Mel Allen
Encyclopedia
Mel Allen was an American sportscaster
, best known for his long tenure as the primary play-by-play announcer for the New York Yankees
. During the peak of his career in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, Allen was arguably the most prominent member of his profession, his voice familiar to millions. Years after his death, he is still promoted as having been the "Voice of the New York Yankees." In his later years, he gained a second professional life as the first host of This Week in Baseball
.
. (Biographer Stephen Borelli notes Allen added the middle name Avrom, to honor a grandfather of his with that name who had died.) The future sportscaster was educated as a lawyer
, but a boyhood love for baseball
led him to become first a sports columnist and then a radio announcer. He attended the University of Alabama
where he was a member of Kappa Nu Fraternity as an undergraduate. He went on to earn a law degree from Alabama as well.
During his time at Alabama, Israel served as the public address
announcer at Alabama football
games. In 1933, when Birmingham's WBRC asked Alabama coach Frank Thomas
to recommend a new play-by-play announcer, Thomas suggested Israel. His first broadcast was Alabama's home opener that year, against Tulane
.
Soon after graduating in 1937, Allen took a train to New York City
for a week's vacation. As it turned out, one week became 60 years; he settled in New York and lived in the New York metro area (first New York State, then Connecticut) for the rest of his life.
While on vacation, Allen auditioned for the CBS Radio Network
as a staff announcer. CBS executives already knew of Allen; the network's top sportscaster, Ted Husing
, had heard many of his Crimson Tide broadcasts. Allen was hired at $45 a week. He often did non-sports announcing such as big band
remotes or game show
announcements. Among the game shows, he did Truth or Consequences
. He would serve as an understudy to both sportscaster Husing and newscaster Bob Trout
.
In his first year at CBS, he announced the crash of the Hindenburg
, interrupting Kate Smith
to do so. He first became a national celebrity when he ad libbed for a half-hour during the rain-delayed Vanderbilt Cup
from an airplane.
In 1939, he appeared as the announcer in the Warner Brothers & Vitaphone film musical short-subject, "On the Air", with Leith Stevens and the Saturday Night Swing Club.
. This led Wheaties
to tap him to replace Arch McDonald
as the voice of the Washington Senators
for the 1939 season
; McDonald was moving to New York as the first full-time radio voice of the Yankees and New York Giants
. However, Wheaties gave in to owner Clark Griffith
's desire to have Walter Johnson
behind the mike.
Allen didn't have to wait long for a break, however. In June 1939, Garnett Marks, McDonald's partner on Yankee broadcasts, twice mispronounced Ivory soap
, the Yankees' sponsor at the time, as "Ovary
Soap." He was fired, and Allen was tapped to replace him. McDonald himself went back to Washington after only one season, and Allen became the Yankees' and Giants' lead announcer. Allen was able to do double duty for both teams because only the home games were being broadcast.
In Stephen Borelli's biography How About That!, the author states that it was at CBS's suggestion in 1937, the year Melvin Israel joined the network, that Israel go by a different on-air last name. He chose Allen, his father's middle name. He legally changed his name to Allen in 1943.
Allen periodically recounted an anecdote that occurred during his first full season as the announcer of the Yankees. Lou Gehrig
had been forced to retire the previous year due to what would be a fatal illness
. Speaking with Allen in the team's dugout, Gehrig told him "Mel, I never got a chance to listen to your games before, because I was playing every day. But I want you to know they're the only thing that keeps me going." Allen waited until Gehrig left, then broke down in tears.
Allen's stint with the Yankees and Giants was interrupted in 1941, when no sponsor could be found and both teams went off the air. The radio broadcasts resumed in 1942. Allen was the voice of both the Yankees and the Giants until 1943, when he entered the United States Army
during World War II
. While in the service, he broadcast on The Army Hour and Armed Forces Radio.
After the war, Allen began doing Yankees games exclusively. By this time, the team's road games were also part of the broadcast schedule. Before long, Allen and the Yankees were fused in the public consciousness, in part because of the Yankees' frequent World Series appearances. Allen eventually called 22 World Series on radio and television—including 18 in a row from 1946 to 1963. Even when the Yankees didn't appear in the Series (which only happened four times in 18 years), Allen's popularity was such that he was always tapped as the play-by-play man. He also called 24 All-Star Games
.
Indicative of his popularity during the 1950s, he was one of the first three celebrities spoofed in the just-created Mad
comic book. In the second issue, Allen, Leo Durocher
and Yogi Berra
were all caricatured in a baseball story, "Hex!", illustrated by Jack Davis
.
After Russ Hodges
departed from the Yankees booth for the New York Giants, a young Curt Gowdy
was a broadcast partner for two seasons 1949-50, brought in from Oklahoma City
after winning a national audition. Gowdy, originally from Wyoming
, credited Mel Allen's mentoring as a big factor in his own success as a broadcaster. Gowdy became the play-by-play announcer for the Boston Red Sox
in 1951.
