Baseball Loses the Voice of Hall of Famer Mel Allen

Mel Allen, one of the great voices of baseball broadcasting, died Sunday at home. He was 83.

A family member, who asked not to be identified, confirmed the death, adding Allen had been ill for some time with an undisclosed condition.

“Mel Allen meant as much to Yankee tradition as legends like Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio and Mantle,” team owner George Steinbrenner said. “He was the voice of the Yankees.”

Allen was inducted into the broadcasters wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1978. In his 58 years as a sports broadcaster, Allen did it all, from baseball’s World Series and All-Star game, to college football and boxing.

He was best known, however, for applying his Alabama drawl to Yankee broadcasts and, for 17 years, as the voice of the weekly syndicated show, “This Week in Baseball.”

“How about that?” Allen asked so often, and it became his signature phrase.

Although Allen’s Yankees were in many of the World Series he covered, he insisted on playing it straight down the middle. In fact, in the last game of the 1953 World Series, when the Dodgers’ Carl Furillo hit a two-run homer in the ninth to tie it, Allen got so excited the Yankee Stadium switchboard buzzed with calls from irate fans. They thought their beloved Mel had jumped ship.

Allen is survived by a sister and a brother. Funeral plans were not disclosed.--Times Wire Services