Broadcasters by Year 1924 2006

By Wikipedia

Milo Hamilton has been a Major League Baseball announcer for a number of decades, with a variety of teams.

He covered the St. Louis Cardinals on the radio alongside Harry Caray in the 1950s, then moved to the Chicago White Sox in the 1960s, backing up Bob Elson. He became the main play-by-play man for the Atlanta Braves, and was on hand to famously call Henry Aaron's record-breaking 715th career home run in 1974. He then returned to Chicago and covered the Chicago Cubs on TV for several years. He was under the impression that he was heir-apparent to Jack Brickhouse upon the latter's retirement, but Harry Caray was brought in instead, and Hamilton subsequently left the Cubs. He soon joined up with the Houston Astros, and has been their main announcer ever since, still on the crew as of 2005. On July 29, 2005, Hamilton announced that starting with the 2006 season, he would no longer accompany the club on the road, announcing only home games.

Hamilton's style could be described as enthusiastic but not "over the top." His voice reminds some of a Big Band-era announcer, crisp and clear, and easy on the ears.

He is also known for his home run call "Holy Toledo!" but his coverage of Aaron's record breaker was a little different. This is taken directly from a track of Baseball's Greatest Hits: Let's Play II:

"Henry Aaron, in the second inning walked and scored... He's sittin' on 7-14... Here's the pitch by Downing... swinging... there's a drive into left-center field... that ball is gonna beeee... OUTA HERE! IT'S GONE! IT'S 7-15! There's a new home run champion of all time... and it's HENRY AARON!"

Hamilton was the 1992 recipient of the Baseball Hall of Fame's Ford C. Frick Award . He has already been inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame (as of 2000) and soon he will be inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame. His wife of nearly 53 years, Arlene, passed away at age 73 in February 2005. They have two children: Mark and Patricia.

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