In the last
100 years of the game, there
were a number of baseball
records left out of the record
books, but they did make it
into Billboard Magazine.
Babe
Ruth was the first player to be
honored by a phonograph record.
The 1920 release of the monolog
titled "Babe Ruth's Home Run
Story" was one of the earliest
methods used for recording a
record. Dated before the use of
vinyl in 1926, the records were
made of a mixture of shellac
and slate dust.
The record was first made available in 1920 at any Pathe Records dealer or
by using a coupon featured in a
number of magazine
advertisements, "clip the
coupon and mail it to" Pathe
Freres Phonograph Co. 20 Grand
Avenue, Brooklyn NY." with a
dollar pinned to it." The
record came with "one
photographic print of his
autographed photograph Free."
"Take Me out to the Ball Game" is baseballs Theme song. It is the third
most frequently heard song in
America, behind the National
Anthem and Happy Birthday. In
1952 Golden records released a
7 inch Extra-Play record
featuring two songs on side
one, "
Take Me Out to The Ball
Game" and "The Umpire." Both
songs feature the singing
voices of New York Yankees Phil Rizzuto, Tommy Henrich,
Brooklyn Dodgers Ralph Branca,
Roy Campanella, with Anne
Lloyd, The Sandpipers, Mitchell
Miller And Orchestra. Side two
features "Casey at the Bat"
performed by "famous sports
announcer" Mel Allen.
In
1955 Rainbo Records introduced
a patented method to produce
flexible records as the
"Record-On-A-Box" for a
Wheaties promotion. Spalding
was one of the first companies
to jump on the new technology.
In
1956 Spalding gave away 2
free baseball 78 RPM
Flexi-records with a cardboard
backing to promote their line
of baseball gloves.
The recordings were made available free at a local sporting goods store
just to show up to check out
the line of Spalding Gloves.
The transparent flexi record
was glued to a cardboard
advertising. The promotion
consisted of two 5 1/2" x 5
1/2" records; "How To Hit" by
Larry "Yogi" and "How to Field"
by Alvin Dark. Over the years
the flexi records were used for
numerous promotions, and
"talking baseball cards," until
the invent of CD's and digital
recordings. Perhaps the most
well known flexi record was the
1962 and 1964 Auravision
records.
In 1962 Columbia Record productions put out a test issue set of 8 premium
Auravision paper disc records.
The transparent flexi record
was laminated over a cardboard
picture of a ballplayer, with
the player's stats on the back.
In
1964 a 16 record set was
released. The 33 1/3 RPM
records were made available in
special offers through Yoo-Hoo,
Milk Duds candy boxes and
Meadow
Gold Milk containers. The
records contain a 5 minute
player interview with
Sportscaster Marty Glickman.
Also
in 1962 Mars Candy offered 3
promotional phonographic
records entitled "Baseball Tips
From the Stars." The 33 1/3 rpm
7" vinyl records were made
available for only 50 cents
each, and four wrappers from
any Mars Candy Bars; Milky Way,
Snickers, 3 Musketeers, Mars
Toasted Almond Bar, Forever
Yours, Mars Coconut Bar, and
Marsettes.
Narrated By Lou Boudreau, "Baseball Tips From The Stars" featured helpful
Hints in the Stars Own Voices.
The three recods included: No
1- "How To Bat" with Stan
Musial, Ernie Banks, Duke
Snider and Ken Boyer, No 2-
"How To Pitch" with Warren
Spahn, Joey Jay, Johnny Podres,
and Don Drysdale and No 3- "How
To Field" with Willie Mays,
John Roseboro, Gil Hodges,and
Don Hoak. The audio features
Interviews with the
ballplayers, recorded live at
Major League parks during
batting and fielding practice.
Released by United Artists in time for the start of the 1959 baseball
season "
That Holler Guy!"
features a hilarious album of
speeches from baseball press
dinners by former St. Louis
Cardinals catcher, and long
time announcer Joe Garagiola.
Howls of sportswriters heard in
the album are testimony to
Joe's baseball funny-bone.
The Toastmaster general of
baseball was considered
baseballs funniest spokesman by
his fellow players. The records
title "That Holler Guy" was
picked up from the nickname he
earned while playing ball. The
front cover pictures Joe
Garagiola with Mickey Mantle,
Stan Musial, Yogi Berra, and
Ken Boyer in St. Petersburg,
Florida during spring training.
The back of the cover has
testimonials to Joe Garagiola
from Yogi Berra, Leo Durocher,
Gil Hodges, Stan Musial, Toots
Shor, and Casey Stengel, along
with their black and white
photos.
Introduced by James Stewart and narrated by Curt Gowdy, "
Baseball - The
First 100 Years, Official
Centennial Record Album" was
released in 1969. The
psychedelic style cover was
designed by American commercial
illustrator Bob Peak. He is
best known for innovative
designs of the modern movie
posters that include West Side
Story and My Fair Lady. Peak
received a commission from the
U.S. Postal Service to design
stamps for the 1984 Summer &
Winter Olympics.
The record features the great moments of 100 years of baseball. As stated
on the back, "....your memory
will come alive with things you
haven't thought about for
years.... Whether it was Bobby
Thomson's shot heard around the
world, Don Larsen's World
Series Perfect game, or the
emotional farewells of Lou
Gehrig and Babe Ruth, "You will
remember where you were and
what you were doing." There is
also a black & white paper
sleeve version and a 7" color
cover. The record labels
feature the official MLB logo
which was first used in 1969.
"
The Mythical Championship of the universe," the brainchild of BFV&L
Promotions, brought together
The Sporting News, Apple
Computer, HOF Broadcasters Jack
Buck and Lindsey Nelson to
create "The Greatest Baseball
Game
Never Played." A 1982 simulated
broadcast of a hypothetical
baseball game between all-time
Major League Baseball greats.
The broadcast was aired on 200
radio stations in the United
States and Canada and also
released as a record album.
Set in Philadelphia's Shibe
Park the simulated game was
announced by Jack Buck and
Lindsey Nelson. Following the
format of the All-Star Game, it
featured the National League's
all time greatest players
against the all time greatest
players from the American
League. The National League won
the game 5-4 on a bottom of the
9th walk off home run by Hank
Aaron.
with covers depicting
our favorite players, team or Hall
of Famers from the past, is a great
addition to any collection. The
extra bonus of being able to hear
their voices, or a historic
recorded event, is a listen back in
time. As stated on one album; You
could re-live the great moments of
baseball, "your memory will come
alive with things you haven't
thought about for years. Flashbacks
of your youth - the kids you grow
up with - warm, lazy summer
afternoons."
These recordings of the past are lost to the digital age. It is something
truly unique and should be
preserved for modern times. There
are just too many great records out
there to feature in one Newsletter.
There will be a continuation, a