Among Allen's many catchphrases were "Hello there, everybody!" to start a game, "How a-bout that?!" or "Going, going, gone!" on home runs and "Three and two
. What'll he do?" But Allen famously lost his voice during the 1963 World Series
, in which the Dodgers defeated the Yankees in a four-game sweep.
, Allen did a number of bowl games: 14 Rose Bowls, 2 Orange Bowls, and 2 Sugar Bowl
s.
In the National Football League
, Allen served as play-by-play announcer for the Washington Redskins
in 1952-53 and for the New York Football Giants
on WCBS-AM in 1960 - with some of the latter broadcasts also being carried nationally by the CBS Radio Network
. Allen was behind the WCBS mike when Philadelphia Eagles
linebacker Chuck Bednarik
levelled Giants running back Frank Gifford
during a clash at Yankee Stadium. He also did radio play-by-play for the Miami Dolphins
' inaugural season in 1966, and University of Miami
football the following year.
Allen hosted Jackpot Bowling
on NBC in 1959. He became host after Leo Durocher
quit to return to coaching. Allen's lack of bowling knowledge made him an unpopular host, and that April, Bud Palmer
replaced him as the show's host.
. He also contributed sportscasts to the program until the late 1960s. Allen also provided voiceover
narration for Fox
Movietone
newsreel
s for many years.
, the Yankees
made the World Series
for the 15th time in 19 years—but Allen wasn't there. Back in September, before the end of the season, the Yankees informed Allen that his contract with the team would not be renewed. In those days, the main announcers for the Series participants always called the World Series on NBC. Although Allen was thus technically eligible to call the Series, Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick
honored the Yankees' request to have Phil Rizzuto
join the Series crew instead. It was the first time Allen had missed a World Series for which the Yankees were eligible since 1943
, and only the second World Series (not counting those missed during World War II
) that he'd missed since he began calling baseball games in 1938.
On December 17, after much media speculation and many letters to the Yankees from fans disgruntled at Allen's absence from the Series, the Yankees issued a terse press release announcing Allen's firing; he was replaced by Joe Garagiola. NBC and Movietone dropped him soon afterward. To this day, the Yankees have never given an explanation for Allen's sudden firing, and rumors abounded. Depending on the rumor, Allen was either homosexual, an alcoholic, a drug addict, or had a nervous breakdown
. Allen's sexuality was sometimes a target in those more conservative days because he hadn't married (and never did).
Years later, Allen told author Curt Smith
that the Yankees had fired him under pressure from the team's longtime sponsor, Ballantine Beer. According to Allen, he was fired as a cost-cutting move by Ballantine, which had been experiencing poor sales for years (it would eventually be sold in 1969). Smith, in his book Voices of Summer, also indicated that the medications Allen took in order to maintain his busy schedule may have affected his on-air performance. (Stephen Borelli, another biographer, has also pointed out that Allen's heavy workload didn't allow him time to take care of his health.)
Allen became Merle Harmon
's partner for Milwaukee Braves
games in 1965
, and worked Cleveland Indians
games on television in 1968
. But he would not commit to either team full-time, nor to the Oakland Athletics
, who also wanted to hire him after the team's move from Kansas City. Despite the firing in 1964, Allen remained loyal to the Yankees for the remainder of his life, and to this day—years after his death—he is still popularly known as the "Voice of the Yankees."
Eventually, the Yankees allowed him to again perform as a speaker at special Yankee Stadium ceremonies, including Old Timers' Day, which Allen had originally handled when he was lead announcer. Though Yankees broadcaster Frank Messer
(who joined the club in 1968
) assumed the emcee's slot for Old Timers' Day and special events like Mickey Mantle
Day from the 1960s onward, the Yankees made sure to also invite Allen to call the actual exhibition game between the Old Timers, and to take part in players' number-retirement ceremonies.
, and also started calling play-by-play again. He announced Yankees cable telecasts on SportsChannel New York (now MSG Plus
) with Phil Rizzuto
, Bill White, Frank Messer
, and occasionally, Fran Healy
.
Allen remained with the Yankees' play-by-play crew until 1985 and made occasional appearances on Yankee telecasts and commercials into the late 1980s. In 1990, Allen called play-by-play for a WPIX
Yankees game to officially make him baseball's first seven-decade announcer. Among the memorable moments Allen called in his latter stretch were Yankee outfielder Reggie Jackson
's 400th home run in 1980
, and Yankee pitcher Dave Righetti
's no-hitter on July 4, 1983.
, which he hosted from its inception in 1977 until his death. When FOX
relaunched TWIB in 2000
(after a one-year hiatus), it used a claymation version of Allen to open and close the show until 2002
.
and Old Time Baseball
, which were published by Stormfront Studios
. The games included his signature "How about that?!" home run call. Allen also used that catch phrase during his cameo appearances in the films The Naked Gun (1988) and Needful Things
(1993).
