Jack Brickhouse facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jack Brickhouse
|
|
|---|---|
Brickhouse in 1958
|
|
| Born |
John Beasley Brickhouse
January 24, 1916 |
| Died | August 6, 1998 (aged 82) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
|
| Sports commentary career | |
| Team(s) | Chicago White Sox (1940–45, 1948–67) Chicago Cubs (1941–45, 1948–81) Chicago Bears (1953–77) Chicago Bulls (1966–73) |
| Genre(s) | Play-by-play |
| Sports | Major League Baseball National Football League National Basketball Association |
John Beasley "Jack" Brickhouse (January 24, 1916 August 6, 1998) was an American sportscaster. Known primarily for his play-by-play coverage of Chicago Cubs games on WGN-TV from 1948 to 1981, he received the Ford C. Frick Award from the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983.
Brickhouse also called Chicago White Sox games prior to that team leaving WGN in 1968. He also covered national events from time to time, including three World Series for NBC television. The voice on the audio track of the famous Willie Mays catch in Game 1 of the 1954 Series at the Polo Grounds belongs to Brickhouse, who was calling the Series along with the New York Giants' regular broadcaster, Russ Hodges. Brickhouse also called the 1959 Series, which featured the White Sox, with Los Angeles Dodgers announcer Vin Scully and the 1950 Series with Jim Britt.
Brickhouse also covered many other events, sports and otherwise (such as professional wrestling for WGN and political conventions for the Mutual radio network). And for many years he called Chicago Bears football on WGN-AM radio. Brickhouse was also a boxing commentator. He did Chicago Bulls basketball games for WGN-TV from 1966 until 1973 as well.
Background
Brickhouse was born in Peoria, Illinois to Will and Daisy Brickhouse. His father died when Jack was just two years old, and the younger Brickhouse was largely raised by his mother. Brickhouse's first job was delivering the Peoria Journal and Peoria Star, a job he took during the Great Depression at age 11. Brickhouse attended Peoria Manual High School.
Brickhouse began his broadcasting at the age of 18 at Peoria radio station WMBD in 1934. Chicago radio station WGN hired him in 1940 to broadcast Cubs and White Sox games, largely on the recommendation of their top announcer, Bob Elson. He was also the very first face shown when WGN-TV, Chicago's Channel 9, began broadcasting in 1948. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps in World War II, and thus missed the 1945 season, the only time during his long tenure that the Cubs would win the National League pennant. His only pennant as a broadcaster would be the one won by the White Sox in 1959.
Broadcasting style
Brickhouse tried to let the pictures speak for themselves. Brickhouse was spare with his descriptions, talking in quick bursts rather than long sentences, knowing that the well-established camera work of WGN-TV and of producer Arne Harris would tell much of the story.
Instead of over-describing the action, "Brick" was more likely to add "flavor" to what was obviously happening, with almost child-like enthusiasm. He would pepper his play-by-play with various old-fashioned expressions, such as "Whew, boy!" after a close play that went the home team's way, or "Oh, brother!" when it went the other way, or "Wheeeee!" when the team would do something well.
He was best known for the expression "Hey-hey", which he reportedly used everywhere... when the baseball team hit a homer, when the football team scored a touchdown, or even when he was taking tricks in a card game. But it was that home run call that stuck in fans' memories, and that phrase now vertically adorns the screens on the foul poles at Wrigley Field.
Illness and death
On February 27, 1998, Brickhouse fell ill and collapsed while preparing for the funeral of fellow Chicago broadcaster Harry Caray. Following brain surgery on March 3 to remove a blood clot, he quickly improved, making a few on-air appearances in the spring and early summer. Though burdened with a gravelly voice (which he attributed to the surgery and said would soon pass), Brickhouse seemed on the road to recovery until his death on August 6 from cardiac arrest. He was interred at the Rosehill Cemetery and Mausoleum in Chicago. He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1998.
Images for kids
-
Bust of Jack Brickhouse in Chicago
-
Brickhouse in the Comiskey Park press box in 1948 preparing to announce a White Sox game on television
-
Cubs broadcasters, June 11, 1981 – Vince Lloyd, Lou Boudreau, Milo Hamilton, Jack Brickhouse
