Need transcripts of baseball game play-by-play

December 4, 2017 1:25 PM

I'd like to read transcripts of baseball play-by-play.

I'm having trouble finding a source for these documents. I know they must exist because most games are close-captioned. Can anyone point me to some? Age is not important, but it would be better if they were Major League teams.

posted by cosmicbandito to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (3 answers total)

Kenneth Goldsmith's Sports (PDF - it's linked from his page at the Electronic Poetry Center so I assume it's kosher) is a complete transcription of a radio broadcast of the game between the Yankees and Red Sox on August 18, 2006. If you enjoy it, you may also enjoy his similar works Traffic and The Weather.
posted by dfan at 1:46 PM on December 4, 2017 [2 favorites]

Best answer: How clean do the captions need to be? And how many do you need? CC of live sporting events is *really* hit or miss in terms of accuracy. That said, I have an MLB.tv account and some command-line tools that can extract CC info from the MLB.tv online streams. The output looks something like this:


Tom: THERE’S JEREMY HELLICKSON TAKING THE MOUND TODAY FOR THE PHILS AS THEY LOOK FOR THIRST FIRST SERIES VICTORY SINCE THE END OF APRIL. THE YOUNGSTERS GET A CHANCE TO SIGN AN AUTOGRAPH BEFORE TODAY’S BALL GAME. THAT’S A COOL MOMENT. THE STARTING NINE OUT THERE MEETING THEIR FAVORITE PHILLIES PLAYER. THE GIANTS LINEUP BROUGHT TO YOU BY X EVENT. X1 WILL CHANGE THE WAY YOU EXPERIENCE TV. A LIVAN LOOK FOR THE GIANTS BECAUSE BRANDON BELTS IS BATTING THIRD TODAY. POSEY SA BATTING CLEAN-UP. NICK LUND LID WILL BAT SIXTH FOR THE GIANTS. THEY’LL FACE HELLICKSON WHO IS 5-3 WITH 24 STRIKEOUTS. NOT A STRIKEOUT PITCHER. HE HAD A REAL ROUGH MONTH OF MAY WITH AN E.R.A. OF 7.04. SO BEN, HE’S HOPING LIKE THE PHILLIES THEY CAN TURN THE PAGE ON THE MONTH OF MAY AND START FRESH HERE IN JUNE BOYNE IT WAS A TOUGH MONTH. JUST ONE VICTORY FOR JEREMY HELLICKSON, THAT BIG E.R.A. HE’LL BE ABOUT 90, TO 92. VERY GOOD CHANGE-UP. CURVEBALL WHICH I WOULD LOVE TO SEE HIM USE MORE AND THE CUTTER IS STARTING TO COME ALONG, AS WELL.
Tom: HE WAS TALKING THE OTHER DAY ABOUT MAKING SURE HE USED HIS FASTBALL WITH A LITTLE MORE ABILITY TO SPOT IT AND MAYBE THAT WOULD GET EVERYBODY OFF THEIR CHANGE-UP. IT SEEMS LIKE PEOPLE ARE SITTING ON HIS CHANGE-UP OVER THE LAST SEVERAL STARTS. TIME NOW FOR OUR NISSAN KEYS TO THE GAME. BEN, KICK US OFF.
Ben: YOU JUST SAID IT, TOM. HE’S GOING TO USE THE FASTBALL MORE. I’D LIKE TO SEE HIM USE THE FASTBALL MORE. THESE GUYS ARE SITTING ON THE CHANGE-UP. EVEN WHETHER HE IT’S DOWN IN THE ZONE, THEY’RE LOOKING FOR IT AND GETTING IT. YOU CAN USE THE FASTBALL AND COMMAND IT.
John: TO ME IT’S ABOUT MOMENTUM. I’VE TALKED ABOUT THAT A LOT. WIN ONE MORE TODAY, YOU’LL HAVE TAKE BE THE SERIES FROM SAN FRANCISCO AND GO TO THE NEXT SERIES AND KEEP THE MOMENTUM GOING AND WIN THAT SERIES.
BEFORE YOU KNOW, YOU WIN FIVE, SIX SERIES IN A ROW AND YOU’RE BACK WHERE YOU WANT TO BE.
Tom: DENARD SPAN WILL START THINGS OFF FOR THE GIANTS. HE’S HAD A GOOD SERIES, 6 FOR 9 WITH THREE RUNS SCORED. I WOULD SAY HIS LAST SEVEN GAMES AT CITIZENS BANK PARK HAVE BEEN AT A TORRID PACE. ALL OF A SUDDEN, IT’S KIND OF A CLOUDY DAY, BUT WE’LL GET PAST THAT. AS HELLICKSON IS READY TO GO. HERE’S THE FIRST PITCH OF THE AFTERNOON. THAT’S IN THERE FOR A STRIKE ACCORDING TO MARK RIPPERGER. IT’S NO BALLS AND ONE STRIKE. I THINK HE HEARD SOMETHING FROM DENARD SPAN ON THAT PITCH RIGHT OUT OF THE CHUTE.
Ben: MAKE A LIVING RIGHT THERE, DOWN IN THE ZONE.


It takes a while to download the games and run the tools, but if you just wanted the CC data from a handful of them I could get it to you. MeMail if interested.
posted by tonycpsu at 2:23 PM on December 4, 2017 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: Big thanks to tonycpsu, who uploaded a whole game for me.
posted by cosmicbandito at 10:35 AM on December 28, 2017