1967 MLB Season
Originally written by Tim Brulia
National Television
APRIL
Saturday 4/15:
Dodgers-Cardinals, 2:15, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Pee Wee Reese, Sandy Koufax
Giants-Braves, 2:15, NBC. Jim Simpson, Tony Kubek
Saturday 4/22:
Athletics-Orioles, 2:15, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Pee Wee Reese, Sandy Koufax
Angels-Indians, 2:15, NBC. Jim Simpson, Tony Kubek
Saturday 4/29:
Tigers-Orioles, 2:15, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Pee Wee Reese, Sandy Koufax
Indians-White Sox, 2:15, NBC. Jim Simpson, Tony Kubek (rained out)
MAY
Saturday 5/6:
Giants-Pirates, 2:15, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Pee Wee Reese, Sandy Koufax
Cardinals-Cubs, 2:15, NBC. Jim Simpson, Tony Kubek
Saturday 5/13:
Braves-Pirates, 2:15, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Pee Wee Reese, Sandy Koufax
Tigers-Red Sox, 2:15, NBC. Jim Simpson, Tony Kubek
Saturday 5/20:
Yankees-Tigers, 2:15, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Pee Wee Reese, Sandy Koufax
Dodgers-Cubs, 2:15, NBC. Jim Simpson, Tony Kubek
Saturday 5/27:
Dodgers-Giants, 4:15, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Pee Wee Reese, Sandy Koufax
Senators-Tigers, 4:15, NBC. Jim Simpson, Tony Kubek
JUNE
Saturday 6/3:
Braves-Reds, 2:15, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Pee Wee Reese, Sandy Koufax
Athletics-White Sox, 2:15, NBC. Jim Simpson, Tony Kubek
Monday 6/5:
Dodgers-Braves, 7:15, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Pee Wee Reese, Sandy Koufax
Saturday 6/10:
White Sox-Yankees, 2:15, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Pee Wee Reese, Sandy Koufax
Orioles-Twins, 2:15, NBC. Mel Allen, Tony Kubek
Saturday 6/17: (non-doubleheader)
Athletics-Tigers, 2:15, NBC. Jim Simpson, Tony Kubek
Cardinals-Giants, 4:15, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Pee Wee Reese, Sandy Koufax
Note: STL-SF was seen in most of the country at 4:15 ET. The St. Louis and San Francisco viewing areas saw KC-DET at 1:15 CT/11:15AM PT, respectively.
Saturday 6/24:
White Sox-Twins, 2:15, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Pee Wee Reese, Sandy Koufax
Mets-Braves, 2:15, NBC. Jim Simpson, Tony Kubek
JULY
Saturday 7/1:
Reds-Cubs, 2:15, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Pee Wee Reese, Sandy Koufax
Braves-Pirates, 2:15, NBC. Jim Simpson, Tony Kubek
Monday 7/3:
Giants-Mets, 7:15, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Pee Wee Reese, Sandy Koufax
Saturday 7/8:
Red Sox-Tigers, 2:15, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Pee Wee Reese, Sandy Koufax
Twins-White Sox, 2:15, NBC. Jim Simpson, Tony Kubek
Tuesday 7/11:
Baseball All-Star Game from California (Anaheim):
National-American, 7:15, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Buddy Blattner, Pee Wee Reese, Sandy Koufax
Saturday 7/15:
Cubs-Dodgers, 4:15, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Pee Wee Reese, Sandy Koufax
Astros-Giants, 4:15, NBC. Jim Simpson, Tony Kubek
Saturday 7/22:
Braves-Cardinals, 2:15, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Pee Wee Reese, Sandy Koufax
Giants-Cubs, 2:15, NBC. Jim Simpson, Tony Kubek
Saturday 7/29:
Tigers-White Sox, 2:15, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Pee Wee Reese, Sandy Koufax
Angels-Senators, 2:15, NBC. Jim Simpson, Tony Kubek
AUGUST
Saturday 8/5:
Braves-Cubs, 2:15, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Pee Wee Reese, Sandy Koufax
Red Sox-Twins, 2:15, NBC. Jim Simpson, Tony Kubek
Saturday 8/12:
White Sox-Twins, 2:15, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Pee Wee Reese, Sandy Koufax
Orioles-Tigers, 2:15, NBC. Jim Simpson, Tony Kubek
Saturday 8/19:
