Condolences to family and friends of longtime San Francisco Giants and 49ers and Oakland Athletics radio voice and Baseball Hall of Fame broadcaster Lon Simmons, who died Sunday 4/5 at 91.
Simmons, a former minor league pitcher, worked in radio in Elko, NV and Marysville and Yuba City, CA before spending three years calling Fresno State sports at KMJ-A/Fresno. Moving to KSFO-A/San Francisco as Sports Director in 1957, Simmons joined the San Francisco 49ers radio crew as color announcer in 1957 and moved over to play-by-play in 1958, calling the Niners games through 1981 and again in 1987-88; when the Giants moved from New York to San Francisco in 1958, Simmons teamed with Russ Hodges to call the games on KSFO. Simmons called Giants games in 1958-73 and 1976-78, and part-time in 1996-2002, coming back for guest appearances in 2006; he also called Oakland A’s games in 1981-95.
Simmons was awarded the Ford C. Frick Award by the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2004.
Credit to All Access who published this article
Jason Barrett is the President and Founder of Barrett Media since the company was created in September 2015. Prior to its arrival, JB served as a sports radio programmer, launching brands such as 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He also spent time programming SportsTalk 950 in Philadelphia, 590 The Fan KFNS in St. Louis, and ESPN 1340/1390 in Poughkeepsie, NY. Jason also worked on-air and behind the scenes in local radio at 101.5 WPDH, WTBQ 1110AM, and WPYX 106.5. He also spent two years on the national stage, producing radio shows for ESPN Radio in Bristol, CT. Among them included the Dan Patrick Show, and GameNight.
You can find JB on Twitter @SportsRadioPD. He’s also reachable by email at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.
