Opening Game at Cincinnati - The Rite of Spring
Airdate:
Thursday - April 5, 1973
WOR Show
First Spoken Line After Theme Ends
Oh, here we go, let's go. . .
Show Description
Today is Opening Day at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati (Cincinnati Reds vs. San Francisco Giants)
Baseball as a national rite of Spring - "It matters not whether you are interested in sports..."
Spring as a time of great changes - Swings of feeling of exhilaration and sadness
World Series as the Fall harvest celebration of America
Baseball as a total abstraction - "a man with a stick" "a ball hurtling through the Spring air" "ritual cabbalistic uniforms with symbols" (ex. a cardinal, a bear cub)
A description of opening day in Cincinnati with Ewell Blackwell "the Whip" pitching for the Reds - the opening ceremonies with drum majorette and band in a stadium surrounded by green fields, flocks of birds, and the river's "smell of a million kinds of life emerging"
Why do we play games? "I have had victory over my enemies" "Men mulling for weeks over a single chess move"
[ Courtesy: Lowell Thelin - None ]
"An especially entertaining and thought provoking show. Shep mentions Grady Hatton, Ted Kluszewski, and Hank Sauer (in addition to Ewell Blackwell) as playing for Cincinnati on the opening day he attended with his college roomate. All four teamates played together only in 1948 and 1949. Since Shep left Indiana University (without a degree) in 1948 to work at WSAI (see Biography), the opening day he attended must have been in Spring 1948."
Max's super secret page of shows never played and not on internet - maybe. . .
Max / Schmidco Notes
No Notes Found
Replays
Mass Backwards
Replay Date
April 10, 2001
WBAI Golden Age of Radio
NONE
Yesterday USA
NONE
Dustbin of History!
Replay Date
April 06, 2022
Max / Schmidco Notes
No Notes Found
Other
References:
Synd#:
Synd#:
Schmidco Sets - 0 found
Set Name
Show #
Media
File Name
Source
None Found
Shows Known via Recordings or Lists (1950 to 1974 Sources 100% Complete - 1975-1977 in process)
8 Known copies from various Sources and Lists (Up to date)
Recordee
1 Shortened Theme: 55 seconds 2 Audibly Dated: By recordee or other 3 Modified Theme: Theme added by Gary Hines 4 Syndicated Intro:Intro broadcast as part of Synd Shows
This copy used for summary time references
Inventory File Name coding explained
Source Name
Information
Lowell Thelin
Running Time: 43:17
Inventory Name: 1973 04 05_W1534_045 Rite of Spring - 4-5-73A.mp3 Source filename: 4-5-73A.mp3 Source ref number: 55 Station: WOR
FHC / JSP
Running Time: 45:41
Available on Internet
Inventory Name: 1973 04 05_W1534_030 Opening Day WOR Jean Shepherd.mp3 Source filename: 1973 04 05 Opening Day WOR Jean Shepherd.mp3 Source ref number: 5, 10, 4c Station: WOR
