by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

insidesocial.com photo: The greatest radio play by play man to ever grace the airwaves the late Bill King who announced for the Golden State Warriors, Oakland Raiders, and the Oakland A’s and is on the MLB Hall of Fame ballot for the Ford C Frick wing of the Hall

OAKLAND–A very good friend of mine always tells me “Most people do not get what they deserve in life”, and yes, this has been the case for Oakland Athletics legendary play by play announcer Bill King. King should have won this award a long time ago. 2017 is the eighth time that Bill King appears for nomination on the Ford C. Frick ballot for excellence in baseball broadcasting. Together with another eight nominees including Giants Mike Krukow, who was nominated for the first time. Last time Bill King was nominated for this award was in 2013. There was no better play by play man in Bay Area history than Bill King. I have said repeatedly, if his career would have taken place in New York, Los Angeles or Chicago, he would have won the award a few years ago.

The eight nominees (only one will win it) are: two from Chicago, Pat Hughes(Cubs),Ken Harrelson(White Sox),Neal Martin(Red Sox), Dewayne Staats (Rays), Gary Cohen(Mets) and Jaques Doucet, the French language play by play man for the old Montreal Expos.

Ford C.Frick was a sportswriter and baseball commissioner, and this is a very subjective award. Unlike baseball players, you do not have statistics for announcers, unless you go by total years and total games called in the business.Basically fame has a lot to do with who wins it. But the award is supposed to be for excellence in baseball broadcasting, and I do not know anybody dead or alive in Bay Area broadcasting that deserves it more than Bill King.

Bill was a three-team play by play announcer, aside from A’s baseball, Bill was also the Voice of  the Raiders and Warriors. Excellent in all three major sports. In baseball Bill was honest and exciting, with all the numbers you need to entertain and educate an audience, with a great up’tempo delivery  but most of all Bill was a “wordsmith”. His vocabulary was second to none, his style and his down to earth attitude was also second to none.

I always enjoyed the company of King, who wouldn’t. Last time I spoke with Bill King was during the last three games of the 2005 baseball season. It was in Seattle, on a Saturday afternoon game, next to the very last game of the regular season, both teams were mathematically eliminated the Mariners(last) and the Athletics,(second)I was doing Spanish for the Mariners. I spoke with Bill a few hours prior to the game, and asked him,(like most of us do towards the end of the season) about his plans for the off-season. He told me he was going to have hip surgery, which as we all know, is not brain surgery or open heart surgery, we also spoke about baseball and the A’s season, and then I walked out of his booth, not far from mine at Safeco Field and said Adios.

A couple of weeks later Bill King passed away at a hospital in San Leandro, to be exact on October 18, 2005. I was stunned.

The winner of the 2017 Frick Award will be announced on Dec. 7 at the Baseball Winter Meetings in National Harbor, Md., and will be honored during the July 29 Awards Presentation as part of the July 28-31 Hall of Fame Weekend 2017 in Cooperstown. All candidates except King and Martin are living.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio talent for the A’s and the Spanish TV talent for the Angels and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com