Red Barber
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Born Walter Lanier Barber in Columbus, Miss., he was the voice of the Cincinnati Reds from 1934 to 1938, the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1939 to 1953 and the New York Yankees from 1954 to 1966.
He found favor with a newer generation of listeners as the Friday commentator on National Public Radio's "Morning Edition," offering comments on everything from his days as a radio pioneer to the dogwood growing outside his Florida home. A fixture on the show since 1981, his reflections were one of the most popular features on the program.
During his career Barber called play-by-play on the first night baseball game and the first televised game (during which he performed the first TV commercials), the first televised World Series and the first televised football games.
He was the first man hired by Edward R. Murrow when Murrow returned from World War II to run CBS News, serving as director of sports. He was fired as Yankees voice when he paid more attention to the low attendance of the game than to the play of the then-CBS-owned Yankees.
He and fellow broadcaster Mel Allen were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1978, the first broadcasters to be so honored. Other awards included induction into the Florida Sports Hall of Fame and a 1990 Peabody personal award.
He authored six books, including "Rhubarb in the Catbird Seat,""The Broadcasters,""Show Me the Way to Go Home" and "1947: The Year All Hell Broke Loose in Baseball."
Survived by his wife, Lylah.
