August 30, 1963: The 1st Audio Cassettes and Tape Recorders

August 30, 1963: The modern audio cassette tape, and the tape recorder that used it, were both introduced to the public by the Philips Company. For the next 30 years, the "cassette" would be the standard form of portable recorded music.

Tapes of the latest releases. Blank tapes to make your own recordings, tapes made by Philips. Sony. JVC. Maxell. Going to get them at Crazy Eddie, J&R, or Tower Records if you lived in New York. If you lived in New Jersey, Crazy Eddie was still an option. Or Sam Goody. Or any number of other "record store" chains that are now out of business. Or Woolco or McCrory's or any other of the "five-and-dimes" that were the dollar stores of their time.

People who grew up with compact discs, mp3s and iPods will never know the struggle. Trying to rewind or fast-forward to a song you like. Tape getting mangled. Turning it back by sticking a pencil in the hole and turning it. Most of all, calling a radio station, to request that great song you heard yesterday, waiting on hold for 45 minutes, and then waiting for them to play it so you can tape it off the radio, only to have the disc jockey comment over the great opening licks.

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August 30, 1963 was a Friday. This was also the day the Moscow-Washington Hot Line went into operation. I have a separate entry for that event. Actor Michael Chiklis was born. And these baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 4-1 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Al Downing outpitched Steve Barber. Barber's arm probably wasn't sore, just a little stiff. (Ball Four reference.) Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Yogi Berra were all held out of this game. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-4.

* The New York Mets lost to the Milwaukee Braves, 3-1 at the Polo Grounds. Hank Aaron went 0-for-4. Duke Snider appeared as a pinch-hitter for the Mets, but did not reach base.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 11-6 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. In his final season, Stan Musial got the day off.

* The Washington Senators beat the Boston Red Sox, 7-0 at Fenway Park in Boston. Claude Osteen pitched a 5-hit shutout. Carl Yastrzemski did not play for the Sox.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-1 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Frank Robinson went 1-for-4. So did Pete Rose, soon to be named National League Rookie of the Year. So did Roberto Clemente, who also had an RBI.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Detroit Tigers, 5-4 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Al Kaline went 0-for-4.

* The Houston Colt .45s beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Ernie Banks did not play. The Colts became the Houston Astros in 1965.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-3 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Harmon Killebrew and Bob Allison hit home runs.

* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Kansas City Athletics, 6-2 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium.

* And the Los Angeles Dodgers beat their arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants, 3-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Don Drysdale outpitched Juan Marichal. Willie Mays went 2-for-4, and drove in the Giants' only run.