Jack Brickhouse | |
|---|---|
 Brickhouse in 1958 | |
| Born | John Beasley Brickhouse (1916-01-24)January 24, 1916 Peoria, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | August 6, 1998(1998-08-06) (aged 82) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Sports commentary career | |
| Team(s) | Chicago White Sox (1940–45, 1947–67) Chicago Cubs (1940–44, 1947–81) New York Giants (1946) Chicago Bears (1953–77) Chicago Packers/Zephyrs (1961–1963)Chicago Bulls (1966–73) |
| Genre | Play-by-play |
| Sport(s) | Major League Baseball National Football League National Basketball Association |
John Beasley Brickhouse (January 24, 1916 – August 6, 1998) was an Americansportscaster. Known primarily for hisplay-by-play coverage ofChicago Cubs games onWGN-TV from 1948 to 1981, he received theFord C. Frick Award from theBaseball Hall of Fame in 1983. In 1985, Brickhouse was inducted into theAmerican Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame along with the Voice of the YankeesMel Allen and Red Sox VoiceCurt Gowdy. Brickhouse served as the organization's Secretary/Treasurer and was a member of its board of directors.
Brickhouse also calledChicago White Sox games prior to that team leaving WGN in 1968. He covered national events from time to time, including threeWorld Series forNBC television, although the Cubs never got there during his tenure. The voice on the audio track of the famousWillie Mayscatch in Game 1 of the1954 Series at thePolo Grounds belongs to Brickhouse, who was doing the Series along with theNew York Giants' regular broadcaster,Russ Hodges. (Brickhouse had also called Giants games locally in 1946.) Brickhouse called the1959 Series, which featured the White Sox withLos Angeles Dodgers announcerVin Scully, and the1950 Series withJim Britt. In addition, Brickhouse partnered with fellow baseball broadcasterMel Allen for NBC coverage of the1952 Rose Bowl, and withChris Schenkel for the network's coverage ofNFL Championship Games in1956 and1963.
Brickhouse covered many other events in and outside of sports, such asprofessional wrestling for WGN and political conventions for theMutual radio network. From 1953 to 1977 he was the voice ofChicago Bears football onWGN-AM radio, in an unlikely and entertaining pairing with the famousChicago Sun-Times gossip columnistIrv Kupcinet. Brickhouse calledChicago Bulls basketball games for WGN-TV from 1966 until 1973, making him the voice of three of the major Chicago sports teams during that period. He was aboxing commentator as well. Fights he worked include the1949 fight betweenJersey Joe Walcott andEzzard Charles and the 1951 fight betweenJohnny Bratton andCharley Fusari.[1]
Brickhouse was born inPeoria, Illinois, to Will and Daisy Brickhouse. His father died when Jack was two years old, and he was largely raised by his mother. He started his first job when he was only eleven, delivering thePeoria Journal andPeoria Star, and subsequently attendedPeoria Manual High School.
He began his long broadcasting career at eighteen, at Peoria radio stationWMBD in 1934. Chicago radio stationWGN hired him in 1940 to broadcast Cubs and White Sox games, largely on the recommendation of their top announcer,Bob Elson. Brickhouse served in the U.S. Marine Corps in World War II. He announced White Sox games onWJJD in 1945 but missed the 1945 Cubs season, the only time during his broadcasting career that the Cubs would win the National League pennant. His was the first face seen whenWGN-TV, Chicago's Channel 9, began broadcasting in 1948. His only pennant as a broadcaster was won by the White Sox in 1959, but neither the 1945 Cubs nor the 1959 Sox won the World Series.
Brickhouse broadcast both Cubs and White Sox games until 1967, because they almost never played at home on the same day. He retired in 1981.
Even in retirement, Brickhouse maintained a high profile as a Cubs and WGN ambassador. He occasionally returned to the booth for special events, such as Wrigley Field's annual "70's Night". He also guest-hosted withHarry Caray when theCubs secured their first postseason berth in 39 years, as they clinched the 1984 National League Eastern Division title inPittsburgh. The Cubs won the first two games of theLeague Championship Series at Wrigley, but lost three games to thePadres in San Diego, once again failing to win the pennant (1984 was the last year that the LCS was a best-of-five series).
Brickhouse hosted a weekly segment on WGN's local version ofWCW Pro in the early 1990s called "Brickhouse's Bonus." In 1990, Brickhouse narrated[2] the retrospectiveVHS tape,The Sporting News Presents Baseball in the 80's.[3]
Brickhouse tried to let the pictures speak for themselves. In contrast, his successor as Cubs announcer,Harry Caray, a radio broadcaster by training, tended to describe the game on TV as if he were doing a radio broadcast. Brickhouse was sparer with his descriptive prose; perhaps not as spare asVin Scully of theLos Angeles Dodgers, but talking in quick bursts rather than long sentences, knowing that the well-established camera work ofWGN-TV and of producerArne Harris would tell much of the story.[citation needed]
Instead of over-describing the action, "Brick" was more likely to add "flavor" to what was obviously happening, with almost childlike enthusiasm.[citation needed] He would pepper his play-by-play with various old-fashioned expressions, such as"Whew, boy!" after a close play that went the home team's way, or"Oh, brother!" when it went theother way, or"Wheeeee!" when the team would do something well. During games at Wrigley Field, if the score was tied going into the bottom of the ninth inning, Brickhouse would retort, "Any old kind of a run wins it for the Cubs."
His best-known expression was"Hey-hey!" after an outstanding play by the home team such as a homer in baseball or a touchdown in football, or even after taking a trick in a card game. But it was when he used it for a home run call that stuck in fans' memories, and that phrase now vertically adorns the screens on the foul poles atWrigley Field along with Caray's signature expression,"Holy Cow!"
Chicago columnist and lifelong Cubs fanMike Royko's annual Cubs quiz, April 11, 1968, included the following question:
(One More Time: The Best of Mike Royko, University of Chicago, 1999, p. 29-31)
Some examples of Brickhouse's calls:
September 22, 1959; White Sox at Cleveland in the ninth inning of what would be the American League pennant-clinching game.
"[Carroll] Hardy on second,[Jimmy] Piersall on first, and 'dangerous'Vic Power is up ... one out. Power ... is 1 for 4, an infield single ... there's a ground ball ...[Luis] Aparicio has it ... steps on second, throws to first ... The Ball Game's over! The White Sox are the Champions of 1959!! a forty-year ... wait has now ended!!!"
May 15, 1960; pitcherDon Cardwell, in his Cub debut, is trying to get the last out of ano-hitter, against theSt. Louis Cardinals; the batter isJoe Cunningham, the left fielder isWalt "Moose" Moryn...
December 15, 1963; Bears defensive backDave Whitsell makes a game-clinching pick-six interception, defeatingDetroit and clinching the Western Conference for the Bears...
May 12, 1970;Atlanta'sPat Jarvis pitches to "Mr. Cub",Ernie Banks...
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On February 27, 1998, Brickhouse fell ill and collapsed while preparing for the funeral of fellow Chicago broadcasterHarry Caray. Following brain surgery on March 3 to remove a blood clot, he quickly improved, making a few on-air appearances in the spring and early summer. Though burdened with a gravelly voice (which he attributed to the surgery and said would soon pass), Brickhouse seemed on the road to recovery until his death on August 6 fromcardiac arrest. He was interred at theRosehill Cemetery and Mausoleum in Chicago.[4]
Brickhouse was inducted into theRadio Hall of Fame in 1998.[5]
His godsonScott Simon followed him into broadcasting.[6]
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