The Great American Pastime reimagines one of America’s most cherished rituals—baseball—through the lens of artificial intelligence. This piece employs the Infinite Baseball Radio Network to broadcast an unending stream of AI-generated baseball games, capturing the rhythm, tone, and drama of a live sports broadcast. By inviting listeners into a familiar yet subtly artificial version of America’s favorite pastime, the work provokes reflection on humanity’s increasingly tangled relationship with technology, nostalgia, and the narratives that shape American cultural identity.

The origins of baseball broadcasting trace back to 1921, when Harold Arlin sat behind home plate at Forbes Field with a converted telephone as his microphone. Broadcasting a game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies for KDKA radio, Arlin made history in what was considered a mere experiment. Yet this experiment grew into a multibillion-dollar industry and an essential part of American culture.

More than a century later, The Great American Pastime reinvents this cultural ritual for the age of artificial intelligence. Streaming on the Infinite Baseball Radio Network, it offers a continuous cycle of AI-generated games delivered in the familiar rhythm and style of live sports radio. The piece straddles nostalgia and technological progress, creating an experience that feels both comfortingly familiar and yet artificial.

At its core, The Great American Pastime is both a celebration and critique of America’s relationship with technology, storytelling, and tradition. Baseball, with its deliberate pace and deep connection to memory and anticipation, serves as an ideal lens to explore these themes.