Although he completed the work only about a year before his death, producer Don Daglow
said in a 1995 interview with Computer Gaming World
that
inducted Allen into its Hall of Fame in 1972. In 1978
, he was one of the first two winners of the Baseball Hall of Fame's Ford C. Frick Award
for broadcasting. (The other was his old colleague Red Barber
, who for some time served alongside Allen as the Yankees' announcer after making his name with the Brooklyn Dodgers
.) In 1985, Allen was inducted into the American Sportscasters Association
Hall of Fame along with the Voice of the Red Sox Curt Gowdy and Chicago legend Jack Brickhouse. Allen was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1988.
. On July 25, 1998, the Yankees dedicated a plaque in his memory for Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. The plaque calls him "A Yankee institution, a national treasure" and includes his much-spoken line, "How about that?"
Sportscaster
In sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action and spectators also heard in the background. In the case of television commentary, the commentator...
, best known for his long tenure as the primary play-by-play announcer for the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
. During the peak of his career in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, Allen was arguably the most prominent member of his profession, his voice familiar to millions. Years after his death, he is still promoted as having been the "Voice of the New York Yankees." In his later years, he gained a second professional life as the first host of This Week in Baseball
This Week in Baseball
This Week in Baseball is a weekly television program, originally designed to show highlights of the previous week's Major League Baseball action. TWIB debuted in .-Genesis of the series:...
.
Early life and career
Allen was born Melvin Allen Israel in Birmingham, AlabamaBirmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
. (Biographer Stephen Borelli notes Allen added the middle name Avrom, to honor a grandfather of his with that name who had died.) The future sportscaster was educated as a lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, but a boyhood love for baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
led him to become first a sports columnist and then a radio announcer. He attended the University of Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
where he was a member of Kappa Nu Fraternity as an undergraduate. He went on to earn a law degree from Alabama as well.
During his time at Alabama, Israel served as the public address
Public address
A public address system is an electronic amplification system with a mixer, amplifier and loudspeakers, used to reinforce a sound source, e.g., a person giving a speech, a DJ playing prerecorded music, and distributing the sound throughout a venue or building.Simple PA systems are often used in...
announcer at Alabama football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
games. In 1933, when Birmingham's WBRC asked Alabama coach Frank Thomas
Frank Thomas (football coach)
Frank W. Thomas was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Chattanooga from 1925 to 1928 and at the University of Alabama from 1931 to 1946, compiling a career college football record of 141–33–9...
to recommend a new play-by-play announcer, Thomas suggested Israel. His first broadcast was Alabama's home opener that year, against Tulane
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
.
Soon after graduating in 1937, Allen took a train to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
for a week's vacation. As it turned out, one week became 60 years; he settled in New York and lived in the New York metro area (first New York State, then Connecticut) for the rest of his life.
While on vacation, Allen auditioned for the CBS Radio Network
CBS Radio Network
The CBS Radio Network provides news, sports and other programming to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by CBS Corporation, and operated by CBS Radio ....
as a staff announcer. CBS executives already knew of Allen; the network's top sportscaster, Ted Husing
Ted Husing
Edward Britt Husing was an American sportscaster and was among the first to lay the groundwork for the structure and pace of modern sports reporting on television and radio.-Early life and career:...
, had heard many of his Crimson Tide broadcasts. Allen was hired at $45 a week. He often did non-sports announcing such as big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
remotes or game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
announcements. Among the game shows, he did Truth or Consequences
Truth or Consequences
Truth or Consequences is an American quiz show originally hosted on NBC radio by Ralph Edwards and later on television by Edwards , Jack Bailey , Bob Barker , Bob Hilton and Larry Anderson . The television show ran on CBS, NBC and also in syndication...
. He would serve as an understudy to both sportscaster Husing and newscaster Bob Trout
Robert Trout
Robert "Bob" Trout was an American broadcast news reporter, best known for his radio work before and during World War II...
.
In his first year at CBS, he announced the crash of the Hindenburg
LZ 129 Hindenburg
LZ 129 Hindenburg was a large German commercial passenger-carrying rigid airship, the lead ship of the Hindenburg class, the longest class of flying machine and the largest airship by envelope volume...
, interrupting Kate Smith
Kate Smith
Kathryn Elizabeth "Kate" Smith was an American Popular singer, best known for her rendition of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America". Smith had a radio, television, and recording career spanning five decades, which reached its pinnacle in the 1940s.Smith was born in Greenville, Virginia...
to do so. He first became a national celebrity when he ad libbed for a half-hour during the rain-delayed Vanderbilt Cup
Vanderbilt Cup
The Vanderbilt Cup was the first major trophy in American auto racing.-History:An international event, it was founded by William Kissam Vanderbilt II in 1904 and first held at a course set out in Nassau County on Long Island, New York. The announcement that the race was to be held caused...
from an airplane.
In 1939, he appeared as the announcer in the Warner Brothers & Vitaphone film musical short-subject, "On the Air", with Leith Stevens and the Saturday Night Swing Club.
