Ford C. Frick goes to Dave Niehaus

by str8tarrow on Feb 19, 2008 2:25 PM PST

Once again in spite of our best efforts Bill King misses the Hall of fame.

"Niehaus, a fixture in the Seattle Mariners' broadcast booth since they entered the American League as an expansion franchise in 1977, was named the 2008 winner of the Ford C. Frick Award on Tuesday and will be honored at the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies on July 27 at the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown, N.Y."

There's always next year!

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Robbed. Again.

Nevermind that the HOF is a traveshamrockery anyway, but still.... King needs his due.

by mikev on Feb 19, 2008 3:25 PM PST reply actions

I swear it's like the voters

are telling us that they aren't going to listen to the will of the people.

This really ticks me off.

by Tyler Bleszinski on Feb 19, 2008 3:41 PM PST reply actions

Niehaus got like 10 times as many fan votes ...

as King did ... they couldn't not take him after such unprecedented support.

"It's for your own good. Big strong Devo knows whats best for Poppy" -- Mossback

by devo on Feb 19, 2008 5:17 PM PST up reply actions

Never mind ...

getting my N's turned around ... apparently they could ignore Nuxhall getting more than 10 times as many votes as the next guy (King) ...

"It's for your own good. Big strong Devo knows whats best for Poppy" -- Mossback

by devo on Feb 19, 2008 5:20 PM PST up reply actions

Yeah

Well if that was the logic, what happened to King the two years earlier when he got something like 25,000 votes and the nearest next person got maybe 7,000?

by Tyler Bleszinski on Feb 19, 2008 5:49 PM PST up reply actions

Living in Portland

I happen to hear Dave Niehaus a lot on Mariners radio broadcasts. While I agree he is energetic and has been at it a long time, he strikes me as a bit of an airhead and mistake-prone. But that's only because I compare him to the late, great, classy wordsmith Bill King who was close to perfection and on another playing field with his cerebral and artistic broadcast masterpieces.

Sure, I'm biased, but not blindly so. Let's hope the Frickin' voters remove their blinders next year. West Coast radio guys two years in a row? I have my doubts, but we'll see.

Aahh, Frick!... Don't tell me Bill King is going to be passed over again!

by PortlandPachyderm on Feb 19, 2008 10:46 PM PST reply actions

King is Due!

I miss Bill King's call's so bad. He will get there but it will take some time.

by fansince1980 on Feb 19, 2008 10:53 PM PST reply actions

King's accuracy

I've got to say that I think some peoples memories are a bit clouded. Over the last five or so years of his career King made a fair number of mistakes during a broadcast. However King's biggest sin was his total refusal to give the score for entire innings, sometimes not even when the game went to commercial breaks between innings. I also have to say that his eating during the broadcast was quite unprofessional, he sounded like his mouth was stuffed with popcorn (I thought this before I found out that his mouth probably was stuffed full of popcorn).

I'm not saying Bill wasn't a great announcer, but he had dropped off in quality during his final years and I think needed to pass the torch, much like Lon Simmons.

by skwid on Feb 20, 2008 6:37 AM PST reply actions

Skwid

Thank You! King was very good when he was younger but in his declining years I thought he was just flat-out bad. That's an unpopular view on AN but I bet objective( non-A's fans) listeners would agree.

by IM4Oakgal on Feb 20, 2008 10:24 PM PST up reply actions

blasphemer!

yeah, Bill did slip a little, I'll give you that. and he did give me a few heart attacks with would-be homeruns that died at the track.

the eating didn't bother me too much, made me feel like he was just another guy, who just happened to call a ball game as eloquently as anyone who has had a mike set in front of him.

then again, I could be biased, a little.

"Oakland has now increased its payroll to the point that it now ranks third in the Bay Area among all McDonald's franchises.”

-Sandy Alderson, former A’s general manager.

by 67MARQUEZ on Feb 20, 2008 7:02 AM PST reply actions