Summer 1988 Waite Hoyt: The Broadcast Years in

Ellen Frell

When the William Morris Agency in notified Waite Hoyt, in November 1941, that they had scheduled an audition for him for the job of play-by-play announcer for the , Hoyt recognized it as a critical chance. In some ways it paralleled his "audition" for John McGraw of the New York Giants twenty-six years earlier, when at age fifteen, Hoyt was offered a chance to pitch batting practice for the Giants. Like that opportuni- ty of 1915, making good at the Cincinnati audition held the promise of a new career. Hoyt had parlayed that earlier opportunity into two decades of professional that included some remarkable highlights: pitching twelve games in seven , matching 's record for twenty- seven innings pitched without giving up a single earned , leading the in victories (22-7) and earned- run average (2.63) for the 1927 Yankees, considered the best means the raw, innocent teen who had stepped up to the team in the history of the game; and later elected to Base- mound at the Polo Grounds in 1915 and become an instant ball's Hall of Fame. sensation. In the 1920's baseball was the only game in Two decades in a man's life bring many changes. town, and Hoyt and his colorful teammates and friends- Hoyt had been given his walking papers from the , and the game's patron sinner Babe Dodgers in May, 1938. His playing days were over. By the Ruth—were front page news. America was freeing itself from late 1930's he was making inroads into radio in New York. the rigidity of the war years and heading for the forbidden He had spent-some winters during his Yankee treats of Prohibition and the pleasures of the flapper era. In years singing on Broadway and had made a dozen successful New York, the self-proclaimed fulcrum of the world, a young, guest appearances on radio shows. With his playing career handsome Yankee ballplayer did not lack for excitement. on the wane, he had capitalized on an excellent natural Hoyt made the most of it. The ballpark by voice, an urbane manner, and the knack of telling a compel- day, the bright lights of New York and the Great White Way ling story. For a while he did a sports show and a prime time at night, with the prettiest faces of New York on his arm. It sports quiz. was a glorious and exhilarating time, and Hoyt himself He began to build a reputation in New York summed it up better than anyone else with a statement that for radio work, firmly anchoring it to his baseball founda- still epitomizes both the era and the man himself: "It's great tion. By 1939 Hoyt was doing a pre-game show for the New to be young, and a Yankee." York Yankees on WABC called "According to Hoyt," where But in 1941 that career was over for Hoyt and he commented, with verve and wit, on the game when he now, with distant rumblings of war growing louder, another played it and the foibles of his teammates. opportunity presented the hope of a different career, base- But play-by-play was the real meat of baseball ball broadcasting. And the man who packed his bags that announcing and Hoyt knew it. He never lacked for a sense day in late November for his trip to Cincinnati was by no of the dramatic moment, and no one knew the lip biting

