Baseball on the air

Published May 2, 2011 4:00am ET



Tony Sportiello, who wrote the book for “National Pastime” at Keegan Theatre, must have had fun coming up with all the silliness that constitutes the musical. A work that breezily begins with a far-fetched comedic idea, “National Pastime” is the story of a small Iowa radio station that is going bust in 1933. Sportiello’s solution is to have the station, WZBQ, broadcast baseball games between a nonexistent home team, the Baker City Cougars, and endless European teams. The trick is that the games are always played away from home, so that through the magic of radio they can be created by two men in a studio. The public never catches on.

Trusted reporting.Unlimited access.

Subscribe for full access to Washington Examiner coverage, expert political analysis, and subscriber-only journalism.

Get Unlimited Access

Already a member? Log in

Cancel anytime.