Angels-Red Sox, 2:15, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Pee Wee Reese, Sandy Koufax
Saturday 8/26:
Red Sox-White Sox, 2:15, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Pee Wee Reese, Sandy Koufax
Twins-Indians, 2:15, NBC. Jim Simpson, Tony Kubek
SEPTEMBER
Saturday 9/2:
White Sox-Red Sox, 2:15, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Pee Wee Reese, Sandy Koufax
Tigers-Twins, 2:15, NBC. Jim Simpson, Tony Kubek
Monday 9/4:
Indians-Twins, 7:15, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Pee Wee Reese, Sandy Koufax
Saturday 9/9:
Tigers-White Sox, 2:15, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Pee Wee Reese, Sandy Koufax
Twins-Orioles, 2:15, NBC. Jim Simpson, Tony Kubek
Saturday 9/16:
Orioles-Red Sox, 2:15, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Pee Wee Reese, Sandy Koufax
Senators-Tigers, 2:15, NBC. Jim Simpson, Tony Kubek
Saturday 9/23:
White Sox-Indians, 2:15, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Pee Wee Reese, Sandy Koufax
Braves-Cardinals, 2:15, NBC. Jim Simpson, Tony Kubek
Saturday 9/30:
Twins-Red Sox, 2:15, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Pee Wee Reese, Sandy Koufax
Angels-Tigers, 2:15, NBC. Jim Simpson, Tony Kubek
OCTOBER
Sunday 10/1:
Twins-Red Sox, 2:15, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Pee Wee Reese, Sandy Koufax
Angels-Tigers, 2:15, NBC. Jim Simpson, Tony Kubek
Note: No telecast had been originally scheduled for this date. But with the
American League pennant up for grabs with anyone of three teams still in
the chase, NBC took the rare step of keeping its crews in place for the
conclusion. This meant the cancellation of its early kickoff AFL games.
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WORLD SERIES
Wednesday 10/4:
Game 1, Cardinals-Red Sox, 1:00, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Ken Coleman
Thursday 10/5:
Game 2, Cardinals-Red Sox, 1:00, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Ken Coleman
Saturday 10/7:
Game 3, Red Sox-Cardinals, 2:00, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Harry Caray
Sunday 10/8:
Game 4, Red Sox-Cardinals, 2:00, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Harry Caray
Monday 10/9:
Game 5, Red Sox-Cardinals, 2:00, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Harry Caray
Wednesday 10/11:
Game 6, Cardinals-Red Sox, 1:00, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Ken Coleman
Thursday 10/12:
Game 7, Cardinals-Red Sox, 1:00, NBC. Curt Gowdy, Ken Coleman
Note: WHDH-Boston also provided coverage, using the NBC feed.
Local Radio Info
Originally written by garretta
National League
Now let's look at 1967 in the National League. We begin with radio:
Cubs: WGN-AM will once again carry the regular season schedule as part of its new three-year contract. There are no plans for a radio network. Sponsors include Heileman Brewing, Oak Park Federal, and Martin Oil. Vince Lloyd and Lou Boudreau will call the action.
Philies: WFIL-AM will feed the entire regular season schedule to a twenty-four-station network in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey. A ten-minute pregame show will be sponsored by Chrysler, and there will also be a five-minute show with color analyst Richie Ashburn just before first pitch. The ten-minute postgame show remains unsold. Sponsors are Atlantic-Richfield, R.J, Reynolds, Ballantine Beer, and Tastykake. Ashburn will be joined in the booth by Byrum Saam and Bill Campbell.
Braves: WSB-AM will head a forty-station network that will carry the entire regular season schedule plus ten weekend exhibitions. Sponsors include Coca-Cola, P. Lorillard, Falstaff Brewing, and Pure Oil, which also sponsors the postgame show on both radio and television. Milo Hamilton, Larry Munson, and Ernie Johnson will call the games.
