Lindsey Nelson and the New York baseball broadcasters’ southern connection

“Hello everybody I’m Lindsey Nelson,” was the first phrase ever proclaimed on the very first New York Mets MLB broadcast, back in April of 1962. Nelson delivered that phrase in a cheerful, upbeat style, as he would for the rest of his broadcast days. He also spoke it in the distinctive twang of his native middle Tennessee.

It is hard to imagine certain regional accents finding favor with New York fans. For example, the classic snooty Boston “Pahk the cah in Havad Yahd” would seem likely to turn off New York baseball fans, as would the flat “Chicahgo” accent. But the southern drawl captivated the New York fans for generations. More about Nelson later, but now we will journey back to the dawn of New York baseball broadcasts, to 1938.

In 1938 New York was the broadcasting center of the country. In those pre-television days New York had far more radio stations than any other city in the country, it was the headquarters of most of the major networks, and had numerous studios that cranked out the top rated programs of the day. It was also the center of MLB, with three teams, two of which (the Giants and the Yankees) were perpetual contenders, and the other (the Dodgers) were more of a beloved but bumbling crew. Incredibly though, there were no radio broadcasts of the home games of the local teams. All three had signed an agreement where they would not broadcast their games.

Everything changed when the The Dodgers hired Larry MacPhail as their new president. One of his first moves was to scrap the broadcast agreement. MacPhail, who had been a successful GM with the Reds, brought his top sportscaster along with him to broadcast Brooklyn games starting in 1939. That broadcaster was Walter Lanier “Red” Barber, a native of Columbus Mississippi, deep in the heart of the south. Barber, with his lyrical southern drawl, became a big hit with the Dodger fans, soon moving Brooklyn to the top of the baseball broadcast ratings in New York, a position they would mostly hold until abandoning Brooklyn in 1957.

Barber is credited with many baseball sayings, including “can of corn,” “sitting in the catbird seat”, and rhubarb” (on field dispute or fight.) That he delivered his commentary in the lyrical style mentioned earlier was no fluke, Barber was a descendant of acclaimed poet Sidney Lanier.

Barber was also known for his insightful analysis of the baseball action. Barber would also render a great service to the Dodgers by recommending to Dodger president Branch Rickey that an open broadcast spot be filled by a very young Vin Scully in 1950, a move that worked out extremely well for all parties.

Yet another southern voice was featured on New York baseball broadcasts shortly after Barber started, and that was Mel Allen, a native of deep south Birmingham, Alabama. Yankee broadcaster Allen was different in his approach, he tended toward a more homerish style, and he could be bombastic at times, but his voice did soon become synonymous with the Yanks. His signature catchphrase was “how about that” after an especially good play by a Yankee.

The parade of broadcasters with southern accents continued into Gotham in the 40s. Ernie Harwell, from a small Georgia town but raised in Atlanta, called some games for the Dodgers in 1948-1949 before being hired by the Giants, where he broadcast from 1950-1953, He then worked for several teams before landing in Detroit in 1960, where he worked for decades and became a baseball broadcast legend in the motor city.

Russ Hodges, a native of Dayton, Tennessee, became the partner of Mel Allen in broadcasting home games of the Yankees and Giants, before concentrating exclusively on the Giants.

It was Hodge’s voice that is heard on the famous recording of the decisive final playoff game in the 1951 pennant race between the Dodgers and the Giants. Specifically, it was Hodges who exclaimed “The Giants win the pennant” over and over after the Bobby Thompson homer won the game for the Giants. Hodges would move west with the Giants in 1958, and continued broadcasting for them until 1970.

In 1954 Barber had a dispute with Dodger president Walter O’Malley, and as a result Barber was hired to be part of the Yankee broadcast team with Mel Allen. It was an uneasy coupling as the two had contrasting styles. The partnership would end abruptly in 1964 after the Yankees won the pennant but before the World Series started. Allen was fired by Yankee management, with little explanation.

In 1965 it was Barber’s turn to get the boot. That was the year the Yankees collapsed, finishing in 10th place. One of the final games of the season saw a paid crowd of less than 1,000. Barber, ever the journalist, was compelled to comment on the microscopic crowd. The next day he got his walking papers.

Of course there was still one southern baseball broadcaster working in New York, that was the cheerful, upbeat and enthusiastic Nelson, who had first attracted notice for his calling of college football games, particularly the University of Tennessee. As the Mets first season got underway, Nelson met with his broadcast partners Ralph Kiner and Bob Murphy. He told them that the team wasn’t very good, and the broadcasters were not to sugarcoat anything, but neither were they to make fun of the players. That principle guided the broadcasts all the way through 1968. By 1969 that principle was no longer necessary since the Mets were good, like world champion good.

Nelson later said that broadcasting the Mets incredible 1969 run was his greatest thrill in broadcasting. He called the regular season games of course and was part of the network crew that worked games 3, 4 and 5 of the World Series, so he was there for the champagne soaked victory celebration.

Sadly, Nelson’s wife died suddenly early in 1973, and it was a tragedy that affected Nelson’s career. It was probably one of several reasons that Nelson decided to leave the Mets after 1978 for a new start elsewhere. From 1979 to 1982 he broadcast for the Giants, and it was not a good fit. Nelson’s style did not resonate with Giants fans, and many fans were upset that the previous announcer was let go. After he was terminated, he moved back to Knoxville and did college football for a few years. He did have a one game return to baseball when the Yankees had him broadcast Tom Seaver’s 300th victory.

It was not long after Nelson left the Mets that the final chapter (so far) of the southern connection of New York baseball broadcasters began. When the Mets had an opening in the booth in 1983, they looked to Philadelphia, where a brash young Memphis born broadcaster, Tim McCarver, was making a name for himself. McCarver, as a catcher, was an important spark plug that helped power the Cardinals to three pennants in the 60s, then finished up his long career as a personal catcher for Steve Carlton with the Phils.

McCarver, with his distinct Memphis drawl, was right there in the heart of mid to late 80s Mets excitement as the team contended year after year and of course won the World Series in 1986. McCarver continued to work for the Mets through 1998, before he became the primary baseball broadcaster for the Fox network. Perhaps McCarver was becoming a little stale by the end of his tenure with the Mets, but few would deny his knowledge and enthusiasm were well matched with the powerhouse Met teams of the mid to late 80s,

Finally, one personal anecdote. When I was a teenager, I remember having some conversations with my Uncle Bob. Uncle Bob was hardly a role model, but he knew his baseball, he was a die-hard Brooklyn fan before becoming a Met fan. One thing I noticed about his speech pattern was that he did not talk like anyone else in the family. Uncle Bob, who rarely ventured outside of eastern New York, has a distinct, if not exactly authentic, southern tinge to his voice.

Years later when I read about Red Barber and all the radios in Brooklyn being tuned to his broadcasts, it suddenly dawned on me. Uncle Bob would have been in his formative years about the time Barber started enthralling the Dodger audience. Most likely the impressionable young baseball fan, either consciously or unconsciously, had picked up at least some of the Barber deep south drawl.