Baseball
In 1938, Allen landed his first major baseball assignment, as color commentator for the World Series1938 World Series
The 1938 World Series matched the two-time defending champion New York Yankees against the Chicago Cubs, with the Yankees sweeping the Series in four games for their seventh championship and record third straight .Dizzy Dean, who had helped carry the Cubs to the National League pennant despite a...
. This led Wheaties
Wheaties
Wheaties is a brand of General Mills breakfast cereal. It is well known for featuring prominent athletes on the exterior of the package, and has become a major cultural icon...
to tap him to replace Arch McDonald
Arch McDonald
Arch Linn McDonald, Sr. was an American radio broadcaster who served as the voice of Major League Baseball's Washington Senators from to ....
as the voice of the Washington Senators
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
for the 1939 season
1939 in baseball
-Headline Event of the Year:*On May 17, 1939, Princeton University and Columbia University played the first televised baseball game. On August 26, the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers played the first televised Major League Baseball game...
; McDonald was moving to New York as the first full-time radio voice of the Yankees and New York Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
. However, Wheaties gave in to owner Clark Griffith
Clark Griffith
Clark Calvin Griffith , nicknamed "the Old Fox", was a Major League Baseball pitcher, manager and team owner.-Biography:...
's desire to have Walter Johnson
Walter Johnson
Walter Perry Johnson , nicknamed "Barney" and "The Big Train", was a Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He played his entire 21-year baseball career for the Washington Senators...
behind the mike.
Allen didn't have to wait long for a break, however. In June 1939, Garnett Marks, McDonald's partner on Yankee broadcasts, twice mispronounced Ivory soap
Ivory (soap)
The name "Ivory" refers to a series of products created by the Procter & Gamble Company , including varieties of a white and mildly fragranced bar soap, that became famous for its pure content and for floating in water. Over the years, the bar soap has been altered into other varieties...
, the Yankees' sponsor at the time, as "Ovary
Ovary
The ovary is an ovum-producing reproductive organ, often found in pairs as part of the vertebrate female reproductive system. Ovaries in anatomically female individuals are analogous to testes in anatomically male individuals, in that they are both gonads and endocrine glands.-Human anatomy:Ovaries...
Soap." He was fired, and Allen was tapped to replace him. McDonald himself went back to Washington after only one season, and Allen became the Yankees' and Giants' lead announcer. Allen was able to do double duty for both teams because only the home games were being broadcast.
In Stephen Borelli's biography How About That!, the author states that it was at CBS's suggestion in 1937, the year Melvin Israel joined the network, that Israel go by a different on-air last name. He chose Allen, his father's middle name. He legally changed his name to Allen in 1943.
Allen periodically recounted an anecdote that occurred during his first full season as the announcer of the Yankees. Lou Gehrig
Lou Gehrig
Henry Louis "Lou" Gehrig , nicknamed "The Iron Horse" for his durability, was an American Major League Baseball first baseman. He played his entire 17-year baseball career for the New York Yankees . Gehrig set several major league records. He holds the record for most career grand slams...
had been forced to retire the previous year due to what would be a fatal illness
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis , also referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a form of motor neuron disease caused by the degeneration of upper and lower neurons, located in the ventral horn of the spinal cord and the cortical neurons that provide their efferent input...
. Speaking with Allen in the team's dugout, Gehrig told him "Mel, I never got a chance to listen to your games before, because I was playing every day. But I want you to know they're the only thing that keeps me going." Allen waited until Gehrig left, then broke down in tears.
Allen's stint with the Yankees and Giants was interrupted in 1941, when no sponsor could be found and both teams went off the air. The radio broadcasts resumed in 1942. Allen was the voice of both the Yankees and the Giants until 1943, when he entered the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. While in the service, he broadcast on The Army Hour and Armed Forces Radio.
After the war, Allen began doing Yankees games exclusively. By this time, the team's road games were also part of the broadcast schedule. Before long, Allen and the Yankees were fused in the public consciousness, in part because of the Yankees' frequent World Series appearances. Allen eventually called 22 World Series on radio and television—including 18 in a row from 1946 to 1963. Even when the Yankees didn't appear in the Series (which only happened four times in 18 years), Allen's popularity was such that he was always tapped as the play-by-play man. He also called 24 All-Star Games
Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual baseball game between players from the National League and the American League, currently selected by a combination of fans, players, coaches, and managers...
.