Ellen Frell, of Chicago, is a On January 1, 1942, Waite magazine writer and an Emmy- Hoyt moved his family to Cin- award winning script writer for cinnati to begin his career an NBC television documentary. announcing the Cincinnati Reds' baseball games. Queen City Heritage tension of a close game better than he who had played in so the head of a family, looking toward a horizon that as far as many. He wanted to be back on the field during those he could see offered little except this one good chance. moments, if in voice only. He yearned for the real action of He still had the professional athlete's rush of the game underway, the emotional rush after the words energy in a crisis. And as he had done for so many other "Play ball." In spite of his successful radio exposure doing more physical competitions earlier in his life, he began to programmed shows, the key job of play-by-play eluded him. review strategy. This was one he could not afford to lose. But a man must operate within the restraints Cincinnati in 1941 had two major radio sta- of his time and his era, and in the 1930's, a sports broadcast tions broadcasting the Reds games, each using their own booth was not an acceptable arena for an ex-player. Hoyt announcer. A third station, WKRC, was on the lookout for repeatedly and vocally indicated his availability for play-by- an especially good play-by-play announcer to solidify a new play, and just as repeatedly been turned down without even and unusual three-way arrangement among the station, the being allowed to audition. Three major league teams denied Reds, and The Burger Brewing Company. The brewery had him a shot at the job including the Yankees. Players, they picked up sponsorship of the Reds games on WKRC to felt, lacked the verbal ability to announce. increase their objectives of bringing good beer—via good To the man who had always been a lover of baseball—to the Cincinnati area. literature and adept with words, this was a low blow. Brought Burger was tightening up an excellent market- up to know a predicate from a participle, Hoyt had been ing campaign over an area that encompassed several states. frequently kidded during his playing years about his intellec- They planned to gain further control over the quality of tual pursuits. "The guy was always reading,}> cracked one their broadcasts by signing their soon-to-be-picked announc- ex-teammate. Hoyt, who balanced his literary adventures er as their direct employee, avoiding station control. They with countless live ones by day and by night, knew better. wanted a quality voice that would become a trademark for But there was conflict within. them and their product. The world of baseball of the 1920's and the 1930's was a rough world, especially the minor leagues where Hoyt had cut his teeth on language and behavior completely alien to his genteel upbringing at home in Brooklyn. There were moments when he had trouble recon- ciling the rugged characters and the circumstances of his livelihood with his equally real love of culture and the arts. And now he was being denied a chance at those jobs because of a stereotype he had never fit. "They told me ballplayers don't have the vocabulary to do play-by- play," he said. Ten years earlier when Hoyt's temper was firmly connected to his vocal chords, he might have come up with some choice vocabulary in response. But now, like a bearing down on a hitter, he opted to redouble his efforts. He moved his family from their new home in New Jersey back into New York City to be closer to the pulse of baseball and radio. And he signed on with the prestigious William Morris Talent Agency to make sure no opportunity escaped him. If there were parallels here with his firstchanc e at the big leagues years earlier, there were even bigger differ- ences. The man now evaluating his possibilities was neither youthful nor naive. The Waite Hoyt who left his apartment and walked out onto Seventy-Fourth Street for his tryout in Cincinnati was a forty-two-year-old retired baseball player,

During his baseball career Hoyt pitched in seven World Series games for the Yankees. Summer 1988 Waite Hoyt The final decision on an announcer would be based on a careful review of audition discs. Hoyt had years of experience under his belt in outguessing opponents. He suspected that his competitors for this job would submit imaginary play-by-play broadcast discs, and his sense of theater (perfected watching his father perform vaudeville routines and by his own experience on Broadway) told him this was a dangerous choice. Realistic play-by-play would be fairly slowly paced, while invented on-the-field theatrics could not help but come across as contrived. He had a completely different idea for showcas- ing his talent. He went into the studio, marked his script for pauses, and began. On the disc was Hoyt's rich, energetic voice, telling a story full of emotion and interest, sending a clear message to The Burger Brewing Company: they had found their man.

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WAITE, This move would be to a small city in the Midwest, the HOYT Queen City, a long way both in geography and personality from the bright lights of New York. WESTON Ck BROWN And both Hoyt and his wife Ellen were native New Yorkers. Ellen had grown up on Fifth Avenue and her EMI LIE LEA™ parents, siblings, friends, and social life were all here. She had spent time in Europe, but had never been west of " M A X I E " Pittsburgh. If the Midwest was foreign to Ellen Hoyt, F 4 I' MARK 1:' S R £ N D tl Z V O US I baseball was even more so. Though she adored her husband * PARADISE wm I F A V M A R B E \ she had never been involved in Hoyt's career plans, either baseball or radio. She was hardly enthusiastic about moving so far away from her world for a purpose she did not Bud Koons, former President of The Burger understand. Brewing Company, clearly remembered Hoyt's audition disc. Far bigger problems were upon Hoyt with the "When all of them had been reviewed," Koons said, "Hoyt's advent of World War II. Ten days after he accepted the job, stood out a mile from the rest. Most people did simulated on December 7, 1941, he awoke and turned on the radio to ballgames. He made an offbeat imaginative tape about a learn that America was at war. He cabbed to the building little boy. It was his tape that won it for him." that housed WOR Studios at Broadway and Forty-First A few days later Waite Hoyt was back in New Street where he broadcast a half-hour radio show at 1:30. York uprooting his family for the second time in six months. Later that afternoon he and Ellen walked down Fifth Ave-

