Video Of First Baseball Satellite Telecast To Europe In 1962

by Al Yellon on Dec 31, 2008 5:35 PM CST

I had heard about this video, but had never seen it before.

Despite the 1964 date on the page, the game was on July 23, 1962. It's in French; scroll through the video about halfway through and you'll see the baseball portion. The voice you hear is Pat Pieper's over the PA system telling fans they were just seen in Europe. In 1962, that was a big deal. The play you are seeing is Tony Taylor of the Phillies flying out to right field in the third inning.

Years later, the plate umpire, Tony Venzon, revealed that he had told hitters he was going to call every pitch a strike if it was "within a foot of the plate" while they were on satellite. Reason: he didn't want baseball to look "boring and dull" to people in Europe.

One more note about this telecast:

President Kennedy was supposed to launch this historic moment in communications with a trans-Atlantic press conference, but the transmission signal was acquired before JFK was ready, so Ernie Banks may have been the first human image relayed across the Atlantic. Needing to kill a little time, the producers picked up a TV broadcast of a major league ballgame between the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs from Wrigley Field.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of SB Nation or Al Yellon, managing editor (unless it's a FanPost posted by Al). FanPost opinions are valued expressions of opinion by passionate and knowledgeable baseball fans.

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Comments

I've seen that snippet of the Cubs game before

but anytime I see it, I’m reminded how far technology has come in a relatively short amount of time.

"In an ocean or in a glass, cool water is such a gas."

by markleonette on Dec 31, 2008 11:32 PM CST reply actions

Word to the wise

I watched this clip, but it banjaxed my PC’s video capabilities until I rebooted.

"Who's Bob Brenly? The guy that used to be the manager for Arizona?" ~ Alfonso Guilleard Soriano

by JohnM on Jan 1, 2009 10:51 AM CST reply actions

That's weird.

I have a MacBookPro, and it didn’t do anything to mine. Maybe it’s a PC-centric problem.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al Yellon on Jan 1, 2009 3:43 PM CST up reply actions

I think it was a QuikTime video

which is indeed a bit Mac-centric…

"Who's Bob Brenly? The guy that used to be the manager for Arizona?" ~ Alfonso Guilleard Soriano

by JohnM on Jan 1, 2009 5:50 PM CST up reply actions

That explains that.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al Yellon on Jan 1, 2009 5:50 PM CST up reply actions

Thanks, Al!

Cool video, and worth it just to hear Pieper-san’s voice again…..takes me back.

"[Lou Piniella] might be over 100, but he still has a lot of fire in him." - Ted Lilly, Sept. 10, 2008

by CaughtInTheVines on Jan 1, 2009 2:01 PM CST reply actions

And now...

… I’m over here in Europe and am able to watch a lot of baseball each season live through the Armed Forces Network… not to mention the channel NASN that picks up a lot of games for regular european joe’s.

The day we lose our will to fight - Is the day we lose our Freedom.

by sanantonecub on Jan 1, 2009 5:25 PM CST reply actions

I was at this game...

…when I was 11 years old (my mother took me on Ladies’ Day) and sat in what was then called the grandstand but now called terrace box seats.

However Ernie Banks wasn’t the first human image transmitted across the Atlantic. The first Telstar transmission occurred on the evening of July 10, 1962 as can be seen from the front page of the 7/11/1962 Chicago Tribune front page.

Note the excerpt from the book “Veeck, as in Wreck”, which can be seen in the lower left corner.