Indicative of his popularity during the 1950s, he was one of the first three celebrities spoofed in the just-created Mad
Mad (magazine)
Mad is an American humor magazine founded by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines in 1952. Launched as a comic book before it became a magazine, it was widely imitated and influential, impacting not only satirical media but the entire cultural landscape of the 20th century.The last...
comic book. In the second issue, Allen, Leo Durocher
Leo Durocher
Leo Ernest Durocher , nicknamed Leo the Lip, was an American infielder and manager in Major League Baseball. Upon his retirement, he ranked fifth all-time among managers with 2,009 career victories, second only to John McGraw in National League history. Durocher still ranks tenth in career wins by...
and Yogi Berra
Yogi Berra
Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra is a former American Major League Baseball catcher, outfielder, and manager. He played almost his entire 19-year baseball career for the New York Yankees...
were all caricatured in a baseball story, "Hex!", illustrated by Jack Davis
Jack Davis (cartoonist)
Jack Davis is an American cartoonist and illustrator, known for his advertising art, magazine covers, film posters, record album art and numerous comic book stories...
.
After Russ Hodges
Russ Hodges
Russell Patrick Hodges was an American broadcaster who did play-by-play for several baseball teams, most notably the New York and San Francisco Giants.-Early career:...
departed from the Yankees booth for the New York Giants, a young Curt Gowdy
Curt Gowdy
Curtis Edward "Curt" Gowdy was an American sportscaster, well known as the longtime "voice" of the Boston Red Sox and for his coverage of many nationally-televised sporting events, primarily for NBC Sports in the 1960s and 1970s.-Early years:The son of a manager for the Union Pacific railroad,...
was a broadcast partner for two seasons 1949-50, brought in from Oklahoma City
Oklahoma city
Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...
after winning a national audition. Gowdy, originally from Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
, credited Mel Allen's mentoring as a big factor in his own success as a broadcaster. Gowdy became the play-by-play announcer for the Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
in 1951.
Among Allen's many catchphrases were "Hello there, everybody!" to start a game, "How a-bout that?!" or "Going, going, gone!" on home runs and "Three and two
Full count
In baseball and softball, a full count is the common name for a count where the batter has three balls and two strikes. The term may derive from older scoreboards, which had three spaces for balls and two for strikes, since this is the maximum number of each that can be achieved before some type...
. What'll he do?" But Allen famously lost his voice during the 1963 World Series
1963 World Series
The 1963 World Series matched the two-time defending champion New York Yankees against the Los Angeles Dodgers, with the Dodgers sweeping the Series in four games to capture their second title in five years, and their third in franchise history....
, in which the Dodgers defeated the Yankees in a four-game sweep.
Other sports
Fittingly for a man who got his first breaks in Alabama and New York calling college footballCollege football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
, Allen did a number of bowl games: 14 Rose Bowls, 2 Orange Bowls, and 2 Sugar Bowl
Sugar Bowl
The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Sugar Bowl has been played annually since January 1, 1935, and celebrated its 75th anniversary on January 2, 2009...
s.
In the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
, Allen served as play-by-play announcer for the Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
in 1952-53 and for the New York Football Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
on WCBS-AM in 1960 - with some of the latter broadcasts also being carried nationally by the CBS Radio Network
CBS Radio Network
The CBS Radio Network provides news, sports and other programming to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by CBS Corporation, and operated by CBS Radio ....
. Allen was behind the WCBS mike when Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
linebacker Chuck Bednarik
Chuck Bednarik
Charles Philip Bednarik is a former professional American football player, known as one of the most devastating tacklers in the history of football and the last two-way player in the National Football League...
levelled Giants running back Frank Gifford
Frank Gifford
Francis Newton "Frank" Gifford is a Hall of Fame former American football player and American sportscaster.-Early life:Gifford was born in Santa Monica, California, the son of Lola Mae and Weldon Gifford, an oil driller....
during a clash at Yankee Stadium. He also did radio play-by-play for the Miami Dolphins
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
' inaugural season in 1966, and University of Miami
Miami Hurricanes football
The Miami Hurricanes football program competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference of the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision for the University of Miami. The program began in 1926 and has won five AP national championships...
football the following year.
Allen hosted Jackpot Bowling
Jackpot Bowling
Jackpot Bowling is a professional bowling show on NBC from January 9, 1959 to June 24, 1960 and again from September 19, 1960 to March 13, 1961....
on NBC in 1959. He became host after Leo Durocher
Leo Durocher
Leo Ernest Durocher , nicknamed Leo the Lip, was an American infielder and manager in Major League Baseball. Upon his retirement, he ranked fifth all-time among managers with 2,009 career victories, second only to John McGraw in National League history. Durocher still ranks tenth in career wins by...
quit to return to coaching. Allen's lack of bowling knowledge made him an unpopular host, and that April, Bud Palmer
Bud Palmer
John S. "Bud" Palmer is a former pro basketball player. He was a member of the original New York Knickerbockers, and was their leading scorer in their inaugural season 1946/47...
replaced him as the show's host.
Non-sports work
In the early 1960s, Allen hosted the three-hour Saturday morning segment of the weekend NBC Radio program MonitorMonitor (NBC Radio)
NBC Monitor was an American weekend radio program broadcast from June 12, 1955, until January 26, 1975. Airing live and nationwide on the NBC Radio Network, it originally aired beginning Saturday morning at 8am and continuing through the weekend until 12 midnight on Sunday...