While a Yankee, Hoyt spent the winters singing on Broad- way and making guest appearances on radio shows. ^^Bi

nue and through Central Park, confused by the dozens of Everybody in Cincinnati knew who Waite Hoyt rumors that were plaguing the city: fleets of enemy ships was, but not everybody believed their good luck. Many felt seen outside New York Harbor, imminent attacks expected Hoyt was a temporary figure in their town, a New Yorker from the Japanese. who would reap the rewards of a high visibility job and then Hoyt noticed the beauty of the mild Decem- disappear back into the East. It was a town not known for its ber day and he felt the idea of war to be almost surrealistic. quick acceptance of outsiders, and Hoyt felt, not for the first But the reality was there and it was not pleasant. time in his life, to be on the outside looking in. To this man about to change his home, his Franklin Delano Roosevelt allowed baseball work, and his life, questions came flooding in. The future of to continue during the war years as a distraction for those at the country was in doubt. Would America survive this war, home and "a way to help the country's morale." But the way and in what form? What would happen to baseball if the war the Cincinnati Reds had been playing for the last two years continued. Would Roosevelt decide to ban the sport? If was hardly uplifting. The Reds had won the pennant in baseball survived, with most able-bodied men wanting to 1939 and 1940 but there had been little to get enthusiastic enlist, who would play it? about since then. In 1941 and 1942 they finished well out of Would he be out of a job tomorrow? the running. Hoyt moved his wife, small son, and belong- The Burger Brewing Company was concerned. ings to Cincinnati January i, 1942, with great enthusiasm Not only was their team putting in a poor showing, but and equal trepidation. For the second time in his life he was wartime rationing had forced them to reallocate their stepping up to a new career under the cloud of a wartime resources and disrupt distribution. They tiptoed through America full of ambiguity about the value of sports during the first months of the war hoping things would improve. wartime and a much deeper uncertainty about the future Up in the broadcast booth things were no itself. easier. Hoyt found it difficult to adjust to two other sports-

