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Ex-Athletes Who Became Play-by-Play Anouncers

Started by ethanhopkin14, May 05, 2022, 11:08:59 AM

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ethanhopkin14

Of course, we all know the dynamic when broadcasting a game.  The play-by-play is handled by a journalist who went to broadcasting school who for the most part are not athletic, while his color-commentator is usually a former player of the sport they are calling who is there to give us insight on what it's like behind the curtain.  Rarely though, an ex-player makes the jump to the play-by-play chair because they are that talented.  Some that come to mind are Pat Summerall, Joe Garagiola, Ken "The Hawk" Harrelson and Bob Ueker (the first and last might be the best at what they do/did).  How many other examples are there of players doing play-by-play?  I am aware that on a lot of broadcasts, especially on radio for baseball, it is common for the color guy to do an inning or two of play-by-play.  Alan Ashby would do it some when Milo Hamilton was the voice of the Astros.  Anyway, not counting those instances.


jp the roadgeek

Duane Kiper is another.  In the past, Bill White and Phil Rizzuto with the Yankees, along with Ralph Kiner and Fran Healy with the Mets, and Mel Parnell and (occasional pxp) Bob Montgomery with the Red Sox.   
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ethanhopkin14

Quote from: jp the roadgeek on May 05, 2022, 11:16:47 AM
Duane Kiper is another.  In the past, Bill White and Phil Rizzuto with the Yankees, along with Ralph Kiner and Fran Healy with the Mets, and Mel Parnell and (occasional pxp) Bob Montgomery with the Red Sox.

Bob Montgomery!  The last man to bat without a helmet.

mgk920

Not the play by play guy, but Wayne Larravee's color guy with the Green Bay Packers radio broadcasts (Larry McCarren) was the starting center for the Packers in the 1980s.

Mike

NWI_Irish96

Before Ed Farmer passed (RIP) he transitioned from analyst to play-by-play for the White Sox.
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TheHighwayMan3561

NFL:
Ray Bentley
Ron Pitts (transitioned from color to PxP)

NHL:
Randy Moller
self-certified as the dumbest person on this board for 5 years running

Takumi

Buck Martinez
Hawk Harrelson (was also a general manager at one point)

I think Martin Brundle has done play by play in some instances instead of his usual analyst role.
Quote from: Rothman on July 15, 2021, 07:52:59 AM
Olive Garden must be stopped.  I must stop them.

Don't @ me. Seriously.

skluth

Frank Gifford did play-by-play for Monday Night Football for several years before Al Michaels joined the broadcast.

Flint1979

George Kell was a Hall of Fame third baseman and spent 40 years broadcasting for the Tigers retiring in 1996. He was teamed up with Al Kaline on TV for many years.

Alps

You raise a good point, I notice plenty of players in the booth but they're usually color commentary because they know the style of game best but maybe not the correct technical lingo to announce a game at a time.

english si

There's a few on the cricket. The ex-player commentators tend to have been middling players who had a decent domestic career, but if they played for their country, only a few times. The star players tend to do the summarising, but I'm pretty sure that some big names commentate as well/rather than summarise.

John Virgo, who got to the world semi-finals, does a lot of the snooker commentary, and has done for years. You want someone who can play as they can see what will happen before it happens, though his catchphrase of excitedly shouting "where is the white going?" every time there's a strong chance of it going into a pocket, is annoying. Not least because snooker commentary is meant to be quiet.

Stephane Dumas

Montreal Canadiens alumni Gilles Tremblay and Mario Tremblay (not related) after their retirement became anouncers and commentators for "La Soirée du Hockey"(Hockey Night in Canada on French CBC). John Davidson who was a goaltender for the St. Louis Blues and NY Rangers became announcer as well.

ilpt4u

#12
Mike Shannon with the Cardinals. He had a short playing career, but was the longtime voice of Cardinals Radio, and slid into PxP after the passing of Jack Buck

KeithE4Phx

Quote from: Takumi on May 05, 2022, 03:45:44 PM
Hawk Harrelson (was also a general manager at one point)

Please do me a favor and never mention Hawk's 1986 reign of error again.  :)

Hawk was originally paired with Hall-of-Fame ex-Dodger pitcher Don Drysdale as the White Sox TV team after Harry Caray left for the Cubs in 1982.

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DandyDan

Dan Gladden handles the play-by-play on the Twins radio broadcast whenever their regular play-by-play broadcaster has his innings off.
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Takumi

Quote from: KeithE4Phx on May 09, 2022, 09:29:28 PM
Quote from: Takumi on May 05, 2022, 03:45:44 PM
Hawk Harrelson (was also a general manager at one point)

Please do me a favor and never mention Hawk's 1986 reign of error again.  :)

Hawk was originally paired with Hall-of-Fame ex-Dodger pitcher Don Drysdale as the White Sox TV team after Harry Caray left for the Cubs in 1982.



It's funny to think that Hawk is indirectly the reason that Tony La Russa is the manager of the White Sox in 2022.

I actually liked Hawk in the booth, but I also was only subjected to him maybe 10 days a year instead of 162. Yes, he was a massive homer. I admired his passion, but I could see how it could become grating year after year.
Quote from: Rothman on July 15, 2021, 07:52:59 AM
Olive Garden must be stopped.  I must stop them.

Don't @ me. Seriously.

TheHighwayMan3561

Quote from: DandyDan on May 10, 2022, 04:14:24 AM
Dan Gladden handles the play-by-play on the Twins radio broadcast whenever their regular play-by-play broadcaster has his innings off.

And honestly he kind of stinks at it. I find those middle innings a lot tougher of a listen than the Cory Provus innings.
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Flint1979

I think that Ken Singleton was a pretty good play by play guy.

jp the roadgeek

Herb Score and Joe Nuxall.  Score pitched a no-hitter on opening day and Nuxall made his ML debut at age 15 in 1940.  Both were long time radio play by play voices for the Indians and Reds, respectively.
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gonealookin

#19
Jerry Coleman won several World Series rings as the second baseman on Casey Stengel's Yankees (sharing that position with Billy Martin for much of the time) and then went into broadcasting, serving as the lead play-by-play voice on San Diego Padres broadcasts for decades.  Coleman, Harrelson and Uecker are the three former players who won the Ford C. Frick award for excellence in baseball broadcasting having spent most of their booth careers doing play-by-play.

Edit:  Jack Graney, who played for the Cleveland Indians during the dead-ball era and then broadcast their games on radio from the 1930s to the 1950s, is the 2022 winner of the Frick Award and will become the fourth member of that club.

ilpt4u

Quote from: gonealookin on May 16, 2022, 08:34:38 PM
Jerry Coleman won several World Series rings as the second baseman on Casey Stengel's Yankees (sharing that position with Billy Martin for much of the time) and then went into broadcasting, serving as the lead play-by-play voice on San Diego Padres broadcasts for decades.  Coleman, Harrelson and Uecker are the three former players who won the Ford C. Frick award for excellence in baseball broadcasting having spent most of their booth careers doing play-by-play.

Edit:  Jack Graney, who played for the Cleveland Indians during the dead-ball era and then broadcast their games on radio from the 1930s to the 1950s, is the 2022 winner of the Frick Award and will become the fourth member of that club.
Mike Shannon has been a Finalist for the Frick Award before. I have to think he will eventually get into the HoF via the Frick award, but that obviously remains to be seen



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