On June 20, 1992, Kelly Saunders becomes the second woman to serve as a public address announcer at a major league game. Making her debut at Camden Yards, Saunders fills in for the Baltimore Orioles’ regular announcer, Rex Barney. In 1966, Joy Hawkins McCabe, the daughter of the Senators’ public-relations director, became the first female…
1992 – The episode of the animated series The Simpsons entitled “Homer at the Bat” gets its first broadcast on FOX. In the episode, Springfield Nuclear Plant owner C. Montgomery Burns hires a team of major league ringers in order to win a bet he placed on a softball game against a rival businessman. In the end, though, it’s the hapless Homer Simpson who saves the day with a walk-off hit-by-pitch. A number of contemporary major league stars, many of them future Hall of Famers lend their voices and likeness to the show, which is considered one of the classic episodes of the series.
In what is believed to be his last day with the team, Ernie Harwell, whose contract is not renewed by team management and WJR, waves goodbye to the fans and the crowd attending the season finale gives the ‘Voice of the Tigers’ for the past 32 years a long and loud standing ovation. The veteran broadcaster will return to Detroit in 1993, thanks to the warm invitation from new team owner Mike Ilitch, and will continue to do play-by-play until the end of the 2002 season.
At a press conference, Tiger management and WJR announce 1991 will be Ernie Harwell’s 32nd and final season in the broadcast booth. The dismissal of the Motor City’s popular play-by-play announcer starts a furor among fans, which includes a threatened boycott of Domino’s Pizza, a business of club owner Tom Monaghan, and the rise of the slogan, “Say It Ain’t So, Bo”, which appears on bumper stickers and T-shirts all over Detroit, referring to Bo Schembechler, the team president and former University of Michigan football coach.
1989 – Three weeks after signing a record four-year, $1.1 billion network television contract with CBS, Major League Baseball signs a $400 million contract with ESPN. The deal will put 175 games per year on cable television beginning in 1990.
On March 28, 1985, Sports Illustrated releases its April 1st issue, which contains a fictitious article about a New York Mets pitcher named Sidd Finch. The George Plimpton article, which contends that Finch throws a 168-mile-per-hour fastball, fools numerous readers around the country.
On a televised episode of ABC’s Sports Beat, Howard Cosell informs interviewee Roger Maris of the Yankees’ plan to retire the slugger’s number 9 at the Old Timers’ Game ceremonies in July. The former Bronx Bombers’ reaction is at first is disbelief, followed by a genuine pleasure for being recognized for his achievements during his seven years with the team.
Ballantine Books publishes the first of seven annual Bill James Abstracts, bringing the author into the national spotlight for his statistical insight into the game. The sabermetrician’s original self-published efforts, written while working the night shift as a security guard at the Stokely-Van Camp’s pork and beans cannery, introduces baseball fans to new ways of measuring a player’s ability, using stats such as such Runs Created.
February 3, 1982 Hank Aaron appears on Late Night with David Letterman. It’s just the 3rd show for Letterman in his new late night format.
March 24, 1980, A young Tigers outfielder Kirk Gibson, graces the cover of Sports Illustrated. Gibson will hit 263 in limited playing time with 9 homeruns and 16 RBI. @ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF90YWdzIiwic2V0dGluZ3MiOnsiYmVmb3JlIjoiIiwiYWZ0ZXIiOiIiLCJsaW5rX3RvX3Rlcm1fcGFnZSI6Im9uIiwic2VwYXJhdG9yIjoiIHwgIiwiY2F0ZWdvcnlfdHlwZSI6InBvc3RfdGFnIn19@ Sponsor this Page Listen to Voices From The Past on Our Podcast The Daily Rewind on Apples Podcast | Spotify | Google | Stitcher…
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