His broadcasts emanated from a booth atop the grandstand at . It was open to the weather, freezing on many an and dripping with humidity in August. Summer 1988 Waite Hoyt casters announcing the same game at the same time he was. had described, all too effectively, how the Reds had taken a It was often even harder for his companions. Frequently drubbing in Chicago. they were the same reporters that stations sent out to cover "I said to him, 'Waite, you could have toned news, weather, and society dances. Although one or two that down. Try to help us a little, will ya?' and he yelled, 'I could report a game with competence, too often whether can't build up the team when we're getting beat right and they knew anything about baseball was often a matter of left! Not with scores like 10-2!' luck. Hoyt found himself instructing them, carefully so as to "We had a few words then," Murdough remem- not embarrass them, about the subtleties of the game and bers. "We fought about it. But the more I think about it, he the nuances of play. As usual, he was a stickler for accuracy. did the right thing. Cheerleading interferes with reporting a By now Hoyt had signed on with Burger game. It wouldn't have mattered what the ballclub or any- directly, and was, for all intents and purposes, the entire one else urged him to do. He had an allegiance to the fans to broadcast team for the Cincinnati Reds. His broadcasts give the best description he possibly could of the game." emanated from a booth atop the grandstand at Crosley And the best description, Hoyt felt, was voiced Field. It was open to the weather, freezing on many an in the past tense. "For one reason only; Accuracy," as Hoyt opening day and hot in August, but it was close to the fans, emphasized many times. Not for him the pseudo-action of the players, and the action. "Crosley Field," as Hoyt said, the present tense. "bred intimacy." He was accepted quickly by the players, who Across a five-state area Reds fans would turn realized he was accurate, fair, and disinclined to criticize on radios and hear: "Three o'clock and baseball is on the air. them. They hung around for pitching suggestions, which Good afternoon fans, this is Waite Hoyt for Burger Beer, were always given with deference to the coaches and an bringing you the Cincinnati Reds." admonition to check with them before trying out any changes. He had a strong, rich voice, applied his Brook- Murdough continued: "Sincere athletes have lyn accent with a full vocabulary, and showed no reluctance a great respect for other athletes. You could always tell the to describe exactly what he saw on the field. Something guys on the ballclub who were the good ones: they wanted compelling about his delivery made you want to hear him to talk to any athlete they felt was superior. They always out through the rest of the story to learn how it all came out. wanted to talk to Waite." His voice had the immediacy and excitement of a man who "Pete Rose was one of those. He loved Waite. knew what he was talking about. He talked to him constantly about the differences in the He reported the games with strict honesty. If game between his day and now, and about . He a player booted the ball, that's how it came out of Hoyt's found out a lot of things." mike, not as a bad bounce. He would never use euphemisms Road games presented Hoyt with a complete- to describe an error. This approach was not always wel- ly different set of problems. For the first ten years with the comed in those years when the Reds were making more than club, Hoyt did not travel with the team, but broadcast from their share of errors. But Hoyt respected the integrity of the a ticker-tape that clicked out the plays, largely in code, to his game and the intelligence of the fans and refused to repaint broadcast table in a studio. reality. He described the plays with the same immedi- Above the little table where he penciled in the acy and spontaneity of someone watching the action, but it starting lineup and computed the statistics as the game went was a more difficult job. He explained the problem to people on, he pasted a code of broadcast ethics. He was careful not in later years: the difference between the smell of the open to single out individuals unless for the positive. Out of the air and feel of a ballpark, and the sterility of four walls and routinely mediocre play of those months there were never- reading the plays in code from a piece of paper. Without the theless star performers and good moments, and Hoyt made action in front of you, he said, "You have to create your own the most of them. excitement." In spite of—some thought because of—the fact But create excitement he did, and even those that Hoyt refused to cheerlead for a lackluster team, he few who remembered that he was not broadcasting from the began to build a following. John Murdough, assistant to Bill game itself came under the spell of his recreations of the De Witt (President and General Manager of the Reds) at that action on the field. It seemed that he was right there, watch- time remembers trying to get Hoyt to change his style. Hoyt ing every play, reporting what he saw. The immediacy of Queen City Heritage these recreations was compelling. was already costing him his health, his marriage, and his life. He was building a following for his broadcasts He braced for the response. And it came: and making friends both in and out of the Reds' organiza- support flooding in from people across the country. One tion during those early years. He was "well-liked and accepted man close to Hoyt remembers "People loved him after the everywhere" as one veteran of those years put it. He had a drinking problem was out of the way because they knew what feel for people. "Waite did a lot of stuff that people didn't a battle he'd had, and he'd overcome it. Before that he was know about. He'd go out of his way to be good to a kid who accepted, after that you might say he was almost canonized." just joined the ballclub, to help make him feel at home," said Not so curiously, the only reservation about one member of the Reds' organization who worked with his admission of alcoholism came behind closed doors at him those years. Burger, where executives worried that an admitted alcoholic But Hoyt, so adept at making others feel at was hardly the spokesman a beer company needed. But home, still felt himself on trial. As with many self-assured Burger was carried along by a wave of public support that public figures he had a less certain inner side. Even in his was completely behind Hoyt, and strong public admiration earlier years of remarkable baseball success he often won- for his nerve in admitting what was, in those days, an unac- dered if he should have not chosen a different career path. ceptable social problem with overtones of real stigma. The He was still uncertain of his acceptance in Cincinnati, in idea of anyone else announcing was quickly dropped in the spite of the fact that by 1944 he had purchased a home and face of pro-Hoyt momentum that grew larger and larger as settled into the life of a permanent resident. He was gaining the months went by. ground every month as a popular historic figure, but the In the new light of sobriety, Hoyt reviewed view from the gallery of witnesses from that era too often his life and found it wanting in some respects. He had relied does not match his view from within. It was sometime on close friends and the organization of Alcoholics Anony- during those years that the drinking problems that had mous to support him as he carefully reconstructed his think- occasionally surfaced during his playing years reappeared ing, and now he was ready to return the favor from a posi- with new vehemence and Hoyt became an alcoholic. tion of strength. Sober for weeks at a time, and somehow able From that point on he gave personal and emo- to not let his drinking interfere with his broadcasting, he tional help to individuals who came to A.A. In 1946 he kept up the charade for a number of months with only his stood up before a packed room and delivered a speech which wife and close associates suspecting a problem. But on June was remembered as an emotional high point in the lives of 21, 1945, he disappeared and was reported missing by Ellen, those present that evening. In it Hoyt admitted the fears he who contrived a story that he suffered occasional bouts of felt when he exposed this weakness to his public and private amnesia as the result of being on the head by a baseball in life, the loss of some "friends" and the patient love of others, earlier years. His disappearance made front page news. the gradual improvement in his life that had resulted once he Two days later, front page news again reported admitted he was an alcoholic: him as having been found and returned to his home where From my standpoint I believe that you attain a cer- he was resting "under a doctor's care." The story reached tain awareness of the plenitude of life's offerings.... little delights New York, and his ex-teammates, most of whom had suf- which seemed so trivial, so beneath our notice in our drinking fered the excesses of liquor side by side with Hoyt during days. We believe in the sincerity of spirit behind a compliment. the 1920's reacted with predictable humor to the idea that We learn to accept a rebuke, or advice. We become tolerant. We Hoyt, known to have an excellent memory, had been sub- come to look upon the world as a friendly place. We come to see jected to amnesia. wired him: "Never Heard of the reasons for the existence of many things. Amnesia. Must Be New Brand." Better than all else—the truth is refreshing. For But there was little humor in the reevaluation some fortunate reason—fortunate for us—people are most willing of his life that Hoyt chose to make during the next few weeks to help someone who is making a comeback. under the guidance of two close friends and Alcoholics You see before you an alcoholic who has attained Anonymous. He admitted, first to himself, and then one day some measure of recovery. Tou^e heard admissions by him about in the summer of 1945 to his fans and his public that he was his drinking days, and I imagine you tacitly admit there has an alcoholic. He knew the admission might cost him his been some improvement in him. Therefore you borrow from him public or his job but he was under no delusions. Alcoholism some of his confidence and, I hope, desire. Summer 1988 Waite Hoyt For eleven years Hoyt was the Reds' broadcast The stories were never about his own glories team, and the lack of regular backup announcers resulted in in the game, but were instead tales told on himself or humor- some unusual programming. On September 9, 1946, Hoyt ous evaluations of hundreds of aspects of the art of playing broadcast three baseball games simultaneously. Six telegraph baseball. Umpires, rules, fines, player trades, ballpark dol- operators took the copy and four staff men at the station lies, uniforms, and the thousand and one incidents of his kept the accounts running as Hoyt voiced the play-by-play own active and exciting life all became part of the experience play for three critical games in the last days of the season. of baseball in Cincinnati. The entire 1927 Yanks including He announced nonstop for five and one-half hours with , , and the dozens and dozens of only an occasional bite of sandwich and whiff of some others they encountered emerged from Hoyt's mike during smelling salts to keep him going. air time to fill the hours and the summers of the listeners in Poor backup programming forced Hoyt into Cincinnati. They were insights from other years spent inside these odd, sometimes humorous situations like the record other ballparks in another America, prewar and vibrant. three game, five and one-half hour broadcast, but it also They drew upon characters and events spiced with a vocabu- opened the way for what became his on air trademark. lary not usually applied to the world of sports, and always During games when rain delayed the play, Hoyt began tempered with humor. reminiscing, telling stories that were remnants of his days in He had a hearty, boisterous laugh that would the major and minor leagues, stories filled with the colorful build from a soft nearly sinister chuckle, as if the scene he characters that shared train berths and escapades with him in was describing was right there in front of him and he couldn't the late teens and '20's and '30's. help marveling at it, then building to a crescendo of "Ha-aha- His skill as a storyteller was considerable. He aha-aha-aha!," carrying the listeners along with its waves had vivid on-the-air presence, and the excitement he showed oflaughs. in reliving these moments made the transition from his Hoyt's rain delay stories, begun as a way to memory out onto the airwaves with no loss of immediacy. pass the time until the main event could be resumed, became He took you back to a hotel lobby in New Orleans in 1919, the main event themselves. "I knew people who didn't give a to a wild card-game in a dusty traincar on a road trip. He damn about baseball who would turn Hoyt on when they re-fought Yankee brawls on the field over a knockdown heard he was doing a rain delay," one fan said. It would have pitch, described how Babe Ruth had barely escaped a crowd been a close decision, during those years when the Reds were of ladies who stormed the locker room. at the bottom of the league whether people listened to

