Twins broadcast legend Carneal dies

[Outdoors Junkie]

04/01/2007 1:30 PM ET
 
 
Club dedicates upcoming season to Hall of Fame radio voice
By Kelly Thesier / MLB.com


MINNEAPOLIS -- One of the signature voices in Twins baseball history is now gone.
Longtime Twins radio broadcaster Herb Carneal passed away on Sunday morning at his home in Minnetonka due to congestive heart failure. Carneal was 83.

"This is a sad day for the Minnesota Twins organization and millions of baseball fans across the Upper Midwest," Twins President Dave St. Peter said. "Herb Carneal's voice was the signature element of Twins baseball for multiple generations of fans. Clearly, he was one of the most beloved figures in Minnesota sports history."

Carneal joined the Twins' broadcast booth in 1962 after spending the first five years of his career as part of the play-by-play team for the Baltimore Orioles. He was behind the microphone for all but the first of the Twins' 46 seasons in Minnesota.

Carneal had spent six weeks in the hospital this past winter battling a variety of ailments. He had been scheduled to broadcast some home games this season, although it was announced last week that he would miss Opening Day.

Upon receiving word of Carneal's death, the Twins announced that they will dedicate the 2007 season in memory of the Hall of Fame broadcaster. Carneal received the Ford C. Frick Award in 1996, the highest honor for a baseball broadcaster. He was also inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame in 2001.

Carneal is survived by his daughter Terri and grandson Matthew. Funeral arrangements are pending and will be announced when they become available.

[JD]

That's too bad, I always enjoyed listening to him on the radio, one of the best in the business.

[Ryan]

That is too bad.  It is a sad day for Twins fans.

[Woody]

He will be sadly missed. 

[jigglestick]

I appreciated the fact that they had him in for a couple innings each game last season. it is nice to hear a friendly familiar voice.

I hate to think of the day we no longer hear Paul Harvey's vocal chords grace the airwaves any longer.....

[ScottPugh]

Truly a legend of his time...  I remember listening to the games as a young lad with my dad on the way to the cabin.  We would loose 830 around Mille Lacs, so we would scan through the stations to find the familiar voice of Mr. Carneal.

[Ryan]

I was thinking about this last night.  The Twins have had a bad run for the last three years.  In my mind they have lost possibly they three most recongnizable people that were ever a part of the franchise.