The Voices of Baseball: The Game's Greatest Broadcasters Reflect on America's Pastime

Kirk McKnight's "The Voices of Baseball" is not the book I thought I was buying. (There was no "Look Inside" feature to prepare me.) Because the book is subtitled "The Game's Greatest Broadcasters Reflect on America's Pastime," I anticipated something like "The Glory of Their Times," Lawrence Ritter's classic collection of uninterrupted monologues by yesteryear's baseball greats. I expected Mr. McKnight to present the game's great announcers, B.R. and A.R. ("Before Red"/"After Red [Barber]"), to spin their yarns about the games they had called, without interruption. The moment I opened the book and saw its chapter titles, I realized I'd been pitched a screwball. Thirty of the thirty-four chapters are named for MLB's ballparks: from "AT & T Park: San Francisco Giants" to "Yankee Stadium" New York Yankees." Every chapter opens with a picture of the park and a brief paean to its layout and ambience by the announcer who calls the home games there. Then follows more on the park itself. Eventually we get to some good stories about what happened in those parks, in the announcers' own words. Most of these are enjoyable, such as Dick Enberg's excitement in narrating Nolan Ryan's no hit, no run game in 1973 at San Diego's Petco Park (p. 156) or Jon Miller's account of being upstaged in the booth by President Clinton when Cal Ripken Jr. slugged a home run at Camden Yard's Oriole Park (141-42). For me, the flaw of this book is that Mr. McKnight is the one who calls the plays, relegating the broadcasters themselves to color commentators.The final chapters (pp. 227–312) I enjoyed most: reminiscences of former homes of today's teams (Shea Stadium, Candlestick Park, and so forth) and "A Seance from the Booth," in which today's announcers, or those recently retired, look back on with fondness on their predecessors. There's also a four-page testimonial to Vin Scully by his peers. Mr. Scully deserves more than four pages.Because I purchased a clean second-hand copy at a very low price, I won't return it. There's good stuff here. Just be careful that you know what you're actually getting.

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This book provides a great inside perspective from the men who call the game. The insight, cool insider stories, and other insider facts included in this book make it a must read! If you like to read about insider facts about baseball, this is the book for you!

Riveting! You feel as if you are right in the box with the announcers seeing the game through their lenses! I love the author’s flare for writing!

This is a fun and well written book. Kirk McKnight captured some of the greatest moments in the history of the game as told by the amazing broadcasters who were there giving their voices to us, the fans. Many times it’s the play combined with the passionate calls and descriptions of the broadcasters that create lifelong memories we treasure and love to revisit. McKnight had the great idea to capture the feelings and insights of these voices we listen to game after game and delivered it all in a fantastic book.

You can tell the author knows what he is talking about. Even for a "non baseball fan" like me, I felt his love of the sport through the pages. Great read. From a sports fan, to a college student that is looking for further insights for a history paper. Do recommend!

This book should be an inspiration for anyone who has dreams of sitting behind a mic. Beautifully written!

Loved this book. Great insight from a different point of view.