{{short description|Annual award for baseball broadcasters}} {{Use American English|date=April 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox sports award | name = Ford C. Frick Award | image = 1962 Baseball Guide p2.jpg | image_size = 150px | caption = Ford C. Frick, the award's namesake | sport = Baseball | givenfor = "Commitment to excellence, quality of broadcasting abilities, reverence within the game, popularity with fans, and recognition by peers." | presenter = National Baseball Hall of Fame | location = Cooperstown, New York | first = 1978 | firstwinner = Mel Allen | mostrecent = Tom Hamilton ({{bhofy|2025}}) | url = {{official website|https://baseballhall.org/discover-more/awards/887}} }} The '''Ford C. Frick Award''' is presented annually by the Baseball Hall of Fame in the United States to a broadcaster for "major contributions to baseball".{{efn|This award should not be confused with a like-named Ford C. Frick Award given to the Rookie of the Year in each league from 1965 into the 1970s.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106311429/baseball-honors-its-top-rookies/ |title=Baseball Honors Its Top Rookies |agency=UPI |newspaper=Casper Star-Tribune |location=Casper, Wyoming |page=10 |date=December 23, 1965 |accessdate=July 25, 2022 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106311577/fisk-gets-gold-plated/ |title=Fisk Gets Gold Plated |agency=AP |newspaper=Star-Gazette |location=Elmira, New York |page=17 |date=April 10, 1973 |accessdate=July 25, 2022 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref>}} It is named for Ford C. Frick, former commissioner of baseball. Prior to his career as an executive, Frick was a baseball writer and occasional broadcaster; he gained fame as a ghostwriter for Babe Ruth in the 1920s. The award was created in 1978, and named in tribute to Frick following his death that year.
Recipients of the award are not members of the Hall of Fame—they are not "inducted" or "enshrined", they are not "Hall of Fame broadcasters", and there is no "broadcasters' wing" of the Hall of Fame—they are officially "honorees."<ref>{{cite web|title=National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum: Hall of Famers FAQ|publisher=National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum|url=http://web.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers/faq.jsp#hofer_honoree|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416012145/http://web.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers/faq.jsp|archive-date=April 16, 2009}}</ref> The award is given at a separate ceremony from the induction ceremony on Hall of Fame weekend.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://baseballhall.org/news/hall-of-fame-weekend-2024 | title=Hall of Fame Weekend 2024 to Feature Inductions of Adrian Beltré, Todd Helton, Jim Leyland and Joe Mauer July 19-22 in Cooperstown | Baseball Hall of Fame }}</ref> As with recipients of the BBWAA Career Excellence Award for baseball writing, the honorees are permanently recognized in a "Scribes & Mikemen" exhibit in the Hall's library.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://baseballhall.org/discover-more/awards/887 | title=Ford C. Frick Award | Baseball Hall of Fame }}</ref> ==Selection== Detail on the selection process for the award when it was first established is lacking.
From {{bhofy|2004}} to {{bhofy|2016}}, fans were allowed to vote for three of the award's ten annual nominees; in the final years of fan voting, it was conducted on the Hall's Facebook page. Through {{bhofy|2013}}, seven candidates were selected by a committee consisting of previous Frick Award winners and broadcast historians and columnists, which also determined the final recipient. Beginning with the {{bhofy|2014}} award, the final election committee no longer selected any of the finalists; that became the role of a Hall of Fame research committee.<ref name="2014 Frick changes">{{cite press release|url=http://baseballhall.org/news/press-releases/baseball-hall-fame-restructures-frick-award-selection-process |title=Baseball Hall of Fame Restructures Frick Award Selection Process |publisher=National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum |date=September 4, 2013 |access-date=October 20, 2013}}</ref>
===2014 changes=== Other changes in the selection process were also announced for the 2014 award; these changes were similar to those instituted in 2010 for Veterans Committee balloting. From 2014 to 2016, candidates were considered every third year, based on the era in which they made their most significant contributions:<ref name="2014 Frick changes"/>
* "High Tide Era": Mid-1980s to present, including the rise of regional cable networks. Individuals from this era were considered for the 2014 award. * "Living Room Era": Mid-1950s to early 1980s, reflecting the rise of television. Individuals from this era were considered for the 2015 award. * "Broadcasting Dawn Era": Origin of broadcasting to early 1950s. Individuals from this era were first considered for the 2016 award.
