Читать книгу Bad Boys, Bad Times. The Cleveland Indians and Baseball in the Prewar Years, 1937–1941 онлайн

95 страница из 96

The opening-day ceremonies at Municipal Stadium were nothing out of the ordinary. Manager Vitt received an authentic Native American headdress from a rodeo troupe that was performing at the midtown Cleveland Arena. The Indians and Browns marched to center field for the raising of the flag. And that was all the pregame pomp. The Indians took the field with a few of the players wearing their new windbreakers under their jerseys. Owner Bradley had paid the pricy amount of $16.50 each for the cold-weather protection. If nothing else, his boys were the best-dressed players on the field.

Jack Graney sat behind the WHK microphone for his seventh year as the Indians’ play-by-play announcer. The veteran now had a partner, Pinky Hunter, to handle the between-innings conversation. This addition allowed Graney a short break while the teams exchanged positions on the field. Soon broadcasts would ease into the two-man format that allowed fans to acquire the maximum amount of information each and every game. Hunter contributed scores from around the American League, did updates, handled some of the live commercials, and provided a somewhat comic foil for Graney’s observations.