July 17, 1959: The Invention of Instant Replay

July 17, 1959: The New York Yankees are playing the Chicago White Sox at Yankee Stadium. After 8 innings, the game is tied, 0-0, but Yankee pitcher Ralph Terry is pitching a no-hitter.

In the top of the 9th inning, Jim McAnany ruins the no-hitter with a single to center field. Mel Allen, broadcasting the game on New York's WPIX-Channel 11, asks his station director to re-play the videotape on the air.

The broadcast does not survive, so it's not clear whether he wanted to see whether the ball was caught cleanly for an out, or whether the throw to first was close.

Nothing changed with how the hit was scored, of course. Opposing pitcher Early Wynn bunted McAnany over, and, despite being 39 years old, beat it out. Luis Aparicio then bunted the runners over. Nellie Fox was walked intentionally, to set up the inning-ending double play. It didn't work: Jim Landis singled home McAnany and Wynn. Wynn held the Yankees off in the bottom of the 9th, and the ChiSox won, 2-0.

This game turned out to be typical of the season, for both teams. The Yankees were heavily frustrated, going only 79-75 and finishing 3rd in the American League, their worst season in 34 years. But the scrappy, slap-hitting, base-stealing "Go-Go Sox" won their 1st Pennant in 40 years, led by the flashy Aparicio, Most Valuable Player Fox, and Cy Young Award winner Wynn. The Pale Hose ended up losing the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and this would be the only Pennant they would win between 1919 and 2005.

On March 24, 1962, the Middleweight Championship fight in which Emile Griffith killed Benny "the Kid" Paret" was reviewed in slow motion by ABC announcer Don Dunphy. This was the 1st use of slow-motion replay, but it wasn't instant.

CBS' Tom Verna is widely credited with inventing instant replay during the Army-Navy Game on December 7, 1963. The setup was glitchy, and was only used once, after a touchdown scored by Army's Rollie Stichweh. It was played at normal speed, and the announcer, Lindsey Nelson, told viewers, "Ladies and gentlemen, Army did not score again!" (Navy won the game, 21-15.)

Tom Verna in a CBS "control truck"

The problem with the older technology was the difficulty of finding the desired starting point. Verna's system used audio tones activated as an interesting event unfolded, which technicians could hear during the rewinding process.

By 1967, CBS had figured out how to get the kinks out, and instant replay became key to watching football on television, helping to make the NFL America's most popular sports league. Indeed, CBS used the technique so many times on Bart Starr's quarterback sneak to win that year's NFL Championship Game, the Ice Bowl, for the Green Bay Packers that the guard whose block made it possible, Jerry Kramer, titled his diary of that season Instant Replay.

But baseball did it first. As Mel Allen himself would have said, "How about that?"

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July 17, 1959 was a Friday. This was also the day that Billie Holiday, the most beloved jazz singer of all time, died. I have a separate entry for that event.

These other baseball games were played:

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Boston Red Sox, 8-7 at Fenway Park in Boston. Rocky Colavito hit a home run for the Tribe. The Indians finished 2nd to the White Sox, and if they had won the Pennant instead, Colavito probably would have won the MVP. Ted Williams went 0-for-2 with a walk for the BoSox, then was removed for defensive purposes. The Indians nearly blew an 8-1 lead, as the Sox scored 3 runs in the 7th and 3 in the 9th, but it wasn't enough.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-2 at Connie Mack Stadium (formerly Shibe Park) in Philadelphia. Duke Snider went 1-for-3 with 2 walks and an RBI. Harry Anderson (no relation to the Night Court star of the same name) hit a home run for the Phils.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Detroit Tigers, 3-2 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Brooks Robinson hit a home run for the Orioles. Al Kaline did not play for the Tigers.

* The Kansas City Athletics beat the Washington Senators, 7-4 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Roger Maris went 3-for-5 with an RBI for the A's. Harmon Killebrew went 1-for-4 for the Senators. Each had just gone to his 1st All-Star Game

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-1 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Willie Mays went 1-for-5. Roberto Clemente went 2-for-3 with an RBI.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 1-0 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Art Ceccarelli pitched a 6-hit shutout. Ernie Banks went 1-for-4. Frank Robinson went 0-for-1... with 3 walks.

* And the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Braves, 4-3 at Busch Stadium (formerly Sportsman's Park) in St. Louis. Hank Aaron went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Stan Musial did not play for the Cards.