Fans to Cast Their Votes for Frick Award Ballot Candidates at Museum’s Facebook Page

Editor’s Note: Brought to you as another PSA, via the Baseball Hall of Fame. For further reading on the topic, scroll down to the bottom of the announcement.

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In the earliest years of wireless radio, the pioneers of the industry created a new genre: Baseball broadcaster.

This fall, one of those pioneers will win broadcasting’s most prestigious award.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum opened the annual Ford C. Frick Award online ballot vote today, and voting will continue through 5 p.m. ET on Oct. 2, giving fans the chance to select their favorite broadcaster as one of three fan choices on the final 10-person ballot for the 2016 Frick Award. The Ford C. Frick Award has been presented annually since 1978 by the Museum for excellence in baseball broadcasting. Annual winners are announced as part of the Baseball Winter Meetings each year, while awardees are presented with their honor the following summer during Hall of Fame Weekend in Cooperstown.

The 2016 Frick Award online voting reflects a selection process where eligible candidates are grouped together by years of most significant contributions of their broadcasting careers. The cycle continues with the Broadcasting Dawn Era, which features broadcasters whose main body of work came from baseball’s earliest days on the radio in the 1920s to the mid-1950s.

Fans can vote once a day for their favorite broadcaster at www.facebook.com/baseballhall. More than 20 broadcasters are eligible within the Broadcasting Dawn Era. The totality of each candidate’s career will be considered, though the era in which the broadcaster is deemed to have had the most significant impact will be determined by a Hall of Fame research team.

Broadcasters eligible in the Broadcasting Dawn are:

Dick Bray, Jim Britt, Connie Desmond, Bill Dyer, Pat Flanagan, Jack Graney, Claude Haring, Harry Hartman, Harry Heilmann, George Helfer, Fred Hoey, Tom Hussey, France Laux, Tom Manning, Jocko Maxwell, Graham McNamee, Johnny O’Hara, Rosey Rowswell, Hal Totten, Ty Tyson and Bert Wilson.

Following the selection of the three fan ballot candidates through the online vote, a Hall of Fame research committee will set the remainder of the ballot. The final 10-name ballot will be announced Oct. 6.

The Frick Award Committee will cast ballots during November, with the 2016 winner to be announced during the 2015 Baseball Winter Meetings from Nashville, Tenn., on Dec. 9. The Frick Award electorate is comprised of the 16 living Frick Award recipients and four broadcast historians/columnists, including Frick honorees Marty Brennaman, Dick Enberg, Joe Garagiola, Jaime Jarrin, Milo Hamilton, Tony Kubek, Denny Matthews, Tim McCarver, Jon Miller, Eric Nadel, Felo Ramirez, Vin Scully, Lon Simmons, Bob Uecker, Dave Van Horne and Bob Wolff, and historians/columnists Bob Costas (NBC/MLB Network), Barry Horn (Dallas Morning News), Ted Patterson (historian) and Curt Smith (historian).

The three-year cycle for the Frick Award will continue in the fall of 2016 with the High Tide Era, which will feature candidates whose most significant years fell from the mid-1980s to the present. Living Room Era candidates, which include broadcasters from the mid-1950s to the mid-1980s, will next be considered in the fall of 2017.

Thirty-nine broadcasters have been presented with the Frick Award with Mel Allen and Red Barber selected as the first recipients in 1978. A single winner has been selected in each year following, with San Diego Padres voice Dick Enberg receiving the honor in 2015.

Voters are asked to base their selections on 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.

The award was named in memory of the sportswriter, radio broadcaster, National League president, and Baseball commissioner. The complete list of recipients includes:

FORD C. FRICK AWARD RECIPIENTS

1978	Mel Allen	1990	By Saam	2003	Bob Uecker
	Red Barber	1991	Joe Garagiola	2004	Lon Simmons
1979	Bob Elson	1992	Milo Hamilton	2005	Jerry Coleman
1980	Russ Hodges	1993	Chuck Thompson	2006	Gene Elston
1981	Ernie Harwell	1994	Bob Murphy	2007	Denny Matthews
1982	Vin Scully	1995	Bob Wolff	2008	Dave Niehaus
1983	Jack Brickhouse	1996	Herb Carneal	2009	Tony Kubek
1984	Curt Gowdy	1997	Jimmy Dudley	2010	Jon Miller
1985	Buck Canel	1998	Jaime Jarrin	2011	Dave Van Horne
1986	Bob Prince	1999	Arch McDonald	2012	Tim McCarver
1987	Jack Buck	2000	Marty Brennaman	2013	Tom Cheek
1988	Lindsey Nelson	2001	Felo Ramirez	2014	Eric Nadel
1989	Harry Caray	2002	Harry Kalas	2015	Dick Enberg