Photo credit: @SFGiants
By: Amaury Pi-González
SAN FRANCISCO — The worst air quality in the history of San Francisco could not stop a wall-to-wall packed Perry’s at Union Street to render tribute to Hank Greenwald on this Friday November the 16th. Greenwald passed on October 22. He was 83. Perry’s is one of the most popular bar and eateries in S.F., founded in 1944.
And it was Perry’s at Union Street, one of Greenwald’s favorites places, where he always enjoyed a great cheeseburger, were a bevy of Bay Area sports media, broadcasters, engineers, agents, baseball executives, players, manager, friends and the family of Greenwald, gathered for this emotional tribute. His wife Carla, son Doug. Also, a baseball play-by-play man, and daughter Kelly spoke to a totally packed Perry’s, as well as Giants top executive Larry Baer, along with Giants’ broadcasters Dwayne Kuiper, Mike Krukow and Jon Miller.
Greenwald began his career at his alma mater, the University of Syracuse, broadcasting their football games. He would go on to do the play by play of former NBA team, the Syracuse Nationals. In the 1960’s he called the games of the Hawaii Islanders of the Pacific Coast League.
Greenwald was a baseball story-teller with great wit and delivery. He also called games for the Warriors with Bill King, but baseball was his passion and main sport. He called Giants games from 1979-86 and left after a disagreement with radio station management. Went to work for the New York Yankees for the next two years. He came back with the Giants in 1989 when the team reached the World Series and were swept by the Oakland A’s and remained in S.F. until 1996 when he retired. He called 2,798 consecutive games. In his book This Copyrighted Broadcast, wrote about his disagreement with Giants Vice President Larry Baer as the reason for his retirement. In 2004, Hank was the television play-by-play announcer for the A’s with Ray Fosse doing color. In 2004 and 2005, he was the lead announcer for the A’s.
Greenwald did not work during the “glory years” of the Giants World Series run from 2010-14. His only World Series was the 1989 Earthquake series. Hank had the ability to make an 8-0 lost for the Giants an interesting broadcast as his tremendous knowledge of the history of the game was his specialty. At Perry’s tonight, Krukow said that although he was a baseball player he learned a lot listening to Greenwald talk about the history of the game. Kuiper got his start working with Greenwald. Truth be said, Greenwald could tell a baseball story as good as anybody.
One of Greenwald’s most memorable calls was his great description of the final out in Game 5 of the 1989 National League Championship Series, which sent the Giants to the World Series for the first time since 1962. “27 years of waiting have come to an end! The Giants have won the pennant!
I am honored to have known Greenwald, and for a few years, traveled with him on the road with the Giants. He could talk baseball before during and after the game and it was always a pleasure to listen to him. I remember on a trip to Cincinnati, just around the hotel as I was walking I ran into Greenwald who was smoking a Cuban cigar and told me there was a great Cuban cigar store just around the corner. I told him I didn’t smoke Cuban cigars (although I was born in Cuba and I remember my father did smoke those Cohibas), Greenwald went to tell me a lot about Cuban cigars, more that I ever heard from my father. Among other experiences, I remember on a trip we where on the charter plane flying out of Pittsburgh and it was raining and lightning “big time.” He asked “Do we really have to take-off like this?” We did and the take-off what a white knuckle ride. At Candlestick Park we often talk behind the bating cage during batting practices. During night game around 5:00 PM or so, the wind was swirling all over the place, he once looked at me and said, “So many places they blow up, and we still have this place here where they play baseball.” Candlestick was not his favorite place, but can you blame anybody for that?
I will remember Greenwald as a Broadcaster’s Broadcaster. Always prepared, always ready with lots of notes, a great memory and recollection of events always ready to share with his audience, which he loved. One time after a night game, I was leaving Candlestick Park after another Giants’ terrible loss. (Hank was still in the press box doing the postgame), when a fan outside yelled “Hey Hank,we’ll get ’em tomorrow!” thinking I was Hank. He got a kick out of that, as it happened quite regularly. I told him I was “his double.”
The Bay Area broadcast booth in the sky now features: Bill King, Lon Simmons, Hank Greenwald.
