Bay Area loses broadcasting legend Greenwald

One of the pitfalls of being middle-aged is that every now and then parts of your
childhood go away.

I was driving home from grocery shopping today while listening to 95.7 The Game
(KGMZ-FM), which is a San Francisco radio station, when I learned that long-time
San Francisco Giants broadcaster Hank Greenwald died on Monday at age 83 at
California Pacific Medical Center as a result of heart issues and kidney failure.
Greenwald had been suffering from such after an onset of bronchitis.

Greenwald was the Giants radio and TV voice for two separate stints (1979-1986;
1989-1996). In between, he spent two seasons broadcasting New York Yankees
games. Greenwald came out of retirement to broadcast the Oakland Athletics on
television during the 2004-2005 seasons.

Greenwald was born in Detroit and grew up listening to Detroit Tigers broadcasts.
Greenwald’s birth name was Howard but because of the affinity he developed for
Tigers’ slugger Hank Green Greenberg changed his name to Hank in his honor.
Greenwald’s family moved to Rochester, NY, following World War II. From there,
Greenwald’s passion for baseball evolved listening to Russ Hodges (Giants), Red
Barber (Dodgers), and Mel Allen (Yankees). Greenwald could also pick up radio
broadcasts of the st. Louis Cardinals, Chicago White Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates.

Greenwald graduated from Syracuse University, which has been known for producing
a pipeline of broadcasting greats. Besides the Giants and Yankees, Greenwald also
broadcast Syracuse football, Syracuse Nationals of the NBA, the then San Francisco
Warriors and minor league baseball games. After retiring, Greenwald put his writing
skills on display as he released a book titled “This Copyrighted Broadcast” in 1999.

As I think of Greenwald, I remember when broadcasting represented a much different
time. Growing up in Napa, CA, I remember a time when not every baseball game was
on television. When I couldn’t see a Giants game on TV, I would camp out in my room
and listen to it on the radio. I would also carry everything from my AM/FM walkman
or boom box and listen to the game while working at my father’s local business.

There was nothing like baseball on the radio. Greenwald had a dry but witty sense
of humor and like any of the best baseball broadcasters, he was a great story-teller.
Given the slower pace of baseball, there is more downtime in between pitches, which
then puts the onus on the broadcaster to fill that time usefully.

Here are a few of the many one-liners I can remember:

“If Houston and Montreal stay on top, it will be the first time the playoffs will be
outside the United States.”

“Someone once told me the bad hop is usually the last one.”

Being a kid, I remember listening a game, I forget the opponent but vaguely
remember the situation. The Giants were ahead by three runs. There were two outs
and a runner on base. Greenwald said: “The biggest thing to remember is, he can’t
tie the ballgame no matter what he does. In fact, he can hit it nine miles and he still
can’t tie the game.” From that point, I found myself using the same logic every time
I watched a game.

Greenwald defined what a baseball broadcaster was. With sports like basketball or
football, you expect broadcasters to carry themselves with some emotion. Baseball,
however, is slower paced with more down time between pitches. In that format, you
need to be a storyteller.

Having received my college degree in broadcasting before going into writing, I
discovered that you can’t broadcast baseball the same way as you do football.
Greenwald fit the baseball broadcasting mold like a hand in a glove. He had the
perfect story-telling mentality for baseball broadcasts. Even if you had no connection
as a fan with the ones that were subject to his stories, his demeanor lured you into
the story.

Greenwald came up as a broadcaster in a different culture, when broadcasters were
the reporter of the story rather than the creator. Today’s broadcast climate has its
share of shrill voices that think louder is better.

The most memorable call I remember from Greenwald came in Game 5 of the
National League Championship Series against the Chicago Cubs. It was on Monday,
we had no school because of Columbus Day but we had football practice. Before
my teammates and i suited up, we were gathered around one of the cars with the
radio blasting:

“And (Will) Clark hits it up the middle, into center-field, base hit!!! (Candy) Maldonado
scores! Here comes (Brett) Butler...on his way to third is (Robby) Thompson, the
Giants lead three to one!!! And Superman has done it again!”

“Twenty-seven years of waiting have come to an end! The Giants have won the
pennant!”

The World Series did not go so well, losing 4-0 to the Oakland A’s. Fortunately,
Giants fans were rewarded much later with three World series titles in five years from
2010-2014.

Though the 1989 team was rewarding to follow, the Giants had a few terrible teams
which meant Greenwald was the only good reason to listen to a Giants game.

As Game One of the World Series begins tonight, Greenwald is watching from a
broadcast booth in the sky.