A Sea Of Red

I was looking through the Vin Scully thread and really appreciate what he accomplished, but it got me thinking about other legendary broadcasters in sports and who we grew up listening to on the radio.

For me, it was Marty Brennaman of the Cincinnati Reds. IMHO, he is top 2 of all time and my bias pushes him past Vin. I used to listen to Reds games on my dial-tune radio next to my bed when I was a kid and there was nothing better than hearing 'Ol Marty say "And this one belongs to the Reds!".

If you are thinking, "Nick, why the heck did you start a new thread for this?", let me tell you why. We all come from different regions, cities and sports fan bases. I did not want to sabotage the Scully thread because I think it's good we have a thread for Scully on its own. So, whether it's radio or TV, bring it here. Who is the legend you grew up listening to and who do you consider the best or most legendary broadcasters of all time?

1. Marty Brennaman
2. Vin Scully
3. Harry Caray
4. Keith Jackson
5. Ernie Harwell

Good thread. First broadcaster I got to know regionally was Bob Prince for the Pirates. He was a colorful announcer and as a kid I thought he was a hoot (that's a lot of fun for you youngsters). I am not going to rank any but I enjoyed the NBC broadcast team of Curt Gowdy, Joe Garagiola and Tony Kubek on Saturday afternoon baseball. Also, Keith Jackson was a great one for college football. Many others that I can't think of right now.

Hary Carey

Flamehunter beat me to mine My sports fandom began as a teen in the late 60s and early 70s in Pittsburgh, and The voice of Bob Prince was a big part of it More than a few nights were spent in bed listening to Pirate games on the West coast til 2AM with my transistor radio under my pillow Having players like Clemente and Stargell made it easy to be a fan, and with youth seats in the outfield at $2 a pop and a bus that went from the mall 6 blocks from our house right to Three Rivers my brother, 2 sisters and I went several times a season for 3 or 4 years We got there early so we could get the front row seats in right field for the best view of "The Great One", which was Prince's honorary title for Clemente, and of course the transistor went along Very fond memories

This is one of those threads that reveals our age. I used to see Marty at the neighborhood Kroger in suburban Cincy and was scared to even say Hi to him. Got to meet him a few times in the press box here in Houston and he was the gentleman he portrayed on radio. Of course, he was at his best alongside the Ole Lefthander rounding third and headed home.

I also go to know the Big Red Machine TV play-by-play man Brownie in his latter years when he was the voice of the 'Stros. He would cringe when I would mention I was a kid watching him in the' 70s. Incidentally he retired this past week.

Milo Hamilton finished off his career for the Astros and was cool even as he skills slipped significantly in his last years. Extremely funny to hang with at the media buffets.

I never met Ernie Harrell but he was another one of my favorites from AM radio. And what a testimony he had to share.

Perhaps it was my time in the profession but most of today's talent doesn't hold the same mystique as the old guys. That is probably on me.

Shout out to former Angels play-by-play man and current radio voice of the Fighting Illinois Brian Barnhart. Not only was a great classmate here at LU but everyone that I would meet in cities where he worked (OKC, LA, Champaign) would have nothing but quality things to say about the way he carried himself and the quality man that he is. I know Mike Tiller will vouch for this last paragraph.

I grew up with so many wonderful broadcasters...I got to communicate a good bit with Bill Roth, longtime and legendary voice of the Virginia Tech Hokies...and enjoyed hearing voices like Marty Brennaman (who grew up in the Hampton Roads area I believe), Jack Buck, Ernie Harwell, Harry Caray, Harry Kalas...hearing highlights from Tom Hamilton, Dave Neihaus, Skip Caray, the aforementioned Scully (who I also got to hear on the Game of the Week with Joe Garagiola on NBC)...getting the rare treat to hear Keith Jackson call the Rose Bowl. Hearing Verne Lundquist, Dick Stockton and Jim Nantz calling games on CBS...We have been spoiled with so many outstanding broadcasters over the years...As a young broadcaster, I can only hope to begin to live up to the standard set by those broadcasters as I make my own legacy.

