For more than fifty years Red Barber was the voice of baseball. The game was broadcast sporadically until the late 1930s, when Barber burst into prominence by bringing it home to radio listeners, play by play. More than half a century later, he could still be heard, broadcasting over National Public Radio from his retirement home in Tallahassee. Announcing for the Brooklyn Dodgers and later for the New York Yankees, he became a legend long before his death in 1992. Red's story reveals the growth and changes in baseball over the years, the demands of sportscasting, and the difference between radio and television reporting. Here is Red giving major play-by-plays of his own life and career with characteristic wit and integrity.
Robert W. Creamer, formerly a writer and editor for Sports Illustrated, is the author of Stengel: His Life and Times (also available as a Bison Book) and Babe: The Legend Comes to Life.
Bob Edwards, host of Morning Edition on National Public Radio, is the author of Fridays with Red.