===2017 changes=== The Hall of Fame announced further changes to the selection process in 2016 that took effect immediately, with the first award affected by these changes being that for 2017. Fan voting was eliminated, and the final ballot was cut from 10 to 8. Candidates were still considered every third year, but in mostly different categories:<ref name="2016 changes">{{cite press release|url=http://baseballhall.org/news/hall-of-fame-announcements |title=Hall of Fame Makes Series of Announcements |publisher=National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum |date=July 23, 2016 |access-date=August 14, 2016}}</ref>
* "Current Major League Markets": Broadcasters who made their mark with one or more specific MLB teams. These individuals were first considered for the 2017 award. * "National Voices": Broadcasters who made their contributions with national media. These individuals were first considered for the 2018 award. * "Broadcasting Beginnings": Pioneers of baseball broadcasting, roughly covering the time span of the previous "Broadcasting Dawn Era". These individuals were first considered for the 2019 award.
===2022 changes=== In April 2022, the Hall of Fame announced further changes to the Frick Award selection process. The size of the ballot was restored to 10 nominees, while also requiring that at least one candidate be a foreign-language broadcaster.<ref name=newformat/> The election cycle was also revised, effective with the 2023 balloting: four consecutive elections will have a composite ballot of local and national broadcasters, followed by one election for broadcasters whose careers ended prior to 1994 (the introduction of the Wild Card era).<ref name=newformat/> Thus, recipients will be selected per the following balloting rotation, which will then repeat:<ref name=newformat>{{cite web |title=Hall of Fame Restructures Era Committee, Frick Award Voting |url=https://baseballhall.org/news/hall-of-fame-restructures-era-committee-frick-award-voting#:~:text=The%20Contemporary%20Baseball%20Era%20will,game%20have%20come%20since%201980 |date=April 22, 2022 |website=baseballhall.org}}</ref> * Composite ballot (local and national voices): {{bhofy|2023}}, 2024, 2025, 2026 * Pre-Wild Card Era ballot: 2027
===Veterans Committee participation=== For several years in the early 2000s, Frick Award honorees also became life members of the Veterans Committee, which considers candidates for Hall of Fame induction who are not eligible for the regular voting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America – specifically, players no longer on the BBWAA ballot and all non-players. However, starting with the {{bhofy|2008}} elections, voting for players on the main Veterans Committee ballot was restricted to Hall of Fame members. After further changes announced for the {{bhofy|2011}} elections, Frick Award winners became eligible to serve on the voting bodies that replaced the Veterans Committee that consider candidates from different eras of baseball.
