Classic Baseball Radio

The Cleveland Indians' Big Four rotation served them well in 1954, delivering 111 wins and a ticket to the World Series. Yet their power is fading, and many worry that the AL pennant in the previous year was a high-water mark. They would rack up eight winning seasons in the decade, but only a sole defeat in the Fall Classic to show for it.In tonight’s game the welcome the young and eager Chicago White Sox. Marty Marion's “Go-go” philosophy of speed and base-running would be key. 1955 showed where the gaps were, and some rapid trades (bringing in Larry Doby and clearing the shortstop position for future Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio) would take them all the way in 1959.All of that lies in the future. Tonight is a distillation of the Indians' power and the Go-Go White Sox. reflected in the pitching match-up. Chicago’s Billy Pierce is in the middle of a historic season where he will finish with an ERA of 1.97.On the other side of the scorecard is Early Wynn, a future 300-game winner whose scowling, intimidating presence on the mound defined the era’s aggressive pitching ethos . Wynn would later win the Cy Young after joining the White Sox, but for now, he stands in the way of the White Sox’ first legitimate pennant run in 35 years .Ewan Spence and the Classic Baseball Radio team bring you this recreated radio broadcast from July 1, 1955. This should not be considered a complete or fully accurate historical record. Nevertheless, this is our story of the game.We thank Retrosheet, Sports Reference, Sports Logos Net, Tom R Audio, and  Crafting The Call.** LINKS **Boxscore:https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CLE/CLE195507010.shtml A closer look at the four-way race in 1955’s American League pennant race.https://thisgreatgame.com/1955-baseball-history/Early Wynn biography and the philosophy of “The Office” and his willingness to knock down hitters to defend the plate.https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/early-wynn/A look at Wynn’s longevity, including his eventual move to the White Sox and his 1959 Cy Young Award.https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/early-wynn  A retrospective evaluation of Billy Pierce’s stats and pitching records.https://www.cooperstowncred.com/billy-pierce-star-from-the-1950s-on-the-golden-days-hall-of-fame-ballot Recounting Gene Woodling’s journey from the Yankees to the 1955 Indians.https://peanutsandcrackerjack.com/blog/gene-woodling-a-stellar-career-in-baseball  How Larry Doby integrated the American League. https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/july-5-1947-larry-doby-integrates-american-league-with-pinch-hitting-appearance-for-cleveland/ A look at Marion's managerial philosophy and his transition from Cardinal great to White Sox skipper.https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Marty_Marion/ The history of Comiskey Parkhttps://ballparks.com/baseball/american/comisk.htm

The year of the pitcher is over. Following a league-wide ERA of 2.98, Denny McLain’s 31 wins, and Bob Gibson’s 1.12 ERA, the MLB took drastic action; the mound was lowered from 15 inches to 10 inches, and the strike zone was reduced.As the season begins, pitchers are coming to terms with a brand new game, none more so than this match-up between the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Don Sutton and the Cincinnati Reds’ Jim Maloney. Sutton is looking to refine his precision pitching, and Maloney the new target for the firepower of his fastball.Looking back, it’s the Reds’ lineup card that’s impressive. Reading like a Hall of Fame Induction, you have Johnny Bench behind the plate, Tony Perez and Lee May offering muscle in the middle of the order, Wayne Granger ready to come in as the fireman, and the reigning batting champion of Pete Rose (okay, so maybe not everyone is going to be inducted).The Dodgers leaned into pitching to find success in the sixties, but here comes the Reds with a new approach of churning runs while on offense. It’s not quite complete, but the genesis of the Big Red Machine is here. Ewan Spence and the Classic Baseball Radio team bring you this recreated radio broadcast from April 9, 1969. This should not be considered a complete or fully accurate historical record. Nevertheless, this is our story of the game.We thank Retrosheet, Sports Reference, Sports Logos Net, Tom R Audio, and  Crafting The Call.** LINKS **Boxscore:https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CIN/CIN196904090.shtmlJim Maloney looks back on his career (Interview).https://irontontribune.com/2025/06/18/reds-pitching-great-maloney-still-going-strong/How Don Sutton became a Los Angeles Dodgers legend.https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/don-sutton/The Big Red Machine’s Spring Breaks At Pacetti Hotelhttps://www.ponceinlet.org/history-and-education/pacetti-hotel-history/the-big-red-machine/ The high-speed impact of Bobby Tolan's arrival in Cincinnati.https://www.redlegnation.com/2017/04/02/the-enigma-of-bobby-tolan/ Pete Rose returns to the Hall conversation as baseball embraces his original sin.https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/may/15/pete-rose-hall-of-fame-baseball A history of the Dodgers' $100,000 "bonus baby" Willie Crawford.https://ladodgerchronicles.com/remembering-willie-crawford/Remembering 1968, the year of the pitcher.https://thisgreatgame.com/1968-baseball-history/ A Brief Historical Analysis Of Baseball's Divisional Era (1969-1995)https://notesironbound.blogspot.com/2016/02/a-brief-historical-analysis-of.html

