2013 Ford C. Frick Award Ballot Finalized

COOPERSTOWN, NY – Ten of baseball’s most beloved and honored broadcasters were named today as the finalists for the 2013 Ford C. Frick Award, presented annually for excellence in baseball broadcasting by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. 

The 10 finalists for the 2013 Frick Award are: Tom Cheek, Ken Coleman, Jacques Doucet, John Gordon, Bill King, Graham McNamee, Eric Nadel, Eduardo Ortega, Mike Shannon and Dewayne Staats. The winner of the 2013 Frick Award will be announced on December 4 at the Baseball Winter Meetings and honored during Hall of Fame Weekend, July 26-29, 2013 in Cooperstown. 

The 10 finalists for the 2013 Frick Award include the three fan selections produced from online balloting at the Hall of Fame’s Facebook page – www.facebook.com/baseballhall – over two separate rounds in August, September and October. A total of 34,283 votes were cast. Cheek, King and Doucet emerged as the top three fan selections, respectively, in the online voting. The other seven candidates were chosen by a Hall of Fame research committee. Doucet, Nadel, Ortega, Shannon and Staats are the active broadcasters on the ballot. Gordon is the only other living candidate among the finalists. 

Final voting for the 2013 Frick Award will be conducted by a 21-member electorate, comprised of the 16 living Frick Award recipients and five broadcast historians/columnists, including past Frick honorees Marty Brennaman, Jerry Coleman, Gene Elston, Joe Garagiola, Jaime Jarrin, Milo Hamilton, Tony Kubek, 2012 Frick Award winner Tim McCarver, Denny Matthews, Jon Miller, Felo Ramirez, Vin Scully, Lon Simmons, Bob Uecker, Dave Van Horne and Bob Wolff, and historians/columnists Bob Costas (NBC), Barry Horn (Dallas Morning News), Stan Isaacs (formerly of NY Newsday), Ted Patterson (historian) and Curt Smith (historian). 

Among the 10 finalists for the 2013 Frick Award, Cheek broadcast 31 major league seasons covering the Montreal Expos (1974-’76) and Toronto Blue Jays (1977-2004), the final 28 seasons as the Jays’ radio play-by-play man with 4,603 straight games broadcast, before his death during the 2005 season; Coleman spent 35 years with the Indians (1954-63), Reds (1975-78) and Red Sox (1966-74, 79-89); Doucet spent 34 years broadcasting for the Expos as the play-by-play radio voice on their French network (1969-2004), and he returned to the booth in 2012 for select games as the Blue Jays’ French-speaking TV voice; Gordon worked 34 years with teams, including the final 25 as the Twins’ radio play-by-play voice before retiring following the 2011 season; King worked for 25 seasons (1981-2005) as the A’s lead play-by-play voice on radio; McNamee was a national pioneer in sports broadcasting, calling games for 13 seasons for Westinghouse and NBC, also calling 12 World Series; Nadel has spent the last 34 seasons with the Rangers – the longest tenure of any announcer in franchise history – including the last 18 as the club’s lead play-by-play voice; Ortega has handled Spanish-language MLB broadcasts for 26 years, including the last 21 as the voice of the Padres on radio and TV; Shannon has called Cardinals games for 41 years following a nine-year playing career with the Redbirds; and Staats has called big league games for 35 years, including the last 15 as the voice of the Rays. 

Additional biographical information on the 10 finalists can be found at www.baseballhall.org. 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. 

To be considered, an active or retired broadcaster must have a minimum of 10 years of continuous major league broadcast service with a ball club, network, or a combination of the two. More than 200 broadcasters were eligible for consideration for the award based on these qualifications for 2013. 

The annual award is named in memory of Hall of Famer Ford C. Frick, renowned sportswriter, radio broadcaster, National League president and Baseball commissioner. Past recipients of the Ford C. Frick Award: 

FORD C. FRICK AWARD RECIPIENTS

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