Ten Voices of Baseball

                On Saturday, the Los Angeles Dodgers announced that broadcaster Vin Scully will return for the 2016 season. Scully, in turn, announced next year would be his last behind the mic. Scully will turn 88 at the end of November and has been calling Dodger games—both in Brooklyn and LA—since 1950, when he was 22 years old.           

                The announcement got me thinking about who are my favourite play-by-play guys that I’ve heard in my thirty years of watching (and listening to) baseball and I decided to share them. Enjoy.

10. Bob Uecker, Milwaukee Brewers broadcaster 1971-present

               

                Most people associate Uecker with “Harry Doyle” the comedic broadcaster Uecker played in the “Major League” movies. But he is also a remarkable play-by-play announcer. Although known for his wry sense of humour, Uecker doesn’t display his comedic side while announcing Brewers’ games, not wanting to be the show, and taking something away from the game he is calling.

9. Al Michaels, ABC 1977-1990

                While Michaels is recognized as the voice of ABC’s Monday Night Football throughout the 80s and 90s, before switching over to NBC’s Sunday Night Football, he also was the main voice of ABC when they broadcasted baseball. He called the World Series in 1979, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1987 and 1989.

8. Sean McDonough, CBS 1992-93

                CBS held the broadcast rights for Major League Baseball over a four year period, from 1990-1993. McDonough, at the age of 30, teamed with analyst Tim McCarver in 1992 to form the network’s lead broadcasters. And although he only called two World Series, they were, coincidentally, both the World Series that the Toronto Blue Jays won.

7. Tom Cheek, Toronto Blue Jays’ broadcaster, 1977-2005

                As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, Tom Cheek’s voice is the soundtrack of my summers during my childhood, my teen years and even into my late twenties.

6. Jack Buck, St. Louis Cardinals broadcaster, 1954-2001

CBS, 1990-1991

                Jack Buck called play-by-play for the St. Louis Cardinals for more than forty years. He also worked with ABC and CBS, becoming part of the main CBS broadcast crew for the 1990 and 1991 World Series. His call of Kirby Puckett’s walk-off home run for the Minnesota Twins in Game 6 of the 91 World Series, “…and we’ll see you tomorrow night!” is etched in the minds of baseball fans and is often repeated in some form by broadcasters today.

5. Dan Shulman, Toronto Blue Jays TV broadcaster, 1995-2001

ESPN Radio and TV, 2001-present

                Toronto-born Shulman started his pro baseball broadcast career as the main play-by-play caller for the Blue Jays for seven years before moving over to ESPN. From 2001-2009, he was the lead voice for ESPN Radio, and in 2010, became the main voice for the network’s TV broadcasts.

4. Jon Miller, Oakland Athletics broadcaster, 1974

Texas Rangers, 1978-79

Boston Red Sox, 1980-82

Baltimore Orioles, 1983-1996

San Francisco Giants, 1997-Present

ESPN TV, 1990-2010

                Jon Miller has been broadcasting baseball for more than 40 years. He is probably best remembered for teaming with former Cincinnati Reds’ second baseman, Joe Morgan, as the main broadcast team for ESPN’s Sunday night baseball for nearly 20 years.

3. Joe Buck, Fox 1996-Present

                While there are many baseball fans who don’t like listening to Joe Buck call a game, I am not one of them. I enjoy his play-by-play. The son of Cardinal broadcasting legend, Jack Buck, called his first World Series game for FOX back in 1996 at the age of 27. He teamed with Tim McCarver as FOX’s main team until McCarver retired following the 2013 season. The only complaint I have about Buck is that sometimes he talks a bit too much during a big moment, almost as if he’s making sure his voice will be remembered in years to come along with the moment.

2. Bob Costas, NBC 1982-1989, 1994-2000

                Bob Costas knows baseball. He is like an encyclopedia, bringing up odd little facts and interesting stories and stats about the game during his broadcasts. He broadcasted three World Series, 1995, 1997 and 1999 and was one of the main interviewees in the Ken Burns “Baseball” documentary. Costas has been the host for NBC’s Sunday Night Football since 2006 and also called NBA Finals games for NBC from 1997-2000.

1.       Vin Scully, Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, 1950-Present

NBC 1983-1989

                Perhaps the greatest compliment that I can make about Vin Scully is that he knows when to shut up and let the pictures and fans tell the story. This is never more evident that his call of Bill Buckner's famous error in Game 6 of 1986 World Series. After the ball skipped through Buckner's legs, Scully’s call of “Little roller up along first--Behind the bag! It gets through Buckner! Here comes Knight and the Mets win it!” was the last thing he said for about two full minutes, or more. He let the viewer absorb the hysteria of the Mets celebrating on the field and the fans going nuts in the stands. He ended his silence by saying, “If a picture is worth a thousand words, you’ve just seen about a million words.” Classic Vin.

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