Cardinals: KMOX-AM is the flagship for a one-hundred-station network that is one of baseball's largest. Anheuser-Busch and General Finance will each sponsor three innings of each game, with D-X Sunray and B.F. Goodrich splitting the rest. Pre- ad postgame shows will be sold locally. Harry Caray, Jack Buck, and Jerry Gross will describe the action.
Reds: The Reds' radio network, which is helmed by WCKY-AM. has grown this year from around fifty stations to ninety-one. Said network will broadcast twenty exhibitions plus the entire regular season schedule. Weidemann Brewing Company currently owns all of the time on the broadcasts but is expected to sell some before the start of the season. Claude Sullivan and Jim McIntyre are your announcers.
Giants: KSFO-AM will head an eighteen-station network in California, Arizona, Nevada. and Hawaii that will air eleven exhibition games plus the regular season schedule. Standard Oil of California, Bank of California, and Roos-Atkins will each sponsor three innings a game. Armour Meats will co-sponsor the pregame show with Del Monte and the postgame show with the Bay Area Chrysler Dealers. Russ Hodges and Lon Simmons will host the shows and call the games.
(The article confused me. It said that Del Monte and the Chrysler Dealers would "alternate" sponsorship with Armour in the pre- and postgame shows. But if Armour is only a half-sponsor of each individual program, is the other half up for local sale? Since the article never said, I'm assuming that "alternate" was used in error and that Del Monte was a full half-sponsor of the pregame show and the Chrysler Dealers were a full half-sponsor of the postgame show. If I'm wrong in that assumption, please feel free to correct me.)
Pirates: KDKA-AM heads a twenty-eight-station network in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia that will broadcast 177 games, including fifteen exhibition games. KDKA will also carry ten-minute pre- and postgame shows that have already been completely sold to participating advertisers. Also sold locally is Pirate Dugout, which will be heard between games of all doubleheaders. Atlantic-Richfield and Pittsburgh Brewing will each sponsor three innings of each game, with the remainder split between Foodland Supermarkets and the local Chrysler-Plymouth Dealers. Bob Prince, Jim Woods. and newcomer Nellie King, a former pitcher for the Pirates, will describe the action.
(No radio affiliates in Ohio? That has to be an omission on Broadcasting's part. The Pirates have always had stations in places like Steubenville and Youngstown, and they probably would have been carried in Columbus, which was the home of their Triple-A team around this time.)
Dodgers: KFI-AM is the flagship of a ten-station network in California, Nevada, and Arizona. Sponsors are Union Oil of California, Security First National Bank, and Packard-Bell. Pabst Brewing will sponsor the pregame show on both radio and television, while the Carnation Company and General Cigar will co-sponsor the postgame show on both radio and television. Vin Scully and Jerry Doggett will call the games.
(According to the article, KOY-AM Phoenix is the lead station in an auxiliary Arizona network. Can anyone tell us about that network? How many stations were involved? Were there any sponsors unique to it?)
Astros: KPRC-AM will lead a thirty-station English network. Schlitz Brewing is currently slated to sponsor six innings a game but may sell some of that time to other sponsors before the season. Other sponsors include Duncan Foods and Coca-Cola. The pre- and postgame shows for both radio and television will be co-sponsored by Monsanto Chemical and another sponsor yet to be named. Gene Elston, Lowell Passe, and Harry Kalas will host the shows and call the games.
The team will also have an eighty-three-station Spanish-speaking network that will broadcast to Puerto Rico, the Caribbean Islands, and eleven countries in Central and South America. Pre- and postgame shows will be produced. The Spanish announcers are Rene Cardenas and Orlando Sanchez Diego.
Mets: The team has a new flagship station: WJRZ-AM Newark, New Jersey. Only two other stations have agreed to carry the games so far: WGLI Babylon, New York (which has signed for five years) and WNAB Bridgeport, Connecticut (which has signed only for this year). The stations will carry 189 fames, including all twenty-seven exhibitions. The three stations also have plans to do a pregame show and a postgame show. More stations are expected to join the network. Sponsors include Rheingold Beer, R,J, Reynolds, and the local Chrysler-Plymouth Dealers. Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy, and Ralph Kiner will call the action.
