May 13, 2005

110-Year-Old Fan Holds Trophy

Kathryn Gemme, one of the oldest Red Sox fans on the planet, got a chance to hold the World Series trophy yesterday in a ceremony at the Nemasket Healthcare Center in Middleborough.

Gemme was born in Chicopee Falls in 1894 and was 23 years old when Boston won the 1918 World Series (Babe Ruth was 24 that season). The Globe reports that "Gemme was listening to her radio when the Red Sox captured the World Series in 1918," but that is not true.

The first radio broadcast of a baseball game was on August 5, 1921 (Pirates/Phillies on Pittsburgh's KDKA). ... Other baseball/radio firsts:
October 5, 1921 - First World Series game broadcast (KDKA again)
October 1922 - Entire World Series broadcast.
October 10, 1923 - First World Series game heard on a nationwide radio network (also first World Series game played in Yankee Stadium).

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