Center Field Shot

In Baseball Weeklys list of things that most affected baseball in the twentieth century, television ranked secondbehind only the signing of Jackie Robinson. The new medium of television exposed baseball to a genuinely national audience; altered the financial picture for teams, owners, and players; and changed the way Americans followed the game. Center Field Shot explores these changesall even more prominent in the first few years of the twenty-first centuryand makes sense of their meaning for Americas pastime. Center Field Shot traces a sometimes contentious but mutually beneficial relationship from the first televised game in 1939 to the new era of Internet broadcasts, satellite radio, and high-definition TV, considered from the perspective of businessmen collecting merchandising fees and advertising rights, franchise owners with ever more money to spend on talent, and broadcasters trying to present a game long considered unfriendly to television. Ultimately the association of baseball with television emerges as a reflection ofperhaps even a central feature ofAmerican culture at large.