Iron Ref: Part Deux!
November 11, 2008The 5-Hole, CBJ News and Notes – 11/11/08
November 11, 2008I know that those of us who were born after 1970 don’t remember Herb Score as a player. Still, it is hard to think of early years listening and watching the Indians without thinking of Herb Score. He wasn’t the greatest baseball orator to put it mildly, but his tenure was so long and his voice so distinct that I am sure your best and worst baseball memories can easily be translated into his voice in your head. For me it is hearing him talk about players like Cory Snyder, Brook Jacoby, Andy Allanson, Andre Thornton, Joe Carter, Oddibe McDowell, Pat Tabler and players of that era.
For a more detailed eulogy, head over to Cleveland.com
13 Comments
Very sad. In reading Terry Pluto’s The Curse of Rocky Collavito as a young lad, I often wondered how great Herb Score would have been as a pitcher had he not taken the line drive off of his face so early on. He was never the same after that.
Listening to Herb was always a treat. From his interesting calls (“One hopper to short… Vizquel fields it on the second hop, throws him out”) to the little things I liked (Albert Belle was never “Albert” but always “Abbut”), when Herb retired the broadcast was never the same, either.
RIP Herb
Everyone made fun of Herb Score but in the end it was out of love.
His voice was the background to my summers from learning how to ride a bike to learning how to drive a car.
Bummer.
Line drive to “Barega” was the best…
He’ll be missed.
We have been very fortunate in Cleveland to grow up listening to Herb Score and Joe Tait. Tait could be the best at his job in all of sports, but Score was great too. Turning on the radio and hearing Herb and Tom was like sitting at the game with friends. Yeah, Herb had some senior moments later on, but nobody held that against him.
My favorite- I turned the game on just in time to hear this, “SO that’s no runs, no hits and no errors, but the Indians tie it up on Jim Thome’s 2 run blast.”
God bless you Herb…
My personal favorite: “Fly ball hit to DEEP left field……Vizquel back on the grass, and he makes the grab for one out.”
We laugh, and we tell these stories not in jest, but because for those of us who grew up without the Indians on TV, like I did, our only recourse was the radio, and the voice Herb Score, and so he always meant something special to us. Yeah, he wasn’t the smoothest of radio voices, but he was OUR GUY. RIP Herb, you truly will be missed.
May G-d bless Herb Score, a lifetime Cleveland Indian and one of the Boy’s of Summer in Northeast Ohio. I grew up listening to Herb in the 70’s, when summers meant transistor radios (anyone remember those?) in one hand and a baseball glove in the other. I’ll always remember fondly hearing Herb in the summer, when baseball was as pure as the handles on my bannana bicycle. Never saw Herbie pitch, and rarely heard Herbie talk about his major league days-which shone bright as a Hall of Famer before he was stuck by Gil McDougle’s line drive. Gracious, humble, and one of our own-Herb will be remembered. Most of all, I appreciated Herb’s delivery as not overtaking the game but bringing the game to us. (sorry, I’m probably one of the few here who can’t stand Tom Hamilton’s loud obnoxious screaming-no, give me Herb Score today and anyday).
Herb-thank you and may peace be with you and your family.
RIP Herb. Last call went something like” Renteria hits it, off the glove of Nagy… and the Marlins win the World Series”. Didn’t call attention to himself that it was his last game.
Under definition of gentleman, there’s a picture of Herb. God Bless.
RockKing you stole my thunder haha.
When drinking I often bust out my Herb Score impression, and pull the…
“And there’s a drive to deep left field!!! Waaaay back…and Snyder drifts back and makes the catch.”
I always wondered if he really had nio depth perception because of getting beaned like that?
Was genuinely sad to hear the news.
*at which point I read the article Craig linked and it answers my question.
(hangs head in shame)
My favorite was: “long fly ball, it could be fair, it could be foul……it is.”
We tell these stories becasue we all loved him and he was genuine, and completely unassuming. Our world need more like him.
Got this from a Joe Posnanski blog
There’s one more thing I want to say about Herb Score: He has not lived a sad life. He was the Indians announcer for 35 years, and he retired as one of the most beloved men in Cleveland, and when he got into a car accident in 1998 people were praying for him all over. He said something once that I think about all the time, something that I think is much bigger than baseball. Terry Pluto asked him why he would never say something like, “Well, this is a pretty obvious bunting situation” or “He will probably try to steal second here.”
And Herb said this: “No, that’s a Dad’s job.”
[…] Craig, Waiting For Next Year: "It is hard to think of early years listening and watching the Indians without thinking of Herb Score. He wasn’t the greatest baseball orator to put it mildly, but his tenure was so long and his voice so distinct that I am sure your best and worst baseball memories can easily be translated into his voice in your head. For me it is hearing him talk about players like Cory Snyder, Brook Jacoby, Andy Allanson, Andre Thornton, Joe Carter, Oddibe McDowell, Pat Tabler and players of that era." […]