Veteran Major League Baseball producer-director, Don Carney, who introduced instant replays to televised games, died March 16 in Coral Spring, Florida, of pneumonia. He was 79.
Also known for helming New York Yankee baseball for more than three decades, Carney began his career as vice president of sports and special events for WPIX-TV in the early years of television. Besides baseball's first instant replays, he developed many other innovations.
Carney produced and directed many historic major league games, such as the 1961 Roger Maris/Mickey Mantle home run race, including Maris' record-breaking 61st. In 1984, he received the Broadcast Media Award from the Broadcast Industry Conference for his coverage of the 1983 pine tar game between New York and Kansas City.
In addition to his Yankee telecasts, Carney produced and directed games for a number of sports, including the NFL, NBA, Golden Gloves Championship, NHL, and NCAA track and football. Carney also produced nonsporting events in New York related to the 1976 Centennial Celebration and the pope's 1979 visit.
He is survived by his wife Judith, a brother, two sisters, three daughters, a stepdaughter and seven grandchildren.
Contact Variety Staff at
news@variety.com