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So Long, Fred Manfra

Fred Manfra in the Orioles broadcast booth.
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Fred Manfra stepped away from the Orioles broadcast booth for a final time yesterday and I hope you’ll join me in a toast for the man behind the mic.

Say what you want about digital media, but you’ll never have a relationship with a tweet like you’ll have with that guy or gal on the radio. I have been fortunate in my life to work with several people who have been called the “Voice Of” the team that they have called games for. These folks (and the ones on TV) become your friends and in a lot of cases their call is the soundtrack to many visual highlights.

Manfra is the anti-John Sterling and I have greatly appreciated it. Sure there have been Trum-bombs, but not every home run call was scripted. There were often unpredictable surprises. Adjustments on the fly were required.

Manfra has been a stable voice and one that did exactly what you’re supposed to do…give the score as often as you can and tell people what is happening on the field in front of you. Seems simple, but also seems lost on many folks I hear in the broadcast booth these days. How many times have you sat in your car and listened for what seemed like an hour before finally hearing what the score was?

Baltimore is not an easy town in which to do radio play-by-play. Like no shortstop will be Cal Ripken, no broadcaster will ever be Chuck Thompson – or Jon Miller for that matter. Every Oriole victory gets a tweet from this very website that quotes the aforementioned Thompson. He was a guy that made us want to go to war with Miss Agnes in the worst of times and drink the coldest of beers during the good ones.

Miller was the voice of my formative years and an incredible broadcaster before becoming a bit of a caricature of himself while at ESPN. Either way, both were great and an unfair measuring stick for those who have followed.

Manfra will live on differently in our minds than Chuck and Jon, but because of his longevity, his voice is one that has become synonymous with Orioles baseball for many.

Fred, we could tell that you were right there with us rooting for The Birds, but you did it without being a homer and without crazy crutch catch phrases.

Your voice will be missed, but not forgotten.

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