==Recipients== [[File:Mel Allen NYWTS.jpg|thumb|right|upright=.8|Mel Allen, 1978 co-recipient]] [[File:Harry Caray 1988.jpg|thumb|right|upright=.8|Harry Caray, 1989 recipient]] [[File:Jaime Jarrin 2009.jpg|thumb|right|upright=.8|Jaime Jarrín, 1998 recipient]] [[File:Bob Costas.JPG|thumb|right|upright=.8|Bob Costas, 2018 recipient]] {| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" !scope="col"|Year !scope="col"|Honoree !scope="col"|Primary affiliation(s) |- |rowspan="2"|1978 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Mel|Allen}} |New York Yankees |- !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Red|Barber}} |Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Yankees |- |1979 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Bob|Elson}} |Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs, Mutual |- |1980 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Russ|Hodges}} |New York/San Francisco Giants |- |1981 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Ernie|Harwell}} |Detroit Tigers |- |1982 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Vin|Scully}} |Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, NBC, CBS Radio |- |1983 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Jack|Brickhouse}} |Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox |- |1984 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Curt|Gowdy}} |Boston Red Sox, NBC |- |1985 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Buck|Canel}} |New York Yankees, New York Mets |- |1986 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Bob|Prince}} |Pittsburgh Pirates |- |1987 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Jack|Buck}} |St. Louis Cardinals, CBS |- |1988 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Lindsey|Nelson}} |New York Mets |- |1989 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Harry|Caray}} |St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs |- |1990 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|By|Saam}} |Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia Athletics |- |1991 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Joe|Garagiola}} |St. Louis Cardinals, NBC |- |1992 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Milo|Hamilton}} |Houston Astros |- |1993 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Chuck|Thompson|dab=sportscaster}} |Baltimore Orioles |- |1994 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Bob|Murphy|dab=announcer}} |New York Mets |- |1995 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Bob|Wolff}} |Washington Senators, NBC |- |1996 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Herb|Carneal}} |Minnesota Twins |- |1997 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Jimmy|Dudley}} |Cleveland Indians |- |1998 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Jaime|Jarrín}} |Los Angeles Dodgers |- |1999 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Arch|McDonald}} |Washington Senators |- |2000 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Marty|Brennaman}} |Cincinnati Reds |- |2001 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Felo|Ramírez}} |Florida Marlins |- |2002 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Harry|Kalas}} |Philadelphia Phillies |- |2003 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Bob|Uecker}} |Milwaukee Brewers, ABC, NBC |- |2004 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Lon|Simmons}} |San Francisco Giants, Oakland Athletics |- |2005 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Jerry|Coleman}} |San Diego Padres |- |2006 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Gene|Elston}} |Houston Astros, CBS Radio |- |2007 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Denny|Matthews}} |Kansas City Royals |- |2008 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Dave|Niehaus}} |Seattle Mariners |- |2009 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Tony|Kubek}} |Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees, NBC |- |2010 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Jon|Miller}} |Baltimore Orioles, San Francisco Giants, ESPN |- |2011 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Dave|Van Horne}} |Montreal Expos, Florida Marlins |- |2012 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Tim|McCarver}} |New York Mets, ABC, CBS, Fox |- |2013 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Tom|Cheek}} |Toronto Blue Jays |- |2014 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Eric|Nadel}} |Texas Rangers |- |2015 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Dick|Enberg}} | California Angels, San Diego Padres, NBC |- |2016 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Graham|McNamee}} | NBC Radio |- |2017 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Bill|King}} | Oakland Athletics |- |2018 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Bob|Costas}} | NBC, MLB Network |- |2019 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Al|Helfer}} | Brooklyn Dodgers, Mutual |- |2020 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Ken|Harrelson}} | Chicago White Sox |- |2021 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Al|Michaels}} |Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants, ABC |- |2022 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|{{sortname|Jack|Graney}} |Cleveland Indians |- |2023 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|Pat Hughes |Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago Cubs |- |2024 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|Joe Castiglione |Boston Red Sox |- |2025 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|Tom Hamilton |Cleveland Indians/Guardians |- |2026 !scope="row" style="text-align:center"|Joe Buck |St. Louis Cardinals, Fox |- |} Source:<ref>{{cite web |title=Ford C. Frick Award |url=http://baseballhall.org/museum/awards/ford-c-frick |publisher=National Baseball Hall of Fame |website=baseballhall.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.baseball-almanac.com/awards/aw_frk.shtml|title=Ford C. Frick Award |website=Baseball Almanac}}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Baseball}} *List of current Major League Baseball announcers *List of sports journalism awards *Curt Gowdy Media Award—the NBA's comparable award *Foster Hewitt Memorial Award—the NHL's comparable award *Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award—the NFL's comparable award *BBWAA Career Excellence Award—the National Baseball Hall of Fame's award for baseball writers
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
{{Ford C. Frick Award}}
Category:Awards established in 1978 Category:Major League Baseball broadcasters Category:Major League Baseball trophies and awards Frick Award Category:Sportscasting awards Category:1978 establishments in the United States