Gene Elston (born 1922) is a former
Major League Baseball broadcaster,
primarily with the
Houston
Astros.
Early life and career
A native
of Fort Dodge, Iowa
.
Elston's first job in announcing was high school
basketball in 1941. From there he progressed to
minor league baseball starting in
1946. His first job in the major leagues
was 8 years later in
1954, when he
became the number two radio announcer for the
Chicago Cubs, alongside
Bert Wilson. In
1958, he moved to a national radio audience
by announcing the
Game of the Day on the
Mutual Broadcasting System, with
Bob Feller.
In
1961, Elston joined veteran
radio broadcaster
Loel Passe to announce
the final season of Houston's minor league franchise, the
Houston Buffs. With the expansion of the major
league and the inaugural
1962
season of the
Houston Colt 45s,
Elston was chosen to lead the radio broadcast. (
Loel Passe stayed on as the color commentator
with Elston until Passe retired in
1986.) The team changed its name to the
Astros three years later, and Elston
continued as their main announcer through
1986, when he ended his association with
the Astros and joined
Tal Smith
Enterprises as a consultant and researcher.
CBS Radio
Starting in
1987, Elston went back
to calling national radio broadcasts instead of games for a
specific team. He called the
CBS Radio Game of the Week
until
1995, and also called
postseason games on CBS Radio in 1995,
1996, and
1997. He then retired from
broadcasting.
Ford C. Frick Award
In
2006, Elston was awarded the
Ford C. Frick Award from the Baseball Hall of
Fame. The award is given annually to a baseball announcer who has
given major contributions to the game.
Elston was healthy
enough, at the age of 84, to accept the award in person at Cooperstown
.
Broadcasting style
Elston's broadcasting style was somewhat restrained. He left just
enough room to get excited during historic moments, such as
Nolan Ryan's fifth career
no-hitter:
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