It’s hard to say goodbye. No announcer wants to do it. Sometimes the decision is made for them by a team. Other times, the announcer comes to grips with reality and steps aside from broadcasting willingly as to not tarnish a legacy. The line is a very fine one. The longer a broadcaster is with a team, the more they are usually beloved by the fan base. Teams don’t want to alienate fans, but also don’t want a broadcast that isn’t up to standards.
In the last month, two prominent and long-time voices left their posts. Eli Gold, who called Alabama football for the last 35 years, was forced out by the university. After 30-years as the Pittsburgh Steelers play-by-play voice on radio, Bill Hargrove announced that he is retiring.
Two similar tenures, but their departures couldn’t be more different and agonizing.
Ultimately the school or whichever broadcast partner they work with have the say so on who is calling their games. It’s a cold business as we all know and some decisions are baffling. There are seemingly better ways to handle things if an employer thinks the employee isn’t able to do the job anymore. Heading it off earlier is better than ending it abruptly. There are other examples of mishandling these situations, so Alabama is not alone.
After the 2023 baseball season ended, the Minnesota Twins said goodbye to television broadcaster Dick Bremer. He’d been in the booth for 40 years and at first the decision seemed to be a mutual one for him to step aside. The team seemingly wanted a fresh perspective on the more modern aspects of the game (analytics) and Bremer was viewed as ‘old school’. Bremer was moved into a new role as a ‘Special Assistant’ and will remain part of the team. As time has gone on, Bremer has made it clear that this was not a mutual decision and that he wanted to remain.
The strange case of Ken “Hawk” Harrelson fits in this mold, well, sort of. The White Sox had a plan for the man who spent 33 years in the booth. The Sox started to scale back Hawk’s schedule in 2016. The plan was for Jason Benetti to call home games, while Harrelson continued to travel. The ‘sunsetting’ of a veteran broadcaster can work well, if all parties are on the same page. It seemed like that was the case, Harrelson still got to call games, while the White Sox groomed his successor. A fan base got to say goodbye to a legend, and hello to an up and comer that has done pretty well for himself.
Harrelson though, did not agree with the way it was handled. During an interview on the Foul Territory podcast with Scott Braun and former White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski early in 2023, Harrelson alleged that while he publicly retired, it was the organization pulling the strings.
“I didn’t retire. I got retired,” said Harrelson. “I got fired, is what it boils down to. I’m sure they will deny that, but what led up to that and everything else is going to be interesting.”
The Cubs had a similar plan with Harry Caray. In December 1997, Caray’s grandson Chip Caray was hired to share play-by-play duties for WGN’s Cubs broadcasts with Caray for the following season. However, Harry Caray died in February 1998, before the baseball season began, leaving the expected grandfather-grandson partnership in the broadcast booth unrealized.
My arrival in San Diego back in 2007 involved a similar plan. I joined an established booth with Jerry Coleman and Ted Leitner. Coleman was getting up in age, so I was brought in to help lighten the load. Coleman wasn’t a big fan of the move to bring me in. He felt like he could still carry the demands of a 162-game schedule. Before our first Spring Training broadcast, I walked up to him and told him, “I am not here to replace you, I’m here to help out and make sure you’re able to work as long as you want to work.” He softened his stance on my presence and I couldn’t have asked for two better guys to work with in my time there.
There are a very few broadcasters that know when it’s time to go. Hargrove is among them. The hectic schedule of doing the NFL and also calling Pitt football and basketball, made it a year-round gig. While he will stop calling Steelers games, he plans to keep going with Pitt. Hargrove gave himself the gift of time and family.
“As to the next chapter of my life, I’ll do Pitt football, and I’ll do Pitt basketball because my brother is the engineer, and we room together on the road,” Hillgrove said. “Like we did as kids growing up in Garfield, we’re sharing the same bedroom, only this one’s bigger. I have all of July almost all of August to myself now.” Hargrove said in a statement released by the Steelers.
Vin Scully also comes to mind in a guy knowing it was time to leave. He seemingly could have worked a few more years, but after 67 seasons with Brooklyn/Los Angeles, Scully stepped aside with grace and dignity. Scully called his shot and deserved to do so. He is probably the exception more than the rule, since he was still calling games at a very high level late in his career.
I always talk about preparation in this column. Usually it only pertains to broadcasters, but this time, organizations are the ones that need to be ready. It is so important for teams to have a good plan in place as a broadcaster starts to age. It is a delicate situation for both the team and the announcer. Teams need to respect the announcer’s legacy and meaning to the community, ballclub and fans. Just abruptly showing someone the door is not the way to go about it. Conversations need to be had in the years leading up to the eventual end. Honesty and transparency need to be at the top of the list.
Sometimes the truth is something that needs to be said and heard. It’s not an easy talk to deliver or hear. There are organizations that allow a broadcaster to work a few more years than maybe they should. Either due to the power the broadcaster holds, due to longevity or just not wanting to have a talk due to fear of blow back from the announcer or fans. That can’t be the way to approach it. Many organizations, like noted above with the Twins, will offer an outgoing broadcaster a ceremonial, ambassador type role with the team. Sometimes these positions require the person to make appearances, or sign autographs at games. It usually pays fairly well making it worthwhile. Though it’s not the same as calling a game, the broadcaster is still around the ballpark and fans.
I understand the “grip” some of the veterans in the industry have on the job. Is it really helping when mistakes are constantly being made? Is it helping when you can just hear confusion in their voice? The answer is no. Sometimes the band-aid just needs to be ripped off.
