Athletes - Red Barber

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	Athletes - Red Barber

Walter Lanier "Red" Barber (February 17, 1908 - October 22, 1992) was an American sportscaster. He was born in Columbus, Mississippi.

Barber, nicknamed "The Ol' Redhead", was primarily identified with radio broadcasts of Major League Baseball, calling play-by-play across four decades with the Cincinnati Reds (1934-38), Brooklyn Dodgers (1939-1953), and New York Yankees (1954-1966). Like his fellow sports pioneer Mel Allen, Barber also gained a niche calling football in his primary market of New York City.

Early years

Barber got his start in broadcasting in the 1920s while studying English education at the University of Florida. He filled in for an absent reporter on WRUF, the university's radio station, and read a scholarly paper on the air. After those few moments in front of a microphone, Barber decided to switch careers.

The radio station hired him as a full-time employee in 1930, and during his tenure he announced Florida football games. Barber promptly dropped out of school to focus on his radio work. He held his position at WRUF for the next four years, eventually landing a job with the Reds.

Professional career

On Opening Day in 1934, Barber broadcast his first play-by-play for a major league game, as the Reds lost to the Chicago Cubs 0-6. It was also the first major league game Barber had ever seen in person. He called games from the stands of Cincinnati's newly-named Crosley Field for the next four seasons.

At Brooklyn, Barber became an institution, widely admired for his folksy style of play-by-play and his signature catchphrases, which included:

"Tearin' up the pea patch" -- used for a team on a winning streak.
"The bases are F.O.B. (full of Brooklyns)" -- indicating the Dodgers had loaded the bases.
"Can of corn" -- describing a softly hit, easily caught fly ball.
"Rhubarb" -- any kind of heated on-field dispute or altercation.
"(Sittin' in) the catbird seat" -- used when a player or team was performing exceptionally well. This expression was the title of a well-known story by James Thurber. According to a character in Thurber's story, the expression came from Red Barber. But according to Barber's daughter, her father did not begin using the expression until after he had read the story.

A number of play-by-play announcers, including Chris Berman, picked up on his use of "back, back, back" to describe a long fly ball with potential to be a home run. Oddly, those other announcers are describing the flight of the ball, whereas Barber was describing the outfielder, in this famous call from the 1947 World Series with Joe DiMaggio at bat:

"Swung on, belted... it's a long one... back for it Gionfriddo, back, back, back... heeee makes a one-handed catch against the bullpen! Oh, Doctor!"

The "Oh, Doctor" phrase was also picked up by some latter-day sportscasters, most notably Jerry Coleman, who was a New York Yankees infielder during the 1940s and 50s and later worked alongside Barber in the Yankees radio and TV booths.

In 1939, Barber broadcast the first major-league game on television. He later added to his Brooklyn duties a job as sports director of the CBS Radio Network, succeeding Ted Husing, and called college football and other events. He also called professional football games in the New York City area.

While running CBS Sports, he became the mentor of another red-headed announcer -- a young Vin Scully -- recruiting the Fordham University graduate for CBS's football coverage, and eventually inviting him into the Dodgers' broadcast booth.

After his dimissal by the Yankees in 1966, Barber retired from baseball broadcasting. He wrote several books, including his autobiography, Rhubarb in the Catbird Seat; contributed to occasional sports documentary programs on radio and television; and from 1981 until his death made weekly contributions to National Public Radio's Morning Edition program. He would talk to host Bob Edwards about sports or other topics, including the flora at Barber's home in Tallahassee, Florida. Barber would call Edwards "Colonel Bob", referring to Edwards' Kentucky Colonel award from his native state. In 1993, Edwards' book Fridays with Red: A Radio Friendship (ISBN 0671870130) was published, based on his Morning Edition segments with Red Barber.

Honors

In 1978, Barber joined former colleague Mel Allen to become the first broadcasters to receive the Ford C. Frick Award from the Baseball Hall of Fame. In 1979, he was recognized with a Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Florida, given a Gold Award by the Florida Association of Broadcasters, and inducted into the Florida Sports Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1995.

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