2022 Ford C. Frick Award Ballot Finalized

(COOPERSTOWN, NY) – Eight of the National Pastime’s groundbreaking voices have been named as the finalists for the 2022 Ford C. Frick Award, presented annually for excellence in baseball broadcasting by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

Candidates from the Broadcasting Beginnings category will be considered for the 2022 Frick Award in accordance with the three-year Frick Award election cycle.

The eight finalists for the 2022 Frick Award are: Pat Flanagan, Jack Graney, Waite Hoyt, France Laux, Rosey Rowswell, Hal Totten, Ty Tyson and Bert Wilson. The winner of the 2022 Frick Award will be announced on Dec. 8 at baseball’s Winter Meetings in Orlando, Fla., and will be honored during the July 23 Awards Presentation as part of the July 22-25 Hall of Fame Weekend 2022 in Cooperstown. All of the 2022 Frick Award candidates are deceased.

The Frick Award election cycle rotates annually among Major League Markets (team-specific announcers); National Voices (broadcasters whose contributions were realized on a national level); and Broadcasting Beginnings (early team voices and pioneers of baseball broadcasting). This cycle repeats every three years, with the Major League Markets ballot to be reviewed in the fall of 2022 and the National Voices ballot to be reviewed in the fall of 2023.

Criteria for selection is as follows: “Commitment to excellence, quality of broadcasting abilities, reverence within the game, popularity with fans, and recognition by peers.”

The 2022 Frick Award ballot was created by a subcommittee of the voting electorate that included past Frick honorees Marty Brennaman, Denny Matthews and Nadel and broadcast historians David J. Halberstam and Curt Smith.

Final voting for the 2022 Frick Award will be conducted by an electorate comprised of the 13 living Frick Award recipients and three broadcast historians/columnists, including past Frick honorees Brennaman, Bob Costas, Ken Harrelson, Jaime Jarrín, Tony Kubek, Matthews, Tim McCarver, Al Michaels, Jon Miller, Nadel, Vin Scully, Bob Uecker and Dave Van Horne, and historians/columnists Halberstam (historian), Barry Horn (formerly of the Dallas Morning News) and Smith (historian).

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.

The eight finalists for the 2022 Frick Award:

- Flanagan was one of the first announcers to recreate road games from a Western Union ticker. Primarily a Cubs voice, Flanagan was behind the microphone for both Chicago squads on WBBM. He covered Major League Baseball’s first All-Star Game from Comiskey Park in 1933.
- Graney called Indians games for 21 seasons from 1932-44 and 1946-53 following a 14-year playing career with the Indians, making him one of the first players to successfully transition to the broadcast booth.
- Hoyt was another early example of a player transitioning to the booth, making a successful switch to the Cincinnati broadcast team after 20 years as a Hall of Fame pitcher.
- Laux was the voice of St. Louis baseball with the Browns and Cardinals simultaneously during the 1920s, 30s and 40s, also calling games for CBS and Mutual.
- Rowswell called games for the Pirates for 19 seasons (1936-54), captivating fans with his down-home language and unrelenting team support.
- Totten called Cubs and White Sox games in Chicago beginning in the 1920s, becoming one of the first regular-season radio announcers on April 23, 1924, during a Cubs vs. Cardinals game on WMAQ.
- Tyson spent 22 seasons in the Tigers’ broadcast booth (1927-42, 1947-52), providing the first account of a Tigers game from Detroit in 1927.
- Wilson began his broadcast career with WMT in Chicago, calling Cubs games from a rooftop behind the center field bleachers and working a total of 12 years with the team.

Additional information on the eight finalists can be found here.

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 winners of the Frick Award are listed here.