American League
Now for 1967 in the American League. We begin with radio:
Orioles; WBAL-AM is the flagship of a network that is expected to number more than sixty stations from Delaware south to Florida and west to Louisiana. National Brewing and Esskay Meats will each sponsor a third of each game. Al Packer will sponsor a full inning, and the following advertisers will each sponsor a half-inning: General Mills, Central Savings Bank, the local Pepsi-Cola Bottlers, and the Baltimore News-American. Chuck Thompson, Bill O'Donnell, and Frank Messer will call the action.
Indians: WERE-AM is in the final year of a five-year contract, It will broadcast 172 games, including wight spring training games and two midseason exhibition games, to a twenty-five-station network. Pre- and postgame shows will be sold locally. Duquesne Brewing and Pure Oil will each sponsor a third of each game; other sponsors include Society National Bank and General Cigar. Jimmy Dudley and Bob Neal will call the action.
Tigers: WJR-AM is in the final year of a three-year contract. It heads a twenty-right-station network that will broadcast 169 games, including seven exhibition games. Stroh's Beer will sponsor a third of each game, while Pure Oil will sponsor two innings. B.F. Goodrich and National Bank of Detroit will each sponsor an inning; other sponsors include General Cigar and Society National Bank. Elias Brothers will be a half-sponsor of the pre- and postgame shows; the other half seems to be unsold as of press time. Ernie Harwell and Ray Lane will be on the call.
Yankees; WHN-AM, which was the team's flagship station from 1958-1961, returns this year as the head of a forty-station network in New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont. Sponsors include Tidewater Oil, Krueger Brewing, General Cigar (outside New York City), and Atlantic Richfield (outside New York City). There will also be pre- and postgame shows of ten minutes apiece. Marv Albert, Joe Garagiola, Phil Rizzuto, and Jerry Coleman are your announcers.
Senators: WTOP-AM will broadcast ten exhibition games plus all regular season games. There are no plans for a radio network. Warner Wolf will host the pregame show. Sponsors include B.F. Goodrich, General Mills, Atlantic-Richfield, Household Finance, and the local Dodge Dealers. One-third of each game will be sold to participating advertisers. Dan Daniels and John MacLean will call the action.
Red Sox: WHDH-AM is the flagship of a forty-four-station network in Maine, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Connecticut. General Cigar, Atlantic-Richfield, and Narragansett Brewing will each sponsor a third of every game. There will be two pregame shows: a fifteen minute Dugout show with play-by-play announcer Ken Coleman and a five-minute Warmup show with Don Gillis. There will also be a five-minute postgame show with Bob Wilson called Sports Extra. The game sponsors have the option to pick up these shows as well. Coleman will be joined in the booth by Ned Martin and Mel Parnell.
White Sox: The team's flagship had moved from WCFL-AM to WMAQ-AM, which has signed a two-year contract with an option for two more years. It will head a network of between eighty and ninety stations that will carry all regular season games. Between twelve and fifteen of those stations will also carry the team's twenty-eight exhibition games. General Finance will sponsor three innings a game; Heileman Brewing has also signed as a partial sponsor. The rest of the time remains unsold.
(I assume that the stations that carry the spring training games were some of the same stations that carried the regular season games, but the article doesn't say for sure.)
Athletics: KCMO-AM and KCMO-TV were negotiating with the team at press time, but nothing was signed. Rumors are that the deal is for a fifteen-station network, two more stations than last year. Hamm's Beer and General Finance have been mentioned as possible sponsors.
Angels: KMPC-AM will head a twenty-station network in California, Nevada, and Arizona. Standard Oil of California and Anheuser-Busch will each sponsor a third of every game; the other third remains unsold. Pre- and postgame sponsors are General Mills, Bonanza Airlines, and the local Chrysler Dealers. Buddy Blattner and Don Wells will broadcast the games on radio and television and host the adjacent radio shows.
Twins: WCCO-AM Minneapolis is the flagship of a network numbering over a hundred stations in fourteen states and two Canadian provinces. It will produce 171 games for broadcast, including nine exhibitions; forty network stations will carry 154 or more games. Two pregame shows and one postgame show will be sold locally. Game sponsors include Hamm's Beer, Twin City Federal, Pure Oil, General Mills, and Minnesota Blue Shield. Herb Carneal, Merle Harmon, and Halsey Hall will describe the action.
