* Congratulations to Jon Miller

February 1, 2010

The legendary broadcaster was named recipient of the 2010 Ford C. Frick Award by the National baseball Hall of Fame.

The Frick Award is voted upon annually and is named in memory of the sportswriter, radio broadcaster, National League president, and Baseball commissioner.

From the official press release:

Miller, who has spent parts of five decades as the voice of five Major League Baseball teams and has been the voice of ESPN’s national Sunday Night Baseball telecasts for 20 years, has been selected as the 2010 recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award, presented annually for major contributions to baseball broadcasting. Miller will be honored during Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies on Sunday, July 25, in Cooperstown, NY.

Miller has served as the play-by-play voice of the San Francisco Giants since 1997 and previously called games for the Orioles (1983-96), Red Sox (1980-82), Rangers (1978-79) and A’s (1974) in addition to his work with the Giants and ESPN.

“Jon Miller is one of baseball’s most recognizable voices and is extremely deserving of this prestigious honor,” said Jeff Idelson, President of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. “With a national audience on Sunday nights for the last 20 years, an entire country has been able to enjoy on a weekly basis what fans in San Francisco, Baltimore, Boston, Texas and Oakland have known with Miller as their home team’s broadcaster for varied points over the last four decades. His soothing play-by-play, his affable and welcoming personality and his relaxed nature on-air give every baseball fan a personal invitation to enjoy the game, as if each was sitting in the front row.”

Miller, a San Francisco native, began his broadcasting career in the Bay Area in the early 1970s. In 1974, Miller landed a job as the play-by-play man for the Oakland A’s. During the 1970s, Miller held various broadcasting jobs in the Bay Area – ranging from hockey to soccer to basketball – before returning to Major League Baseball with the Texas Rangers’ radio crew in 1978. Miller moved to Boston in 1980 to take the Red Sox’s radio job, then went to Baltimore in 1983 to handle the Orioles’ radio duties. In Baltimore, he called the last out of the 1983 World Series as the Orioles captured their third Fall Classic title, putting an indelible mark on the series with his call: “The pitch! Line drive! Ripken catches it at shortstop! And the Orioles are champions of the world!”

During his time with the Orioles, Miller worked on NBC-TV’s Game of the Week with Frick Award winners Joe Garagiola and Tony Kubek from 1986-89, then became ESPN’s voice of Sunday Night Baseball in 1990. In 1997, Miller returned home to become the “Voice of the Giants” – a position which he holds today.

On Aug. 7, 2007, Miller called Barry Bonds’ 756th career home run. He has broadcast 13 World Series, including the last 12 on ESPN Radio.

Miller is also author of Confessions of a Baseball Purist: Whats Right and Wrong with Baseball As Seen from the Best Seat in the House.

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