This date in media history
Eight-five years ago today -- on Aug. 5, 1921 -- Harold Arlin of KDKA radio in Pittsburgh called the first radio broadcast of a baseball game from a seat behind home plate at Forbes Field using a wireless telegraph and a converted telephone. The Pirates beat the Phillies, 8-5, in an hour and 57 minutes, and then proceeded to go on an 85-year losing streak (except for the Mazeroski blip in the early '60s).
Here's the real piece of trivia: Arlin's grandson, Steve, pitched for the San Diego Padres and Cleveland Indians in the early '70s. In a game on Aug. 30, 1972, again in Pittsburgh, Pirates Hall of Fame broadcaster Bob Prince turns the mike over to Harold Arlin -- on the same radio station, KDKA -- to call a few innings while Steve Arlin pitched against the Pirates for the Padres.
To read up more on Harold Arlin, go here ...