Local TV Info
Originally written by garretta
National League
Here's the television breakdown for the National League in 1967. Sponsors and announcers are the same as radio unless otherwise indicated:
Braves: WSB-TV will head a twenty-two-station network that will carry eighteen road games. All of them except the season opener in Houston are expected to be in color.
Astros: KTRK-TV is the flagship of a sixteen-station English-speaking network in Texas, Louisiana, and New Mexico that will televise fourteen Sunday road games, all in black and white. Two Sunday games will also be televised in an eight-station Spanish-speaking network in Mexico that will produce its own pre- and postgame shows.
Dodgers: KTTV-TV will televise Dodgers games for the tenth consecutive year. Ther will be at least eleven telecasts: the nine games in San Francisco plus exhibition games from Miami and Houston. All scheduled telecasts will be in color; the exhibition games were televised in black and white last year. Additional games may be added if the Dodgers find themselves in a tight pennant race. The team is looking for a co-sponsor of the pregame show along with the Carnation Company.
(The article makes it sound like the pre- and postgame shows for the Dodgers were simulcast on radio and TV, which isn't too surprising given that there were so few telecasts.)
Phillies: WFIL-TV will air sixty games, including two exhibitions. Some games may be carried by a three-station network in Pennsylvania. Color telecasts are a possibility this year, but nothing has been decided. There will be three separate ten-minute pregame shows with Richie Ashburn, manager Gene Mauch, and first baseman Bill White. Pitcher Jim Bunning will host a ten-minute postgame show. None of the aforementioned segments are sponsored as of press time.
Cardinals: KSD-TV is the head of a thirteen-station network in Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee that will televise twenty-two road games, all in color, Participating advertisers are R.J, Reynolds, Allstate Insurance. Union Electric of Missouri, and Shell Oil.
Cubs: WGN-TV is televising a total of ninety-four games: eighty-one home day games (all in color) and thirteen night road games. There is no network as such, bur individual games are available for pickup upon station request. This is the first year of a three-year contract. Jack Brickhouse and Lloyd Pettit will call the action. Sponsors include Hamm's Beer, R.J. Reynolds, Pure Oil, Allstate Insurance, Zenith Distributing, and the Chicago Chevrolet Dealers.
Mets: WOR-TV will televise 120 games, including three exhibitions. At press time, WOR planned to televise all seventy-five of its home games in color. along with as many as thirty-seven of its forty-five road games. Seventy of the telecasts will be at night. Ralph Kiner will host the postgame show (Kiner's Korner) which is unsponsored at press time. Additional sponsors include Sun Oil and Allstate Insurance.
Giants; As they did last year, KTVU-TV Oakland-San Francisco will carry nineteen games including two exhibitions and all nine games that the Giants play in Los Angeles. The number of games televised in color will jump from four last year to eighteen this year. Additional game sponsors include Phillip Morris, Allstate Insurance, and Ernest and Julio Gallo Winery. There will be two pregame shows; one will be sponsored by the local Volvo Dealers, while the other will be co-sponsored by Air California and Anheuser-Busch. The postgame show will be sponsored by General Mills and Household Finance.
Pirates: KDKA-TV will head a five-station network in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. Thirty-eight road games will be televised, the same number as last year; sixteen will be televised in color. R.J. Reynolds and Allstate Insurance will be participating advertisers. Pre-and postgame shows will be produced after selected telecasts.
Reds: WLWT-TV will televise between forty and forty-five games, most of them road games. All home games will be televised in color (as they have been every year since 1959), as will a majority of the road games. Sponsors include Hudepohl Brewing, Bimel Appliances, Sun Oil, and General Cigar. Ed Kennedy and Frank McCormick will call the action. In addition to WLWT, games will air on the following stations:
WLWC-TV Columbus (Ohio)
WLWD-TV Dayton (Ohio)
WLWI-TV Indianapolis (Indiana)
WLEX-TV Lexington (Kentucky)
WSAZ-TV Huntington (West Virginia)
American League
Here's the local television situation for the American League in 1967. Sponsors and announcers will be the same as radio unless otherwise indicated:
Athletics: See radio post above.
