Curt Smith's original research Interviews with broadcast greats Little-known stories, such as Ronald Reagan calling games for WHO Des Moines in the 1930s Accounts of diversity in baseball broadcasting, including the TV coverage of Joe Morgan and earlier Hispanic pioneers Buck Canel and Rafael (Felo) Ramirez A special section devoted to the Ford C. Frick Award and inductees since its inception in 1978 Also take a nostalgic trip down baseball's memory lane with other Baseball Hall of Fame books: Picturing America's Pastime, So You Think You Know Baseball, and Baseball Memories and Dreams.

Since radio's debut in the 1920s and television's in the '30s, the baseball announcer has become entertainer, observer, and extended member of the family. In "A Talk in the Park: Nine Decades of Baseball Tales from the Broadcast Booth", many of the pastime's most popular and famous announcers-the Voices-tell their favourite stories in their own distinctive words. It is riveting oral history. Herein is the largest total of active and retired broadcasters featured in any sports book: 116. Its radio and TV tales include every major-league team and such networks as ESPN, Fox, TBS, and the new MLB channel, and capture the Voices commenting on ballparks, managers, the characters of the game, umpires, special teams, interleague play, improvements to the game-and on one another, including the beloved Ernie Harwell, who died in 2010 and to whom the book is dedicated. Here are Bob Wolff, airing the longest-ever wild pitch, Howie Rose, using the 1969 Mets to pass a high school exam, and Charley Steiner, telling why George Steinbrenner"hired" Jason Giambi. Denny Matthews recalls George Scott's faux uniform number 6-4-3. Ken Harrelson defends his one-handed catch: "With bad hands like mine, one hand was better than two." Eduardo Ortega announces for his mother, who is deaf. Pat Hughes remembers when Harry Caray called a game with a tea bag dangling from his ear. Voices hail Lou Piniella: dressed, undressed, volatile, and loveable. Columnist Christine Brennan says of author Curt Smith:"No one knows baseball broadcasters as well as he does." In particular, "A Talk in the Park" addresses trends of the past two decades-the rise of Hispanic and other minority announcers, interleague play, ex-jocks' warp-speed climb, whiz-bang technology, 24/7 coverage, and the evolution of broadcasting, from radio to network television to cable. Told by baseball's leading broadcast historian, endorsed by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and the National Radio Hall of Fame, and starring announcers who reach millions, A Talk in the Park brilliantly relates what baseball was, is, and is likely to become.

The Presidents and the Pastime draws on Curt Smith's extensive background as a former White House presidential speechwriter to chronicle the historic relationship between baseball, the "most American" sport, and the U.S. presidency. Smith, who USA TODAY calls "America's voice of authority on baseball broadcasting," starts before America's birth, when would-be presidents played baseball antecedents. He charts how baseball cemented its reputation as America's pastime in the nineteenth century, such presidents as Lincoln and Johnson playing town ball or giving employees time off to watch. Smith tracks every U.S. president from Theodore Roosevelt to Donald Trump, each chapter filled with anecdotes: Wilson buoyed by baseball after suffering disability; a heroic FDR saving baseball in World War II; Carter, taught the game by his mother, Lillian; Reagan, airing baseball on radio that he never saw-by "re-creation." George H. W. Bush, for whom Smith wrote, explains, "Baseball has everything." Smith, having interviewed a majority of presidents since Richard Nixon, shares personal stories on each. Throughout, The Presidents and the Pastime provides a riveting narrative of how America's leaders have treated baseball. From Taft as the first president to throw the "first pitch" on Opening Day in 1910 to Obama's "Go Sox!" scrawled in the guest register at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014, our presidents have deemed it the quintessentially American sport, enriching both their office and the nation.

The Green Monster. The Triangle. Pesky’s Pole. They are but a few of the defining features of Fenway Park, home base for legions of devoted Red Sox fans. Now, a hundred years after Fenway first opened its gates, Mercy! tells the park’s history through Red Sox radio and TV announcers recalling and commemorating the American institution. Mercy! is three history books in one, covering Fenway, the Red Sox, and their Voices on the air. Announcers have become as much a part of Red Sox lore as the park has. Fred Hoey was the team’s first radio announcer. Successor Jim Britt called its first live TV broadcast. Curt Gowdy denoted respectability, courtesy, and pluck. Ken Coleman played his voice like a violin. Ned Martin’s signature exclamation gives Mercy! its title. He called one legendary game after another, including Carlton Fisk waving fair his World Series–tying home run in 1975. Other well-known Voices include Bob Murphy, Jim Woods, Jon Miller, Ken Harrelson, Dick Stockton, Sean McDonough, and Joe Castiglione. In 2004, when the Sox finally won their first World Series since 1918, Castiglione asked the Nation, “Can you believe it?” Many can’t, even now. Baseball historian Curt Smith’s interviews with many of these beloved broadcasting personalities provide the backbone for this unique celebration of “America’s Most Beloved Ballpark.”

