Robert Alfred Wolff (November 29, 1920 – July 15, 2017) was an American radio and television sportscaster. He began his professional career in 1939 on CBS in Durham, North Carolina while attending Duke University. He was the radio and TV voice of the Washington Senators from

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

, continuing with the team when they relocated and became the Minnesota Twins in

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

. In 1962, he joined NBC-TV. In his later years, Wolff was seen and heard on News 12 Long Island, on MSG Network programming and doing sports interviews on the Steiner Sports' ''Memories of the Game'' show on the YES Network.

Personal life

Wolff was born in New York City; he was the son of Estelle (Cohn), a homemaker, and Richard Wolff, a professional engineer. He was a graduate of

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

with Phi Beta Kappa and

Omicron Delta Kappa Omicron Delta Kappa (), also known as The Circle and ODK, is one of the most prestigious honor societies in the United States with chapters at more than 300 college campuses. It was founded December 3, 1914, at Washington and Lee University in ...

honors. Wolff served in the U.S. Navy as a supply officer in the Pacific during World War II, ending his service as a lieutenant. He was a longtime resident of South Nyack, New York. His son Rick Wolff is an author, radio host for WFAN and former baseball player and coach.

National broadcasting work

Bob Wolff was the longest running sports broadcaster in television and radio history. He is a recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award from the

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

and the Curt Gowdy Media Award from the

Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...

. Wolff has also been honored with induction into Madison Square Garden's Walk of Fame, the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame,

Sigma Nu Sigma Nu () is an undergraduate Fraternities and sororities in North America, college fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute on January 1, 1869. The fraternity was founded by James Frank Hopkins, Greenfield Quarles and James McIlva ...

fraternity Hall of Fame, and many others. Wolff was a professional broadcaster in nine decades. Seen and heard on two ESPN TV specials in 2008, he had been on the Madison Square Garden Network since 1954 and on Cablevision's News 12 Long Island since 1986. Wolff became the pioneer TV voice of the Washington Senators in

, and moved with the team to Minnesota in

. In 1962 he joined NBC as the play-by-play man on the TV Baseball '' Game-of-the-Week'', where he worked until 1965. Also heard on Mutual's ''Game-of-the-Day'', Wolff was selected to be a World Series broadcaster in

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

and that year called Don Larsen's perfect game across the country on the Mutual Broadcast System and around the world on the Armed Forces radio. He also was on

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 ...

for the World Series in

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

and

. Wolff was seen and heard doing play-by-play on all the major TV networks. Another of his classic broadcasts was the

NY Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

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 ...

1958 NFL Championship Game The 1958 NFL Championship Game was the 26th NFL championship game, played on December 28 at Yankee Stadium in New York City. It was the first NFL playoff game to be decided in sudden death overtime. The final score was Baltimore Colts 23, New ...

called, "The Greatest Game Ever Played". On the collegiate scene, he broadcast the Rose Bowl,

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed onl ...

Gator Bowl The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in Jacksonville, Florida, operated by Gator Bowl Sports. It has been held continuously since 1946, making it the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first one ever televised natio ...

, and many others. Wolff was the television play-by-play voice of the Detroit Pistons for multiple seasons. Wolff was also an announcer for the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, the National Horse Show, the Garden's college and pro basketball and hockey games, men and women's tennis, track and boxing events as well as gymnastics and bowling. He did soccer games for the old Tampa Bay Rowdies.

New York Knicks and New York Rangers

Wolff became known regionally as television's play-by-play voice for eight teams in five different sports – the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

and Detroit Pistons of the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

as well as the New York Rangers of the NHL, the Washington Senators/

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

of MLB, the

, Washington Redskins and Cleveland Browns of the

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 ...

, and soccer's Tampa Bay Rowdies of the initial North American Soccer League. He was one of very few American play-by-play announcers to have covered each of the four major team sports leagues as well as soccer with Dale Arnold being the other, calling Boston Bruins, Celtics, Red Sox, Patriots, and Revolution. For many years Wolff was the play-by-play telecaster for all events originating from

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

. His broadcast partner with the Knicks for many years was Cal Ramsey.

Memorable calls

In addition to broadcasting

Don Larsen Don James Larsen (August 7, 1929 – January 1, 2020) was an American professional baseball pitcher. During a 15-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he pitched from 1953 to 1967 for seven different teams: the St. Louis Browns / Baltimore O ...

's perfect World Series game and the Colts' first overtime championship title win over the New York Giants, Wolff called

Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line ...

's last major league hit that won Game 6 of the

1956 World Series The 1956 World Series of Major League Baseball was played between the New York Yankees of the American League and the defending champion Brooklyn Dodgers of the National League in October 1956. The series was a rematch of the 1955 World Series. ...

. He was also the TV voice of the New York Knicks' only two championships, in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

and in

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

Death

Wolff died on July 15, 2017 at his home in South Nyack, New York at the age of 96.

References

External links

Bob Wolff
Ford C. Frick Award biography at the National Baseball Hall of Fame

* ttp://www.americansportscastersonline.com/BobWolffGowdyAward.html Bob Wolff Receives Curt Gowdy Media Awardbr>Sigma Nu Fraternity Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolff, Bob 1920 births 2017 deaths United States Navy personnel of World War II American radio sports announcers American television sports announcers Association football commentators Baltimore Colts announcers Bowling broadcasters Boxing commentators Cleveland Browns announcers College basketball announcers in the United States College football announcers Detroit Pistons announcers Duke University alumni Ford C. Frick Award recipients Jewish American sportspeople Major League Baseball broadcasters Minnesota Twins announcers National Basketball Association broadcasters National Football League announcers National Hockey League broadcasters New York Knicks announcers New York Rangers announcers People from South Nyack, New York Television personalities from New York City Tennis commentators Washington Senators (1901–1960) announcers North American Soccer League (1968–1984) commentators 21st-century American Jews