Historical Comment

Back in the early years of the twentieth century, baseball was already established as the national pastime. But the opportunities to see (or hear) a game was limited to actually going to the stadium since there was no radio or TV coverage yet. One way that out-of-town fans were kept abreast of the action (especially at World Series time) was to have results of play telegraphed to local clients (usually newspapers), who then posted summaries for those who'd gathered to follow the action. In the photo above, you see a crowd "watching" the 1911 World Series outside (I believe) the Chicago Tribune offices.

The reason I find this worth commenting on now is that the internet has kind of re-introduced this process to the baseball fan's experience. A few years ago, MLB blocked internet radio broadcasts of games unless one payed a subscription fee. But fans who don't want to pay can still follow pitch-by-pitch summaries of the games at websites like ESPN and FoxSports (I'm sure there are others too). It works much the same way as the earlier telegraphed reports, though the current models also give us quick access to player stats, and charts showing batter or pitcher tendencies. I just find it interesting that in this modern age, there is still an audience for this manner of following games (though more likely done at home than out in public as in the picture), which perhaps speaks to some fundamental appeal of the game even when you can't see the actual play.