Eagle Song is a story of Christopher, Isa, and Raptor, golden eagles whose experiences may provide insights into our own. "Christopher," literally "Christ within," is a free-spirited transliteration from ancient Greek, Chrysos meaning "golden." He is a pilgrim who knows there must be more to life than eating and sleeping. After meeting his teacher and spiritual companion Isa, an abbreviation of the biblical prophet's name, "Isaiah," he awakens to a spiritual dimension beyond the boundaries of his physical life. Raptor, who is held in captivity, represents another dimension, which is yet to awaken in all of us. Guided by a mysterious harmonic sound, Eagle Song takes us on a journey from mundane to spectacular.

In 1941 Europe was being ravaged by war and by the end of the year, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States of America went to war as well. It was a troubled time when young men willingly volunteered to serve their country and possibly die for the sake of freedom. Michael Jeffries, like so many others, joined the military knowing he'd have to go to war. He graduated from high school in Bloomington, Minnesota, experienced frustration when trying to find a job, and in December, shortly after Pearl Harbor, volunteered for duty in the Army. Throughout his senior year in high school Michael had been obsessed with Theresa Williams, one of the prettiest and most popular girls in his class, but she preferred Danny McCullough, who was physically smaller than Michael and certainly not as good looking. Michael desperately wanted Theresa's attention, if for no other reason than to recognize his valiant act of volunteering for military duty. When he saw her with her father the day before Christmas, he finally found the courage to ask her for a date, but she turned him down, intending to spend the holiday with Danny. Quite frankly, he couldn't handle rejection. On Christmas Day he made the mistake of having too much to drink, waiting for Theresa and Danny to leave the movie theater, and then following them to a secluded area outside of town. What happened on that cold, wind-blown hill overlooking the Twin Cities was a serious incident destined to haunt him for the rest of his life.

If you have ever added a few extra pounds, spent too much time on the couch, damaged a relationship, alienated a coworker, or just simply felt burnt out, you know, first hand, the angst, guilt, and frustration of ill-health. There's often a gap between the life we desire and the life we live. Pause Points is written to help us bridge this very real gap. In it's pages, we discover Seven Essentials of Health and Well-Being: Love the Ones You're With Fill Your Mind with the Best Bring Out the Best in Others Eat Mindfully Exercise Faithfully Find Peace and Relaxation Connect with the Creator With these Essentials in mind, Dr. Harker introduces us to Pause Points-an experiential process designed to help us find the closeness, peace, and satisfaction we desire. Through a series of exercises, we learn to slow our pace, reflect, dream, plan, connect, and experience a new positive trajectory in life. Join the growing revolution of those who desire to flourish. Refusing to settle, they seek the very best, striving to get the most out of each day.

If you have ever added a few extra pounds, spent too much time on the couch, damaged a relationship, alienated a coworker, or just simply felt burnt out, you know, first hand, the angst, guilt, and frustration of ill-health. There's often a gap between the life we desire and the life we live. Pause Points is written to help us bridge this very real gap. In it's pages, we discover Seven Essentials of Health and Well-Being: Love the Ones You're With Fill Your Mind with the Best Bring Out the Best in Others Eat Mindfully Exercise Faithfully Find Peace and Relaxation Connect with the Creator With these Essentials in mind, Dr. Harker introduces us to Pause Points-an experiential process designed to help us find the closeness, peace, and satisfaction we desire. Through a series of exercises, we learn to slow our pace, reflect, dream, plan, connect, and experience a new positive trajectory in life. Join the growing revolution of those who desire to flourish. Refusing to settle, they seek the very best, striving to get the most out of each day.

In 1950, Vin Scully broadcast his first major league baseball game for the then-Brooklyn Dodgers. Nearly sixty years later he still invites a listener to "pull up a chair," completing a record fifty-ninth consecutive year of play-by-play. Recruited and mentored by the legendary Red Barber, the New York-born Scully moved with the Dodgers to Los Angeles in early 1958. His instantly recognizable voice has described players from Duke Snider to Orel Hershiser to Manny Ramirez, with hundreds in between. At one time or another, Scully has aired NBC Television's Game of the Week, twelve All-Star Games, eighteen no-hitters, twenty-five World Series, and network football, golf, and tennis. He has made every sportscasting Hall of Fame; received a Lifetime Emmy Achievement award and a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; and been voted"most memorable [L.A. Dodgers] franchise personality." In 2000, the American Sportscasters Association named Scully the Sportscaster of the 20th Century. The first biography of Vin Scully is long overdue. Curt Smith-to USA Today,"The voice of authority on baseball broadcasting"-is the ideal man to write it. Scully opens each broadcast by wishing listeners, "A very pleasant good afternoon." Pull Up a Chair will provide a reader with the same.

In this collection of anecdotes from the announcers of pro football, the Voices reminisce about a time before television, when the NFL was just making its floundering start and college ball held all the attraction. With the spread of television broadcasting, the Voices gain faces and the NFL gains an audience. Recall with the broadcasters the excitement of pivotal moments, the glory of the victors, and the great men who coached those champions. With their love of the work and lots of lighthearted memories about everything from the Heidi game to the glory of Green Bay to the birth of "Monday Night Football," these men and women bring football to life.