Center Field Shot : A History of Baseball on Television

Walker, James R./ Bellamy, Robert V.

University of Nebraska Press（2008/06発売）

• 製本 Paperback:紙装版/ペーパーバック版／ページ数 277 p.
• 言語 ENG
• 商品コード 9780803248250
• DDC分類 796.35709

Full Description

In Baseball Weekly's list of things that most affected baseball in the twentieth century, television ranked second—behind only the signing of Jackie Robinson. The new medium of television exposed baseball to a genuinely national audience; altered the financial picture for teams, owners, and players; and changed the way Americans followed the game. Center Field Shot explores these changes—all even more prominent in the first few years of the twenty-first century—and makes sense of their meaning for America's pastime.  Center Field Shot traces a sometimes contentious but mutually beneficial relationship from the first televised game in 1939 to the new era of Internet broadcasts, satellite radio, and high-definition TV, considered from the perspective of businessmen collecting merchandising fees and advertising rights, franchise owners with ever more money to spend on talent, and broadcasters trying to present a game long considered "unfriendly" to television. Ultimately the association of baseball with television emerges as a reflection of—perhaps even a central feature of—American culture at large.

Contents

Acknowledgments  

Introduction: The Game in the Box  

Part I: The Local Game

1. The Experimental Years    

2. The First Seasons of Televised Baseball     

3. Team Approaches to Television in the Broadcast Era

Part II: The National Game

4. Televising the World Series     

5. Origins of the Game of the Week 

6. The National Television Package, 1966-89    

7. National Broadcasts in the Cable Era  

8. The Pay Television Era    

Part III: Television and Baseball's Dysfunctional Marriage

9. Television As Threat, Television As Savior  

10. Television and the "Death" of the Golden Age Minors    

11. Baseball, Television, Congress, and the Law

12. Baseball and Television Synergy

Part IV: How the Game Was Covered

13. The Announcer in the Television Age  

14. Innovations in Production Practices  

Epilogue: Baseball in the Advanced Media Age   

Appendix A: Televised Baseball Games, 1949-81  

Notes Index