List of Pittsburgh Pirates broadcasters
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File:Forbes Field outfield walls.jpg
The Pittsburgh Pirates are members of Major League Baseball (MLB); they have employed sportscasters to provide play-by-play and color commentary during games broadcast over the radio and on television.
On August 5, 1921, Pittsburgh hosted the first baseball game broadcast over the radio. Harold Arlin, a foreman at Westinghouse, announced the game over KDKA from a box seat next to the first base dugout at Forbes Field.{{harvnb|McCollister|2008|p=104|Ref=none}}{{cite book |title= Take Me Out to the Ballpark|last= Leventhal|first= Josh|author2=Jessica MacMurray |year= 2000|publisher= Workman Publishing Company|location= New York, New York|page= 53|isbn= 1-57912-112-8}}{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Curt |author-link=Curt Smith (author) |title=Voices of Summer |year=2005 |publisher=Carroll & Graf |location=New York City |isbn=0-7867-1446-8}} Throughout the 1920s and 1930s "occasional" games would be broadcast, until Rosey Rowswell became the first "Voice of the Pirates" in 1936. While most of Roswell's early broadcasts were solo, he was joined by Pirates' co-owner Bing Crosby and his successor Bob Prince for games. Prince took over as lead broadcaster in 1955 and held the position over the next 20 seasons. Prince gained a reputation for giving players nicknames and inventing catchphrases to describe the game; he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in August 1986.{{harvnb|O'Brien|1998|p=20|Ref=none}} After the Pirates fired Bob Prince and his sidekick Nellie King after the 1975 season, they hired Milo Hamilton away from Atlanta to be the lead broadcaster and brought Lanny Frattare from their minor league affiliate to be the second announcer. After Hamilton left after the 1979 season, Frattare held the position for 29 years—the longest tenure of any Pirates' broadcaster. Upon Frattare's retirement after the 2008 season, Greg Brown took over the role as lead broadcaster. Multiple people have held temporary positions as broadcasters, including former players Don Hoak, Dave Giusti, Willie Stargell, and Pittsburgh Penguins' broadcaster Mike Lange.{{harvnb|Finoli, Ranier|2003|p=484|Ref=none}}
WWSW-FM broadcast Pirates' games on the radio during the 1940s and 1950s until KDKA became the franchise's flagship station in 1955.{{cite news |agency= Associated Press |title= After 51 years, KDKA out as Pirates flagship station|url= https://www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=2585090|work= ESPN.com|date= 12 September 2006|access-date=30 January 2009}} In 2006, the Pirates switched to WPGB in an attempt to reach younger age brackets; under the contract WPGB carried Pirates' games though the 2011 season.{{cite press release |title= Pirates announce five-year strategic partnership with Clear Channel Communications|url= http://pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20060912&content_id=1658619&vkey=pr_pit&fext=.jsp&c_id=pit|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110605041926/http://pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20060912&content_id=1658619&vkey=pr_pit&fext=.jsp&c_id=pit|url-status= dead|archive-date= June 5, 2011|publisher= PittsburghPirates.com|date= 2006-09-12|access-date=2009-03-01}} Starting with the 2012 season, KDKA-FM took over as the flagship station of the Pirates Radio Network. As of 2016, the Pirates Radio Network has stations located in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and Maryland.
TV & radio broadcasters
{{quote box
| quote =Go ball, get outta here!
| source =—Lanny Frattare after a Pirates home run
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{{quote box
| quote =There are a reported 15,000 people at the game this afternoon. If that's true, then at least 12,000 of them are disguised as empty seats.
| source =—Jim Woods{{harvnb|McCollister|2008|pp=129}}
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{{quote box
| quote =There was nooooo doubt about it.
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{{quote box
| quote =Clear the deck, cannonball coming!
| source =—Greg Brown after a Pirates home run[https://rumbunter.com/2013/07/02/cannonball-coming-the-homerun-call-thats-freaking-out-pittsburgh-pirates-fans/ Cannonball Coming! The Homerun Call That’s Freaking Out Pittsburgh Pirates Fans]
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{{quote box
| quote =Raise the Jolly Roger!
| source =—Greg Brown after a Pirates win[http://www.post-gazette.com/local/region/2013/09/20/All-around-Pittsburgh-they-are-raising-the-Jolly-Roger/stories/201309200103 All around Pittsburgh, they are raising the Jolly Roger]
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Footnotes
- {{note label|Note1|a|a}} Each year is linked to an article about that particular MLB season.
See also
{{Portal|Baseball}}
Notes
{{Reflist}}
References
- {{cite book |title=The Pittsburgh Pirates Encyclopedia|last=Finoli|first=David|author2=Bill Ranier |year=2003|publisher=Sports Publishing L.L.C.|location=United States|isbn=1-58261-416-4}}
- {{cite book |title= The good, the bad, and the ugly Pittsburgh Pirates|last= McCollister|first= John|year= 2008|publisher= Triumph Books|location= Chicago|isbn= 978-1-57243-982-5}}
- {{cite book |title= We Had 'Em All the Way: Bob Prince and His Pittsburgh Pirates|last= O'Brien|first= Jim|year= 1998|publisher= James P. O'Brien - Publishing|location= Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|isbn= 1-886348-03-0}}
External links
- [https://www.mlb.com/pirates/team/broadcasters Official Pittsburgh Pirates Broadcasting page]
- {{cite web |url= http://pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com/pit/history/broadcasters.jsp|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070509203125/http://pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com/pit/history/broadcasters.jsp|url-status= dead|archive-date= May 9, 2007|title= Pirates Broadcasters|access-date=2009-03-01 |work= All Time List|publisher= PittsburghPirates.com}}
{{Pittsburgh Pirates}}
{{Major League Baseball on CBS}}
{{Major League Baseball on Westinghouse}}
{{Lists of Major League Baseball broadcasters}}