1934 Yankees-Tigers Radio Broadcast Still Exists
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by Niteowl049
I have over 3000 songs in my MP3 player but the most treasured audio in the player is the broadcast of the Yankees - Tigers game of September 20,1934 from Navin Field in Detroit. It is the oldest surviving broadcast of a major league baseball game that still exists. It is exciting to know that at anytime I can listen to this game which was first broadcast 73 years ago.
Ty Tyson and Hall of Famer Walter Johnson broadcast the game and compared to the announcing of games today it is rather bland announcing, but still it captures a moment in time that would have been lost if this recording didn't exist. Tyson also doubled as the stadium announcer something which is unheard of today as far as I know.
Babe Ruth didn't play in this game (which was disappointing) but Lou Gehrig was in the game and battling for AL batting title with Charlie Gehringer of the Tigers -- who was also in that game. Gehrig finished the season as the batting champion with a .363 average. Ruth hung up his Yankee uniform for good a few days after this game was played.
The Tigers had four future Hall of Famers on that team -- manager Mickey Cochrane, Hank Greenberg, Gehringer and Goose Goslin. Goslin is the least well known of the four players but still had an excellent career driving in 100 runs twelve times and drove in 1609 runs in his career and had a lifetime average of .316.
The 1934 Yankees had nine players on the team who were admitted to the Hall of Fame including Ruth, Gehrig, Tony Lazzeri, Bill Dickey, Earle Combs, Red Ruffing, Lefty Gomez and the last pitcher allowed to throw the spitball Burleigh Grimes. Yankee manager Joe McCarthy also was admitted into the shrine at Cooperstown.
In this one game the two dugouts had a total of 13 players who were admitted to the Hall of Fame. There is plenty of atmosphere in this broadcast as you can hear the teletype machines in the background and the sounds of the crowd.
An interesting side note that has nothing whatsoever to do with baseball is that on this same day in Rome, Italy Sophia Loren was born.
This game can be heard for free at otr.net. Just scroll down to Vintage broadcasts and you will find this game at the top of the list, or click here.
Other games available to hear free of charge are:
- 10-02-36 Cubs vs. White Sox
- 10-03-36 World Series Giants vs. Yankees
- 11-09-46 Army-Navy football game
- 10-10-48 World Series Braves vs. Indians
- 10-07-49 World Series Yankees vs. Dodgers
- 06-04-57 Cubs vs. Dodgers
- 08-16-58 Yankees vs. Red Sox
Anyone interested in listening to old time radio shows can hear 12,369 shows for free at the otr.net site.
