Late A's announcer Bill King to be honored by Hall of Fame

NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland - Holy Toledo, the wait is over.

Bill King will be honored in Cooperstown this July 29 as the winner of the Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in baseball broadcasting. The Baseball Hall of Fame announced the news Wednesday morning, ending an epic wait for Bay Area fans who knew long ago that they had something special.

“King crafted a career that became synonymous with the action at the Oakland Coliseum and throughout the sports world,” Jeff Idelson, the president of the Hall of Fame, said in announcing the news.

King died on Oct. 18, 2005. Those who knew him best understand how much this honor would have meant to him, and they celebrated with a blend of bittersweet delight and relief.

A’s broadcaster Ken Korach, who spent 10 years as his on-air partner, pushed hard for King’s candidacy over the years. When the Hall of Fame announced the news at 8 a.m., Korach’s phone started ringing and never stopped.

“I was crying for the first hour,” Korach said. “It was so cool to share with people. I’ve gotten close to 100 calls, emails, texts from other broadcasters, from fans, from friends and from other winners who were so thrilled that Bill had won.

“It was heartwarming to hear from so many people who are all sharing in this. I even got three calls from minor league ?broadcasters telling me how much the learned from Bill.”

King spent 25 years in the A’s broadcast booth, distinguishing himself with his erudite phrasing and passionate intonations.

The argument among Bay Area fans wasn’t or not he deserved to be honored by the Hall of Fame - it was a matter of which Hall.

Bob Melvin, the A’s manager, who grew up in the Bay Area, said Wednesday that he thought King was at his best doing Warriors games. Executive Billy Beane noted King’s work on the Raiders.

But broadcaster Greg Papa, who knew King well, said this spot - in magical Cooperstown - would have pleased King most of all.

“It would have thrilled him,” Papa said. “He really had an affinity for baseball. He loved football, he loved basketball, but at the end of his career, he didn’t want to spread himself thin. He wanted to solely concentrate on baseball.

“I think he loved baseball the most from his days of being a catcher, and it was a great way to end his career.”

As the man behind for the mike for the A’s from 1981-2005, King documented the team’s journey from “BillyBall” to “Moneyball.” With his handlebar mustache and theatrical delivery, he was behind the mic for three American League pennant winners, including the 1989 World Series champs.

Still, his journey to the Frick Award was an uphill battle. This was the sixth time since 2004 that he reached the finalist stage of the award. This time, he was chosen from a field that also included Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow as well as Gary Cohen, Jacques Doucet, Ken Harrelson, Pat Hughes, Ned Martin and Dewayne Staats.

King’s case may have gotten a boost for his all-around skills - so good at so many sports - but that was only the beginning. In a field where the airwaves are filled with jock-speak and cliches, King was a genuine renaissance man. He loved the ballet, the opera and classic literature.

Beane used to sit near King on team flights. At times, it was like a college course.

“He was into art,” Beane said. “He was eclectic. It was just an interesting conversation beyond baseball.”

King took the same studious approach to preparing for a ballgame, which is why his descriptions of plays were both vivid and exhaustive.

“He was so amazingly prepared for every broadcast,” Papa said. “His constant flow of nuggets. That’s why I would listen to a lot of his broadcasts, to steal some of his gems. He had so many, it was just a string. He never missed a play.

“He had a great cadence for it. He did it differently than Vin Scully or Jon Miller, or Ernie Harwell. He had a different style. He still brought the rapid-fire basketball and football delivery to it, but I loved it. I thought he was just a flood of information and obviously describing the game at hand. But just, the way he was able to weave the game notes and all the printed material he had.”

King becomes the 41st winner of the Frick Award, joining the likes of Scully, Miller, Jack Buck and other legends of the booth.

It is inaccurate to say he is going into the Hall of Fame - broadcasters are “honored,” not “inducted” - but his salute ?will come during the biggest weekend of the year in Cooperstown.

King will be recognized on July 29, a day before the player ceremony.

It is unclear who will accept the award on his behalf. Korach is a leading candidate, but he said the choice is up to the A’s and the Hall of Fame.

Then again, as Papa noted, the only man who might be able to find the the perfect words was King himself.

“He didn’t like talking about himself much, but I think today he would be proud,” Papa said. “The only thing is, (the voters) waited too long and he died too young. You’d like to see him in Cooperstown giving that speech.”