The ageing empire of Casey Stengel’s Yankees is in a desperate three-way street fight for the American League against the Chicago White Sox (the defending champions) and the ‘Kiddie Krops’ of the Baltimore Orioles. With only half a game separating them in the loss column, every game is a make-or-break.In tonight’s game, the Yankees welcome the Orioles into the cauldron of the House that Babe Built. Stengel’s Yankees are still playing as they did during their dominant fifties with a platoon full of power that will reach the fence or fall short over nine innings. The team crumbled in 1959. Can the old ways still work?Meanwhile, Orioles manager Paul Richards has young arms aplenty, and playing small ball built around bunts, singles and aggressive base running. Will that take them through September and beyond? The Orioles have their own aged war-horse. Hoyt Wilhelm, in his ninth year in the majors, is back where he belongs, pitching in relief with a knuckleball that seems to defy the laws of physics. It's paired with the comically oversized glove of Clint Courtney, because it's the only way any catcher has a hope of getting the ball into the back of the leather.Stengel is watching the sun set on his pinstripes, and Richards is welcoming the sun rise over his baby birds. Only one will stamp their authority in the race for the pennant…Ewan Spence and the Classic Baseball Radio team bring you this recreated radio broadcast from September 28, 1950. This should not be considered a complete or fully accurate historical record. Nevertheless, this is our story of the game.We thank Retrosheet, Sports Reference, Sports Logos Net, Tom R Audio, and  Crafting The Call.** LINKS ** Boxscore:https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA196008150.shtml1960 Major League Baseball seasonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_Major_League_Baseball_season Ron Hansen, by Jimmy Keenan for SABRhttps://sabr.org/bioproj/person/ron-hansen/Brooks Robinson at the Baseball Hall Of Famehttps://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/robinson-brooksWho Was the Better Third Baseman, Brooks Robinson or Clete Boyer?https://www.baseballhistorycomesalive.com/who-was-the-better-third-baseman-brooks-or-clete/ Hoyt Wilhelm’s Knuckleball (The Inside Pitch, with Bob Wolff)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5kdNI_gKLg So long, 45-inch catcher's glovehttps://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/happy-anniversary-so-long-45-inch-catchers-glove/ Art Ditmar Obituaryhttps://ripbaseball.com/2021/06/19/obituary-art-ditmar-1929-2021/ Casey Stengel: The Most Colorful Manager in Baseball Historyhttps://www.cmgworldwide.com/2023/07/05/casey-stengel-the-most-colorful-manager-in-baseball-history/ Once upon a time, the Orioles had the ‘Kiddie Korps’https://www.shepherdstownchronicle.com/sports/2018/06/22/once-upon-a-time-the-orioles-had-the-kiddie-korps/