Harry Kalas
Howard Cosell
Keith Jackson
Chris Economacki
Ken Squires
Jackie Stewart (just loved that dude)

Sly Fox wrote:Of course, he was at his best alongside the Ole Lefthander rounding third and headed home.

Sly, thanks for the reference to Joe Nuxhall, who I spent many hours listening to in my youth, growing up on the shores of the Ohio River.

And I would echo a similar sentiment to broadcasters Howard Cosell and Harry Caray. Cosell authored the first autobiography that I ever read, I Never Played the Game. I also loved listening to Joe Garagiola, who may have coined the phrase "manufacture a run."

Sly Fox wrote:Shout out to former Angels play-by-play man and current radio voice of the Fighting Illinois Brian Barnhart. Not only was a great classmate here at LU but everyone that I would meet in cities where he worked (OKC, LA, Champaign) would have nothing but quality things to say about the way he carried himself and the quality man that he is. I know Mike Tiller will vouch for this last paragraph.

He was also a great roommate! I can vouch for that as well. Super nice guy.

Sly Fox wrote:...Got to meet him a few times in the press box here in Houston and he was the gentleman he portrayed on radio.

Sly Fox wrote:Of course, he was at his best alongside the Ole Lefthander rounding third and headed home.

My brothers and I still quote the Ole Lefthander as he famously called a routine flyball "that ball is lifted waaaay back to deep LEFT RIGHT CENTER field! And it's caught in front of the warning track..." Classic.

PAmedic wrote:Harry Kalas
Howard Cosell
Keith Jackson
Chris Economacki
Ken Squires
Jackie Stewart (just loved that dude)

Keith Jackson was the voice for the (I think) first college football game for playstation 1. "Down the sideline deep.... Incomplete" or "Elephants on the field" are still repeated routinely by my family.

Larry Munson. Many of us would mute the TV and listen to his calls even though there was a couple second delay.

Chip Carey and Pete Van Werin(sp?). Whenever we couldn't watch the Braves on TBS.

York
Scar
Edwards

Nick

Dewayne Staats is always a pleasure to listen to when I watch Rays games.

For me, it was Jack Fleming and Woody O'Hara doing WVU football, then Tony Caridi and Jay Jacobs who still do WVU men's basketball.

There was a guy who did Pirates baseball in 90's, I forget his name. But when the Buckos won, he would always end every broadcast with the final score, then, "...and there was noooooooo doubt about it!"

Bill Roth was also very recognizable to me in my youth.

Oh. And the guys who did the TBS broadcasts on the Braves. I went through a several -year phase of watching the Beaves and keeping a scorebook (yeah, I was THAT nerdy kid), so those guys were well-known to me. I think someone already mentioned them.

JK37 wrote: There was a guy who did Pirates baseball in 90's, I forget his name. But when the Buckos won, he would always end every broadcast with the final score, then, "...and there was noooooooo doubt about it!"

I believe that was Lanny Fratarre.

kevin calabro

Sooooooooooper SONICS!

We are all likely biased by the teams we grew up with. I grew up in Southern Cal. We were blessed with the legendary Chick Hearn, voice of the Lakers (and for a time USC Football and Basketball, US Open Golf, Rose Bowl and UNLV Basketball). He had a streak of calling every Laker game for 36 years straight and is the originator of many terms used sports today including "slam dunk", "air ball", "a brick", "a prayer", "dribble drive", ticky tack", etc.

We were also fortunate to have Dick Enberg for several years as the play by play announcer for the Rams and the Angels before his network work took too much time away from local sports. For awhile Don Drysdale did color commentary with Enberg for the Angels AND the Rams. He was actually pretty good at football.

Just John wrote:We are all likely biased by the teams we grew up with.....

That's the whole point of the thread. I want everyone to be able to share who they grew up with and loved listening to the most!

We have had a number of voices come through this area over the years to be the Voice of the Tides including Bob Socci (current radio voice for the New England Patriots, Jeff McCarragher now with College of Charleston, even the aforementioned Brennaman and Pete Van Wieren