For several seasons, Hoyt did not travel to away games but broadcast from inside the studio using a ticker-tape that clicked out the plays. Queen City Heritage friend, the audience snowballed. It was baseball's most elo- quent player paying tribute to baseball's most remarkable player in a broadcast interrupted more than once with the emotion of the moment, tearful laughs over the rough bear of a man who brought baseball fully into America's con- sciousness. Hoyt signed off more than two hours later to a virtual avalanche of phone calls, telegrams, and letters, grati- tude from people who well knew they would never have another chance to get to know Ruth so well. Hoyt answered each telegram and letter, and with characteristic modesty: I assure you it was not a feat on my part, nor a tremendous accomplishment as my subject automatically supplied its own appeal. I merely had to create. I suppose my sincerity carried some weight as it was from the heart. After it was over, I did not realize I had done anything special. I merely talked as so many players have talked about the Babe down through the years and, I guess, will continue to talk about him. May I add, broadcast is a pleasure when the response is so human and gratifying. It makes one realize that all of us share the same sentiments about so many things. I try to carry that thought in all my broadcasts. Waite Hoyt was a pallbearer at Ruth's funeral at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York that September. While carrying the coffin out into the heat of the afternoon, Joe Dugan, another pallbearer and ex-Yankee, leaned over and said to Hoyt in a soft voice, "Boy, I could sure use a beer." Hoyt answered with a mischievous grin, "So could the Babe, Joe, so could the Babe!" Hoyt's broadcasts for his reminiscences or for the action. Hoyt told an interviewer later that he felt that You could hear another era through Hoyt's the Babe Ruth eulogy had been the point at which he on-the-air conversations. He was a master of anecdote well- became a true Cincinnatian. As he entered the 19 5 o's he was placed, of humor that was never caustic. At the mike he was more at home with himself than he had ever been, though an athlete with perfect grammar, a Yankee with a love of that realization on his part lay perhaps years behind the fastballs and frolic, a gentleman in the locker room. reality of his acceptance. In the late summer of 1948 Hoyt was broad- Broadcasting was beginning to change. Hoyt casting over the wire when an assistant in the studio handed did the first TV/radio simultaneous broadcast as the new him a telegram that Babe Ruth was dead. The assistant medium began to encroach on territory previously so firmly reported later that Hoyt was visibly shaken but interrupted in the hands of radio. There were others sharing the mike the game only to repeat the sad news to the fans and to with him now, like Jack Moran(i95 3-i96o) and later Gene mention that if they'd like to stay with the station after the Kelly and Claude Sullivan. The behind-the-scenes camara- game was over he would say a few words about the Babe. derie worked its way out over the airwaves, and audiences He began simply, remembering the good times would be privy to the devious playfulness of Hoyt. He with his teammate and friends, and those few words grew, as would wait until Moran, who enjoyed a hearty appetite, the minutes went by, into a eulogy that few other men could took a big bite of sandwich and began to chew, then Hoyt have delivered. As word flashed around Cincinnati that would instantly land on Moran for an on-the-air opinion Hoyt was on the air speaking about his recently departed and chuckle heartily while he struggled to swallow or sink

