Baseball's Earliest Voices

 

Listeners hear the 1922 World Series broadcast in New York. 

So, you've seen all of the fuss* about 100 years of baseball broadcasting (today is THE DAY) and it's grabbed your interest. 

* Most of the fuss has come from me, and I've likely driven you crazy with it.

Who should you listen to? Who are the voices that should help you embrace it?

Admittedly, most of the greats were true radio broadcasters who know how to give details. Here's a handful of "voices" that I've picked at (sort of) random.

- Vin Scully. OK, let's just get him out of the way. You likely know he's the greatest and, obviously, so do I. While he did a lot of TV, being the youngest World Series broadcaster on the 1953 Classic, he did more than enough radio work. He was on the radio call of the World Series both before and after his exquisite run on NBC in the 80s. He had classic calls into the 90s until ESPN picked up the contract. Vin declined to continue, sticking only to the Dodgers after that, where his first three innings were simulcast between TV and radio. Too many great calls to pick, though his last out of the 1996 title will always hit me emotionally.

- Jack Buck. Sure, he had the Kirk Gibson radio call -- "I don't believe what I just saw" -- but I really prefer his call of Ozzie Smith's walk-off in 1985. That's the "Go crazy, folks!" call. Oh, Vinny was at that one also, on NBC, but that's where Vinny often suffered in prestige because his calls were so simplistic. A simple "Gone!" and crowd noise was all he needed to say on the Peacock Network. Oh, but back to Joe's dad. Yes, Jack Buck was brilliant and left a lot of classic work in many sports.

- Ernie Harwell. This one is a no-brainer. Sure, there were the years in Detroit, but that wasn't all. There were years in Baltimore and with the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers, as well as network calls also. All Ernie. All great. Few could ever dislike him. Virtually anything of his from 1968 will suffice. He was still doing some radio nationally into the 90s and his call was so friendly. Plus, he's still the answer to a favorite question: What broadcaster was traded for a player? Google "Cliff Dapper for Ernie Harwell."

- Mel Allen. So, just like Vin, is it even worth diving into how great Mel was? I have one gripe. I found audio of a 1942 World Series game where Red Ruffing of the Yankees (Game 1) took a no-hitter into the eighth inning. Mel refused to discuss what's going on. You can imagine that drives me insane. Beyond that, he's high up on the list of as good as it gets.

- Red Barber. Still sounds like honeysuckle dripping into a barrel of moonshine. Red was the taskmaster. You did it his way. Phil Rizzuto didn't love him and apparently neither did Jerry Coleman. But Vin did. Period. His book, "The Broadcasters" was one of a few on the topic that was a game-changer for me. Never flashy, though his work on the 1947 World Series was amazing. His contrast to Russ Hodges' "The Giants Win the Pennant" wasn't sour grapes. It's just how Red was. He was -- beyond a doubt -- the consummate reporter and Vin's mentor.

- Bob Elson. So well-thought-of that the Navy gave him two weeks leave, as requested by Gillette, to call the 1943 World Series (Gillette was the sponsor of the Fall Classic on Mutual). In total, "The Commander" called 12 World Series, along with his work in Chicago.

 - Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy, Ralph Kiner. The trio that handled the Mets for their first 17 seasons. In that time they called a perfect game and a triple play and a lot of bad losses -- all against the Mets, who were truly "Metsies." But then came 1969 and G. Thomas Seaver. Things changed. And if I'm going to mention them...

- Phil Rizzuto, Frank Messer, Bill White. The Yankees get rightfully criticized for being late to adding a Black ballplayer (Elston Howard, 1955). But they often get forgotten for being quick to add a Black broadcaster and it was Bill White. The trio, with the professional Messer and former ballplayers, was part sideshow (mostly Rizzuto) and mostly a great broadcasting combo. Countless people of my age still talk about listening and watching as these three described the action for roughly 15 years.

- Bob Uecker. Still going after all these years, "Mr. Baseball" knows how to mix stories and laughs with serious broadcasting. You don't have to dig far to listen to "Ueck." He's out there calling Brewers games.

- Dan Schulman. Perhaps the gold standard of current radio voices. The Canadian knows the right combination of everything and, while he was great on TV, he's best on radio where he has the descriptive skills. While he's backed down to doing Blue Jays games, he can still be heard calling the World Series for ESPN Radio and it's a treat.

- Jon Miller. Before he came to "Sunday Night Baseball" on TV, Miller was calling the Orioles and others on radio. I can remember picking him up on WBAL out of Charm City and it sounded like he came from another generation. Now he lends class and gravitas to an outstanding San Francisco Giants radio booth.

You might be looking for other voices -- Bob Costas comes to mind -- but he's been virtually all TV throughout his career. Joe Buck did some Cardinals radio but, again, he's a TV guy. 

Broadcasts of all of these voices and many more are easily found on the internet so that you can hear the varying styles. Some of them work while others don't. Tom Manning's style might have seemed fine on NBC in the 1930s but is far too stilted and "radio voiced" for today. Ty Tyson was often dry and, yet, belied more chaos than it might have yielded (Tyson often doubled as the public address announcer for the Tigers while calling a game). 

Rosey Rowswell was all about chaos, long before other so-called "originals" of today. He'd have Bob Prince drop a plate of nuts and bolts as sound effects for home runs. Eventually, Prince established himself as Pittsburgh's own "homer" voice of the Pirates.

There are many voices into today who do know how to call a game (in one man's opinion). Others who, frankly, don't. But there are those who have moved into the 21st Century while continuing to honor what the forefathers taught us. Indeed, that includes a more diverse booth as we climb into the second century of baseball play-by-play.

There are those -- Mike Hirn, hello! -- who deserve a wider audience. Follow him and listen to his calls (and those of others). Take the time to listen to all of us and see which styles you like.

Go listen to all of these voices -- past and present. Celebrate the theater of the mind that radio baseball broadcasting is. It's the most romantic of sports broadcasting. You can smell the popcorn. You might even smell a cigar or two of a distant past. You can feel the warmth or taste the raindrops. All of that comes through the descriptions of the play-by-play announcer, whose job it is to immerse you in a minimum nine-act play.

Act one for me is tonight at 6:30.