Indians: WJW-TV is in the first year of a three-year contract. It heads a six-station network in three states that will televise forty-six games. Carling Brewing and Sun Oil will each sponsor three innings of each game. Allstate Insurance will sponsor one inning, with the other two innings unsold at press time. There was no word at press time on how many telecasts will be in color; only a few were last year. Harry Jones and Herb Score will call the games.
Angels: KTLA-TV will televise thirty games, including eight exhibitions. All telecasts will be in color, as they were last year. Allstate Insurance will be an additional game sponsor. Pre- and postgame sponsors include Toyota, Western Airlines, and United California Bank. Dick Enberg joins the broadcast team to do the postgame show on television.
Senators: WTOP-TV will televise thirty-five games (twenty-four road, eleven home)/ All games will be telecast in color. There are no plans for a television network. This is the first year of a three-year contract. Carling Brewing will sponsor a third of each game; other sponsors signed at press time include Allstate Insurance and General Cigar.
Yankees: WPIX-TV, which has aired the Yankees for the last seventeen years, is in the second year of a three-year contract. It will televise 115 games, including three exhibitions. All sixty-five home telecasts will be in color, and WPIX hopes to increase the number of color telecasts on the road from six last year to at least twenty-five. The tram plans a three-to-six-station television network in upstate New York. Pabst Brewing will serve as a additional sponsor.
Red Sox: WHDH-TV is beginning a new three-year contract. It will serve as the flagship of a seven-station network that will televise fifty-seven games. including one exhibition. Thirty-one will be home games, all televised in color. WHDH hopes to televise as many oof the twenty-six road games in color as possible. The station will carry a five-minute pregame show with Johnny Most; game sponsors have the option to sponsor it.
Orioles: WJZ-TV will televise fifty-two games (forty-six road, six home). all in color. This is the first year of a new two-year contract. Additional sponsors include Sun Oil, R.J. Reynolds, Coca-Cola, and Tastykake. The ten-minute pregame show will be alternately sponsored by Household Finance and the Baltimore News-American, while the ten-minute postgame show will be sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Dodge Dealers and hosted by John Kennelly. There may be a network of several UHF stations in Pennsylvania.
Twins: WTCN-TV Minneapolis-St. Paul has signed a new three-year contract. It will head a fourteen-to-sixteen-station network in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Wisconsin that will televise fifty games. All telecasts will be in color for the first time. Western Oil will be an additional sponsor. Frank Buetel will join the announce crew for televised games.
Tigers: WJBK-TV will head a six-station Michigan network that will televise forty games, more than half of them in color. The team is again selling its advertising time as if the six stations were one. George Kell and Larry Osterman will call the action. Additional sponsors include Pabst Brewing, Sun Oil, and R.J. Reynolds.
White Sox: WGN-TV will televise sixty-four games (fifty-one home, thirteen road). The fifty-one home games will be in color. Additional sponsors will be Hamm's Beer. R.J. Reynolds. Pure Oil, Zenith Distributing. Allstate Insurance, and the Chicago Chevrolet Dealers. Jack Brickhouse and Lloyd Pettit will be on the call.
WGN claims that they have an option to televise the Sox next year; but the team insists that they've already negotiated with WGN and that the option was declined. They've already announced a deal with WFLD-TV for 1968.
National TV Info
Originally written by garretta
Here's the national television picture in 1967:
NBC will televise the Game of the Week every Saturday of the baseball season. Coverage begins at 2PM Eastern, with first pitch at 2:15/ Exceptions are May 27 and July 15, when the Giants host one of the games in San Francisco. On those two weeks, coverage begins at 4PM Eastern with first pitch at 4:15. The audience will be split on June 17; the B game between the A's and the Tigers in Detroit will start at 2:15, while the main game between the Cardinals and the Giants in San Francisco begins at 4:15. On April 29 and August 19, there will be no B game; Tigers-Orioles (April 29) and Angels-Red Sox (August 19) will go to the entire country except for the home team markets. (Were the B games for those weeks rained out, or was there no B game scheduled in the first place?)
