By Saam
Encyclopedia
Byrum Fred "By" Saam, Jr. (September 11, 1914 – January 16, 2000) was an American
sportscaster
. His primary focus in his career was announcing baseball
and football
games in Philadelphia
.
; where he attended high school with Ben Hogan
. He was the public address
announcer at high school football games and began calling them on the radio even before he graduated. While at Texas Christian University
(where he was a classmate of Sammy Baugh
), he broadcast Southwest Conference football games, many of which aired on CBS Radio
's College Football Roundup.
Ted Husing
, CBS' main sportscaster, heard some of Saam's work and suggested that Saam apply for a job at WCCO in Minneapolis in 1934. The station asked him to do a baseball audition. While Saam had played baseball in high school, he'd never broadcast it before. However, he did well enough to get the job and soon became the station's lead sportscaster. He called the Triple A Minneapolis Millers
, re-created the 1935 World Series
, and called University of Minnesota
football.
in Philadelphia in 1937, he called Temple
, University of Pennsylvania
and Villanova
football games. He was soon noticed by the owners of both major league ballclubs in Philadelphia, the Athletics
and the Phillies
.
After both Philadelphia teams began airing road games live in 1950, Saam was forced to drop one team since no radio station could handle the full load. He chose to drop the Phillies, since he and Athletics owner/manager Connie Mack
had been longtime friends. That year's Phillies won their first National League
pennant in 35 years, while the Athletics finished last. Saam and partner Claude Haring did Athletics games until the team left for Kansas City
after the 1954 season.
in 1962; the pair was joined by former Phillies outfielder Richie Ashburn
a year later. Campbell left in 1970 and was replaced by Harry Kalas
. They broadcast Phillies games until Saam's retirement in 1975. Ironically, the year after Saam retired, the Phillies won the National League East—their first postseason appearance of any kind since 1950. For this reason, Kalas and Ashburn invited Saam into the booth for the division-clinching game and let him call the last half-inning. Ashburn later said, "Thirty-eight years and no winner. Damn right he deserved a title."
Despite having never called a pennant or division winner in Philadelphia, Saam did call 13 no-hitter
s, including Jim Bunning
's perfect game
in 1964. He also broadcast the World Series
for NBC Radio in and .
of the NFL and Philadelphia Warriors
of the NBA. He was one of the broadcasters during Wilt Chamberlain
's 100-point game in 1962.
Saam was also involved in Philadelphia Ramblers
(Eastern Hockey League) games as a radio play-by-play broadcaster. On January 8, 1961 the Ramblers visited the New York Rovers at the Long Island Arena with Saam broadcasting the 3rd period and overtime back to Philadelphia.
Saam was known for occasional slip-ups on the air. For example, he once opened a game by saying, "Hello, Byrum Saam, this is everybody speaking." Prior to Game 5 of the 1959 World Series, when Mel Allen
introduced the NBC Radio audience to "amiable, affable, able Byrum Saam", a distracted Saam unthinkingly replied, "Right you are, Mel."
Saam died in 2000 in Devon, Pennsylvania.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sportscaster
Sportscaster
In sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action and spectators also heard in the background. In the case of television commentary, the commentator...
. His primary focus in his career was announcing baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
and football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
games in Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
.
Early life
He was born in Fort Worth, TexasFort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
; where he attended high school with Ben Hogan
Ben Hogan
William Ben Hogan was an American golfer, generally considered one of the greatest players in the history of the game...
. He was the public address
Public address
A public address system is an electronic amplification system with a mixer, amplifier and loudspeakers, used to reinforce a sound source, e.g., a person giving a speech, a DJ playing prerecorded music, and distributing the sound throughout a venue or building.Simple PA systems are often used in...
announcer at high school football games and began calling them on the radio even before he graduated. While at Texas Christian University
Texas Christian University
Texas Christian University is a private, coeducational university located in Fort Worth, Texas, United States and founded in 1873. TCU is affiliated with, but not governed by, the Disciples of Christ...
(where he was a classmate of Sammy Baugh
Sammy Baugh
Samuel Adrian "Slingin' Sammy" Baugh was an American football player and coach. He played college football for the Horned Frogs at Texas Christian University, where he was a two-time All-American. He then played in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins from 1937 to 1952...
), he broadcast Southwest Conference football games, many of which aired on CBS Radio
CBS Radio
CBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...
's College Football Roundup.
Ted Husing
Ted Husing
Edward Britt Husing was an American sportscaster and was among the first to lay the groundwork for the structure and pace of modern sports reporting on television and radio.-Early life and career:...
, CBS' main sportscaster, heard some of Saam's work and suggested that Saam apply for a job at WCCO in Minneapolis in 1934. The station asked him to do a baseball audition. While Saam had played baseball in high school, he'd never broadcast it before. However, he did well enough to get the job and soon became the station's lead sportscaster. He called the Triple A Minneapolis Millers
Minneapolis Millers
The Minneapolis Millers were an American professional minor league baseball team that played in Minneapolis, Minnesota, until 1960. In the 19th century a different Minneapolis Millers were part of the Western League.The team played first in Athletic Park and later Nicollet Park.The name Minneapolis...
, re-created the 1935 World Series
1935 World Series
The 1935 World Series featured the Detroit Tigers and the Chicago Cubs, with the Tigers winning in six games for their first championship in five Series appearances. They had lost in , , , and ....
, and called University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
football.
First year
Moving to WCAUWPHT
WPHT is a CBS Radio station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, broadcasting on 1210 kHz. A 50,000-watt clear-channel station, it broadcasts in an omnidirectional pattern that allows it to cover most of the eastern half of North America at night. It uses the nickname "Talk Radio 1210 WPHT." The...
in Philadelphia in 1937, he called Temple
Temple University
Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...
