Remembering “Red”
Friday, Aug. 26, is a significant day not only for Columbus but also for broadcasting. It was on this day in 1939 that Columbus native Walter Lanier “Red” Barber broadcast the first major league baseball game on television between Cincinnati and Brooklyn. It was shown on WZXBS that later became WNBC-TV.
Later that year, Red would do play-by-play of the first football games ever televised. On the historical baseball game, the show had three sponsors: Ivory soap, Mobil gas, and Wheaties. Thus, it was Red Barber who did the first TV commercials.
According to his longtime National Public Radio partner Bob Edwards, “Red Barber was to broadcast sports journalism what Edward R. Murrow was to broadcast journalism overall.”
Ironically, when Murrow returned from Europe after World War II, the first person he hired at CBS was Red Barber, who replaced Ted Husing as the network’s director of sports.
While head of CBS Sports, Barber recruited Fordham University graduate Vin Scully for CBS football coverage and later on invited him into the Dodgers broadcast booth to succeed Ernie Harwell in 1950 after the latter became the announcer for the New York Giants.
According to Scully, Barber was radio’s first poet and that, “Except for my mother, he was also the most influential person in my life. My father died when I was young, and Red became like a father to me in every way.”
Many other announcers have the same high regard for Barber. According to Bob Costas, “Barber at Brooklyn may have been the best ever.”
Glenn Lautzenhiser
Columbus
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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