Center Field Shot

by Walker, James R.

• ISBN13: 9780803248250
• ISBN10: 0803248253
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-06-01
• Publisher: Bison Books

Summary

InBaseball Weekly's list of things that most affected baseball in the twentieth century, television ranked secondbehind only the signing of Jackie Robinson. The new medium of television exposed baseball to a genuinely national audience; altered the financial picture for teams, owners, and players; and changed the way Americans followed the game.Center Field Shotexplores these changesall even more prominent in the first few years of the twenty-first centuryand makes sense of their meaning for America's pastime. Center Field Shottraces a sometimes contentious but mutually beneficial relationship from the first televised game in 1939 to the new era of Internet broadcasts, satellite radio, and high-definition TV, considered from the perspective of businessmen collecting merchandising fees and advertising rights, franchise owners with ever more money to spend on talent, and broadcasters trying to present a game long considered "unfriendly" to television. Ultimately the association of baseball with television emerges as a reflection ofperhaps even a central feature ofAmerican culture at large.

Author Biography

James R. Walker is professor of communication and chair of the Department of Communications at Saint Xavier University. Robert V. Bellamy Jr. is an associate professor in the Department of Journalism and Multimedia Arts at Duquesne University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction: The Game in the Box	p. xi
The Local Game
The Experimental Years	p. 3
The First Seasons of Televised Baseball	p. 22
Team Approaches to Television in the Broadcast Era	p. 43
The National Game
Televising the World Series	p. 67
Origins of the Game of the Week	p. 97
The National Television Package, 1966-89	p. 120
National Broadcasts in the Cable Era	p. 146
The Pay Television Era	p. 163
Television and Baseball's Dysfunctional Marriage
Television As Threat, Television As Savior	p. 179
Television and the "Death" of the Golden Age Minors	p. 204
Baseball, Television, Congress, and the Law	p. 219
Baseball and Television Synergy	p. 236
How the Game Was Covered
The Announcer in the Television Age	p. 257
Innovations in Production Practices	p. 277
Epilogue: Baseball in the Advanced Media Age	p. 311
Televised Baseball Games, 1949-81	p. 323
Notes	p. 335
Index	p. 371
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