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'I'm so humbled. I'm so grateful': Tom Hamilton named Frick Award winner by Hall of Fame
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- 'I'm so humbled. I'm so grateful': Tom Hamilton named Frick Award winner by Hall of Fame
The iconic, one-of-a-kind voice of Cleveland baseball is heading to the Hall of Fame.
Tom Hamilton, a beloved figure in Cleveland sports media, has been selected as the 2025 recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award , presented annually for excellence in broadcasting by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
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Hamilton will be honored during the Hall of Fame awards presentation during Hall of Fame weekend, July 25-28, 2025, in Cooperstown, N.Y. He is the 49th recipient of the Frick Award.
Hamilton, always quick with a compliment for others but someone who often reserves self-deprecating humor for himself, was one of 10 finalists on a list that included Skip Caray, Rene Cardenas, Gary Cohen, Jacques Doucet, Ernie Johnson Sr., Mike Krukow, Duane Kuiper, Dave Sims and John Sterling.
It took him all of a few seconds to become emotional while discussing the honor via Zoom Wednesday afternoon.
"Well, whoever had 'Under 15 seconds before he cries,' won," Hamilton said, fighting back tears. "I'm so humbled. I'm so grateful. And I can't believe it happened because I certainly looked at that list of 10, and if you were to rank 'em, I would've put myself 10th."
Hamilton, born in 1954 in Waterloo, Wis., grew up sitting on his porch on a summer night listening to Earl Gillespie call Milwaukee Braves games in the 1960s. His family owned a dairy farm and, well, it wasn't work in which Hamilton thought he'd excel.
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"I knew I didn't want to be a farmer, and my parents were like, 'If we've got to put the farm in his hands, we're in trouble,'" Hamilton joked. "I think that was part of the reason why they sold it."
Former Guardians manager Terry Francona and longtime team radio broadcaster Tom Hamilton have a laugh.
After getting into radio broadcasting, he eventually joined Herb Score in Cleveland in 1990, and that duo worked together through the team's run to the 1997 World Series. After that season, Hamilton took over and has since partnered with Mike Hegan, Dave Nelson, Matt Underwood and Jim Rosenhaus.
"When you're in the booth, you're only made better by the people you work with," Hamilton said. "Those guys were the guys that made me better, and they're all friends. Unfortunately, some of them are no longer with us, but I'm so forever grateful for their partnership down through the years."
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Just about any Cleveland fan would instantly recognize his famous calls, including "Swing and a drive, a-way back, gone!" "Ballgame!" and, as a one-time call but a classic nonetheless, "Down goes Anderson!"
Hamilton's impact on so many lives in Northeast Ohio is evident as the soundtrack to one of their favorite teams, with "Hammy" having a three-hour conversation with them through the radio.
Hamilton detailed one letter he received that was written in braille detailing how much his broadcasts meant to the writer. He kept that letter for quite some time until it was unfortunately lost, which he called "one of my biggest regrets."
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"I carried that with me for years, and it just upsets me to this day that the binder got lost in an airport," Hamilton said.
He's a fixture in the Cleveland baseball scene, and a revered voice who was embraced by the community with love. That element of it all, too, was something that nearly brought Hamilton to tears Wednesday afternoon.
"You're just so grateful for them," Hamilton said. "I don't want to sound trite, but there's no guarantee when you come into a new city or a new market that people are going to like you. And the reason I think I caught such a break, if folks do like me, I think it's because of Herb Score."
"When I got hired in 1990, nobody knew who I was, and rightfully so. And because Herb accepted me and because of the cachet Herb had in this town, and how revered Herb and Nancy, his wife, were in the city of Cleveland, if Herb accepted you, then the audience automatically was like, 'Oh, OK, we'll give him a chance.' And I think I was lucky."
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Those early years taught Hamilton the team's broadcasters held a responsibility in their hands to guide the audience through not only the wins, but the losses. He took it as a daily responsibility to deliver for his audience.
"I learned a valuable lesson from Herb, the most valuable of all, and that is your club's record or how the season is going should never have any bearing on that night's broadcast," Hamilton said. "There are people whose whole day is highlighted by a ballgame … and you owe those people your very best."
Hamilton is a seven-time Ohio Sportscaster of the Year Award winner. But to explain what he means to so many baseball fans in Northeast Ohio, the awards and honors still won't quite do it all justice.
Hamilton is truly one of the best in the business, he's known by many as one of the nicest people you could possibly ever meet, and he's thoroughly deserving of this honor. The many, many Cleveland fans who tune in to hear "Hammy" have known that for a long time.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland broadcaster Tom Hamilton named 2025 Frick Award winner
