Up Up and Away! Dave Van Horne

Dave Van Horne

Long time baseball announcer Dave Van Horne has won the Baseball Hall of Fame's Frick award for excellence in broadcasting. The Ford C. Frick Award is presented annually by the National Baseball Hall of Fame to a broadcaster for major contributions to baseball. Van Horne will be inducted in Cooperstown, N.Y. in July 2011.

Van Horne originally from Easton, Pennsylvania, spent 32 years calling the game for the Montreal Expos, and the last ten in the Florida Marlins' booth. Known for his smooth, and easy going style, Van Hone is a unique voice in major league baseball.

Not only have the plays on the field made the highlight reels, Van Horne's calls have made radio listeners and TV viewers jump out of their seats with his "up, up and away..." call for every home run. His coverage of the Dennis Martinez' 1991 perfect game is still heard today, "El Presidente... el perfecto!"

I had the pleasure of working with Van Horne in the late nineties while I was producing the Expos games for the local radio broadcast. At the time he was paired with the great former player and a terrific announcer himself, Ken Singleton. Van Horne was always professional and expected perfection from the staff. He may not be terribly concerned if the pre-game show was scrapped due to technical glitches or errors, but the first pitch had to get to air. I remember a colleague of mine being lectured by Van Horne on the importance of the broadcast and being alert and aware of his cues.

For years, he was the only English voice of baseball in Canada, from the inception of the Expos until the Toronto Blue Jays came along. Even after, and until he left Montreal to join the Marlins in 2001, his was the only voice many Canadians had ever hear call a game of baseball. Congratulations Dave, here's to 42 more years!

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