Waite Hoyt broadcast a two Waite Hoyt's rain delay stories hour eulogy to his good friend became so popular with serious and teammate, Babe Ruth (left fans and casual listeners alike Hoyt, right Babe Ruth). that a record album of Waite's best stories was issued. Summer 1988 Waite Hoyt 11 into dead airwaves. loyalty to Burger. They had stood by him during the years of In 1953 Hoyt was asked to broadcast the his drinking, before A.A., and they had stood by him after- All-Star game and two years later he added a winter sports wards when the thought of a non-drinker representing a show to his schedule. By this time the crowds that pressed beer company was ample reason to turn the job over to around him for autographs were as thick as those surround- another. He could not think of divorcing himself from the ing the players. In 1956 WSAI, by then home of the Reds' organization that had stuck by him during those times. broadcasts, celebrated Hoyt's 2,500th broadcast and fifteen Burger was part of his professional life. Dur- years as spokesman for the Reds. ing his broadcast of the World Series in 1961 he had, out of Cincinnati literally danced in the streets when long habit, announced "This is the Burger Beer Broadcast- the Reds took the pennant in 1961. They had waited more ing Network" when the game had been sponsored not by than two decades for a celebration like this, and when Hoyt Burger but by Gillette. "We owe Gillette one in next year's and the players returned from their road trip victorious, the Series," he joked. This, after all, was the announcer who crowds were ready for them. The party went on into the described home-run balls hit by the Reds as "heading for night, with Hoyt on an open-air stage on Fountain Square Burgerville." singing songs from his vaudeville days to jubilant crowds. Cincinnati celebrated Waite Hoyt Day on Sep- Several days later he broadcast the World Series, when the tember 25, 1965. On the day that Burger surrendered its Reds lost to the Yankees (4-1). sponsorship of the games, Hoyt pitched his last broadcast By 196 5 escalating costs had caused Burger to after twenty-three years and more than 4,000 games. It was release its sponsorship of the games. The replacement spon- October 3, 1965, and it marked the end of an era in Cincinnati. sor wanted to sign Hoyt on again, but Hoyt had a fierce Though Hoyt had minor stints in broadcast-

