Tom Hamilton, the voice of Cleveland sports for 35 seasons, has been awarded the Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in broadcasting by the Hall of Fame, it was announced on Wednesday.
At 70 years old, Hamilton began his career with the Cleveland broadcast team in 1990, working alongside Herb Score. He was part of the coverage during the team’s World Series appearances in 1995 and 1997. After Score’s retirement following the 1997 World Series, Hamilton became the primary voice of the franchise.
Hamilton will receive his honor during the Hall of Fame’s induction weekend, scheduled for July 25-28 in Cooperstown, New York. He was chosen as the 49th recipient of the Frick Award by a 16-member committee.
This year’s ballot featured 10 finalists, all of whom made significant contributions as local and national broadcasters, with careers that began after or extended into the Wild Card era. Other finalists included Skip Caray, Rene Cardenas, Gary Cohen, Jacques Doucet, Ernie Johnson Sr., Mike Krukow, Duane Kuiper, Dave Sims, and John Sterling.
In a Zoom call following the announcement, Hamilton expressed his gratitude, saying, “Whoever had under 15 seconds before he cries won. I’m so humbled. I’m so grateful. Can’t believe it happened. I certainly looked at that list of 10 and if I were to rank them, I would have put myself 10th.”
Next season, Sims will replace Sterling as Suzyn Waldman’s play-by-play partner on New York Yankees radio broadcasts. Sterling, 86, retired briefly in April during his 36th season but returned for the final week of the regular season and the postseason. Sims, 71, has spent the last two decades calling games for the Seattle Mariners.
Since taking over as the primary play-by-play announcer in 1997, Hamilton has collaborated with various partners, including Mike Hegan, Dave Nelson, Jim Rosenhaus, and Matt Underwood, on WWWE-AM and WTAM-AM, the longtime radio home of the Guardians.
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