There is something about baseball broadcasting that really connects with the fans. Announcers of America’s pastime are by far the true voices of sports. Tonight, the FOX team of Joe Buck and Tim McCarver will do their 11th All-Star Game — which is a record for a broadcast team.
McCarver has the distinction of calling the most All-Star Games, a record 18, and he’s the only broadcaster to do the game on three different networks — FOX, ABC and CBS.
Buck’s 11 broadcasts top his legendary father — Jack, the Hall of Fame broadcaster — who did three broadcasts, two of which coincidentally were with Tim McCarver in the early 1990s.
In honor of McCarver and Buck’s achievement, I thought it might be a nice time to look at some of the great broadcasters that have done the game in the past.
Starting in the early 1950s the “Voice of the Yankees” and Hall of Fame broadcaster Mel Allen was the main voice of the All-Star Game on the NBC broadcast from 1952-1962 — only calling one game each season from 1959-1962 when they played two All-Star contests.
Curt Gowdy, who has 13 All-Star telecasts, made his debut on NBC back in 1959 when he and Allen teamed up to call the game from Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.
Joe Garagiola, close behind Gowdy at 12 appearances, took the mic for the first time with Gowdy at the 1961 game at Fenway Park in Boston.
Other names from the past include Vin Scully — the longtime voice of the Dodgers — who did eight All-Star broadcasts and Tony Kubek, who many of us grew up with, logging 10 games.
Of local note, MASN broadcaster and former Orioles All-Star Jim Palmer was part of four ABC broadcast teams in the 80s and 90s. Also, former D.C. sportscaster Warner Wolf joined Bob Prince and Bob Uecker for the 1976 installment.
It should be noted that, for the 50 years the All-Star Game has been broadcast, no other major sports all-star game has come close in the ratings race. This makes the Midsummer Classic the king of professional sports’ all-star games.
Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer. Check out his blog, Watch this! on washingtonexaminer.com.
