Frick Finalists

Fan voting has whittled the nominees for the Ford C. Frick Award down to ten finalists.

They are:

Joe Nuxhall

That link takes you to the special section at the Cincinnati Post.

Tom Cheek

Cheek, who passed away in the fall of 2005 after a 16-month battle with brain cancer, became Toronto's first radio voice during the club's inaugural season in '77. Cheek helped strengthen the relationship between Blue Jays fans and the team by broadcasting 4,306 consecutive games during one amazing stretch.

"Tom Cheek has provided the soundtrack for the most important moments in this team's history," Blue Jays president and CEO Paul Godfrey said at the time of Cheek's passing. "He was far more than just an outstanding announcer, though. He was a great goodwill ambassador for baseball in Canada."

Ken Coleman

Long before the Red Sox, fresh off their second World Series championship in four seasons, started making their run at being the team of the new millennium, they were defined by their voices.

Those voices echoed through New England summers, keeping everyone up to speed on the daily nine innings of the Old Towne team.

Among the most prominent was Coleman, who was the voice of the Impossible Dream Red Sox of 1967.

Dizzy Dean

Dean already made the Hall of Fame as a pitcher, and the Cardinals retired his No. 17. He called Cardinals and St. Louis Browns games from 1941-46, Browns games from 1947-49 and 1952-53 and called CBS's "Game of the Week" from 1954-65.

Tony Kubek

Kubek, who won the 1957 American League Rookie of the Year Award, was a three-time All-Star who played all nine of his seasons with the Yankees. He appeared in six World Series, winning in 1958, '61 and '62.

After retiring in 1965, he joined NBC Sports for that year's postseason. Kubek remained with NBC for 24 years as a color commentator, teaming with Joe Garagiola on the Game of the Week broadcast.

Kubek also served as a broadcaster for the Toronto Blue Jays from 1977-89, then with the Yankees from 1990-94 before retiring.

Bill King

Thanks again to web-savvy fans of his work, the late Bill King remains in the running for the National Baseball of Fame's 2008 Ford C. Frick Award.

The Hall of Fame announced Tuesday that King, who was the lead radio play-by-play man on A's games for 25 years before dying from complications following hip surgery in late October 2005, is among the 10 finalists for the game's highest broadcasting honor.

Graham MacNamee
That's to his wikipedia page.

Joe Morgan
That's to his player page at the Hall of Fame. This is to an alternate opinion.

Dave Niehaus

Mike Blowers has been on the same field with some future Hall of Fame players, and they all stood out. And after one year in the Mariners broadcast booth as a television analyst, Blowers believes that Niehaus is overdue for the ultimate broadcasting honor.

"I don't think there is any doubt about it," Blowers said. "It will happen, and I'm hoping it will happen this year."

Dave Van Horne

Van Horne, a 39-year MLB broadcasting veteran, was with the Montreal Expos when they joined the league in 1969, and he remained the voice of the Expos until 2000.

"If he had stayed with the Expos, and the team had not moved, Dave would have been with that franchise since 1969," said Tommy Hutton, a Marlins TV analyst for FSN Florida and a close friend of Van Horne. "He is an icon in Montreal. A lot of people in Florida don't know that."