Mel Allen’s long and storied announcing career puts him on the Mount Rushmore of baseball broadcasters. The voice of the Yankees from 1939-1964, he called the action for 19 pennant-winning clubs and 13 World Series champions.
Allen started each game with his familiar, “Hello there everybody. This is Mel Allen.” He often punctuated great plays with his trademark, “How about that?!”.
Along the way, Allen was the first to call Joe DiMaggio “Joltin’ Joe”, and the man who dubbed Tommy Henrich “Old Reliable”.
In the early days of radio, the World Series announcers were the broadcasters of the participating teams. Starting in 1947, the Yankees fought their way to 15 of the next 18 Fall Classics. During this era Allen was the de facto voice of baseball’s greatest event.
Allen was often compared to his Brooklyn counterpart Red Barber. The Ol’ Redhead began with the Dodgers the same year Allen started with the Yanks. Known for his southern charm and meticulous preparation, Barber was eloquent and accurate. He was also a devout Christian, a married homebody.
In contrast, Allen was a single man who enjoyed all that New York City had to offer. The Yankee broadcaster was expressive, gregarious. He brought the party with him.
In 1954 Barber left the Dodgers and joined Allen in the Yankee booth. The two New York titans worked together until 1964. In 1978 the pair became the first broadcasters the earn baseball’s highest honor – the Hall of Fame’s Ford C. Frick Award.
During the 1977 season Allen became the narrator of This Week in Baseball, the sports weekly highlight show. New generations of fans got to hear the venerable Yankee announcer.
In 1990 Yankee PR man Marty Appel brought back Allen to call a game, making him the first man to broadcast an MLB contest in seven decades. Allen called games spanning the careers of Gehrig to Don Mattingly.
Allen is in the Halls of Fame for the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame, the American Sportscasters Association, and the National Radio Hall of Fame. In 1992 he received baseball’s prestigious William J. Slocum Award. Seven years later the American Sportscasters Association ranked Allen the second greatest of all time behind only Vin Scully.
Allen passed away in 1996. Two years later the Yankees unveiled a plaque honoring Allen at Monument Park.
The plaque reads, “With his warm personality and signature greeting, ‘Hello there everybody.’ He shaped baseball broadcasting by charismatically brining the excitement and drama of Yankees baseball to generations of fans. He made pet phrases such as, “Going, going, gone!” a part of our language and culture. A Yankee institution. A national treasure. How about that?”
In the collection is this correspondence on Yankee letterhead dated January 30, 1962. It is signed by Allen at the bottom.
Really like to watch this week in baseball. He made that show.
I’m sure glad he made the Baseball Ball of Fame! He made baseball fun.