1973-Walter Lanier “Red” Barber

Born in Columbus, Mississippi, on February 17, 1908, sportscasting legend Walter Lanier “Red” Barber had a 33 year career as a baseball announcer. Barber got his first taste of radio broadcasting at the University of Florida, when he read a scholarly paper on air. He enjoyed it so much that shortly afterwards he dropped out of college to pursue a career as a radio announcer. In 1934, four years after his first broadcast, he was asked by the owner of the Cincinnati Reds to broadcast Reds games. He accepted the job and when he called his first game in 1934, it was also the first Major League game he had ever seen live. Barber broadcast Reds games for five years, before moving to the Brooklyn Dodgers, where he was the voice of the Dodgers for 15 years. In 1954, Barber moved to the Yankees, where he broadcast Yankees games for 13 years before retiring in 1966. During his illustrious career, Barber covered 13 World Series, 4 All-Star games, and 4 NFL championships. He also broadcast baseball’s first ever night game in 1935, and first televised game in 1939. Barber died in 1992. He was inducted into the NSSA Hall of Fame on April 3, 1973.