LA well-represented on Frick ballot
11/02/2005LOS ANGELES -- Nine current and former Dodgers broadcasters are on the ballot for the next Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting excellence.
The Dodgers broadcasters listed are the late Hall of Fame pitcher Don Drysdale; the late Connie Desmond and the late Jerry Doggett; current broadcasters Rick Monday, Charley Steiner and Al Downing; former play-by-play announcer Ross Porter; and longtime Spanish broadcasters Rene Cardenas and Jose Garcia.
Presented annually since 1978 for excellence in baseball broadcasting, the Ford C. Frick Award is given to an active or retired broadcaster with a minimum of 10 years of continuous Major League broadcast service with a club, network, or a combination of the two. Fans will have the opportunity to vote for up to three of the 182 broadcasters eligible for consideration for the 2006 Ford C. Frick Award. Bios of each candidate appear at the site. Fans are allowed to vote once daily. Results will be announced when voting concludes, though updates will not be provided during the voting. The fan selections, along with the full ballot of 10 candidates, will be announced on Dec. 5.
The final ballot will be comprised of the three fan selections, along with seven other candidates, determined by a Hall of Fame staff research team. The Frick electorate includes all living Award winners and six historians appointed by the Hall of Fame.
The voting electorate consists of 20 members, featuring 2005 Ford C. Frick Award winner Jerry Coleman and the other 13 living Frick Award winners: Marty Brennaman, Herb Carneal, Joe Garagiola, Curt Gowdy, Ernie Harwell, Jaime Jarrin, Milo Hamilton, Harry Kalas, Felo Ramirez, Vin Scully, Lon Simmons, Bob Uecker and Bob Wolff. Six historians and veteran media members are also part of the electorate, including Bob Costas (NBC), Barry Horn (Dallas Morning News), Stan Isaacs (formerly of New York Newsday), Ted Patterson (historian), Curt Smith (historian) and Larry Stewart (Los Angeles Times).
Voters are asked to base their selections on the following criteria: longevity; continuity with a club; honors, including national assignments such as the World Series and All-Star Games; and popularity with fans. Paper ballots will be cast by voting members each January and the final results will be announced at the Hall of Fame's Web site in February. Each voter will cast ballots for three candidates and the broadcaster with the most support will be named as that year's award winner, and be honored the following summer at the annual induction ceremony in Cooperstown.
Dodgers broadcasters have won the Frick Award three times -- Red Barber, Vin Scully and Jaime Jarrin. Another Hall of Famer, Ernie Harwell, worked in the Dodgers booth for two seasons (1948-49).
Drysdale, already a Hall of Famer from a Dodgers playing career in which he won 209 games, was a broadcaster for 23 years, including the last six with the Dodgers until his sudden death during the 1993 season. He began his announcing career with the Montreal Expos in 1970-71, followed by one year with the Texas Rangers and eight years with the California Angels. He did national telecasts for ABC-TV for a decade beginning in 1977 and broadcast for the Chicago White Sox from 1982-87, then rejoined the Dodgers in 1988, teaming with Vin Scully for six years.
Desmond -- the only announcer to work for the New York Yankees, New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers -- spent 14 years in the Dodgers booth with Barber, Harwell and Scully. The quartet participated in the first coast-to-coast baseball telecast. Desmond began his career as announcer for the Toledo Mud Hens.
Doggett teamed with Scully in the Dodgers announcing booth for 32 years before retiring in 1987. His broadcasting career dated back to 1938 and included 15 years in Dallas before joining the Dodgers in 1956. In addition to baseball, Doggett announced Southwest Conference football, Ryder Cup golf, basketball and hockey. He died in 1997.
Porter shared the booth with Scully for 28 years. He holds the Major League record for the longest consecutive play-by-play by one announcer when he called the action in a 22-inning game between the Dodgers and Expos on Aug. 23, 1989. A play-by-play announcer since the age of 14, the University of Oklahoma graduate is the only broadcaster to have called the action for both a World Series champion (1981 and 1988 Dodgers) and an NCAA basketball champion (1990 UNLV).
Monday, a veteran of 20 seasons on the field, has also been a Major League announcer for 21 years, 17 with the Dodgers. He was nominated for an Emmy as host of the Dodgers' pregame show on KTTV's "Dodger Central" in 1988 and was a color commentator for CBS-TV at the College World Series championship game in 1988.
Steiner just completed his first year as the Dodgers' play-by-play announcer after three seasons with the Yankees on WCBS and the YES Network and 14 years with ESPN. With ESPN, the Emmy-award winning broadcaster served as a SportsCenter anchor, baseball and football commentator, and baseball and boxing reporter. He broadcast baseball on ESPN radio and was a frequent play-by-play commentator for ESPN Major League Baseball broadcasts.
Downing, a winner of 123 games on the mound, moved into the broadcast booth for 26 years, most of them as a commentator for the Dodgers, his current role. He also worked with KABC Radio on Dodgertalk call-in shows, did national broadcasts for CBS for four years and broadcast Atlanta Braves games in 2000.
Cardenas, who retired in 1998 after 21 years of play-by-play, created the first Spanish-language Major League broadcast in 1958 with the Dodgers. He left the organization and duplicated his pioneering achievements with the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers before reuniting with Jarrin and the Dodgers in 1981.
Garcia retired in 1972 after 11 years on the Dodgers' Spanish-speaking broadcast. The native of Nicaragua also broadcast winter league games in Latin America.
Source: http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/
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