Holy Toledo: Lessons From Bill King, Renaissance Man of the Mic

OK, OK, we love Bill King. I get it. It was nice to have a good read to fill in the blanks of a career I caught early on with Warrior basketball, but never got the full Bill King effect when he later broadcast the Raiders and A's.. After awhile it gets a little tiresome to be reminded how great Bill King was and what a shame it was he wasn't recognized on a national level. He was great and he is gone without the accolades he deserved --- but enough already. Now I'm just too far away from the Bay Area scene and much older. Plus I didn't listen to the Raiders or Athletics on radio much then to get the full effect of Bill King in this true halcyon days. I most remember him broadcasting in his early, rough and tumble days when he first broadcast the San Francisco/Golden State Warriors basketball game. I got turned on to Bill King through his Warriors broadcasts in 1966-7, Radio was the main communicator of Warriors basketball to the San Jose area back then and Bill King was the man broadcasting them. Just as I listened to Russ Hodges and Lon Simmons broadcasting the Giants it was Bill King that I identified with the Warriors. Back in the mid to late 60's pro-basketball didn't have the recognition it does as today. Wilt Chamberlin was as close to a super star as it got back then. Nate Thurmond was the extremely talented center of the Warriors, but he also didn't get the national attention he deserved. Plus, I remember that both the Raider's and the A's were newcomers to the Bay Area pro sports scene. It was more the Giants and the 49er's. Even when the A's won it all in the mid-70's I attended a 1/3 full Oakland A's game live where Joe Rudi hit a Grand Slam. I cheered although I don't remember how the Oakland crowd reacted. Certainly they didn't show their appreciation for the team with the gate attendance! It was probably my close high school friend, Ed Cameron, who got me interested in listening to Bill King. Ed was the sort of guy who'd nervously pace back and forth in front of the radio listening to the Warriors broadcast hanging on every play -- every word. And let me tell you, Bill King would not only give you the commentary, but then some. Memory fades after so many years, but I remember King describing a player coming off the Warrior bench as an "enforcer" who'd go out to go out to get even and foul a player who'd just fouled a Warrior. You didn't call them "hard fouls" back then. It was just part of the tit for tat play that was part of the game. Sort of like the brush back pitch of Major League Baseball of the 60's. The other guy deserved to get hammered --- it was expected --- and Bill King described it. Other broadcasters wouldn't get down to the nitty gritty and describe it like it was happening. But King did! He not only gave you the play by play, but the emotional flow of the game too. I pretty much lost track of King after the Warriors had contract disputes with Rick Barry and my interests changed. The game seemed headed towards greed and probably Warriors basketball was a rite of passage for a young adolescent male who latched on to a team and then moved on to the next phase of life. The next phase being girls, college, the war in Vietnam and rock 'n roll. But Bill King's Warrior broadcasts did make an impression on this young mind. I can remember the rock shows I attended at the Fillmore, Winterland and Carousal ballroom --- just as I can remember Bill King's voice broadcasting the Warriors from that long gone era. PS ---- I'd LOVE to see the A's relocate to San Jose where they'll get the new stadium they deserve and the crowds to match it. This is a case where the MLB's anti-trust exemption is just downright bad for baseball. I can only hope that the City of San Jose succeeds with its lawsuit against MLB and then maybe a new Bill King- like broadcaster will emerge from the ashes.

Baseball announcers are often regional phenomena with stories of little interest to anyone but fans of the team they cover. Oakland A's announcer Ken Korach has produced a loving, but more importantly, a vivid, compelling portrait of announcer Bill King entitled Holy Toledo Lessons for Bill King: Renaissance Man of the Mic.It is must reading for any sports fan. In addition to serving as the A's play-by-play man, King was also the voice of the Oakland (as well as Los Angeles) Raiders and Golden State Warriors.But it is more than simply a story for sports fans. It is a portrait of a fascinating man, whose interests ranged from Russian literature to opera to ballet to sailing to art to gourmet meals and fine wine to tortillas with onions and peanut butter, not to mention popcorn covered with anything and everything.King was truly an artist behind a microphone, painting accurate pictures, sweeping us into the action and educating his listeners to understand the nuances of whatever sport he was announcing.If listeners and colleagues considered King an artist, King considered himself simply a hard-working reporter who had a treasury of stories and facts to fall back on. He had an eye that always saw the bigger picture, putting it into perspective but also allowing his listeners to focus on what was happening at the moment.The way Bill King approached his work, the way Bill King approached his passions provide us with insights how we should approach life. He was always true to himself.I talked with Ken about the book several times during the season, and commented that the irony of Bill King the sportscaster was that baseball, the sport he loved best, was probably his third best sport. Ken disliked that assessment.But when you're flat-out the best basketball announcer ever - a position that didn't win me friends when working in Los Angeles, the home of Chick Hearn - and a matchless football announcer, to say that baseball was Bill's third-best sport is like saying Beethoven's Ninth was his second-best symphony.How many basketball announcers can follow the ball as it is passed around the court, describing screens opening up players just before they receive the ball without missing a beat?How many basketball announcers can be heard over the air referring to an official as a person who engages in sex with a woman who has bore a child and then receive annual mother's day cards from the official (Ed Rush)?How man football announcers can follow the bouncing ball from hand to hand resulting in a touchdown in the famous Raiders' `Holy Roller' play in San Diego? And then top it off by describing then-Raider coach John Madden's reaction to the "zany, unbelievable, absolutely impossible dream of a play" by saying, "Madden is on the field. He wants to know if it's real. They said yes; get your big butt out of here."Vin Scully, who announced the Dodgers in Brooklyn and still calls the action in Los Angeles, is acknowledged the best baseball announcer ever. But, as with Scully, a transcript of King at a pivotal moment of a game reads like a carefully crafted script with impeccable choice of words rather than the impromptu reaction to a play.If there's a complaint about the book, it's that we have to wait 182 pages to learn the only thing that could disrupt the broadcasting booth for King's partners.Korach talks of the three rules that King laid down for his partners. Breaking one of those rules, I'll say thanks, Ken, for the stories that made me smile, made me sigh, made me renew my appreciation of the very special Bill King.

If, like me, you grew up listening to Bill King this book is a rare treat. If you're a fan of sports and sports broadcasting, you owe it to yourself to find out more about the greatest sports radio announcer ever. Bill King could note and relay every key detail in baseball, football, and basketball while delivering the perfect mix of drama, analysis, and erudite, informed commentary. The only reason he isn't in the Baseball Hall of Fame is that he also excelled in his basketball and football broadcasts.An autodidact who never went to college but ended up knowing more about fine art, ballet,opera, and jazz than many scholars, Bill was one of the classic American icons of a bygone era who represented everything that's great about this country without ever kowtowing to convention--as was obvious by the fact he would often broadcast in shorts and flip-flops.Ken Korach, Bill's radio partner for the later years of his career with the A's, does a great job bringing Bill's history to life without glossing over Bill's eccentricities. Rest in peace, Bill, you were one of the greats.

Book arrived on time, its in fablous condition, am very happy with the book. a big Thank You.