Being recognized as one of MLB’s all-time broadcasting greats, it’s official now for Tom Hamilton. On Wednesday, the Cleveland Guardians’ radio announcer was voted the 49th winner of the prestigious Ford C. Frick Award.
“Tom is one of my favorite broadcast colleagues. He’s not only an incredibly talented announcer, he’s also a wonderfully outgoing, kind, and affable person. I love this guy. I listen to a lot of other broadcasters on the way home from our games and I’m just a big fan of his work,” longtime Pittsburgh Pirates’ broadcaster Greg Brown told The Epoch Times on Thursday, one day after Hamilton was selected for the Hall of Fame Award that recognizes baseball broadcasting excellence.
Hamilton, 70, with his name included in the 10 nominees for the 2025 Frick vote, was a four-time finalist for the award. A 16-member Frick Award committee consisted of 13 broadcasters who have been selected as past Frick recipients, and three broadcast historians/columnists. To be considered for the Frick Award, current or retired broadcasters must have a minimum of 10 years of continuous service with a team, network, or a combination of both.
Having broadcast in excess of 5,000 Cleveland ball games since being hired for the start of the 1990 MLB season, Hamilton was welcomed aboard the organization after spending the three previous seasons in the minor leagues as the play-by-play voice of the Triple-A Columbus Clippers. When Hamilton received his call to the big leagues, the Waterloo, Wisconsin native was paired with former Indians’ pitcher Herb Score. The two worked together through the 1997 season, which was Score’s final season behind the microphone before retiring.
The Guardians’ Radio Network consisting of 38 AM and FM affiliates throughout Ohio and one located in Erie, Pennsylvania, has had Hamilton teaming with Jim Rosenhaus for the past 13 seasons on a full-time basis.
“I first met Tom when he was in his final season as announcer for the Columbus Clippers of the International League and I was in my first year with the Buffalo Bisons of the American Association. I always enjoy our visits when the Pirates play the Guardians,” said Brown, himself a 32-season veteran of calling Pittsburgh’s ball games on radio and TV. The Columbus Clippers of the International League was then the AAA affiliate of the New York Yankees.
When appearing live on MLB Network’s Hot Stove program Thursday morning with Harold Reynolds and Matt Vasgersian, Hamilton was both humble and emotional, when recalling the roads taken that have led him to Cooperstown.
“I remember listening to Milwaukee Braves’ game on the radio in the 1960s, while living on a dairy farm in Wisconsin. Hank Aaron was my favorite player. I’m so happy to have this job that I don’t want anything else. The partners that I have had, they have been great. As a kid, I would bale hay on the farm. For me to have made it to the Major Leagues, it’s like I won the lottery.”
As a Frick recipient, Hamilton joins some of the most recognizable and successful “talkers” baseball fans have ever listened to. The name Vin Scully (Frick winner 1982) is synonymous with Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers’ broadcasts for 67 seasons. Joe Garagiola (Frick winner 1991) brought ball games to fans through radio and television from 1955 through 2012. Bob Uecker (Frick winner 2003) is another broadcast giant in MLB history, now at age 90, and continues to handle radio duties for the Milwaukee Brewers. He has held his broadcast position with the same club since the 1971 season. And now, Hamilton has joined the exclusive Hall of Fame “team” at 25 Main Street in Cooperstown.
“I’m fortunate not to have a bad manager,” said Hamilton about the Cleveland skippers he has worked with.
Little did Hamilton know that when he called his first Indians’ game on April 10, 1990, at Cleveland Stadium, the outcome would be so memorable. While appearing on Hot Stove, Hamilton, a seven-time Ohio Sportscaster of the Year, looked back with fondness on that Indians-Yankees game. As the game began, after a couple of innings, a blizzard blew across Lake Erie, forcing the game to be canceled. There was a baseball lockout in 1990 which cut spring training short, and caused the regular season schedule to be changed. It wasn’t until April 19 that Hamilton was able to call his first Indians’ home game.
The late Ford C. Frick, a sportswriter, broadcaster, National League President, and MLB Commissioner (1951–1965), played a central role in establishing the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 1936. The first class for induction to the Hall of Fame was in 1939. In 1978, the year that the Frick Award debuted, Mel Allen and Red Barber were the winners. It is the only time that two individuals shared the award.
Hall of Fame Induction Weekend is scheduled for July 25–28.
