Former Angels announcers Buddy Blattner, Don Drysdale named finalists for Ford Frick award

The National Baseball Hall of Fame announced the finalists for the 2021 Ford C. Frick Award, honoring excellence in the field of broadcasting, and two of the eight finalists were a big part of the sounds of the first two decades of Angels baseball.

Buddy Blattner was a longtime national television voice, calling games alongside Dizzy Dean for CBS and ABC in the 1950s, before calling Angels games locally for KTLA from 1962-68, first in Los Angeles and then in Anaheim. In total, Blattner called major league games for 26 seasons.

Don Drysdale is already in Cooperstown as a pitcher for the Dodgers, but also called Angels games from 1973-80, his longest broadcasting stint with any one team. Dyrsdale was a major league announcer for 23 seasons. Both Blattner (2009) and Drysdale (1993) have since passed away.

Other finalists for the Frick award this year are Joe Buck, Dave Campbell, Dean, Ernesto Jerez, Al Michaels, and Dan Shulman. The winner of the award will be announced on Decmeber 9, and will be inducted into Cooperstown on July 24, 2021.

The Frick award is determined by the 12 living Frick award winners plus three broadcast historians and columnists. David J. Halberstam, Barry Horn, and Curt Smith fit into the latter category.

The only Angels broadcaster to win the Frick Award is Dick Enberg, who was so honored in 2015. Enberg called Angels games from 1969-78 for KTLA, including working alongside Drysdale for the last six of those seasons.

Links

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