Congratulations Denny Matthews!

Denny Matthews is the 2007 winner of the Ford C. Frick Award. He will be honored at the National Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremonies on July 29 in Cooperstown, N.Y.


Two wild and crazy guys in 1973

Denny has been the voice of the Kansas City Royals since their inception in 1969, beating out 250 other applicants for the job.

As a kid, my dad was often on the road, leaving me as the only man of the house with my mom and three sisters. I don't want to overstate things and suggest Denny Matthews was a father figure for me or anything, but in the summers, his voice on the radio was a soothing reminder of a male presence in the house.

"His voice has a pleasant timbre which suggests a cheerful occasion." His inflection varies naturally so it's neither falsely enthusiastic nor boring. "He has a dry, understated humor that drifts through much of his audience undetected. One cannot learn these things at a microphone; they are given." - Bill James

Denny is not excitable, nor is he dull. He possesses a trait that appears to be dying not just in sports, but in American society overall - wit. He never takes himself, or the game, too seriously, for it is just a game. He never draws attention to himself. He calls the game, and he does a damn good job at it.

My dad used to talk about how Ernie Harwell embodied the Detroit Tigers. I often read stories about kids growing up with Vin Scully in Brooklyn, Mel Allen in New York, or Jack Buck in St. Louis. Denny Matthews was ours. Had he left Kansas City for a larger market, he'd no doubt be hailed as one of the all-time greats. For many years, he, like our city itself, was overlooked - flown over. Little did we know that Denny was the voice of baseball for Bill James, Rob Neyer, and later Joe Posnanski. I don't know how much Denny Matthews had to do with each of their loves for baseball and the Royals, but the way that each has written glowingly about Denny, I have little doubt it was a tremendous factor.

Here's to you Denny.