. He also contributed sportscasts to the program until the late 1960s. Allen also provided voiceover
VoiceOver
VoiceOver is a screen reader built into Apple Inc.'s Mac OS X, iOS and iPod operating systems. By using VoiceOver, the user can access their Macintosh or iOS device based on spoken descriptions and, in the case of the Mac, the keyboard. The feature is designed to increase accessibility for blind...
narration for Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
Movietone
Movietone News
Movietone News is a newsreel that ran from 1928 to 1963 in the United States, and from 1929 to 1979 in the United Kingdom.-History:It is known in the U.S. as Fox Movietone News, produced cinema, sound newsreels from 1928 to 1963 in the U.S., from 1929 to 1979 in the UK , and from 1929 to 1975 in...
newsreel
Newsreel
A newsreel was a form of short documentary film prevalent in the first half of the 20th century, regularly released in a public presentation place and containing filmed news stories and items of topical interest. It was a source of news, current affairs and entertainment for millions of moviegoers...
s for many years.
Fired by the Yankees
In 19641964 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*World Series: St. Louis Cardinals over New York Yankees ; Bob Gibson, MVP*All-Star Game, July 7 at Shea Stadium: National League, 7–4; Johnny Callison, MVP-Other champions:*College World Series: Minnesota...
, the Yankees
1964 New York Yankees season
The New York Yankees season was the 62nd season for the Yankees. The team finished with a record of 99-63, winning their 29th pennant, finishing 1 game ahead of the Chicago White Sox. New York was managed by Yogi Berra. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium. In the World Series, they were defeated...
made the World Series
1964 World Series
The 1964 World Series pitted the National League champion St. Louis Cardinals against the American League champion New York Yankees, with the Cardinals prevailing in seven games. St...
for the 15th time in 19 years—but Allen wasn't there. Back in September, before the end of the season, the Yankees informed Allen that his contract with the team would not be renewed. In those days, the main announcers for the Series participants always called the World Series on NBC. Although Allen was thus technically eligible to call the Series, Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick
Ford Frick
Ford Christopher Frick was an American sportswriter and executive who served as president of the National League from to and as the third Commissioner of Major League Baseball from 1951 to . He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1970...
honored the Yankees' request to have Phil Rizzuto
Phil Rizzuto
Philip Francis Rizzuto , nicknamed "The Scooter", was an American Major League Baseball shortstop. He spent his entire 13-year baseball career for the New York Yankees...
join the Series crew instead. It was the first time Allen had missed a World Series for which the Yankees were eligible since 1943
1943 New York Yankees season
The New York Yankees season was the team's 41st season in New York, and its 43rd season overall. The team finished with a record of 98-56, winning their 14th pennant, finishing 13.5 games ahead of the Washington Senators. Managed by Joe McCarthy, the Yankees played at Yankee Stadium. In the World...
, and only the second World Series (not counting those missed during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
) that he'd missed since he began calling baseball games in 1938.
On December 17, after much media speculation and many letters to the Yankees from fans disgruntled at Allen's absence from the Series, the Yankees issued a terse press release announcing Allen's firing; he was replaced by Joe Garagiola. NBC and Movietone dropped him soon afterward. To this day, the Yankees have never given an explanation for Allen's sudden firing, and rumors abounded. Depending on the rumor, Allen was either homosexual, an alcoholic, a drug addict, or had a nervous breakdown
Nervous breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
. Allen's sexuality was sometimes a target in those more conservative days because he hadn't married (and never did).
Years later, Allen told author Curt Smith
Curt Smith (author)
Curt Smith is an American author, media host and columnist.Smith is a 1973 graduate of SUNY at Geneseo. He worked as a Gannett Company reporter, a speechwriter to former Texas Governor John Connolly, and an editor at the Saturday Evening Post. In 1989 he joined the George H.W...
that the Yankees had fired him under pressure from the team's longtime sponsor, Ballantine Beer. According to Allen, he was fired as a cost-cutting move by Ballantine, which had been experiencing poor sales for years (it would eventually be sold in 1969). Smith, in his book Voices of Summer, also indicated that the medications Allen took in order to maintain his busy schedule may have affected his on-air performance. (Stephen Borelli, another biographer, has also pointed out that Allen's heavy workload didn't allow him time to take care of his health.)
Allen became Merle Harmon
Merle Harmon
Merle Reid Harmon was an American sportscaster who was the play-by-play voice for five Major League Baseball teams, two in the American Football League and the World Football League's only full season of nationally syndicated telecasts.-Early life and career:Born and raised in Salem, Illinois,...
's partner for Milwaukee Braves
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....
games in 1965
1965 Milwaukee Braves season
The Milwaukee Braves season was the 13th and final season for the franchise in Milwaukee before moving to Atlanta for the following season. The Braves finished the season with a record of 86-76, 11 games behind the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers...
