The Five Best Baseball Announcers of All Time

I have been a baseball fan for more than 30 of the 38 years I have been on this planet. In my mind there is nothing better than spending a summer's evening either listening or watching a good baseball game. Baseball announcers used to be the voice of the city, but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore. Today's announcers seem more preoccupied with making up canned catchphrases, than describing the games they are covering. With that in mind we will take a nostalgic look back at the best announcers baseball has ever had.

5. Bob Uecker: A former back up catcher for six less than stellar major league seasons, Uecker has parlayed that into an impressive career as a broadcaster, actor, and pitchman. Uecker had a lifetime batting average of .200, but that only seems to have endeared him to the American public. Uecker has used a self deprecating style in the booth for 39 years of Milwaukee Brewers baseball. He has an easygoing nature and never takes the game too seriously. He received the Ford C. Frick Award in 2003 inducting him into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

4. Harry Kalas: The distinctive baritone voice of the Philadelphia Phillies, Kalas, passed away suddenly in 2009. He had been with the Phillies since 1971. He called two World Series championships for the Phillies. Kalas was known for his home run call of "outta here." He also was the voice of NFL Films for 31 years and did several Chunky Soup commercials. His most famous call was probably on Mike Schmidt's 500th career home run. "Swing and a long drive... there it is... No. 500, the career 500th home run for Michael Jack Schmidt." His style was plain and simple, not done to overshadow the game. He was inducted in the broadcaster's wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2002.

3. Mel Allen: Although he was from the south, Birmingham, Alabama to be exact, Allen became known as the voice of the Yankees. He started broadcasting baseball in 1938 and, with some breaks in between, did so until 1985. For many Allen was known as the voice of the syndicated television This Week in Baseball, a job he held from the show's inception in 1977 until his death in 1996. His most famous saying was probably his call after a great play of "How about that." Allen is honored with a plaque at Yankee Stadium's Monument Park. He joined the Baseball Hall Of Fame in 1978, he and Red Barber were the first two broadcasters enshrined.

2. Ernie Harwell: As the voice of the Detroit Tigers, Harwell spent 42 years broadcasting for the team until he retired in 2002 at the age of 84. Listening to Harwell on the radio was like listening to a friend, you had the feeling he was just one of the guys. He told stories rather than bang you over the head with incessant numbers. The fans in Detroit loved Harwell so much that when the team replaced him in 1991 the outcry was so overwhelming that he was back a year later. Harwell entered the Hall of Fame in 1981. In 2009 he announced that he has inoperable cancer and probably had less than a year to live. As of this writing Harwell is still fighting the battle.

1. Vin Scully: The voice of the Dodgers for 60 years, Scully holds the record for longest consecutive tenure with one team. The most amazing part of Scully's career is now where he works without a color analyst. He has to fill in all the down time in a baseball game himself and does it seemingly effortlessly. Scully says that one of his favorite things to do is sit back and be quiet and let the crowd and the moment do the talking. This approach is brilliant and should be used more by many of today's talking heads. Scully was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1982.

So there you have it my list of the five greatest announcers of all time. I do want to add an honorable mention to long time Cardinals announcer Jack Buck. Now if only annoying announcers like John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman could learn from these guys and shape up, or better yet maybe they should just go away.