Q & A with John Miley

Q: What made you start recording the games?

A: I liked listening to ball games because the announcers were so exciting—at least I thought so. I thought if I liked listening to them, I might want to have them in my possession so that, when I retired in the future, I could have something to do in my spare time by reliving those great times in my youth. Little did I realize that the collection would become so large, I would never really have time to do that, and at this point retirement is out of the question. 

Q: What is the earliest baseball broadcast in your collection?

A: 1933 World Series Game 5, highlights. The earliest complete game would be the 1934 All-Star game.

Q: What decade do you think is the most memorable from your collection?

A: For me, my most memorable decade is the 1940s, when I was between the ages of 10 and 20 years old.

Q: What made the 1940s the most memorable time to you?

A: In the '40s, I was in my beginning stages of adulthood and was very impressionable at that time. The superstars of the '40s such as Williams, Musial, and DiMaggio were, in my opinion, so much better than those that come along in future years. Also in the '40s, baseball was still a sport, not the business it is today.

Q: When did you personally record your first baseball game, and how?

A: In 1947 via wire recorder.

Q: What has been the most exciting thing for you collecting these games?

A: By far the rewards of collecting have to do with the number of people that I have pleased with the collection and those stories could go on and on.  For instance, the tapes I shared with Jack Buck, Cardinals announcer, as just one example.

Q. What is one of your favorite highlights?

A. It is very difficult to name just one, but of the many it would be October 3, 1951 in game 3 of the playoffs between the Dodgers and the Giants; Bobby Thompson hits a game-winning homerun in the bottom half of the ninth-inning in a dramatic fashion and wins the pennant for the Dodgers.

Q: Have any of the players or announcers in your collection contacted you about your recordings?

A: I am friends with many announces and some players due to what I have taped.  For instance Bob Costas is a close friend and has been since I called him in 1975 while he was working for KMOX in St. Louis.

Q: At what point did you know that your hobby had turned into a serious archive?

A: When the networks and documentary companies began to contact me for things they did not have.

Q: What different media outlets (networks) have relied on your collection to rebroadcast clips?

A: To my knowledge there are none that haven't. NBC, CBS, ABC, ESPN are among those that have used my material.