Baseball just a came as simple as a ball and bat. Yet, as complex as the American spirit it symbolizes. A sport, a business and sometimes almost even a religion.
In radio, they say, nothing happens until the announcer says it happens.
The game's the thing. That's why people tune in. They don't tune in to hear an announcer.
Baseball is a tongue-tied kid from Georgia growing up to be an announcer and praising the Lord for showing him the way to Cooperstown. This is a game for America. Still a game for America, this baseball!
Everybody in the minor leagues - if you're a player, an announcer, whatever - wants to be in the big leagues.
The best thing anyone can do is be himself. Everyone was made different by God, and that's the way it should be. And if I were a writer or an announcer starting out, I don't think I'd imitate anybody. I'd try to be whatever I am.
What happens with any announcer when he comes into an area, if he stays four or five years and does a fairly decent job, people accept him and he becomes part of the family.
I think if you checked the attendance records of all the announcers, you'd find a lot better record than you would of anybody else in any other business because we love the game and have a passion for it.
I've been lucky to broadcast some great events and to broadcast the exploits of some great players.
With the Giants I broadcast the debut of Hall of Famer Willie Mays.
In baseball, democracy shines its clearest. The only race that matters is the race to the bag. The creed is the rule book. And color, merely something to distinguish one team's uniform from another's.
Nicknames are baseball, names like Zeke and Pie and Kiki and Home Run and Cracker and Dizzy and Dazzy.
A tall, thin old man waving a scorecard from the corner of his dugout. That's baseball.
Also I'm a part of the people that I've worked with in baseball that have been so great to me, Mr. Earl Mann of Atlanta, who gave me my first baseball broadcasting job.
Why the fairy tale of Willie Mays making a brilliant World Series catch, and then dashing off to play stickball in the street with his teenage pals. That's baseball. So is the husky voice of a doomed Lou Gehrig saying, 'I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth.'
I deeply appreciate the people of Michigan. I love their grit. I love the way they face life. I love the family values they have.
In my almost 92 years on this earth, the good Lord has blessed me with a great journey.
I have a great faith in God and Jesus.
I have great faith that Heaven's there and I'll see my brothers and my mom and dad when I get there.
I think I owe thanks to the people who have listened to me over the years, who tuned in on the radio. They have given me a warmth and loyalty that I've never been able to repay. The way they have reached out to me has certainly been the highlight of my life.
