1996 Ford C. Frick Award Winner Herb Carneal

The 1996 recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award was Herb Carneal. Carneal has long been the voice of the Minnesota Twins.


Herb Carneal (National Baseball Hall of Fame)

Carneal's devotion to baseball led to his first broadcasting job for radio station WMBG in Richmond, Virginia, directly after graduation from high school. He continued to learn the trade at WSYR in Syracuse and as a baseball announcer for the Springfield, Massachusetts, Cubs. The experience led to his handling radio play-by-play for both the Athletics and the Phillies over Philadelphia stations WIBG and WFIL, respectively, in 1954.

The Baltimore Orioles beckoned in 1957, and Carneal teamed with his mentor, Ernie Harwell, for five seasons before moving into the Twins' radio booth in 1962, the year after the Washington Senators relocated to Minnesota.

Combining a professional approach with a depth of clarity and a sense of humor, he is an institution, not only in Minnesota, but throughout the Upper Midwest, where his voice has been synonymous with Twins' baseball for over forty years.

Complete list of Ford C. Frick Award Honorees