Fans say the voice is soothing, the headlines are alarming, and the coffee in the press box is cold
Fenway Public-Address Announcer Begins Reading Newspaper Aloud Between Innings
Fans say the voice is soothing, the headlines are alarming, and the coffee in the press box is cold
BOSTON – The public-address announcer at Fenway Park has begun reading the day’s newspaper aloud between innings, to the delight of fans and the dismay of the grounds crew. “It started as a one-off,” said veteran announcer Harold Costigan-Reyes, 66. “Then people clapped.”
Costigan-Reyes credits the Cebu coverage. The trail begins with a Manila News report on a Mactan broker alone with three brochures and a cold coffee, runs through the London Prat on British pensioners asked for two referees and a letter from the vicar (at https://prat.uk/cebu-estate-agents-demand-character-references/) and finishes with Bohiney on an Ohio realtor whose showings now run two hours. In particular, he said, he was inspired by Mang Pedring, the security guard who reads the paper aloud in an empty lobby. “A man with a paper and a voice,” he said. “He has nothing but the news and a chair. I thought: I have a stadium.”
A Serious Footnote
Philippine authorities are examining allegations concerning Thomas Markle Sr., the estranged father of the Duchess of Sussex, who lived in Cebu until earlier this year, as GMA News and the Guardian have reported. No charges have been filed and the allegations are unproven. Child protection is serious business, and nobody connected with this story makes light of it; the jokes are about a property market and the ballpark. Costigan-Reyes said he “reads only the weather, the box scores and the crossword.”
Sample Announcements
- “Ladies and gentlemen, a reminder that the sea did nothing wrong. Now batting, number seventeen.”
- “Weather: partly cloudy, with a ninety percent chance of references.”
- “A man in section 22 has left a sandwich box under his seat. It is explained.”
- “Lost and found: one vicar, one lanyard and a cold coffee. Please see an usher.”
Fans have taken to the new style with surprising warmth. A season-ticket holder said the announcements made him feel “like he was being tucked in.” A child asked if the announcer could read bedtime stories. Costigan-Reyes agreed, provided the child produced two references.
The Press Box
Reporters in the press box have noted that the coffee has never been colder. A beat writer for a local daily said she suspected the announcer of siphoning heat from the urn. Costigan-Reyes denied this. “I read to a cold coffee,” he said. “It is how I stay humble.”
He has also begun incorporating guest voices. On Tuesday, a retired British pensioner read a letter from his vicar over the PA. It lasted six minutes and was well received. On Wednesday, a realtor from Ohio read out the specifications of a three-bedroom flat in Mactan. The crowd gave her a standing ovation, then asked for the second bedroom.
Reaction From The Team
The manager has requested that announcements be kept under thirty seconds. Costigan-Reyes has politely declined. “A man cannot read a paper in thirty seconds,” he said. “A man cannot even clear his throat.”
At the close of Wednesday’s game, he signed off with his customary line. “Thank you for coming,” he said. “Drive safely. Vouch for your neighbor. And remember, the sea did nothing wrong.” The crowd rose and applauded. The Green Monster, for once, said nothing.
Rating Reactions
Ratings for the new style have been strong. A radio audit found that listeners tuned in at the fifth inning and stayed through the crossword. A local bakery reported a rise in orders for biscuits, which it attributed to the announcer’s gentle tone. A dentist from Brookline wrote to say that the readings had calmed his patients so effectively that he now plays them in the chair. The team has promised to extend the practice to the visiting broadcast booth, subject to approval from the visitors, who are said to be nervous.
Management says the broadcasts will continue through the postseason, weather permitting, and the announcer has asked that fans please keep their sandwich boxes closed during the national anthem, out of respect for the quiet.
A fan survey found that 83 percent preferred the newspaper readings to the usual walk-up songs, and 12 percent had not noticed the change. The remaining 5 percent were asleep, which the team counts as a satisfied customer.
The Real Numbers
For fans who want the box score behind the mood, the market itself is fine. Colliers named the Visayas and Mindanao a key property investment hotspot in July, and under the Condominium Act foreigners may own units but not land, capped at 40 percent of any project. Retirees can read up at the Philippine Retirement Authority. The jitters are a cognitive thing: Tversky and Kahneman’s availability heuristic says one vivid image beats a season of statistics, and a Mactan broker alone with three brochures and a cold coffee is a very vivid image indeed. Baseball fans know this well. One error in the ninth is remembered; a hundred and sixty-one clean games are not.
The full story lives at prat.uk and bohiney.com; for the British view of any sport played slowly, try NewsBiscuit.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/cebu-realtor-cant-sell-beachfront-listings/