Who Am I? October 2021
I was born in the deep, deep, south to Russian immigrant parents. Dad had a dry goods store and later worked as an outside salesman selling shirts. I attended college at the University of Alabama where I also found time to be the equipment manager of the Crimson football team. Later on, I got the princely sum of $5.a game to be the radio announcer for the team. I was to continue on with my education at U. of Alabama Law School after which I took and passed the state law bar.
On a vacation trip to NYC city I auditioned for an announcer’s position at CBS Radio and was hired. The rest, as they say, is history. I eventually became a radio announcer for both the Yankees and the N.Y. Giants. My broadcasting career was interrupted by WWII when I was inducted into the U.S. Army. I earned my sergeant stripes in the service. For a time I was stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia and hosted “The Army Hour” on Armed forces radio.
In the post-war years I became the Yankee radio announcer and eventually moved on to do TV broadcasting as well. During those ‘radio days’ the broadcasters traveled on the train with the teams for away games. Previous to that, away games were recreated in the studios by telegraphed play by play accounts. I gained national prominence because it seemed that Yankees were always in the World Series! (In fact, from 1947-1964 the Yankees represented the American League in 15 World Series contests.) I went on to announce 22 World Series on radio and TV and 24 All-Star games.
Nowadays, broadcasters dread rain delays because alternatives have to be found to fill that dead air time. That state of affairs never bothered me because I could ad-lib for hours recounting anecdotes and baseball lore in my lilting southern drawl which would usually engage my listeners.
Despite the fact that my long tenure as the “Voice of the Yankees” dated back to the days of Lew Gehrig, my contract was not renewed in 1964! I was, in effect, fired for reasons that never made any sense to me and the let down was enormous. I subsequently did voice-over work for Fox Movietone newsreels and hosted “This Week in Baseball.”
My mind has been playing tricks on me in recent years because I now forget whether it was in the late 1980’s or early 1990’s that Bergenfield, N.J. had a sidewalk sale day and the town closed Washington Avenue to vehicular traffic. I was invited to meet and greet the baseball fans in the crowd and sign autographs. Did you come to see me that day?
During my long life I earned many awards and accolades, among them, election to the National Sportscasters and Sportswriter’s Hall of Fame, the National Radio Hall of Fame and the Baseball Hall of Fame. In the 1970’s George Steinbrenner, the new principal owner of the Yankees, remembered a favor I had done for him years earlier and invited me back into the Yankee organization to try and make amends for the way the previous owners had unceremoniously dumped me after my years of loyal service to the organization. In fact, a plaque which honors me as the “Voice of the Yankees” is now displayed among the plaques of the Yankee ‘immortals’ in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. That’s me in the photo below.
(1)”Hello there everybody!” This is ____________. (2)What were my parents’ names? (3a) How would I describe a long ball headed towards the seats? (3b) How, by incorporating our sponsor’s name into the description, might I describe a home run ball that was crushed into either the upper deck or bleachers? (3c) What would I say when my home team made an outstanding play in the field? (4) My co-broadcaster, who was also a fellow southerner, and I were the first two broadcasters to ever be enshrined into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Who was my cohort? (5)My sales pitch could really sell my sponsor’s beer. Does anybody remember their slogan that I helped popularize? (6)Who usually accompanied me to the High Holiday services? (7)Finally, when I passed away, my dear friend sang a lovely rendition of a patriotic song as my casket was
being taken away. Who was that friend and what did he sing in a final tribute to me?
