Logo of KDKA 1020 Radio Pittsburgh the first radio station in America (image from KDKA 1020)
Baseball Games on your Car radio? -Not so fast
That’s Amaury News and Commentary
Amaury Pi-González
Things are changing in baseball in many ways. This 2026 season, the ABS, Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) system, often called “robot umps,” is a technology-driven system tracking the exact position of pitchers to determine balls and strikes in baseball. And players can challenge the system immediately. I covered the Giants-Yankees game last Saturday at Oracle Park, and it was weird to see this during the game.
Baseball games on the radio (usually on AM radio) were a staple of radio for decades since the first ever commercial broadcast on August 5, 1921, when KDKA 1020 AM in Pittsburgh aired the Pittsburgh Pirates’ defeat of the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-5. Announcer Harold Arlin called the action from a box seat at Forbes Field using a converted telephone as a microphone.
If you are ‘old school’ or just old baseball fan, chances are you are listening to baseball on the radio (mostly AM radio), like your parents and your grandparents. But this is 2026, and the world is changing by the minute, while AM radio is going the way of the Dodo Bird.
Today, many electric vehicle brands like Tesla, Ford, BMW, and Volvo have removed AM radio from some models; others still include it, and some go with digital streaming. I do have Sirius XM (Satellite Radio)so I can listen to many games LIVE, home and away, for all 30 teams (Channel 89 and the app) with zero blackout restrictions, and also all day to many specialty channels, like “Seriously Sinatra.”
Remember when 90% of baseball was heard on AM radio? Not anymore, although in some big radio market some AM stations carry baseball..
I remember when it was almost like a joke to have an FM station broadcasting baseball; they were almost exclusively for music, with much better sound and Stereo-sound than AM radio. Today, Major League Baseball has expanded its presence on FM radio stations, with many teams now simulcasting on FM, utilizing HD radio channels, or shifting away from traditional AM-only broadcasting to ensure better coverage.
Some AM stations today barely make it by “broker’s time “; some stations are so desperate that if you are a ventriloquist and want to pay a station to put your “show” on the air, you will probably find a station, even in languages other than English..since it would not matter. You mean a ventriloquist on the radio?
That line is from the 1987 Woody Allen movie Radio Days, one of Allen’s memorable films.
But seriously, technology is such that you can also listen to a game on your phone or wristwatch. Imagine if you had told your grandfather, “I am going to listen to the game today on my smart watch
This is the primary new digital hub for live audio, replacing the old “At Bat” app. For $59.99/year or $5.99/month, it offers live radio broadcasts for all 30 teams with no blackout restrictions, alongside 24/7 MLB Network access and MiLB games, and many other ways for those with high-tech devices
The standalone, cheap ($29.99) audio-only subscription has been phased out and incorporated into MLB Plus.
All WBC 2026 games were exclusively on SiriusXM, in addition to their MLB coverage.
Since we already have robots running many things, from baseball to retail to wholesale to top medical surgeries, some of us might like to see when we could have a microchip embedded inside our brain for FREE and listen to the World Series.
Quote: “I watch a lot of baseball on the radio”. -Gerald Ford.
Amaury Pi-Gonzalez – Cuban-born Pi-González is one of the pioneers of Spanish-language baseball play-by-play in America. Began as Oakland A’s Spanish-language voice in 1977 ending in 2024 (interrupted by stops with the Giants, Mariners and Angels). Voice of the Golden State Warriors from 1992 through 1998. 2010 inducted in the Bay Area Radio Hall of fame.
While in the Bay Area, great food and great prices. 998cuba.com
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