The Sounds Of America: The 1951 National League Tiebreaker

WAMU 88.5 | By James Morrison, Rupert Allman

Published March 25, 2020 at 2:05 AM CDT

The National Recording Registry chose announcer Russ Hodges' call of the 1951 National League tiebreaker between the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers for inclusion in their archive of iconic American sounds.

The Library of Congress hosts over 160 million books, manuscripts and photographs.

And every year, the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress selects 25 pieces of sound, from its collection and beyond, that showcase America’s sound-rich heritage. The archive contains iconic clips of music, news, theater and sports.

In this edition of our new series, The Sounds Of America, our current Librarian of Congress explains how this year’s pieces were chosen.

And we hear one of this year’s selections: the call by sports broadcaster Russ Hodges, of the 1951 National League tiebreaker between the New York Giants vs. the Brooklyn Dodgers — the “Shot Heard ‘Round The World” game.

We also visit the Library of Congress’ National Audio-Visual Conservation Center in Culpeper, Virginia, to discover the work that goes into preserving these audio treasures.

This series isproduced by Ben Manilla and Jennie Cataldo for BMP Audio in association with the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress.