Howard Sanford "Hank" Greenwald (June 26, 1935 — October 22, 2018) was an American sportscaster, known best for being a play-by-play announcer for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball.

Biography

Early career

A native Detroiter, Greenwald changed his name from Howard to Hank to honor

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg. Greenwald attended the

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 ...

's journalism school and graduated in 1957. He began his broadcasting career on WAER calling

Syracuse Orange Football The Syracuse Orange football team represents Syracuse University in the sport of American football. The Orange compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Atlantic Division of the ...

games during the heyday of

Jim Brown James Nathaniel Brown (born February 17, 1936) is a former American football player, sports analyst and actor. He played as a fullback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) from 1957 through 1965. Considered to be one ...

Ernie Davis Ernest Davis (December 14, 1939 – May 18, 1963) was an American football player who won the Heisman Trophy in 1961 and was its first African-American recipient. Davis played college football for Syracuse University and was the first pick in the ...

Floyd Little Floyd Douglas Little (July 4, 1942 – January 1, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a halfback for the Denver Broncos, initially in the American Football League (AFL) and later the National Football League (NFL). He ...

, and

Larry Csonka Larry Richard Csonka (; born December 25, 1946) is a former professional American football fullback who played for the Miami Dolphins for the majority of his career, along with the New York Giants for three years, and a short stint with the Mem ...

. He was also a broadcaster for the former NBA team, the Syracuse Nationals. In the 1960s, he broadcast Hawaii Islanders baseball in the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

San Francisco Giants (first and second stints) and the New York Yankees

Greenwald began calling games for the Giants in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, but ended this stint in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

, after Greenwald had a disagreement with station management.Schott, Tom, and Nick Peters. ''The Giants Encyclopedia''. Sports LLC, 2003. 264. After joining the New York Yankees radio broadcast team for the next two seasons, Greenwald returned to the Giants in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

when the team reached the World Series. Greenwald later expressed resentment toward Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, saying "Steinbrenner is everything you've heard, maybe worse." He remained in San Francisco until

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, when he announced his retirement. At the time he retired, Greenwald had announced 2,798 consecutive games. In his book ''This Copyrighted Broadcast'', Greenwald cites disagreements with Giants' Vice President Larry Baer as his reason for retiring.Walsh, J. (1999, Oct 7) . Retrieved December 24, 200
"Talking baseball with Hank Greenwald"
''

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

'' The Giants hired former Baltimore Orioles and ESPN announcer Jon Miller as Greenwald's replacement. Perhaps Hank Greenwald's most memorable call was his emotional description of the final out in Game 5 of the

1989 National League Championship Series The 1989 National League Championship Series was played between the National League West champion San Francisco Giants and the National League East champion Chicago Cubs. The Giants won the series four games to one, en route to losing to the Oa ...

(which sent the San Francisco Giants to the World Series for the first time since

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...

). This came after Greenwald called Giants first baseman

Will Clark William Nuschler Clark Jr. (born March 13, 1964) is an American professional baseball first baseman who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1986 through 2000. He played for the San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, an ...

's pennant clinching hit off of

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

relief pitcher Mitch Williams in the bottom of the eighth inning:

CBS Radio

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

, Greenwald was employed by the

CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...

network as a baseball announcer, calling Saturday '' Game of the Week'' broadcasts as well as that year's NLDS between the Giants and Florida Marlins.

Oakland Athletics

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, Greenwald was hired as a television play-by-play announcer for the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

working about 1/3 of the team's telecasts with analyst Ray Fosse. He announced games for the A's in the 2004 and

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

seasons.

Other San Francisco Bay Area assignments

Greenwald also has called basketball play-by-play for the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

(with legendary announcer Bill King) and the University of San Francisco Dons.

Personal life

Greenwald married Carla Reiter in 1973. His son Doug (born 1974) is the play-by-play announcer for the Fresno Grizzlies, formerly the Giants' AAA affiliate and now the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

' affiliate. He also has announced baseball and women's basketball for the

Santa Clara Broncos The Santa Clara Broncos are athletic teams that represent Santa Clara University. The school colors are red and white. The nicknames for teams is The Broncos and the student fans are referred to as the "Ruff Riders". The Broncos compete in the NC ...

. His first game announcing for the major league Giants was on September 6, 2009; he filled in for regular announcer Dave Flemming.

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenwald, Hank 1935 births 2018 deaths American radio sports announcers American television sports announcers College basketball announcers in the United States College football announcers Golden State Warriors announcers Jewish American baseball people Major League Baseball broadcasters Minor League Baseball broadcasters National Basketball Association broadcasters New York Yankees announcers Oakland Athletics announcers San Francisco Dons men's basketball announcers San Francisco Giants announcers Sportspeople from Detroit Syracuse Orange football announcers Syracuse University alumni 21st-century American Jews