BALTIMORE -- Hall of Fame broadcaster Chuck Thompson, whose deep voice and enthusiasm for the job entertained Baltimore sports fans for more than 50 years, died Sunday. He was 83.
Thompson died peacefully in his sleep at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center in Towson, surrounded by family and friends, said his son, Craig Thompson. The broadcaster had a massive stroke Saturday.
"The city of Baltimore has lost a good friend, and the sports media has lost one of the greatest voices of all time," Craig Thompson told reporters.
Thompson called Baltimore Orioles games for the better part of five decades and served 30 years as the play-by-play announcer of the Baltimore Colts. He took pride in his professional approach to the job but never apologized for an obvious bias toward the home team.
"Chuck Thompson was as much a part of the fabric and history of Orioles baseball as the players on the field," Orioles owner Peter Angelos said yesterday. "His warm and friendly voice and gentle play-by-play style made it feel like he was part of your family, and everyone who met Chuck Thompson realized he was like that in person: a true gentleman, extremely friendly and very approachable."
When the Orioles got a clutch home run or the Colts scored a pivotal touchdown, Thompson would often exclaim on the air, "Ain't the beer cold!" That phrase became the title of his autobiography, published in 1996.
"Like everyone who grew up in Baltimore, my memories of Chuck are too many to count," said former Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken Jr., who called Thompson "a broadcasting legend."
Former Colts coach Don Shula said that Thompson was one of the reasons he has such fond memories of his time in Baltimore.
"I spent 11 years of my early adult life in Baltimore, and I cherish my relationship with the people there, including Chuck Thompson," Shula said when reached at his home in Miami. "He was the man."
Thompson was 71 when named the 1993 recipient of the Hall of Fame's Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting, but the ceremony in Cooperstown did not mark his retirement. He continued to call up to 25 Orioles games per season through the end of the decade.
Thompson called the 500th home run of Hall of Famer Frank Robinson's career. Robinson, who played for the Orioles and now manages the Washington Nationals, called Thompson "one of a kind."
Thompson started his career in 1939 at the radio station WEEU in Reading and later moved to Philadelphia, where he did baseball, football, basketball and hockey.
He began his run in Baltimore in 1949 as radio announcer with the city's International League franchise and joined the Orioles in 1955, a season after the St. Louis Browns moved to Baltimore. He came aboard following a handshake agreement with Orioles owner Jerry Hoffberger.
Thompson left the position after the 1956 season to broadcast Washington Senators' games and resumed broadcasting Orioles games in 1962.
