DIAMONDS & HORSEHIDE: A Ford Frick Update

Last month, I briefly discussed the online nominating process for the Ford C. Frick Award, honoring a lifetime's achievement in baseball broadcasting. Well, today the Hall of Fame announced the ten finalists, and I'm proud to report that, of three I voted for -- Skip Caray, Mark Holtz, and Jon Miller -- none made the cut. My streak is intact.

Take a look at the Ford C. Frick Award Finalists here.

Three of the final 10 were chosen from the fan vote, and I have to really hand it to the fans. They did their work. One of them, Dave Niehaus, is an announcer I've voted for in the past. He's the only broadcaster in the history of the Seattle Mariners, and his enthusiasm is legendary. If you've every heard him call a Ken Griffey, Jr. home run, or if you heard the final outs of Randy Johnson clinching the Mariners' first playoff spot, you've heard a very excited man. Evidently, he's like that through entire games. Dang.

The second, Bill King, was the Oakland A's play-by-play man for 25 years until he passed away last season. (Another finalist, Toronto Blue Jays mainstay Tom Cheek, also died last season.) The Bay Area is doing well in this award, as Giants announcer Lon Simmons got the prize two years ago. The clincher, though, is that photo the Hall has of King. It's the most frightening, most awesome, most 1970s attire you will ever see. I almost want to see him win just for that.

The fans really showed me something with their final pick, though. It's Jacques Doucet, who spent 34 years as the French play-by-play voice of the Montreal Expos. That's absolutely fantastic. Not only does it pay tribute to a murdered franchise, but it means that out of all the names on that list, the fans lent their support to the one guy calling the game in French. Now that's what I call an international game. Two men -- Jaime Jarrin and Felo Ramirez -- have received the honor for broadcasting baseball in Spanish. I'm all for adding a third language into the mix. Well done, voters.

As for the picks of the professionals, it's hit and miss. Does Dizzy Dean really need to be honored for his broadcasting? Is there really only one active broadcaster (Kansas City's Denny Matthews) deserving of such recognition? Did Graham McNamee call his first games using a megaphone? (How old is that picture of him?) I kind of get the feeling that the fans put more work into it.

I'm totally behind Doucet for the award, and I've got half a mind to write Bob Costas and tell him so. After that, I'd go with Niehaus, and then who knows. Maybe Matthews. Preferably someone alive. It's not fair, but I kind of like to see the recipients show up. Especially since they'll probably be inducting half-a-dozen Negro League stars this year.

Ah, yes. The Negro Leaguers. That's one of the other big elections for 2006. But that's for another time.