Mel Allen was the mellifluous "Voice of the New York Yankees" for 25 years, announcing during the era when that base­ball team was regularly the World Series champion. Closely identified with the Yankees during the decades when baseball dominated U.S. sports, and a legend himself in his lifetime, Allen created heroes and dreams for radio listeners during the post-World War II period. Allen was a Yankee partisan, cheering for every hit and strikeout, and his impact was so great that he had more fans of his own than any other announcer. During the 1960s, he also represented tradition and constancy in a period of great social turmoil.

Yankee Years

      Allen got his first part-time broadcasting job in 1933 as the voice of the University of Alabama's "Crimson Tide" on CBS's Birmingham affiliate. After completing law school, he was hired by CBS in 1937 and became the New York Yankee broadcaster in 1940. After army service in World War II, Allen returned to the Yankees.

     The Yankees became the first professional baseball team to air all its games live, ending studio recreations of away games and giving Allen a bigger canvas to fill with stories of baseball life. For a time, as the Yankees' premiere announcer, he was joined by the equally legendary Red Barber, and as a team they were considered the best in radio. Beginning in 1941, as both a team and network broadcaster, Allen announced 20 World Series and did play-by-play for 24 All-Star Games, more than any of his contemporaries; he also called 20 college bowl games, including numerous Rose Bowls. From 1939 to 1943, Allen broadcast the New York Giants baseball games as well. One of the world's most widely recognized voices in the two decades after World War II, he narrated over 2,000 Fox Movi­etone newsreels as well as hundreds of short film subjects for 20th Century Fox. An enormously valued advertising spokesperson, he sold millions of dollars of Ballantine beer to Yankee baseball fans.

     Allen broadcast nearly every major Yankees event from Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak in 1941 to Don Larsen's historic perfect game in the 19 56 World Series to Roger Maris' record-breaking 61 home runs in 1961. Allen also handled sad farewells. On 4 July 1939, he introduced Lou Gehrig (who was then dying of what is now called Lou Gehrig's disease) to a packed Yankee Stadium before Gehrig's gripping farewell speech, "Today, I am the luckiest man in the world." In 1948 Allen also introduced a dying Babe Ruth at Yankee Stadium.

     Allen was a truly gifted storyteller, sometimes carrying on long monologues that enchanted fans during slow games. He was widely admired for his comprehensive knowledge of baseball and his affection for the home team ( expressed in such trademark phrases as "How about that!" and "Going, going, gone!"). Allen's authoritative words were spoken in an Alabama twang that was instantly recognizable ("Hello everybody. This is Mel Allen."). He rarely misspoke or made outright errors, and when he did, he passed them off lightly and fans forgave him. During his years with the Yankees, he created such enduring nicknames as "Joltin' Joe" DiMaggio, "Old Reliable" Tommy Henrich, and "The Scooter" Phil Riz­zuto. During the Yankees' heyday, his inimitable voice was found on the radios of almost every taxi in New York City.

     In an ebullient style markedly differing from Barber's detached precision, Allen peppered his broadcasts with enthusiasm for the home team, but both men were intense and focused on baseball-Allen especially so because he never married or had a family. Because he saw athletes as idols and role models for children, he felt that educating new fans about baseball was an important part of his job. This led to criticism that Allen talked too much during games, explaining rules that most fans knew quite well. But his explanations were for the new fans, he always claimed, insisting that his detailed descriptions of events viewers could see for themselves (in the television years) helped heighten the excitement. He tended to magnify the players' admirable attributes in his stories. Beyond DiMaggio's memorable home runs and outstanding batting averages, for example, Allen especially admired DiMaggio's team leadership and often drew attention to it during broadcasts. Allen was such a great favorite with both those who attended games and those who heard them over the radio that, in 19 50, Yankee fans held a Mel Allen Day celebration. It raised money that he donated to the Lou Gehrig Scholarship Fund and the Babe Ruth Scholarship at the University of Alabama.

Later Career

      To widespread surprise at the time, Allen was inexplicably fired by the Yankees in 1964. After a hiatus, Allen became the voice of the syndicated This Week in Baseball in 1977 and remained so for nearly all of the next 20 years. In 1985 he once again became the voice for Yankee games on cable television. Allen was a pioneer broadcaster with a magnetic personality and great personal charm. Those who knew him usually loved him (unless they were Yankee-haters), and thousands of fans, scores of baseball players, and his broadcasting peers considered him the most unforgettable sportscaster. Hall of Fame sportscaster Lindsey Nelson called him "the best sports broadcaster of my time."

     Among innumerable awards and honors, such as selection as the nation's top sportscaster for 14 consecutive years (a feat matched by none), Allen was inducted into the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame in 1972, and along with Red Barber, received the first Ford C. Frick award in 1978 (placing him in the sportscaster section of the Cooperstown Baseball Hall of Fame). He was selected for the American Sportscaster Hall of Fame in 198 5 and the Radio Hall of Fame in 1988. In 1992 he received the Bill Slocum Award for long and meritorious service to baseball. Allen died in 1996 at age 83.