To my surprise and disappointment, broadcasting personality Chuck Barrett will no longer be in the media booth when the baseball Razorbacks hit the field in the spring of 2015. The 23-year voice of the baseball Hogs will remain the on-air radio voice of the football and men's basketball programs and he will continue as the director of broadcasting for the University of Arkansas.
Barrett was an unknown in 1992 when he was hired to be the play-by-play man for the baseball Hogs. The Razorbacks had just joined the SEC when he stepped into the broadcasting booth, with his expertise and excellence in broadcasting baseball eventually leading him to assume the same duties for the men's football and basketball teams. On top of that, he also filled televised air time with coaches shows. His plate was so full that it was only a matter of time that some of his duties would be pared back.
Most major universities maintain multiple announcers to cover their radio programs. For one person to carry the entire broadcasting load for some many Division I sports is unheard of in today's big time sports atmosphere.
I first began to listen to Barrett when I stumbled across his "SportsWrap" radio program that aired during drive times every week day afternoon in the 1990s. Besides having a voice that seemed to be made for sports broadcasting, Barrett had a quality that is hard to find in any sports personality, a quality that I found especially interesting. The man was exceptionally educated.
The topics that came up in his multiple hour radio talk show could veer into politics, world history, government and science in addition to his having a seeming encyclopedic knowledge of all things Razorback. His command and comfort with any and all topics that could be conceivably be thrown his way was nothing short of amazing. Besides being a well read man, his ability to consume large amounts of information and then come up with concise remarks and statements to illustrate or illuminate something is unparalleled.
In 2007, Barrett began broadcasting duties for football, causing him to end his tenure with Sports Wrap, his radio talk show. I tuned in to the new host of the program after Barrett left but the replacement was so dull and uninformed by comparison, I stopped tuning in.
The Clarksville native just didn't describe what happened on the field, he would often predict what was going to happen with great accuracy. Though exuding excitement when things were going Arkansas way, he was never a screamer as is the manner of some. I have listened to a lot of Razorback baseball games over the past 20 years and I would have to say that I enjoyed listening to him talk as much as I did the play on the field.
Barrett broadcast 1,250 baseball games, including three College World Series, and 17 NCAA tournaments. As time consuming as baseball is, the hours he piled on with football and basketball duties must have made him a stranger in his own house these past few years.
While I consider Barrett one of the most intelligent and educated sportscasters I have ever listened to, I have no idea of the wealth or dearth of his formal education. I just know that he is very aware of the world around him and is aware of what it takes to be successful in this or likely any kind of business.
Several years ago, he was asked to what he attributed his success in the broadcast booth. He replied "hard work" and "fear." Believing that no one could ever be too prepared, he worked hard to be prepared for success and he used fear to remind himself it could all end for any number of reasons.
Maybe his doing only the two sports will extend his career. As he is younger than I am, I hope that his is the only voice I need ever hear when tuning in to the Hogs.
Relief pitcher throws perfect game?
I was reading a local sports page recently, looking over some of the baseball "moments in history" that often appear in the corner or bottom of sports pages. This little tidbit concerned a Boston Red Sox game in 1917 which involved Babe Ruth getting tossed from a game he had started as the pitcher.
Before he was traded to New York and became a slugging sensation, he was a credible pitcher for the Sox. On June 23, 1917, Ruth was pitching against Washington and walked the first batter. He always did have a short fuse and vehemently argued the walk with the ump who promptly tossed him.
Relief pitcher Ernie Shore was brought in with no warm up, but before he could record an out, the previously walked batter was thrown out at second. Shore then retired the next 26 batters in a row to win the game. At first, he was credited with a perfect game, but since he didn't start the game, the gem was later changed that reported the game was a no-hitter shared by both Ruth and Shore, even though Ruth recorded no outs.
At least I am pretty sure Shore has the record for the most consecutive outs by a relief pitcher.
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Editor's note: John McGee is an award-winning columnist and sports writer. He is the art teacher at Pea Ridge elementary schools, coaches elementary track and writes a regular sports column for The Times. He can be contacted through The Times at [email protected].
Sports on 07/30/2014