Niehaus a finalist for Frick Award

12/06/2005
DALLAS -- For the third consecutive year, the Mariners' Dave Niehaus has been selected as one of the 10 finalists for the coveted Ford C. Frick Award, presented annually since 1978 for excellence in baseball broadcasting.
The Frick Award -- named in memory of Hall of Famer Ford C. Frick, renowned sportswriter, radio broadcaster, National League president and baseball commissioner -- is given to an active or retired broadcaster who has a minimum of 10 years' continuous Major League broadcast service with a ballclub or network, or a combination of the two.
"I don't know what it means as far as getting elected, but the fans have always been good to me and appreciate them keeping my name [in the Hall of Fame selection process]," Niehaus said from his Bellevue, Wash., home. "I want to thank them for that."
An original list of more than 180 eligible broadcasters, including Niehaus booth sidekicks Rick Rizzs and Ron Fairly, was reduced to the finalists.
Three of them -- Niehaus, the late Bill King and Jacques Doucet -- were selected by a fan vote, while seven others were chosen by the Frick Award Committee, comprised of former winners of the profession's highest honor and six others.
Throughout the month of November, more than 105,000 fan votes were cast exclusively at the Hall of Fame's Web site -- the highest vote total in the three-year history of the online fan voting component to determine Frick ballot selections -- with King (25,380), Niehaus (17,091) and Doucet (15,002) selected by fans for the ballot through the online vote.
The final ballot, also containing seven selections from a Hall of Fame research committee, features a mix of pioneers, early radio stars and current-day broadcasters. Five of the 10 members of the Frick Award ballot are living.
Joining Niehaus, King and Doucet on the ballot this year are Tom Cheek, Gene Elston, Ken Coleman, Denny Matthews, Dizzy Dean, Tony Kubek and Graham McNamee. Matthews and Doucet are newcomers to finalists' lineup this year, the third consecutive year fans helped choose the finalists.
Frick Committee voting members will cast their votes by mail in January. Results will be announced on Feb. 21, with the awardee to be honored during 2006 Hall of Fame Weekend, July 28-31 in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Voters are asked to base their selections on the following criteria: longevity; continuity with a club; honors, including such national assignments as the World Series and All-Star Game; and popularity with fans.
"Baseball broadcasters have been among the strongest links between the game and its fans since the 1920s and we wanted to give the fans a say in which broadcasters advance to the final ballot," said Jane Forbes Clark of the Hall of Fame. "In addition, the board felt that the voting body needed to be expanded.
"Those who have been honored with the Frick Award, as well as the six historians chosen, have a superior knowledge of broadcasting history, and we are delighted they will bestow this honor annually to a legendary voice of the game."
Niehaus has been the Mariners' play-by-play announcer since the franchise started in 1977. He also spent seven seasons (1969-76) with the Angels. He has missed only 66 of the club's 4,000-plus games.
Niehaus began career working for the Armed Forces radio and TV service, calling the action of Dodgers games before moving to New York to handle Yankees baseball. From 1969-76, he teamed with Dick Enberg and Don Drysdale with the Angels. He was selected Sportscaster of the Year for the state of Washington in 1995 and 1996 by his contemporaries in the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association and threw out the Ceremonial First Pitch for the Inaugural Game at Safeco Field on July 15, 1999.
Niehaus was named as one of the Seattle Times' top 10 most influential people of the century and named the Entertainer of the Century by a local radio station. In 1997 he was honored by the Washington State House of Representatives for his "contributions to the quality of life in the Pacific Northwest." His expressions like "My Oh My" and "It will fly away" (for home runs) have become familiar throughout the Northwest. He was inducted into the Mariners' Hall of Fame in 2000, joining Alvin Davis as the only two members of the club's Hall of Fame.

Source: http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/