A pioneer baseball sportscaster, "The Old Redhead" is generally acknowledged as having been one of the very best practitioners of his craft. Over the course of his long career, Barber called play-by-play on the first night baseball game, the first televised game (during which he also announced the first TV commercials), the first televised World Series, and the first televised football games. The first man to be hired by Edward R. Murrow when the legendary newsman returned from World War II to run CBS News, he served as the network's director of sports.Barber garnered praise from some and criticism from others for his scrupulous impartiality during his broadcasts; one never had a sense that he was rooting for one team over another--a trait that sometimes irritated partisans (such as his employers). Barber became familiar to a new generation of fans through his Friday morning appearances on National Public Radio's "Morning Edition" for the last 11 years of his life. One did not need to be a sports fan to delight in hearing this great broadcaster's wonderfully tangy voice--so warmly evocative of leisurely summer afternoons--comment on the current sports scene in a crisp no-nonsense manner.
Profession(s):
sportscaster, radio personality, director of sports for CBS News, author
Sometimes Credited As:
Walter Lanier Barber
Peabody Personal Award 1990
1992 Appeared in Ken Burns' documentary, "Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio"
1978 Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame with fellow broadcaster Mel Allen, the first broadcasters to be so honored
1966 Fired by the Yankees for paying too much attention to low attendance at the games
1953 TV series renamed "The Peak of Sports News"
1934 - 1938 Worked as the sportscaster for the Cincinnati Reds
Served as the voice of the Brooklyn Dodgers
Hired by Edward R. Murrow as director of sports for CBS News
Worked as a reporter, interviewer, and analyst on a weekly sports news program for CBS-TV entitled "Red Barber's Clubhouse"
Announced for the New York Yankees
TV series renamed "Red Barber's Clubhouse"
Became a regular weekly contributor to National Public Radio's "Morning Edition"