Cincinnati's Crosley Field: The Illustrated History of a Classic Ballpark - Softcover

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

In the Crosley era, Greg Rhodes played shortstop for the Crosley Management Indians of Richmond, Indiana. (Powel Crosley’s refrigerators and automobiles were manufactured in Richmond in the 1950s.) He attended his first major league game at Crosley Field in the mid-1950s. Rhodes served as the first director of the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum, which opened at Great American Ball Park in 2004. He's currently the Cincinnati Reds team historian. He has resided in Cincinnati since 1985, with his wife, Sally Westheimer. Growing up in Syracuse, New York, John Erardi was touted as “the next Frank McCormick.” The touter was Erardi’s Irish mother, who has a 12-year-old girl was captivated by McCormick's glorious 1937 season for Cincinnati's top farm club of Syracuse. Unlike McCormick, Erardi never made it to Crosley Field, but eventually made it to first base, scooping up throws for the Syracuse Moose All-Stars, Christian Brothers Academy, and later at Annapolis and Murray State University. The “Enquirer” reporter and columnist is a three-time Ohio Sports Writer of the Year, and has won the Associated Press award for best sports feature paper story in the country, and the state AP award for best feature in an Ohio newspaper (:Cincinnati and the Negroe Leagues”). He's the No. 5 starter in a family rotation of wife, Barb, son, Chris, daughter, Gina, and dog, Milkshake.

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The Reds on Radio

Powel Crosley became a part of the Cincinnati baseball when he purchased the Reds in 1934, but even before that, Crosley had made his presence felt at the corner of Findlay and Western.

Crosley, one of the great American entrepreneurs of the 20th century, began his broadcasting ventures in 1921 when he opened his radio manufacturing plant. In 1922, he put WLW on the air, and later acquired WSAI. On April 15, 1924, WLW broadcast the Opening Day game, the first time a Cincinnati station carried a Reds game. The newspaper did not identify the announcers of this historic broadcast, but noted that they “gave all the play-by-play details,” and thousands at home “heard” the game on radio. The newspaper reporter put quotes around “heard,” apparently unsure of how to describe this novel experience.

Crosley himself moved behind the mic for at least three Opening Day contests in 1926, ’27, and ’28 when he broadcast play-by-play from the roof of the grandstand. In 1927 and 1928, the second microphone at a table on the field handled player interviews. Crosley arrange to have the players and managers say a “few reassuring words” reported the Enquirer. 1928, Crosley put together an “All-Star” pregame lineup featuring commissioner Kennesaw Landis, Reds presidents C.J. McDiamid, Cubs owner William Wrigley, Jr., and the governor of Ohio, A.V. Donahey.

On at least one occasion, Crosley had partners on his broadcasting team, although apparently he did not bring them in for their baseball knowledge. In 1927, he was assisted by a vaudeville team of Ford and Glenn and his orchestra conductor, William Stace.

Although Crosley was a visionary and a marketing genius, these Opening Day games did not cause him to plunge into baseball broadcasting. The Opening Day broadcasts in the 1920s were the only games carried all season. Further, Crosley did not try to develop any exclusive arrangement with the Reds. In fact, in 1928, four Cincinnati stations carried the game, including WLW, WSAI, WFBE, and WKRC. It wasn't until 1920 that Crosley had WSAI devote more time to baseball, carrying a few additional games each season, called by Bob Burdette, and it wasn't until the mid-1930s, with the arrival of Walter “Red” Barber, that Crosley finally realized the full potential of baseball and radio.