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Live sports
broadcasting as we know it today began in 1923 when young
Graham McNamee, broadcasting directly from the Polo Grounds
in New York City, reported the World Series between the
Yankees and the Giants. The experiment was so successful
that Chicago radio station WMAQ was inspired to pioneer
daily broadcasts directly from the baseball
park.
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McNamee, who
started out as a concert singer, set many broadcasting
standards throughout a lengthy career which spanned the
years from 1923 until his death in 1942. His vivid
descriptions of the events which took place before the live
microphone were characterized by a combination of
informality and warmth that appealed greatly to his
listeners.
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Among those great
moments in sports history that he broadcasted, McNamee
ranked three as among the most memorable: the fabled long
count of the Dempsey-Tunney fight in 1927, the comeback of
Philadelphia Athletics pitcher Howard Ehmke, in the 1929
World Series, and the Babe Ruth home run in the 1932 World
Series.
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