Red Barber: The Life and Legacy of a Broadcasting Legend by Judith R. Hiltner and James R. Walker (review)

One can wonder, dear reader, why the world needs a 440- page tome about an obscure sports announcer; obscure to many, perhaps, but to those of us who know Walter Lanier Barber as “Red,” the need for such a thorough examination of his life should come as no surprise. Barber’s professional career, indeed his life, reads like something from the march of history.

Born in the segregated south, he fell in line with the societal norms of Mississippi and Florida before gradually, thankfully, changing his outlook toward those with a different color of skin. Perhaps it is fitting that Red Barber is the man who handled the play- by- play radio call of the most momentous game in Major League Baseball history— the day Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier for the Brooklyn Dodgers, April 15, 1947.

It is here that Judith Hiltner and James Walker shine, not only as exceptional writers and researchers but as explorers of Barber’s inner personality, one that always held true to the guidance given him by baseball commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis: to report, not to editorialize, not to manage, “just report.” It is simple but profound advice for anyone whose voice holds sway over thousands, perhaps millions, of people at any given time, a situation Barber found himself in as his career blossomed.

What a career it was, a life of describing on- the-field action from Cincinnati to Brooklyn to New York interspersed with college football games, newspaper columns, four books, and a notable finale as colorful commentator for National Public Radio. Along the way, Barber was an eyewitness to not only the integration of baseball but the first game under the lights, May 24, 1935, when the Reds played the Phillies. He called the first no-hitter of Johnny Vander Meer’s two consecutive no- hitters, interviewed players from the dugout using a crude portable shortwave radio transmitter, broadcast road games for the first time, was an early proponent of educating women about baseball and bringing them to the games, called the first major league televised game, and was at the microphone when the Yankees’ Roger Maris hit number sixty- one.

Red Barber’s trademark smooth Southern dialect was a source of comfort for fans even when their favorite team was on the losing end. Even more distinctive were the “barbarisms” he sprinkled throughout the game, particularly colorful, if unique, descriptions of the action. A lopsided run margin might mean the good guys had the game “tied up in a croaker sack.” A pitcher with a particularly sharp breaking ball threw “a jug- handle curve.” If a ball was tough to hold it might be “slick as okra,” and a team or individual with a decided advantage would be in “the catbird seat.” Modern-day announcers have their distinctive styles and verbiage, but it is safe to say none approached the colorful colloquialisms of Barber, especially since they were from the heart and not simply manufactured for effect.

Perhaps the high point of Red Barber’s career was the time he spent in Brooklyn broadcasting Dodger games. From 1939 to 1953 the “Barber of Flat-bush” painted an electronic picture of the diamond action, in the process creating an art form that had no peer during his time or perhaps at any other time, for that matter. As the authors note, Barber could “transform Brooklyn into everyone’s hometown and Ebbets Field into everyone’s backyard” (168). He was the most admired sportscaster in the business, using his talents to become a household name through game action, commercials, active participation in civic affairs, and the transition from radio to television. Yes, it must be noted that after Brooklyn Barber announced Yankees games for several years, but let’s leave it at that. There wasn’t a happy ending.

Hiltner and Walker...