There will be three Monday night telecasts (June 5, July 3, and September 4) with coverage beginning at 7PM and first pitch at 7:15. All three games (Dodgers-Braves June 5, Giants-Mets July 3, and Indians-Twins September 4) will be full national telecasts.
(Was there any special reason why the first of the Monday telecasts. which was usually on Memorial Day. was on June 5 instead?)
A Sunday telecast was added on October 1 because of the closeness of the American League pennant race. The games and broadcasters were the same as the day before: Curt Gowdy, Pee Wee Reese, and Sandy Koufax (the top team) did Twins-Red Sox at Fenway Park; Jim Simpson and Tony Kubek (the B team) did Angels-Tigers at Tiger Stadium.
(NBC dodged a real bullet when the White Sox were eliminated on the final Friday of the regular season, which meant that all the contenders were in two places and could be covered by the regular crews. Would they really have left one of the three relevant games completely uncovered if the Chisox had still been alive? I've never seen anything about their alternate plans for the final few days of the season, including a possible multi-team AL playoff,)
Mel Allen filled in for Simpson on Orioles-Twins June 10 because Simpson was covering the World Series of Golf.
NBC still could not televise from Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia due to the Phillies' exclusive contract with Atlantic-Richfield. (According to the article, Atlantic-Richfield was seriously thinking about allowing home national telecasts, so it could have been that the Phillies simply weren't good enough to make Game of the Week. None of their road games were shown either.)
In addition to his booth duties, Koufax will also host the pregame show.
Sponsors for NBC's coverage include Gillette, Chrysler, and R.J. Reynolds; each have a quarter of the package. The other quarter is still unsold, although there's a chance that NBC will sell it locally like they did last year.
The All-Star Game is set for Anaheim Stadium in Anaheim, California on Tuesday, July 11. First pitch is scheduled for 7:15 PM. Curt, Pee Wee, and Sandy will be joined in the booth by Angels voice Buddy Blattner. Blattner will also join Jim Simpson and Tony Kubek in the NBC Radio booth.
The World Series will begin on Wednesday, October 4 from Fenway Park in Boston, as the American League champion Red Sox host the National League champion Cardinals. First pitch is scheduled for 1PM Eastern. The same holds true for Game 2 on Thursday, October 5, The series shifts to Busch Stadium in St. Louis for Game 3 on Saturday, October 7, then stays there for Games 4 and 5 on Sunday, October 8 and Monday. October 9. First pitch for all three games is 2PM Eastern.
The series returns to Fenway Park for its final two games; Game 6 will be on Wednesday, October 11 and Game 7 on Thursday, October 12. First pitch each day will be at 1PM. Curt will be joined by Red Sox voice Ken Coleman in Boston and Cardinals voice Harry Caray in St. Louis. On NBC Radio, Pee Wee will team with Caray in Boston and Coleman in St. Louis. The television pregame show will be hosted by Jim Simpson and Sandy Koufax. Caray, the voice of the victorious Cardinals, will host the trophy presentation. To make sure Caray has enough time to get to the Cardinals; locker room, Simpson will call the final two innings of Game 7.
WHDH-TV (the Red Sox' flagship station) also showed the NBC broadcasts.
In other news:
SNI (Sports Networks, Inc.) estimates that about seventy-five percent of its four hundred pickups this year will be in color. Last year, about thirty percent of its three hundred pickups were in color. (For those who are numerically challenged, that means an increase from about ninety to about three hundred.) SNI has also increased its number of color mobile units from two to five; two more are being built and should be delivered and ready for use by late summer.
WPIX-TV has ordered new RCA color cameras for use on its Yankees telecasts. They should be delivered by April, but CBS, which owns the Yankees, doesn't want to risk a possible delay, so it's leasing five GE PE250 cameras from its own stockpile to the team. The cameras (which will be operated by WPIX photographers) will be returned to the network when the season ends.
WHOM-AM/FM, a primarily Spanish-language station in New York, will broadcast winter league baseball from Puerto Rico after the Major League season ends, as it has since 1954. The games are sponsored by Schaefer Beer and broadcast as part of the company's Schaefer Circle of Sports anthology series. Last winter, fifty-four games were broadcast between October 21 and February 1. Many of the games featured Major League baseball players.