, University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
and Villanova
Villanova University
Villanova University is a private university located in Radnor Township, a suburb northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States...
football games. He was soon noticed by the owners of both major league ballclubs in Philadelphia, the Athletics
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....
and the Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
.
Phillies and Athletics
In 1938, Saam became the first full-time voice of the Athletics; he added the Phillies the next year and continued this double duty for 12 seasons. This was possible since both teams shared Shibe Park and almost never played at home on the same day. For most of Saam's tenure, the A's and Phillies were also-rans. He was behind the microphone for over 4,000 losses—by one estimate, the most of any baseball announcer ever. His descriptive play-by-play flair earned Saam the nickname "The Man of a Zillion Words."After both Philadelphia teams began airing road games live in 1950, Saam was forced to drop one team since no radio station could handle the full load. He chose to drop the Phillies, since he and Athletics owner/manager Connie Mack
Connie Mack (baseball)
Cornelius McGillicuddy, Sr. , better known as Connie Mack, was an American professional baseball player, manager, and team owner. The longest-serving manager in Major League Baseball history, he holds records for wins , losses , and games managed , with his victory total being almost 1,000 more...
had been longtime friends. That year's Phillies won their first National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
pennant in 35 years, while the Athletics finished last. Saam and partner Claude Haring did Athletics games until the team left for Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
after the 1954 season.
Being with Phillies Permanently
After the Athletics moved to Kansas City, Saam returned to the Phillies in 1955. He was joined by Bill CampbellBill Campbell (sportscaster)
Bill Campbell is a longtime sportscaster in the Philadelphia area.Campbell began his broadcasting career at the age of 17 at a radio station in his hometown of Atlantic City. He moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1941 as a minor league baseball announcer, and then settled in Philadelphia in...
in 1962; the pair was joined by former Phillies outfielder Richie Ashburn
Richie Ashburn
Don Richard "Richie" Ashburn , also known by the nicknames, "Putt-Putt", "The Tilden Flash", and "Whitey" due to his light-blond hair, was an American center fielder in Major League Baseball. He was born in Tilden, Nebraska...
a year later. Campbell left in 1970 and was replaced by Harry Kalas
Harry Kalas
Harry Norbert Kalas was an American sportscaster, best known for his Ford C. Frick Award-winning role as lead play-by-play announcer for Major League Baseball's Philadelphia Phillies...
. They broadcast Phillies games until Saam's retirement in 1975. Ironically, the year after Saam retired, the Phillies won the National League East—their first postseason appearance of any kind since 1950. For this reason, Kalas and Ashburn invited Saam into the booth for the division-clinching game and let him call the last half-inning. Ashburn later said, "Thirty-eight years and no winner. Damn right he deserved a title."
Despite having never called a pennant or division winner in Philadelphia, Saam did call 13 no-hitter
No-hitter
A no-hitter is a baseball game in which one team has no hits. In Major League Baseball, the team must be without hits during the entire game, and the game must be at least nine innings. A pitcher who prevents the opposing team from achieving a hit is said to have "thrown a no-hitter"...
s, including Jim Bunning
Jim Bunning
James Paul David "Jim" Bunning is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher and politician.During a 17-year baseball career, he pitched from 1955 to 1971, most notably with the Detroit Tigers and the Philadelphia Phillies. When he retired, he had the second-highest total of career...
's perfect game
Perfect game
A perfect game is defined by Major League Baseball as a game in which a pitcher pitches a victory that lasts a minimum of nine innings and in which no opposing player reaches base. Thus, the pitcher cannot allow any hits, walks, hit batsmen, or any opposing player to reach base safely for any...
in 1964. He also broadcast the World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
for NBC Radio in and .
Other broadcasting areas
Away from baseball, he worked games for the Philadelphia EaglesPhiladelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
of the NFL and Philadelphia Warriors
Golden State Warriors
The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in Oakland, California. They are part of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
of the NBA. He was one of the broadcasters during Wilt Chamberlain
Wilt Chamberlain
Wilton Norman "Wilt" Chamberlain was an American professional NBA basketball player for the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers; he also played for the Harlem Globetrotters prior to playing in the NBA...
's 100-point game in 1962.
Saam was also involved in Philadelphia Ramblers
Philadelphia Ramblers
The Philadelphia Ramblers were a minor professional ice hockey team based in the Philadelphia Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Ramblers played for six seasons during the infancy of the American Hockey League from 1935 to 1941.-History:...
(Eastern Hockey League) games as a radio play-by-play broadcaster. On January 8, 1961 the Ramblers visited the New York Rovers at the Long Island Arena with Saam broadcasting the 3rd period and overtime back to Philadelphia.
Saam was known for occasional slip-ups on the air. For example, he once opened a game by saying, "Hello, Byrum Saam, this is everybody speaking." Prior to Game 5 of the 1959 World Series, when Mel Allen
Mel Allen
Mel Allen was an American sportscaster, best known for his long tenure as the primary play-by-play announcer for the New York Yankees. During the peak of his career in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, Allen was arguably the most prominent member of his profession, his voice familiar to millions...
introduced the NBC Radio audience to "amiable, affable, able Byrum Saam", a distracted Saam unthinkingly replied, "Right you are, Mel."
Later Life
In , Byrum Saam was awarded the Ford Frick Award by the Baseball Hall of Fame for excellence in broadcasting. Ashburn was later honored by the Hall of Fame as a player, and Kalas won the Frick Award in 2002.Saam died in 2000 in Devon, Pennsylvania.