The 2018 MLB All Star Game takes place in Washington, DC, this week, and for those not fortunate enough to see it in person, the sights, action and especially sounds will be accessible to audiences around the globe via television, streaming and radio. While technology such as “Statcast” and field microphones are commonplace today, far less technology permeated the game in the 1950’s. Enter Stan Sellers and his patented “Sports Sound System”, designed to enrich the ballpark experience by amplifying the on-field chatter so that every fan in attendance, as well as at home watching on TV or listening on radio, could hear the true sounds of baseball. However, Sellers found resistance from the baseball establishment to his plan for installing the sound system across organized baseball. In turn, Sellers took his complaints to Congress.
Professional baseball has been deemed exempt from antitrust laws ever since the Supreme Court decision of 1922. In the 1950’s, several Congressional committees took up the task of investigating possible legislative oversight of baseball’s monopoly status, including the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Emanuel Celler.
It was to this committee, considering sports antitrust legislation during the 85th Congress (1957-1958), that Stan Sellers sent his pleas for help. The letter, dated August, 1957, suggests support from several well-known baseball figures, mentions his thoughts on what he perceives as the monopolistic tendencies of MLB, and insists that fans are “simply wild to hear the hassles which occur on the diamond”!
Hope everyone enjoys the sights, and sounds, of the 2018 All Star Game!
