Check out these listings from the St. Louis Post Dispatch August 30, 1953. A complete Browns Sunday doubleheader with the Senators on Sunday, an entire home series with the Yankees and Tigers Wednesday through Sunday. Complete with pre-game shows "Rookie of the Day" and "Stars from the Coaching Box" with Milo Hamilton and Bill Durney every day, home and away.
Wonder if any other MLB team in '53 was giving their fans as much free baseball as the Browns were? Teams were worried about the invention of television. If you could watch the games at home, why would you ever come to the park? Before that, they were even worried about live radio cannibalizing tickets. The Cardinals only televised a couple of road games in 1953 (on KSD-TV).
But the Browns' management was in a position to experiment. Ticket sales were not great anyway. Why not try to make money through TV advertising? Another way in which the Browns revolutionized the game.
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ps in Game One of that doubleheader, Don Larsen outdueled Connie Marrero 3-0. Connie died recently at age 102. Don recently visited St. Louis and went to new Busch Stadium and to old (old) Busch Stadium.
pps When WTVI signed off the last Browns contest at 4:15 pm Sunday, September 27 (vs. White Sox), and threw it over to the "Your Doctor" program, that would be the last regular-season broadcast that St. Louisans would see from Sportsman's Park. Although the Cardinals had allowed a smattering of home games on KSD '49-51, as of the '52 season, only a few road games were provided. The Cardinals did not allow a single home game to be broadcast again until 1982 (Busch Stadium II).
Wonder if any other MLB team in '53 was giving their fans as much free baseball as the Browns were? Teams were worried about the invention of television. If you could watch the games at home, why would you ever come to the park? Before that, they were even worried about live radio cannibalizing tickets. The Cardinals only televised a couple of road games in 1953 (on KSD-TV).
But the Browns' management was in a position to experiment. Ticket sales were not great anyway. Why not try to make money through TV advertising? Another way in which the Browns revolutionized the game.
Found on St. Louis Post Dispatch powered by Newspapers.com
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Courtesy St. Louis Media History
Foundation.
ps in Game One of that doubleheader, Don Larsen outdueled Connie Marrero 3-0. Connie died recently at age 102. Don recently visited St. Louis and went to new Busch Stadium and to old (old) Busch Stadium.
pps When WTVI signed off the last Browns contest at 4:15 pm Sunday, September 27 (vs. White Sox), and threw it over to the "Your Doctor" program, that would be the last regular-season broadcast that St. Louisans would see from Sportsman's Park. Although the Cardinals had allowed a smattering of home games on KSD '49-51, as of the '52 season, only a few road games were provided. The Cardinals did not allow a single home game to be broadcast again until 1982 (Busch Stadium II).