Welcome to Classic Baseball Radio’s Clubhouse, where we step back from the hectic pace of the games and take some time to talk about the history of baseball. Consider these bonus episodes as the pre-recorded explainers and profiles you normally see on sports broadcasts. As always, we look forward to your feedback.Joining us in the Clubhouse is Liz Thompson from Diamond Scorecard Designs. Her mom taught her to score at an early age, and since then, she has tried various scorecards and books to find the right one. Finally, she decided to stop trying to settle and design the scorebook she always wanted. Those scorebooks, and the opportunity to have a custom designs scorebook, are available through the Diamond Scorecard Designs website.As part of her personal mission to get people to keep score again, she visits the Classic Baseball Radio Clubhouse to talk with Ewan Spence on the beauty and history of our scorecard.FEATURING…Scorecards as a fundamental part of Baseball’s history.Learning Baseball through scoring and scorecards.The archaeology of scorecards.The earliest scorecard (Atlantics at Athletic, Oct 11, 1866).Various scoring systems from the 19th century to the present day.Why there’s no wrong way to score a game.A warning… keeping score may be habit-forming.LINKSLiz Thompson’s Diamond Scorecard Designshttps://diamondscorecarddesigns.com/ ​​Baseball Basics: How to Keep Score (MLB)https://www.mlb.com/official-information/basics/score Skeleton Key Unlocks Game (Washington Post, 1979)https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1979/08/17/skeleton-key-unlocks-game/979879db-0465-46d4-8d4d-471b26191546/ Brooklyn Atlantics at Philadelphia Athletics, October 11th, 1866.https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/october-1866-a-return-on-their-investment/ The tiny scorecard ballyhooing "The Great Game for the Championship of the United States"https://www.inquirer.com/philly/sports/phillies/20110914_A_chance_to_own_a_bit_of_baseball_history.html Henry Chadwick, the Father of Baseball.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Chadwick_(writer) The Man Who Made Baseball's Box Score A Hit.https://www.npr.org/2009/07/30/106891539/the-man-who-made-baseballs-box-score-a-hit A. G. Spalding & Bros: Spalding Scorebook.https://digitalcollections.detroitpubliclibrary.org/islandora/object/islandora%3A132213 Joe Posnanski’s Bloghttps://www.joeposnanski.com/ Stratomatic’s Baseball Board Game.https://www.strat-o-matic.com/baseball-board-games/ Harry Wright scorecard example.https://lelands.com/bids/1881-boston-scorecard-signed-by-scorer-harry-wright--psa Cricket scorecards by Andy Zaltzman.https://thesportscommentators.com/collections/andy-zaltzman SABR: Official Scoring Research Committee.https://sabr.org/research/official-scoring-research-committee/ ABOUT THE PODCASTIf you’d like to get in touch with us, visit www.classicbaseballradio.com.Follow us online at BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/classicbaseball.bsky.social

The Philadelphia Phillies were meant to have the 1950 National League sewn up. With two weeks left in the regular season, they were seven and a half ahead of the Red Sox and nine ahead of the Dodgers. Then they collapsed.In the second-last series of the season, the Phillies travel to the Polo Grounds to take on a rampaging New York Giants who have won 15 of their last 25 games. The Phillies? Just three wins in the last ten games. The Giants are one win away from the sweep, which would force the Phillies into a win-or-go-home deciding series against the Dodgers.Things are going no better for pitcher Robin Roberts. This is the third game he has started with nineteen wins. No Phillies pitcher has won 20 games since 1917, and Roberts can’t get himself over the line. He lost 1-0 to Chicago, then 3-2 to the Dodgers. Roberts is running out of starts, the Whiz Kids are running out of time, and Philadelphia is running out of patience.Ewan Spence and the Classic Baseball Radio team bring you this recreated radio broadcast from September 28, 1950. This should not be considered a complete or fully accurate historical record. Nevertheless, this is our story of the game.We thank Retrosheet, Sports Reference, Sports Logos Net, Tom R Audio, and  Crafting The Call.(Editor's note: Our commentary notes listed the Giants as winning 20 of the preceding 25 games; it is, in fact 15 from the last 25).LINKSBoxscore:https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SDN/SDN197306190.shtml Philadelphia Phillies in 1950https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1950_Philadelphia_Phillies_seasonNew York Giants in 1950https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1950_New_York_Giants_(MLB)_season Robin Roberts profile:https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/robin-roberts/ The Whiz Kidshttps://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/whiz-kids/ The Whiz Kids at 75https://ballnine.com/2025/06/19/whiz75/ The Ballparks: Polo Groundshttps://thisgreatgame.com/ballparks-polo-grounds/ The colorful career of Wes Westrum, Bemidji State’s only World Series winnerhttps://bsualumni.org/the-colorful-career-of-wes-westrum-bemidji-states-only-world-series-winner/ Eddie Stankey profilehttps://sabr.org/bioproj/person/eddie-stanky/  Bobby Thompson at the Scottish Sports Hall Of Famehttps://sshf.sportscotland.org.uk/inductees/bobby-thomson/index.html