Baseball on the radio

Most people watch the Giants (or the Dodgers if you are insane) on TV.  At this point in my life, I do not have broadcast TV so that is not an option in my house. If I really want to watch a game, I go to a neighborhood bar for a few innings and satisfy my need to see the "swing and a miss."

I have been listening to the games on the radio lately and it is such a different experience.  Growing up, we listened to the games (those dreaded Dodgers, by the way) because we didn't always have a television.  In those days, TVs had tubes and those tubes would burn out.  If that happened, my mother wouldn't replace those tubes until it was World Series time. Then she would open up the back of the TV, see which tube wasn't lit up, pull it out and go to the local grocery store where they actually sold replacement tubes!  You could fix your own television in the 1960's.  We then had TV at least for a few months, until another tube blew out.

But for the most part we listened to games on the radio.  Vince Scully was the announcer and he had the voice of a Heisman Trophy Winner.  Smooth, just the right amount of pitch, not too loud, not too deep, and he exuded excitement when the game required it. I don't know any other announcer who IS baseball on the radio.  At least to me. 

So now I listen to the Giants games in the privacy of my own car or my own home and I love it.  It is like being in a padded room, nothing to do but listen.  One could do something mindless like pull weeds or paint the trim around the windows while listening but that's about it. One needs to pay attention because there are no instant replays in radio. (I sometimes have to pull over if I am driving because it requires focus that you can't give while in traffic.)  The game happens. You listen. You hear it or you miss it. You can't rewind. Time slows down when you listen and what you hear is intensified by the solitary act of imagining the game.  It happens entirely in your own head. You see it your way. You can see the outfielder leaping up to make that one-handed catch, you can see the runner sliding into base and you can almost see the umpire make the wrong call.  It's great.  Sitting on the couch with the dog, no distractions that I am willing to acknowledge, just me and the Giants.  It's almost better than watching it on TV.  Try it.