William T. O'Donnell Jr. (June 4, 1926 – October 29, 1982) was an American sportscaster.

Life and career

Born in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

and raised in

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, O'Donnell attended

Fordham Preparatory School Fordham Preparatory School (also known as Fordham Prep) is an American private, Jesuit, boys' college-preparatory school located on the Rose Hill campus of Fordham University in the Bronx, New York City. From its founding in 1841 until 1970, the ...

and

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

. After serving in the

Marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

during World War II, he completed his education at

Mohawk Valley Community College Mohawk Valley Community College (MVCC) is a public community college in Oneida County, New York. It is part of the State University of New York system. MVCC was founded in 1946 as the first community college established in New York State and ...

, then began his sportscasting career in

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

, calling

Syracuse Chiefs Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

minor-league baseball and

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

football and basketball. He also worked as the nightly sportscaster for WSYR for many years. The

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

hired O'Donnell in 1966, and he paired with

Chuck Thompson Charles Lloyd Thompson (June 10, 1921 – March 6, 2005) was an American sportscaster best known for his broadcasts of Major League Baseball's Baltimore Orioles and the National Football League's Baltimore Colts. He was well-recognized for his r ...

to call their games on

WJZ-TV WJZ-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, and maintains studios and offices on Televi ...

(1966–1977),

WBAL-AM WBAL (1090 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Baltimore, Maryland, and owned by the broadcasting division of Hearst Communications. Airing a news/talk radio format, WBAL broadcasts on a Class A clear-channel frequency, with ...

(1966–1978), and WFBR-AM with fellow broadcaster

Tom Marr Thomas Aquinas Marr (October 17, 1942 – July 7, 2016) was an American talk radio host on WCBM (680-AM) in Baltimore, Maryland, known for his conservative political views. He spent nearly 20 years as a newsman and sportscaster, including ei ...

from 1979 until health reasons forced him to step down early in the 1982 season. O'Donnell also contributed to national coverage of the team's appearances in the

1969 World Series The 1969 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1969 season. The 66th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Baltimore Orioles and the National L ...

NBC Television The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

and the

1971 World Series The 1971 World Series was the championship round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1971 season and featured the first night game in its history. The 68th edition of the Fall Classic was a best-of-seven playoff between the defending World Series ...

NBC Radio The National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (known as the NBC Red Network prior to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in operation from 1926 through 2004. Along with the NBC Blue Network it was one of the first t ...

. In addition to the Orioles, O'Donnell called

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...

radio from 1966 to 1968, as well as

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

, regional

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

and

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

games for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

, and college basketball for

TVS Television Network The TVS Television Network, or TVS for short, was a syndicator of American sports programming. It was one of the several "occasional" national television networks that sprang up in the early-to-mid-1960s to take advantage of the establishment o ...

. O'Donnell died at age 56 of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

Johns Hopkins Hospital The Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, located in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. It was founded in 1889 using money from a bequest of over $7 million (1873 mo ...

on October 29, 1982."Bill O'Donnell, the Baltimore Orioles' play-by-play announcer for 17...," ''United Press International'' (UPI), Saturday, October 30, 1982.
Retrieved November 25, 2019 He was posthumously given the Herb Armstrong Award by the

Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame The Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame is a team Hall of Fame dedicated to representing the most significant contributors to the history of the Baltimore Orioles professional baseball team since the first season of Baltimore baseball in 1954, which has ...

in 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Odonnell, Bill 1926 births 1982 deaths American Football League announcers United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II American radio sports announcers American television sports announcers Baltimore Colts announcers Baltimore Orioles announcers College basketball announcers in the United States College football announcers Deaths from cancer in Maryland Fordham University alumni Major League Baseball broadcasters Minor League Baseball broadcasters National Basketball Association broadcasters National Football League announcers Sports in Baltimore Sportspeople from the Bronx Syracuse Orange football announcers Syracuse Orange men's basketball announcers United States Marines Fordham Preparatory School alumni