Marty Brennaman is a sportscaster
known primarily as the longtime radio voice of Major League Baseball's Cincinnati
Reds.
Brennaman graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1965 and
began his broadcasting career at WGHP-TV in High Point, North Carolina,
and followed with stints in Salisbury, North Carolina and Norfolk,
Virginia. In 1970, he received his first job as a play-by-play announcer
for the Virginia Squires of the now-defunct American Basketball
Association, and in 1971 he began his career as a baseball announcer for
the Norfolk Tides, the New York
Mets' International League affiliate.
In 1974, Marty Brennaman was selected (from among 200-plus applicants)
to succeed Al Michaels as the
Cincinnati Reds' play-by-play announcer on 700 WLW (AM). His hiring paired
him with legendary Reds pitcher Joe Nuxhall, who, after retirement as an
active player in the 1960s, started a prolific career as an announcer,
which lasted full time until the 2004 season. He has announced
sporadically since his semi-retirement.
"Marty and Joe" became an institution in the city, appearing
together in numerous radio and television commercials.
Marty Brennaman's much beloved traditional signal of a Reds victory: "And
this one belongs to the Reds!" was coined during his second game.
Highlights of Brennaman's career include calling Hank Aaron's
record-tying 714th career home run in 1974, Pete Rose's 4,190th (and the
now meaningless 4,192nd as well) career hit and Tom Browning's perfect
game in 1988, the final out in the Reds' sweep of the powerful Oakland
Athletics in the 1990 World Series, and Ken Griffey, Jr.'s 500th career
home run in 2004.
In 2000,
Marty Brennaman won the Ford
C. Frick Award, presented annually by the National Baseball Hall of
Fame to a broadcaster "for major contributions
to the game of baseball", and is enshrined in the broadcasters wing.
Brennaman has also been named Ohio Sportscaster of the Year twelve
times and the Virginia Sportscaster of the Year Award four times for his
versatility in calling baseball, football, and basketball games on both the
collegiate and professional levels. In addition to the Virginia Squires
and the Norfolk Tides, he has called games for Virginia Tech and William
& Mary, and formerly called NCAA men's basketball tournament games.
His son, Thom
Brennaman, is a prolific broadcaster in his own right. He has worked
with the Reds and the Chicago
Cubs, and is currently a television broadcaster with the Arizona
Diamondbacks and the number two baseball play-by-play man (behind Joe
Buck) on Fox Sports' Major League Baseball broadcasts..
Brennaman was elected to the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters
Hall of Fame in 2005.
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