WAITE HOYT , -

•& r. Queen City Heritage ing later in the 1960's and 1970's, his days at the mike were effectively over. In 1969 he was elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame and his vocal skills did not fail him. He gave a speech that brought the audience of thousands present at the induc- tion ceremonies to its feet. It was not possible to walk down a street in Cincinnati with Hoyt without witnessing how much he meant to its people. In broadcasting Hoyt had found a way to mix baseball and brains, the physical and mental sides of his being that had conflicted in earlier years. And perhaps the microphone connecting him, the speaker, with the never- ending stories from a distant time was the most effective way he could find to be a part of the public and the fans, yet retain some of the solitude he loved. There are men in whose actions you can read the pulse of an era, men who wear, in their voices and on their faces, the map of a different time, the romance, if you WAITE CHARLES HOYT will, of events past. And most baseball fans are romantics. To "SCHOOLBOY" love this game you must value emotions, tactile sensations like the feel of leather, the smell of cut grass, the dramas and NEW YORK YANKEE PITCHER 1921-1930, dilemmas that are part and parcel of the game. LIFETIME RECORD: 237 GAMES WON, 182 GAMES LOST, ,566 AVERAGE, It was all there in Hoyt. A predilection for AVERAGE 339. PITCHED 3 GAMES IN 1921 life's high points, an appreciation of human nature, an exal- WORLD SERIES AND GAVE NO EARNED RUNS tation of the common man. It went from him to all of us ALSO PITCHED FOR BOSTON, AND listening out there, waiting for his laugh and his perfectly PHILADELPHIA A.L.AND BROOKLYN, chosen words to make us part of the game that is America's NEW YORK AND PITTSBURGH N. L. sweetheart.

(Excerpted from a book in process, "Waite Hoyt" by Ellen Frell, Copyright 1988. All rights reserved.)

Jack Moran shared broadcast- In 1969 Hoyt was elected to ing duties with Hoyt from Baseball's Hall of Fame. 1953-1960. In this picture Moran is on the left, second baseman Johnny Temple in the center, and Hoyt on the right.