, and worked Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
games on television in 1968
1968 Cleveland Indians season
- Offseason :* October 17, 1967: Jim King was released by the Indians.* October 26, 1967: Marv Staehle was sent to the Indians by the Chicago White Sox to complete an earlier deal made on July 29, 1967.* November 28, 1967: Darrell Sutherland was drafted by the Indians from the New York Mets in the...
. But he would not commit to either team full-time, nor to the Oakland Athletics
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....
, who also wanted to hire him after the team's move from Kansas City. Despite the firing in 1964, Allen remained loyal to the Yankees for the remainder of his life, and to this day—years after his death—he is still popularly known as the "Voice of the Yankees."
Eventually, the Yankees allowed him to again perform as a speaker at special Yankee Stadium ceremonies, including Old Timers' Day, which Allen had originally handled when he was lead announcer. Though Yankees broadcaster Frank Messer
Frank Messer
Wallace Frank Messer was an American sportscaster that was best known for his 18 seasons announcing New York Yankees baseball games, and as the recognizable emcee voice of various Yankee Stadium festivities during a three decade span.-Background:An Asheville, North Carolina native, Messer was a...
(who joined the club in 1968
1968 New York Yankees season
The New York Yankees season was the 66th season for the team in New York, and its 68th season overall. The team finished above .500 for the first time since 1964, with a record of 83-79, finishing 20 games behind the Detroit Tigers. New York was managed by Ralph Houk. The Yankees played at Yankee...
) assumed the emcee's slot for Old Timers' Day and special events like Mickey Mantle
Mickey Mantle
Mickey Charles Mantle was an American professional baseball player. Mantle is regarded by many to be the greatest switch hitter of all time, and one of the greatest players in baseball history. Mantle was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.Mantle was noted for his hitting...
Day from the 1960s onward, the Yankees made sure to also invite Allen to call the actual exhibition game between the Old Timers, and to take part in players' number-retirement ceremonies.
Return to the Yankees
Allen was brought back to the Yankees' on-air team in 1976 as a pre/post-game host for the cable telecasts with John SterlingJohn Sterling (sportscaster)
John Sterling is an American sportscaster best known as the radio play-by-play announcer of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees. He has announced every Yankees game since .-Early life:...
, and also started calling play-by-play again. He announced Yankees cable telecasts on SportsChannel New York (now MSG Plus
MSG Plus
MSG Plus is a regional sports network in the New York City metropolitan area, whose reach expands to cover the entire state of New York, Northern New Jersey, Southwestern Connecticut, and Northeastern Pennsylvania. The network was rebranded on March 10, 2008.Like its sister network, MSG, it is...
) with Phil Rizzuto
Phil Rizzuto
Philip Francis Rizzuto , nicknamed "The Scooter", was an American Major League Baseball shortstop. He spent his entire 13-year baseball career for the New York Yankees...
, Bill White, Frank Messer
Frank Messer
Wallace Frank Messer was an American sportscaster that was best known for his 18 seasons announcing New York Yankees baseball games, and as the recognizable emcee voice of various Yankee Stadium festivities during a three decade span.-Background:An Asheville, North Carolina native, Messer was a...
, and occasionally, Fran Healy
Fran Healy (baseball)
Francis Xavier Healy , is a former Major League Baseball catcher best known for his long tenure calling television broadcasts for the New York Mets on the MSG Network and Fox Sports Net New York....
.
Allen remained with the Yankees' play-by-play crew until 1985 and made occasional appearances on Yankee telecasts and commercials into the late 1980s. In 1990, Allen called play-by-play for a WPIX
WPIX
WPIX, channel 11, is a television station in New York City built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WPIX also serves as the flagship station of The CW Television Network...
Yankees game to officially make him baseball's first seven-decade announcer. Among the memorable moments Allen called in his latter stretch were Yankee outfielder Reggie Jackson
Reggie Jackson
Reginald Martinez "Reggie" Jackson , nicknamed "Mr. October" for his clutch hitting in the postseason with the New York Yankees, is a former American Major League Baseball right fielder. During a 21-year baseball career, he played from 1967-1987 for four different teams. Jackson currently serves as...
's 400th home run in 1980
1980 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:World Series: Philadelphia Phillies over Kansas City Royals ; Mike Schmidt, MVP*American League Championship Series: Frank White, MVP*National League Championship Series Manny Trillo, MVP...
, and Yankee pitcher Dave Righetti
Dave Righetti
David Allan Righetti is a former left-handed pitcher for various Major League Baseball teams, primarily the New York Yankees. He is currently the pitching coach for the San Francisco Giants and was the first player in history to both pitch a no-hitter and also lead the league in saves in his career...
's no-hitter on July 4, 1983.
This Week in Baseball
In his later years, Allen was exposed to a new audience as the host of the syndicated highlights show This Week in BaseballThis Week in Baseball
This Week in Baseball is a weekly television program, originally designed to show highlights of the previous week's Major League Baseball action. TWIB debuted in .-Genesis of the series:...
