CLEVELAND, Ohio As the 25th recipient of the Ford C. Frick award, Tom Hamilton has moved himself from his childhood dairy farm in Waterloo, Wisconsin, into the Cooperstown, New York, National Baseball Hall of Fame and the Cleveland baseball announcing booth. Another outstanding decision—a Grand Slam!
Every year, a broadcaster who has made significant contributions to baseball is given the Frick Award. dedication to quality, broadcasting skills, respect for the game, fan popularity, and peer recognition among others.
Baseball’s previous commissioner was Ford C. Frick. In addition, he had written about baseball and occasionally aired.
The Guardians radio play-by-play voice for 36 years, Paul Hoynes, described in his Hamilton profile how he sat on the steps of his family’s farm house and listened to a baseball game on the radio for the first time.
I was only a young child. At the time, we were listening to the Milwaukee Braves in the 1960s.
Milwaukee’s games were being handled by Earl Gillespi. Those teams with Hank Aaron were excellent.
Doing what Earl Gillespie was doing just felt like such a lovely life. visiting all of these wonderful parks. visiting each of these cities.”
Hammy has already traveled there as well as Cooperstown, where he was humbled to accept the Frick Award on Saturday and enter the Hall of Fame.
It’s still rather unbelievable to me how this 912-mile trek from Waterloo, Wisconsin, to Cooperstown, New York, united the two tiny communities.
Hamilton claimed that when he started performing cow by cow on the family farm and subsequently at the County Fair 4H exhibit, he had not even considered announcing MLB games, much less Cooperstown.
No, I’m doing the live broadcast of the Jefferson County Fair 4H competition, which lasts for three hours, play by play. I definitely had second thoughts about my professional decision after that drive back from the fairgrounds. Furthermore, I was not even thinking about Cooperstown or Major League Baseball.
Hamilton recognized the late Herb Score, an Indians great and his mentor in broadcasting.
In addition to learning how to call a game, no one ever given me better advise than my dad. Additionally, Herb made care to mention that the show each night might be the one thing that listeners had to look forward to all day. And we have an obligation to give that one individual our best effort. The best advise ever was that.
Wendy, Hamilton’s wife, received special recognition.
You and your faith in me and our family are the reason we have had such a wonderful existence. The true sacrifices were made by you. The chaos, the late hours, and the single parenting. You accomplished it with elegance, kindness, and power. I’ve never been luckier than any husband.
Listeners to the radio have been fortunate to hear Tom Hamilton Hammy call games; he has always been successful. Well done, Hamilton!
