Milo Hamilton

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Milo Hamilton and Mike Krukow at Wrigley Field, June 11, 1981

Leland Milo Hamilton (born September 2, 1927 in Fairfield, Iowa) has been a Major League Baseball announcer for a number of decades, with a variety of teams. His first name is pronounced "MY-loh".

He covered the St. Louis Cardinals on the radio alongside Harry Caray in the 1950s, then moved to the Chicago White Sox in the 1960s, backing up Bob Elson. He became the main play-by-play man for the Atlanta Braves, and was on hand to famously call Henry Aaron's record-breaking 715th career home run in 1974. In 1976 he moved on to call play-by-play for the Pittsburgh Pirates, followed by a return to the Cubs in 1980 for their TV broadcasts. He was under the impression that he was heir-apparent to Jack Brickhouse upon the latter's retirement. That plan changed when the Cubs were sold to the Tribune Company and Harry Caray was brought in instead. The two clashed and Hamilton subsequently left the Cubs, for which he has blamed Caray ever since ^[1]. In February 2006, Hamilton recounted his experiences with Caray in his new book, "Making Airwaves: 60 Years at Milo's Microphone". He devoted a chapter to Caray, calling him "a miserable human being."

After leaving Chicago, Hamilton joined up with the Houston Astros, replacing Gene Elston, and has been their main announcer ever since, still on the crew as of 2005. On July 29, 2005, Hamilton announced that starting with the 2006 season, he would no longer accompany the club on the road, announcing only home games ^[2] ^[3].

Hamilton's style could be described as enthusiastic but not "over the top." His voice reminds some of a Big Band-era announcer, crisp and clear, and easy on the ears.

He is also known for his home run call "Holy Toledo!" but his coverage of Aaron's record breaker was a little different:

"Henry Aaron, in the second inning walked and scored... He's sittin' on seven-fourteen... Here's the pitch by Downing... swinging... there's a drive into left-center field... that ball is gonna beeee... OUTA HERE! IT'S GONE! IT'S SEVEN-FIFTEEN! There's a new home run champion of all time... and it's HENRY AARON!" ^[4]

Hamilton was the 1992 recipient of the Baseball Hall of Fame's Ford C. Frick Award. He was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2000 and soon he will be inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame. His wife of nearly 53 years, Arlene, died at age 73 in February 2005. The couple had two children: Mark and Patricia. Hamilton's daughter, Patricia Joy Hamilton Watson, a former Delta Airlines flight attendant, died on July 10, 2006 in Atlanta, three weeks after suffering a stroke.