* Frick Award nominees finalized

From the National Baseball Hall of Fame:

2010 Ford C. Frick Award Ballot Finalized

Winner to be Announced Feb. 1

Ten of baseball’s most beloved and honored broadcasters were named today as the finalists for the 2010 Ford C. Frick Award, presented annually for excellence in baseball broadcasting by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

The 10 finalists are Billy Berroa, Skip Caray, Tom Cheek, Jacques Doucet, Lanny Frattare, Graham McNamee, Jon Miller, Joe Nuxhall, Herb Score, and Dave Van Horne.

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. In 2009, more than 200 broadcasters were eligible for consideration for the award, with bios of each candidate appearing at the Hall of Fame’s Web site.

The finalists include the three fan selections produced during online balloting at the Hall of Fame’s Facebook site, www.facebook.com/baseballhall, throughout December. A total of 15,505 votes were cast.

For the second consecutive year, Cheek, Doucet and Nuxhall earned spots on the final ballot via fan voting online. Cheek paced all broadcasters in fan voting with 5,930 votes. Doucet was second with 5,183 votes and Nuxhall followed with 1,363 votes.

Final voting for the 2010 Frick Award will be conducted by a 20-member electorate, comprised of the 15 living Frick Award recipients and five broadcast historians/columnists, including past Frick honorees Marty Brennaman, Jerry Coleman, Gene Elston, Joe Garagiola, Ernie Harwell, Jaime Jarrin, Milo Hamilton, 2009 Frick Award winner Tony Kubek, Denny Matthews, Dave Niehaus, Felo Ramirez, Vin Scully, Lon Simmons, Bob Uecker, 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).

The 10 finalists:

Berroa began announcing Major League Baseball games in 1963 and spent 17 years with the Mets (1987-93; 1997-2007) as a Spanish radio and TV announcer
Caray broadcast Braves games on TBS for 33 years (1976-2008) became part of the first three-generation call of a game in 1991 with his father (and 1989 Frick Award winner) Harry Caray and his son Skip Caray
Cheek’s resume includes 32 major league seasons covering the Montreal Expos (1974-’76) and Toronto Blue Jays (1977-2004), the last 28 seasons as the Jays’ radio play-by-play man, before his death during the 2005 season
Doucet spent his entire 34 year career broadcasting for the Expos as the play-by-play radio voice on their French network
Frattare spent 33 years (1976-2008) with the Pirates, establishing the longest tenure as a radio broadcaster with the club, surpassing 1986 Ford Frick Award winner Bob Prince, who broadcast for 29 years
McNamee was a national pioneer in sports broadcasting, calling games for 13 seasons for Westinghouse and NBC, also calling 12 World Series
Miller has worked 32 seasons with the Rangers (1978-79), Red Sox (1980-82), Orioles 1983-96 and Giants (1997-present) and has also been the lead voice on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecasts for the last 20 years
Nuxhall spent 38 years with the Reds (1967-2004), and totaled 53 years with Reds as a former major league pitcher and broadcaster, before his passing in 2007
Score broadcast Indians games for 34 years (1964-97), the last 30 as the Indians’ play-by-play voice
Van Horne has spent 42 years in broadcasting for the Montreal Expos (1968-2000) and Florida Marlins (2001-present), the last nine in Florida, following 33 seasons in Montreal as the English voice.

Miller and Van Horne are the only active broadcasters on the ballot. Doucet and Frattare are the only other living candidates. Additional biographical information on the 10 finalists can be found at www.baseballhall.org.

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