Article:The Yankees Didn't like the Truth

by Harold Friend

Red Barber had integrity. The pioneer baseball broadcaster would not accept journalistic handcuffs. Red Barber told fans the truth. The Yankees didn't like the truth.

Yankees' President Mike Burke Planned No Changes

On September 21, 1966, newly appointed Yankees' president Mike Burke flatly stated that he had no plans to change the Yankees' broadcasting crew, which consisted of Barber, Phil Rizzuto, Jerry Coleman, and Joe Garagiola, who was hired when Mel Allen was unceremoniously dismissed. "At the moment, I don't have any plan to make changes in the broadcast staff."

Previous Owner Dan Topping Was Upset With the Yankees' Broadcasters

Previous Yankees' owner Dan Topping had sent each of the broadcasters a memorandum in which he described their work as horrible. He accused them of talking about everything except the game.

"...(T)here is no excuse for all the talk about everything but reporting the game. I think it simply means this - sticking to reporting the game and current facts, rather than talking about past history and personal things." Dan Topping would have loved John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman.

Four Hundred and Thirteen Fans

On September 22, the last place Yankees played a rescheduled game against the White Sox. Red Barber told the television audience "I don't know what the paid attendance is today, but whatever it is, it is the smallest crowd in the history of Yankee Stadium, and this crowd is the story, not the game." There were 413 paying fans.

Mike Burke Told Red Barber He Was Fired

Barber asked the cameras to pan the empty stands. The head of Yankees' media relations refused. A week later, Mike Burke invited Red Barber to breakfast at the Plaza Hotel, where Burke told him that he was relieved of his broadcasting duties.

Basic Aim

The basic aim of a sports broadcaster is to report what is happening. Barber recalled that in 1935, baseball commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis told the radio broadcasters covering the World Series that their job was to report.

"He told us that if some player who didn't like him walked up to his box and spit tobacco juice in his face, we were not to feel sorry for the Judge but to report it. He told us to tell how accurate the spitting was and how much hit the target. And we were to report his reaction, but not to offer an opinion."

It should be clear that little journalistic integrity exists. When Red Barber hit a raw nerve more than 40 years ago, he was fired. It must be noted that Barber was one of the top, if not the top baseball broadcaster in the 1950s and 1960s, but not even his competence and stature could stop Mike Burke and new Yankees' owner CBS from getting rid of him for reporting the facts.

The Spin Continues

It has become increasingly more disingenuous with the passage of time. On April 17, 2009 in their new ballpark, more than one half of the 1,800 Legends Suite seats, which ranged in cost from $500 to $2,625, were empty. Mike Burke's 2009 counter part, Randy Levine, told the media "The premium seats are over 80% sold. Today, as is traditional, there are some no-shows."

"I don't really worry about that," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "It is Friday afternoon, a 1 o'clock game. People do work."

References:

By VAL ADAMS. (1966, September 21). Yankees' New President Says Familiar Voices Will Continue. New York Times (1857-Current file),94. Retrieved June 8, 2009, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2005) database. (Document ID: 80010266).

By VAL ADAMS. (1966, September 27). Red Barber Dismissed After 13 Years as Yankee Broadcaster. New York Times (1857-Current file),74. Retrieved June 8, 2009, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times  (1851 - 2005) database. (Document ID: 82512103).

By VAL ADAMS. (1966, September 30). Red Barber Says Ex-Athletes Take Over Sports Broadcasting. New York Times  (1857-Current file),78. Retrieved June 8, 2009, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times  (1851 - 2005) database. (Document ID: 82515597).

Walter Lanier Barber