Leland Milo Hamilton (September 2, 1927 – September 17, 2015) was an American sportscaster, best known for calling play-by-play for seven different Major League Baseball teams from 1953 to 2012. He received the Ford C. Frick Award from the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992.
Early career
Hamilton was born in Fairfield, Iowa, a small city in the southeastern part of the state. He served in the United States Navy during World War II. During his time in the Navy, he broadcast on Armed Forces Radio.
When the Browns moved to Baltimore as the Orioles, Hamilton did not go with them. Instead, he joined the St. Louis Cardinals, where he worked alongside Harry Caray and Jack Buck during the 1954 season. However, he was let go after only one year when the Cardinals wanted a spot in the booth for Joe Garagiola.
Years later Hamilton remarked, "Hammer (Aaron) and I are forever joined at the hip because of 715."
The Braves did not draw well at that time because of several poor-to-mediocre seasons from 1971 through 1975. Hamilton criticized the poor attendance on the air. He refused to gloss over this issue, and the Braves' owners fired him after the 1975 season. In the end, the situation in Pittsburgh became untenable for both Hamilton and the fans, and he eventually left to be replaced by his color man Lanny Frattare, with whom he hadn't gotten along, and whose announcing style was more similar to Prince's.
Chicago Cubs
Unhappy in Pittsburgh, Hamilton jumped at a chance to return to Chicago in 1980 to join the Cubs' broadcast team alongside Brickhouse, Lloyd and Boudreau. He was under the impression that he was heir-apparent to Brickhouse upon the latter's retirement; indeed, he later said that he had been "guaranteed in blood" that he would replace Brickhouse on Cubs television broadcasts in 1982. He told the writer Curt Smith that officials at WGN-TV spent an hour praising him, but they told him that they had to dismiss him because Caray didn't like him, and Caray was more important to the Cubs.
Houston Astros
After leaving Chicago, Hamilton joined up with the Houston Astros. This was his longest and last tenure as announcer. of the final out:
On July 29, 2005, Hamilton, now in his late 70s, announced that starting with the 2006 season, he would no longer accompany the club on the road, announcing only home games, although he traveled with the club when Busch Stadium, Nationals Park, Citi Field, and Marlins Park opened respectively.
Hamilton announced his plans to retire as an active broadcaster after the 2012 season, though intending to remain active with the Astros in a more limited way.
Other sports
In addition to his early work with the Iowa Hawkeyes and Tri-Cities Blackhawks, Hamilton also, at various points in his career, called NBA basketball for the Chicago Zephyrs, Chicago Bulls and Houston Rockets; college basketball for Northwestern, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, and DePaul, as well as various Southwest Conference games for the Home Sports Entertainment channel in the '80s; and college football for Northwestern, Ohio State and Georgia Tech.
Commentating style
Hamilton's style could be described as enthusiastic but not "over the top." and later inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame.
On April 8, 2009, during the opening series against the Chicago Cubs, Houston Mayor Bill White dedicated Hamilton Street in downtown Houston to Milo Hamilton by renaming it Milo Hamilton Way.
Through his retirement in 2012, Hamilton had broadcast major league games in 59 different ballparks.
Hamilton was elected, as part of the inaugural class, to the Houston Astros Hall of Fame in 2019.
Personal
His wife of nearly 53 years, Arlene, died at age 73 in February 2005. The couple had two children: Mark and Patricia. The Hamiltons’ daughter, Patricia Joy Hamilton Watson, a former Delta Air Lines flight attendant, died on July 10, 2006, in Atlanta, three weeks after suffering a stroke.
Hamilton died on September 17, 2015, at the age of 88 after having chronic lymphocytic leukemia since 1974. For the rest of the season and through their playoff run, the Astros added a patch with Hamilton's initials on their uniforms.
See also
- Houston Astros award winners and league leaders
References
External links
- Milo Hamilton Ford C. Frick Award biography at the National Baseball Hall of Fame
- Obituary at Legacy.com
- Curt Gowdy's, Milo Hamilton's, and Vin Scully's Calls of Aaron's 715th Home Run from Archive.org