Milo: I’ll stay active through 2012
March 9, 2010 by Dan Schlossberg · Leave a Comment
Milo Hamilton, whose big-league broadcast career started with the 1953 St. Louis Browns, plans to stay on the air for three more seasons.
The venerable voice of the Houston Astros wants the chance to broadcast from the newest ballparks, including Yankee Stadium this June and Minnesota’s Target Field — depending on future interleague games that show up on the Astros’ schedule.
Yankee Stadium is a done deal, although Milo seldom strays from home anymore. He says the travel — especially the long plane flights and 4 a.m. arrivals — got too wearing. But he’s willing to make exceptions, as he did when the Mets opened CitiField in Flushing last year and the Astros were assigned a weekend road series at Yankee Stadium this season.
Milo will mark his 85th birthday on Sept. 2, 2012 and will march right by that milestone and into retirement when that season ends. At least that’s the plan of the moment, assuming a myriad of medical problems don’t interfere. The Fairfield, Iowa native has had leukemia, back surgery, and a heart attack but somehow manages to stay off the disabled list.
In fact, he still sounds as crisp as he did on April 8, 1974, when he broadcast the Hank Aaron home run that broke Babe Ruth’s record. Milo’s WSB radio broadcast is often coupled with video of the event, including that shown at the Baseball Hall of Fame, rather than the accounts aired by Vin Scully (Dodgers) or Curt Gowdy (NBC).
Milo began his broadcast career while stationed in Guam with the U.S. Navy in 1946 and spent several seasons honing his craft in the minors before working for Bill Veeck and the Browns in their final season. When that team became the Baltimore Orioles, Milo moved across town to join a three-man booth that also included Harry Caray and a rookie named Jack Buck.
Sharing a booth with Caray was far from smooth sailing, so Milo moved on, working for the Chicago Cubs (twice), Chicago White Sox, Atlanta Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates, and finally for the Astros, whom he joined in 1985. Last year, the street in front of Minute Maid Park was named “Milo Hamilton Way” in honor of the Hall of Fame announcer.
Milo’s second brush with Caray came during his second stint with the Cubs and is detailed in his autobiography Making Airwaves: 60+ Years at Milo’s Microphone .
