Bill King Included Among Nominees for 2008 Ford C. Frick Award
by OaklandA23 on Oct 31, 2007 12:26 PM PDT
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PrintOn-Line Balloting Begins Tomorrow and Continues Through November
OAKLAND, Calif. - Online voting for fan selections for the 2008 Ford C. Frick Award ballot begins Thursday, November 1, as fans will choose three of the 10 names on the final ballot, to be announced on December 5. Fans can cast votes once per day throughout November for up to three baseball broadcasters, exclusively at baseballhall.org.
Once again, the late Bill King, who broadcast Oakland A’s games for 25 seasons, is included on a large list of annoucers who have spent "a minimum of 10 years of continuous major league broadcast service with a ball club, network or combination of the two." Past honorees include the Bay Area’s own Lon Simmons, Mel Allen, Red Barber, Jack Buck, Harry Caray, Jerry Coleman, Curt Gowdy, Ernie Harwell, Russ Hodges, Harry Kalas and Vin Scully, to name a few.
King has finished first on the on-line balloting each of the last two years.
The Ford C. Frick Award is presented annually to a broadcaster for "major contributions to baseball." The award, named after the late broadcaster and National League President, is presented annually at the National Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in Cooperstown, NY.
Voters are asked to base their selections on the following criteria: longevity; continuity with a club; honors, including national assignments such as the World Series and All-Star Games; and popularity with fans. Paper ballots will be cast by voting members in January and the final results will be announced at the Hall of Fame’s Web site in February.
Each voter will cast ballots and the broadcaster with the strongest support will be named as that year’s award-winner, and be honored the following summer at the annual induction ceremony in Cooperstown.
Fans will have the opportunity to select three of the 199 broadcasters eligible for consideration for the 2008 Ford C. Frick Award. Bios of each candidate appear at the site. Fans are allowed to vote once daily. Results will be announced when voting concludes, though updates will not be provided during the voting.
The final ballot will be comprised of three fan selections, along with seven other candidates, determined by a Hall of Fame research team. The Ford C. Frick electorate includes all living award winners and six historians appointed by the Hall of Fame.
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Blez ...
lets get a daily reminder to vote going again this year.
The problem isn't the online vote, because he
has been in the top three in the online voting, but then the committee doesn't choose him. We will get him on the ballot.
by theblackpearl on Oct 31, 2007 1:26 PM PDT up reply actions
The stronger the vote is ...
the better chance he has once he's on.
Yep, usually gives us something to do until Billy
makes his annual December trade, then we get kicked out of the blog voting for cheating, then spring training, then buancasting, then the regular season, like clockwork.
by theblackpearl on Oct 31, 2007 4:31 PM PDT up reply actions
And in there somewhere we will be on the verge of
signing someone.
by theblackpearl on Oct 31, 2007 4:32 PM PDT up reply actions
King will certainly be elected eventually
I think the problem for him is that the last four winners (Simmons, Coleman, Elston and Matthews) have all come from west of the Mississippi. There are fans in other cities who feel as strongly about their guy as we feel about Bill. If I were betting, I would guess that Tom Cheek of Toronto, who broadcast the first 4,303 games of the Blue Jays'existence and who passed away the same month as Bill, will win the award this year.
But it's certainly important for us to continue to make our statement for Bill by participating in this online voting. If we don't...well, let me point out that one of the other two nominees selected in the online voting last year was Hawk Harrelson.
comparisons
The fans from the other cities may think they feel as strongly about their radio broadcasters as we do about Bill. Those fans may think they miss their broadcaster as much as we miss Bill. Those fans may even think their broadcaster was as good as Bill.
But, man, oh, man, are they wrong!
:)
I was expecting this to say
that he was on the regular ballot, not that he had to win the fan balloting for a third consecutive year to get the respect he deserves. Sheesh.
Oh, jeez.
Here's the opening line you get if you click on Bill King's name (in the voting window) to get his bio:
25 years, all with the A's as the lead radio play-by-play man, and retired...
(And by the way, here's the link to vote.)
um, yeah, he's retired
It wouldn't let me vote until I said my phone number is for a mobile phone. Well, OK, if you insist.
He was forced into retirement, though.
The broadcasting industry is pulsist.
OMG!
ROTFL!!
"Pulsist"
I've gotta remember that one!
I would give every HOF vote I have...
Every vote, for the rest of my life, if it would guarantee that Tim McCarver and Joe Buck are never ever on that ballot ever again.
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