Commissioner Happy Chandler and players’ representatives agree on the split of the TV and radio rights from the World Series.
1950 – The Associated Press picks the 1914 Miracle Braves as the greatest sports upset in the 20th century.
1949 – Gillette buys the World Series television rights for $1.37 million, the money to be dedicated to the players’ pension fund.
On September 14, 1948, in the midst of a pennant race, the Boston Post publishes a four-line poem by Gerry Hern calling on pitchers Warren Spahn and Johnny Sain to bear the pitching burden, resting on off days and – if luck is with the Braves – when it rains. The rhyme is shortened by…
Ernie Harwell, filling in for Red Barber, who is recovering from a bleeding ulcer, calls his first major league game as the Dodgers beat the Cubs at Ebbets Field, 5-4. To obtain the future Hall of Fame broadcaster, Brooklyn general manager Branch Rickey trades minor league catcher Cliff Daper to the Atlanta Crackers.
1947 – Radio rights for the World Series sell for $475,000 for three years. Every franchise but Pittsburgh has sold 1948 TV rights. The New York Giants get $400,000 for radio-TV rights from Chesterfield.
1946 – In their Opening Game at Wrigley Field, the Chicago Cubs are shut out by Harry Brecheen of the St. Louis Cardinals, 2 – 0. The game is the first in Cubs history to be televised, as Wilson does the play-by-play for WBKB.
On August 15, 1945, Commissioner Happy Chandler negotiates a contract to have Gillette become the sponsor of the World Series, replacing Ford Motot Company. The razor company pays a record $150,000 for its affiliation with the Fall Classic, surpassing the $100,000 price tag previously paid by Ford, which had been the World Series sponsor since…
“The 76-year-old gray-haired man puffed contently on an ancient, battered pipe,” wrote Burton Hawkins of The Washington Star, referring to Cy Young, whom he interviewed in May 1943. The sprightly septuagenarian—MLB’s career leader in wins (511), losses (315), complete games (749), innings (7,356), and batters faced (29,565)—discussed a variety of topics with Hawkins, including pitching,…
July 7, 1941 Jerome “Dizzy” Dean signed s contract today to broadcast home games of the St. Louis Browns and St. Louis Cardinals for the next three years. Dean, in town for tomorrow’s major league all-star game, disclosed he had affixed his signature to a contract presented to him by Harry Beffa, executive of…
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