Recreation

From BR Bullpen

Recreation was a popular broadcasting technique in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Using a teletype machine, the broadcaster would use use the information on the tape from the game in a far off city to recreate what was happening.

If the tape read "Gehrig grounds to third." The announcer would use his scorecard and might report, "Gehrig at the plate, the swings, hits a sharp grounder, it's scooped up by Owen, and the Yankees are retired."

Arch McDonald, Rosey Rowswell, and Bob Prince were experts in recreation. McDonald used to sit in a store front in his undershorts on especially sultry Washington afternoons recreating the game for fans. Ronald Reagan also did recreation during his stint as a baseball announcer in the mid-1930s.