During the first summer of KBOA’s operation in 1947 and before the KBOA-FM equipment had been installed, the station carried the St. Louis Cardinal Baseball games during the daylight hours of the sun-up to sun-set operation but was unable to broadcast the ball games played at night. That summer the Cardinals were red hot and Southeast Missouri had some avid fans.

The baseball loop, or telephone line to St. Louis was available so the station staff started hooking up the line and listening to the play on the station monitor, although it could not be broadcast on the air.

A growing group of fans started dropping by to listen to the ball games until staff members had to install a public address system to cover the hundreds of cars which would park on the KBOA grounds and along Highway 25.

“We didn’t know it at the time but we were operating the first drive-in in Southern Missouri and we didn’t make a cent, but we sure did keep some Cardinal fans happy,” says one of the veteran members.

Source: Daily Dunklin Democrat, Monday, July 15, 1957