and I had lived through decades of mediocracy. We got the first color TV in our whole neighborhood in the 60's. The first program we tuned in was a Cleveland Indians game. That was the first color TV program I ever watched.
Those players you note were incredible. When I moved from Ohio, per my job, to near Washington DC, I would sit in my bedroom at night and try very hard to pick up the games on the radio on the Cleveland station. Unbelievable to me, I could often tune it in some 230 miles away. Cleveland's WWWE had a very, very strong signal. This was in the 90's before all the MLB options that we have today were available.
Now, if you want to pay the money, you can listen to just about any professional sports on the planet.