February 21, 2006

(COOPERSTOWN, NY):  The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum announced today that Gene Elston, whose baseball broadcasting career spanned 47 years, primarily as a radio announcer for the Houston Astros franchise, has been named the 2006 recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award, presented annually for major contributions to baseball broadcasting. In addition to serving as the lead voice of Houston baseball, beginning with the Colt .45s in 1962, through 1986, Elston also broadcast for CBS Radio's Game of the Week, Mutual Radio's Game of the Day, and the Chicago Cubs.

Born in 1922, Elston broke into broadcasting in 1941 with high-school basketball, and broke into baseball in 1946 with the Waterloo White Hawks of the Three I League. In 1954, Elston earned his first broadcasting assignment in the major leagues with the Chicago Cubs as their number two radio man. In 1958, Elston was chosen to team with Bob Feller for Mutual's Game of the Day, which aired over 350 stations across the country, a position he held through 1960. Elston was selected by the Houston National League franchise as their lead radio man for the inaugural 1962 season.

In 25 seasons in Houston, Elston teamed with Loel Passe, Al Helfer, Harry Kalas, Bob Prince, Dewayne Staats and Larry Dierker. While his list of partners changed over the years, his voice remained constant, delivering the game to a growing legion of fans throughout Texas.

"Gene Elston's soothing voice and knowledgeable broadcasts helped educate and entertain generations of budding fans as baseball headed south," said Hall of Fame President Dale Petroskey. "Today, the Houston-area is one the real baseball hotbeds in the country, and Gene's influence for a quarter of a century is largely responsible. We can't wait to honor Gene and his family this summer in Cooperstown."

Among Elston's Astros broadcasting highlights were Eddie Mathews' 500th career home run; a 24-inning, one-run marathon between the Astros and Mets and April 15, 1968; and Nolan Ryan's career strikeout number 3,509 on April 27, 1983, topping Walter Johnson's all-time mark. Elston called 11 major league no-hitters, including Mike Scott's N.L. West clinching effort over the Giants on Sept. 25, 1986.

After parting with the Astros at the end of 1986, Elston went on to handle the CBS Radio Game of the Week from 1987-1995 and CBS Radio postseason games from 1995-1997. A Texas Baseball Hall of Fame inductee and a Texas Sportscaster of the Year award winner numerous times, Elston also created a unique scorebook, Gene Elston's Stati-Score Baseball Scorebook, and has authored three books, including the 2005 release, The Wild World of Sports.

Elston will be honored during Hall of Fame Weekend 2006, July 28-31 in Cooperstown, New York, along with 2005 J.G. Taylor Spink Award winner Tracy Ringolsby, given annually to a writer for meritorious contributions to baseball. BBWAA Hall of Fame electee Bruce Sutter will be inducted during the ceremonies, along with any electees to emerge from the special election on Negro leagues and pre-Negro leagues candidates, to be announced Feb. 27.

The Ford C. Frick Award is voted upon annually and is named in memory of the sportswriter, radio broadcaster, National League president and Baseball commissioner. View a complete list of recipients.

Ten finalists for the 2006 Ford C. Frick Award were selected in December, featuring three fan selections from an online vote conducted at www.baseballhalloffame.org and seven broadcasters chosen by a research committee from the Cooperstown-based museum. The final ballot contained a mix of pioneers and current-day broadcasters, and was voted upon by a 20-member electorate. Complete biographical information on the 10 finalists can be found at www.baseballhalloffame.org. 

The ten finalists: Tom Cheek, Ken Coleman, Dizzy Dean, Jacques Doucet (fan), Gene Elston, Bill King (fan), Tony Kubek, Denny Matthews, Graham McNamee, and Dave Niehaus (fan).

The 20-member electorate, which is comprised of the 13 living Frick Award recipients and six broadcast historians/columnists includes Frick honorees Marty Brennaman, Herb Carneal, Jerry Coleman, Joe Garagiola, Ernie Harwell, Jaime Jarrin, Milo Hamilton, Harry Kalas, Felo Ramirez, Vin Scully, Lon Simmons, Bob Uecker and Bob Wolff, and, historians/columnists Bob Costas (NBC), Barry Horn (Dallas Morning News), Stan Isaacs (formerly of New York Newsday), Ted Patterson (historian), Curt Smith (historian) and Larry Stewart (Los Angeles Times). Curt Gowdy, the 1984 Frick Award winner who passed away on Monday at age 86, cast his ballot for the 2006 award prior to his death.

Voters were asked to base their selections on the following criteria: longevity; continuity with a club; honors, including national assignments such as the World Series and All-Star Games; and popularity with fans. This year's balloting process marked the second time fans had the opportunity to be a part of selecting the final ballot for the award, after changes to the voting process implemented by the Hall of Fame's Board of Directors to the voting process in 2003.

To be considered, an active or retired broadcaster must have a minimum of 10 years of continuous major league broadcast service with a ball club, network, or a combination of the two. More than 160 broadcasters were eligible for consideration for this year's award, with bios of each candidate appearing at the Web site.

Courtesy of the National Baseball Hall of Fame

Gene Elston's TBHOF Biography