, which he hosted from its inception in 1977 until his death. When FOX
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
relaunched TWIB in 2000
2000 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*Regular Season Champions*World Series Champion - New York Yankees*Postseason - October 3 to October 26Click on any series score to link to that series' page....
(after a one-year hiatus), it used a claymation version of Allen to open and close the show until 2002
2002 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*Regular Season Champions*World Series Champion - Anaheim Angels*Postseason - October 1 to October 27Click on any series score to link to that series' page....
.
Computer games
Mel Allen reached another generation of fans in 1994 when he recorded the play-by-play for two computer baseball games, Tony La Russa BaseballTony La Russa Baseball
Tony La Russa Baseball is a baseball computer and video game console sports game series , designed by Don Daglow, Michael Breen, Mark Buchignani, David Bunnett and Hudson Piehl and developed by Stormfront Studios. The game appeared on Commodore 64, PC, and Sega Genesis, and different versions were...
and Old Time Baseball
Old Time Baseball
Old Time Baseball is a baseball computer personal computer game designed and programmed by Don Daglow, Hudson Piehl, Clay Dreslough and James Grove...
, which were published by Stormfront Studios
Stormfront Studios
Stormfront Studios was a video game developer based in San Rafael, California which had one of the longest creative histories in the industry. In 2007, the company had over 50 developers working on two teams, and owned all its proprietary engines, tools and technology. As of the end of 2007 over...
. The games included his signature "How about that?!" home run call. Allen also used that catch phrase during his cameo appearances in the films The Naked Gun (1988) and Needful Things
Needful Things (film)
Needful Things is the 1993 film adaptation of Stephen King's novel of the same name directed by Fraser C. Heston, the son of actor Charlton Heston...
(1993).
Although he completed the work only about a year before his death, producer Don Daglow
Don Daglow
Don Daglow is an American computer game and video game designer, programmer and producer. He is best known for designing a series of pioneering simulation games and role-playing games, as well as the first computer baseball game and the first graphical MMORPG, all between 1971 and 1995...
said in a 1995 interview with Computer Gaming World
Computer Gaming World
Computer Gaming World was a computer game magazine founded in 1981 by Russell Sipe as a bimonthly publication. Early issues were typically 40-50 pages in length, written in a newsletter style, including submissions by game designers such as Joel Billings , Dan Bunten , and Chris Crawford...
that
Awards
The National Sportscasters and Sportswriters AssociationNational Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association
The National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association, or NSSA, is an organization of sports media members in the United States. It constitutes the American chapter of the International Sports Press Association ....
inducted Allen into its Hall of Fame in 1972. In 1978
1978 in baseball
-Other champions:*Caribbean World Series: Indios de Mayagüez *College World Series: USC*Japan Series: Yakult Swallows over Hankyu Braves *Little League World Series: Pin-Kuang, Pin-Tung, Taiwan-Awards and honors:*Most Valuable Player...
, he was one of the first two winners of the Baseball Hall of Fame's Ford C. Frick Award
Ford C. Frick Award
The Ford C. Frick Award is presented annually by the National Baseball Hall of Fame in the United States to a broadcaster for "major contributions to baseball." It is named for Ford Christopher Frick, former Commissioner of Major League Baseball...
for broadcasting. (The other was his old colleague Red Barber
Red Barber
Walter Lanier "Red" Barber was an American sportscaster.Barber, nicknamed "The Ol' Redhead", was primarily identified with radio broadcasts of Major League Baseball, calling play-by-play across four decades with the Cincinnati Reds , Brooklyn Dodgers , and New York Yankees...
, who for some time served alongside Allen as the Yankees' announcer after making his name with the Brooklyn Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
.) In 1985, Allen was inducted into the American Sportscasters Association
American Sportscasters Association
American Sportscasters Association was founded in 1979 by broadcaster Dick London and associate attorney Harold Foner as a non profit association to represent sportscasters by promoting and supporting the needs and interests of the professional sports broadcaster.-History:In 1980, Louis O...
Hall of Fame along with the Voice of the Red Sox Curt Gowdy and Chicago legend Jack Brickhouse. Allen was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1988.
Death and legacy
Allen died on June 16, 1996 of heart failure (he had had open-heart surgery in 1989) at the age of 83. He was buried at Temple Beth El Cemetery in Stamford, ConnecticutStamford, Connecticut
Stamford is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 122,643, making it the fourth largest city in the state and the eighth largest city in New England...
. On July 25, 1998, the Yankees dedicated a plaque in his memory for Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. The plaque calls him "A Yankee institution, a national treasure" and includes his much-spoken line, "How about that?"
External links
- Mel Allen's biography (How About That! The Life of Mel Allen), a book by Stephen Borelli
- Alabama Communication Hall of Fame page on Mel Allen
- Baseball Hall of Fame page on Mel Allen
- Mel Allen, legendary Yankees voice, dies at 83
- The Baseball Biography Project - Mel Allen
- Monitor Tribute Pages, Mel Allen was a host in 1960s