I ¡Qt>. 565 MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PRINCIPAL PLAY-BY-PLAY ANNOUNCERS: THEIR OCCUPATION, BACKGROUND, AND PERSONAL LIFE Michael R. Emrick A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY June 1976 Approved by Doctoral Committee DUm,s¡ir<y »»itti». UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 11 ABSTRACT From the very early days of radio broadcasting, the descriptions of major league baseball games have been among the more popular types of programs. The relationship between the ball clubs and broadcast stations has developed through experimentation, skepticism, and eventual acceptance. The broadcasts have become financially important to the teams as well as the advertisers and stations. The central person responsible for pleasing the fans as well as satisfying the economic goals of the stations, advertisers, and teams—the principal play- by-play announcer—had not been the subject of intensive study. Contentions were made in the available literature about his objectivity, partiality, and the influence exerted on his description of the games by outside parties. To test these contentions, and to learn more about the overall atmosphere in which this focal person worked, a study was conducted of principal play-by-play announcers who broadcasted games on a day-to-day basis, covering one team for a local audience. With the assistance of some of the announcers, a survey was prepared and distributed to both announcers who were employed in the play-by-play capacity during the 1975 season and those who had been involved in the occupation in past seasons. Thirty-six men responded. The hypothesis for the study included contentions that the announcers would be co-operative with the baseball teams in promoting home attendance and other endeavors. It was also theorized that the announcers were listeners to games as youngsters, decided upon the career before finishing their formal education, reached the major leagues in different ways, and, having realized this childhood ambition would be happy and satisfied with their lot in life. Also, due to the pressure it was believed they experienced, it was predicted that the announcers would pursue leisure activities which would permit their being away from large groups. It was discovered from the findings that the announcers, as a whole, eschewed the journalistic definition of reporter for that of salesman. But, it was also learned that the desire of the audience for baseball journalism was not apparent. Instead, the audience, as perceived by the announcers, was one wanting entertainment. The sample was well-eddcated (all but one of the respondents attended college), well-read, happy, and capable of mastering the pressures. And, there was support for the hypothesis that many announcers were realizing a childhood ambition by broadcasting major league baseball games. m ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A study of nearly fourteen months could not have been accomplished without the assistance of several persons. Mr. Ernie Harwell, the play-by-play broadcaster for the Detroit Tigers, studied the entire questionnaire during April of 1975—one of the busiest months of the season—and provided prompt, wise correspondence reflective of his professional expertise. Mr. Shelby Whitfield, sports director of Associated Press Radio in Washington, and a past play-by-play broadcaster of the Washington Senators, provided comments and suggestions for wording of several questionnaire items. Mr. George Faour, executive director of the Baseball Broadcasters Association of American and editor of its newsletter, was of assistance in encouraging co-operation among member announcers in responding to the survey. Mr. John W. Gagne, publicity director of McMorran Place in Port Huron, Michigan, assisted in the production of the questionnaire and its distribution to the sample. Mr. Ted Patterson, sports director of WBAL, Baltimore, Maryland, who had done academic studies on the careers of some baseball announcers at Miami University, helped provide names of past announcers. Dr. Malachi C. Topping, chairman of the radio-television- film area in the College of Communications at Bowling Green State University, provided the academic scrutiny of the research methods TV and the organization of the writing. As essential as the professional assistance was the moral support provided by so many friends to whom this writer is grateful. Their confidence and encouragement was of importance in the hours of disappointment as well as the times of satisfaction in overcoming a hurdle in the writing, typing, or computations of data. Included among those who share a part of this finished work are: Mr. and Mrs. Charles Emrick, Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Emrick, Miss Joyce Suit, Dr. Singer Buchanan, Mr. Ernie Harwell, Mr. and Mrs. James F. Fagan, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Brockmiller, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Armstrong, Mr. and Mrs. Ross Andrusko, Mr. Robert McCammon, Mr. Morris G. Snider, Mr. Charles Andrea, Dr. Stefan Ansbacher, Dr. and Mrs. Sherman Waggoner, Dr. Carl Rice, Dr. Harry M. Williams, Dr. Steven C. Hathaway, Miss Jill Emrick, Mr. George Faour, Mr. and Mrs. Albert Mannes, Dr. Del Hilyard, Dr. Raymond Tucker, Dr. Duane Tucker, Mr. and Mrs. terry Gottschalk, Mr. Ted Mireau, Mr. Larry Smith, Mr. and Mrs. James Burrows, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Suit, Mr. Lloyd Livingston, Mr. Michael Mullins, Mr. Max Koch, and several members of the Port Huron Flags. Above all, for the strength to handle the task, and for the resolution to use the degree acquire to His purpose, thanks to the One in Whom "all things are possible." V TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 1 Baseball and Media, before Radio ............................................................... 1 The Early Baseball Broadcasts .................................................................... 2 Television: Another Medium Struggles for Acceptance .... 8 Summary ................................................................................................................. 14 The Play-by-Play Announcer: A HorseP ulling Three Carts . 15 Definitions.....................................................................................................................17 CHAPTER II. SURVEY OF LITERATURE ......................................................................... 20 Team Influence on the Game Description ................................................ 20 Partiality......................................................................................................................... 39 Summary.............................................................................................................................. 46 Journalistic Tenets ............................................................................................ 47 Background of Announcers .................................................................................. 49 Changes of Announcer and of FlagshipS tation...........................................61 Summary ................. 62 Aspects of the Occupation for Study...........................................................67 CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................ 95 The Questionnaire...................................................................................................... 97 Hypothesis.................................................................................................... 128 CHAPTER IV. FINDINGS.........................................................................................................131 Questionnaire Distribution ............................................................................. 131 Response............................................................................................................................132 VI Announcer Comments ............................................................................................ 133 Findings.................................................................................................................... 134 CHAPTER V. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS,A ND SUGGESTIONS ................................ 201 Summary........................................................................................................................ 201 Conclusions............................................................................................................... 216 Suggestions for Further Study ..................................................................... 221 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................................ 225 APPENDICES 229 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Inter-Relationship Between the Baseball Teams, Broadcasting Stations, Advertisers, and Play-by-Play Announcers.......................................................................................................... 16 vm LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. American and National League Attendance and Television Set Sales, 1947-1975 ....................................... 11 < 2. Changes Among Announcers and Stations, 1961-1975 ........... 64 3. Geographic Areas and States in Which Announcers Were Raised. 136 4. Sizes of Communities in Which Announcers Were Raised .... 137 5. Age Range of Respondents in Working and Non-Working Classifications ............................................ 137 6. Respondent