The Voices of Summer

Over the past few years, I've assembled a database of Major League Baseball's local broadcasters from media guides, Baseball America directories, and the annual broadcasting summaries published in The Sporting News. I don't include one-shot appearances or fill-ins not considered part of the "official" broadcasting team, which I suspect accounts for most of the differences between my list and Curt Smith's, published in the last edition of Total Baseball.

Without further ado, here are some broadcasting records I haven't seen published anywhere else:

Table 1. 40 Or More Years As Principal Major League Baseball Broadcaster
Tenure Broadcaster Teams Seasons
54 years Ernie Harwell** Dodgers, Giants, Orioles, Tigers 1948-91, 1993-2002
54 years Vin Scully** Dodgers 1950-2003
53 years Harry Caray** Cardinals, Browns, Athletics, White Sox, Cubs 1945-97
50 years Bob Murphy** Red Sox, Orioles, Mets 1954-2003
47 years Jack Buck** Cardinals 1954-59, 1961-2001
47 years Herb Carneal** Orioles, Twins 1957-2003
45 years Milo Hamilton** Browns, Cardinals, Cubs, White Sox, Braves, Pirates, Astros 1954, 1956-57, 1962-2003
45 years Jaime Jarrin** Dodgers 1959-2003
43 years Ralph Kiner* White Sox, Mets 1961-2003
42 years Lon Simmons Giants, Athletics 1958-73, 1976-78, 1981-2002
42 years Chuck Thompson** Athletics, Phillies, Orioles, Senators 1947-48, 1955-58, 1960, 1962-87, 1991-94, 1997, 1999-2002
41 years Jack Brickhouse** Cubs, White Sox, Giants 1940-46, 1948-81
40 years Phil Rizzuto* Yankees 1957-96


Notes: Harwell and Scully both broadcast the 1951 NL playoff game won by Bobby Thomson's home run, and both were still broadcasting Major League Baseball half a century later. Caray is the only local broadcaster to achieve iconic status for three separate teams, the Cardinals, White Sox and Cubs – an especially impressive feat given the rivalries among these clubs. Ralph Kiner and Phil Rizzuto are the only Hall of Fame players on this list, though only Kiner would have been inducted without his broadcasting career. Lon Simmons is the longest-tenured broadcaster never to win the Ford C. Frick Award or earn Hall of Fame induction. Curt Smith credits Chuck Thompson with more seasons than I do. Notables who don't make this list include Mel Allen, Red Barber, Russ Hodges and Harry Kalas.

Table 2. Longest Broadcasting Careers for One Club
Tenure Broadcaster Team Seasons
54 years Vin Scully** Brooklyn-Los Angeles Dodgers 1950-2003
47 years Jack Buck** St. Louis Cardinals 1954-59, 1961-2001
45 years Jaime Jarrin** Brooklyn-Los Angeles Dodgers 1959-2003
42 years Herb Carneal** Minnesota Twins 1962-2003
42 years Ernie Harwell** Detroit Tigers 1960-91, 1993-2002
42 years Ralph Kiner* New York Mets 1962-2003
42 years Bob Murphy** New York Mets 1962-2003
40 years Phil Rizzuto* New York Yankees 1957-96
37 years Jack Brickhouse** Chicago Cubs 1942-44, 1948-81
37 years Bob Elson** Chicago White Sox 1931-42, 1946-70
37 years Joe Nuxhall Cincinnati Reds 1967-2003


Notes: Between them, Scully and Red Barber have broadcast every season of Dodgers baseball since Larry MacPhail first sold radio rights in 1939. Ernie Harwell was so beloved in Detroit that after the Tigers tried to force him into retirement, public pressure brought him back for ten additional seasons. Six of these eleven – Carneal, Harwell, Kiner, Murphy, Brickhouse and Elson – also broadcast for other clubs. Brickhouse and Elson are the only old-time announcers on the list.

Table 3. Current Local Broadcasters with 30 or More Years With Same Club
Tenure Broadcaster Team Seasons
54 years Vin Scully** Brooklyn-Los Angeles Dodgers 1950-2003
45 years Jaime Jarrin** Brooklyn-Los Angeles Dodgers 1959-2003
42 years Herb Carneal** Minnesota Twinss 1962-2003
42 years Ralph Kiner* New York Mets 1962-2003
42 years Bob Murphy** New York Mets 1962-2003
37 years Joe Nuxhall Cincinnati Reds 1967-2003
35 years Denny Matthews Kansas City Royals 1969-2003
33 years Harry Kalas** Philadelphia Phillies 1971-2003
33 years Bob Uecker** Milwaukee Brewers 1971-2003
32 years Jacques Doucet Montreal Expos 1972-2003
32 years Mike Shannon St. Louis Cardinals 1972-2003
31 years Jerry Coleman San Diego Padres 1972-79, 1981-2003
30 years Marty Brennaman** Cincinnati Reds 1974-2003


* - inducted into Hall of Fame as player
** - recipient of Ford C. Frick Award for "major contributions to baseball" as broadcaster

Notes: Jaime Jarrin is by far the longest-tenured Spanish-language broadcaster, but still ranks second on his own club. Kiner and Murphy are two-thirds of the Mets' original broadcast crew; Denny Matthews is also an original Royals broadcaster. Bob Uecker continued to broadcast the Brewers even while starring in Mr. Belvedere, a network sitcom, for five seasons. Nuxhall and Brennaman are the longest-running pair of broadcasters, serving as the Reds' radio team for thirty seasons.

Copyright © 2003 Doug Pappas. All rights reserved.
Originally published in the Summer 2003 issue of Outside the Lines, the SABR Business of Baseball Committee newsletter.

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