Tom Cheek is the sound of summer.

A (extra) reason to hope that Tim McCarver is okay after his surgery?

King and Cheek are both strong candidates. The first two years I had XM Radio I loved listening to King broadcast games at nights while driving home from the ballpark.

Of course, people will always support the guy the guy or guys they grew up with. For me, Ken Coleman, who was wonderful.

For me, Ken Coleman, who was wonderful.

Ken Coleman was the voice of the Cleveland Browns when I was a kid (mid-60s). It was years later that I learned he also did baseball.

I forgot he did the Indians; I tagged him with the Red Sox. Also, didn't see Montreal in the tags, so that's why Washington is there, for Jacques Doucet.

Bill King one time.

Jacques Doucet is kinda still active. Until last month, he was doing the radio broadcasts of home games of the Quebec City Capitales of the CanAm League. Last month, a new french-language sports channel was launched. Some 60 Jays games will be shown next year (and a few were this year). Doucet teams up with his old pal Rodger Brulotte for those.

Tim McCarver is okay after his surgery

Did he have his vocal cords removed?

Bill King Bill King Bill King.

THERE now.

I wanted to vote for Bill King, but the voting was only through Facebook, so I didn't.

YAY BILL KING.

Skip. He was great.

The only ones I know well enough are Coleman, McCarver and Caray and I liked them all (yes, McCarver too). Id probably rate them in that order too.

If there is a God, John Sterling never makes this ballot.

Bill King is the only choice. The ONLY choice.

Bill King is the one sportscaster I listened to that I felt I could have been friends with even if we never talked about sports.

I didn't have much of a chance to hear Coleman do play-by-play, but I got to meet him several times when he served on the Hall of Fame's Veterans Committee. He would ask us if he could join us for dinner, as if we were the celebrities and he was just some bystander. He was a great storyteller, very funny, and just a joy to talk to. He died all too young, when he seemed to have so much energy and enthusiasm. Just a great guy.

16

Having had the exquisite privelege of a few cocktails with Bill King, I can say that you are right.

Such an immensely sanguine, affable, and fascinating person. No time for details at the moment, suffice to say he was the greatest in so many ways.

Off topic a bit but I never understood the "nomination" process for HoF voting. I thought anyone who played 10+ years was automatically nominated but there seems to be a formal process for deciding who is eligible. Am i wrong?

Here's part of the Wiki entry for Graham McNamee.

Radio broadcasting of sporting events was a new thing in the 1920s. The play-by-play announcements were performed by a rotating group of newspaper writers. Their descriptions were matter-of-fact and boring at best. In 1923, announcer McNamee was assigned to help the sportswriters liven up their broadcasts. He wasn't a baseball expert, but had a knack for conveying what he saw in great detail, and with great enthusiasm. He became broadcasting first as a color commentator, bringing the sights and sounds of the game into the homes of listeners.[1]

At WEAF, McNamee performed a variety of on-air duties, including baseball color commentary, culminating in doing play-by-play of the 1926 World Series. Over the course of the next decade, first with WEAF and then with the national NBC network, McNamee broadcast numerous sports events (including several World Series, Rose Bowls, and championship boxing matches), national political conventions, presidential inaugurations and the arrival of aviator Charles Lindbergh in New York City following his transatlantic flight to Paris, France in 1927. Later that year, McNamee was featured on the cover of Time (October 3, 1927).

Here's the link to that TIME story. It's well worth reading just for the transcript of parts of his broadcast of one of the Tunney-Dempsey fights.

I'm sure that there have been countless better announcers than Graham McNamee, but none who was more important in the history of the profession, and I'm amazed that he hasn't been inducted after all these years.

process for HoF voting. I thought anyone who played 10+ years was automatically nominated but there seems to be a formal process for deciding who is eligible.

The hall of fame ballot screening committee of the BBWAA was instituted for the 1968 election, screening out most of the newly eligible 10-years-plus retirees. Their criteria are entirely subjective and unknown, but most years they throw in a Lenny Harris or a Dave Segui as a nominee. They have already done their work for the next election, and the ballot will be announced next month. From the HOF rules:

4. Method of Election:

A. BBWAA Screening Committee -- A Screening Committee consisting of baseball writers will be appointed by the BBWAA. This Screening Committee shall consist of six members, with two members to be elected at each Annual Meeting for a three-year term. The duty of the Screening Committee shall be to prepare a ballot listing in alphabetical order eligible candidates who (1) received a vote on a minimum of five percent (5%) of the ballots cast in the preceding election or (2) are eligible for the first time and are nominated by any two of the six members of the BBWAA Screening Committee.

Thanks, DanG.

As a Jay fan I always cheer on Tom Cheek for this and wish he got in while still alive, but Jacques Doucet would be nice to see get in while he is with us (in his early 70's now). The voice of the Expos in French. Already in the Expos HOF, Quebec Baseball HOF and the Canadian Baseball HOF - about time to get into the Baseball HOF as well.

Projected ballot for the HOF this year...
http://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/hof_2012.shtml - gotta love Baseball-Reference. Larkin should be in, Bagwell has a real shot as does Morris (sadly). Hopefully Raines cracks 50% so he won't be swamped next year. I also hope (as a Canadian) to see Larry Walker climb high enough to survive the 2013 ballot.