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Red Barber
Walter Lanier "Red" Barber (February 17, 1908 – October 22, 1992) was an American sports announcer and author. Nicknamed "The Ol' Redhead", he was primarily identified with broadcasts of Major League Baseball, calling play-by-play across four decades with the Cincinnati Reds (1934–1938), Brooklyn Dodgers (1939–1953), and New York Yankees (1954–1966). Like his fellow sportscasting pioneer Mel Allen, Barber also developed a niche calling college and professional American football in his primary market of New York City.
Barber was born in Columbus, Mississippi. He was a distant relative of poet Sidney Lanier and writer Thomas Lanier Williams. The family moved to Sanford, Florida in 1918, and at the age of 21, he hitchhiked to Gainesville and enrolled at the University of Florida, majoring in education. During Barber's first year, he worked at various jobs including part-time janitor at the University Club. It was there in January 1930 that Barber got his start in broadcasting.
An agriculture professor had been scheduled to appear on WRUF, the university radio station, to read a scholarly paper over the air. When the professor's absence was discovered minutes before the broadcast was to begin, janitor Barber was called in as a substitute. It was thus that the future sportscaster's first gig was reading "Certain Aspects of Bovine Obstetrics". After those few minutes in front of a microphone, Barber decided to switch careers. He became WRUF's director and chief announcer and covered Florida Gators football games that autumn. Then he dropped out of school to focus on his radio work. After four more years at WRUF, he landed a job broadcasting the Cincinnati Reds on WLW and WSAI when Powel Crosley Jr. purchased the team in 1934.
On Opening Day 1934 (April 17), Barber attended his first major league game and broadcast its play-by-play, as the Reds lost to the Chicago Cubs, 6–0. He called games from the stands of Cincinnati's renamed Crosley Field for the next five seasons.
Barber had been hired by Larry MacPhail, then president of the Reds. MacPhail became president of the Dodgers in 1938, and in 1939, he brought the play-by-play man to the Dodgers. In Brooklyn, Barber became an institution, widely admired for his folksy style. He was also appreciated by people concerned about Brooklyn's reputation as a land of "dees" and "dems".
Barber became famous for his signature catchphrases, including these:
To further his image as a Southern gentleman, Barber would often identify players as "Mister", "big fella", or "old" (regardless of the player's age):
A number of play-by-play announcers including Chris Berman have adopted his use of "back, back, back" to describe a long fly ball with potential to be a home run. Those other announcers are describing the flight of the ball[citation needed] but Barber was describing the outfielder in this famous call from Game 6 of the 1947 World Series. Joe DiMaggio was the batter:
Red Barber
Walter Lanier "Red" Barber (February 17, 1908 – October 22, 1992) was an American sports announcer and author. Nicknamed "The Ol' Redhead", he was primarily identified with broadcasts of Major League Baseball, calling play-by-play across four decades with the Cincinnati Reds (1934–1938), Brooklyn Dodgers (1939–1953), and New York Yankees (1954–1966). Like his fellow sportscasting pioneer Mel Allen, Barber also developed a niche calling college and professional American football in his primary market of New York City.
Barber was born in Columbus, Mississippi. He was a distant relative of poet Sidney Lanier and writer Thomas Lanier Williams. The family moved to Sanford, Florida in 1918, and at the age of 21, he hitchhiked to Gainesville and enrolled at the University of Florida, majoring in education. During Barber's first year, he worked at various jobs including part-time janitor at the University Club. It was there in January 1930 that Barber got his start in broadcasting.
An agriculture professor had been scheduled to appear on WRUF, the university radio station, to read a scholarly paper over the air. When the professor's absence was discovered minutes before the broadcast was to begin, janitor Barber was called in as a substitute. It was thus that the future sportscaster's first gig was reading "Certain Aspects of Bovine Obstetrics". After those few minutes in front of a microphone, Barber decided to switch careers. He became WRUF's director and chief announcer and covered Florida Gators football games that autumn. Then he dropped out of school to focus on his radio work. After four more years at WRUF, he landed a job broadcasting the Cincinnati Reds on WLW and WSAI when Powel Crosley Jr. purchased the team in 1934.
On Opening Day 1934 (April 17), Barber attended his first major league game and broadcast its play-by-play, as the Reds lost to the Chicago Cubs, 6–0. He called games from the stands of Cincinnati's renamed Crosley Field for the next five seasons.
Barber had been hired by Larry MacPhail, then president of the Reds. MacPhail became president of the Dodgers in 1938, and in 1939, he brought the play-by-play man to the Dodgers. In Brooklyn, Barber became an institution, widely admired for his folksy style. He was also appreciated by people concerned about Brooklyn's reputation as a land of "dees" and "dems".
Barber became famous for his signature catchphrases, including these:
To further his image as a Southern gentleman, Barber would often identify players as "Mister", "big fella", or "old" (regardless of the player's age):
A number of play-by-play announcers including Chris Berman have adopted his use of "back, back, back" to describe a long fly ball with potential to be a home run. Those other announcers are describing the flight of the ball[citation needed] but Barber was describing the outfielder in this famous call from Game 6 of the 1947 World Series. Joe DiMaggio was the batter:
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