Merle Reid Harmon was an American sportscaster who was the play-by-play voice for five Major League Baseball teams, two teams in the American Football League and the World Football League's nationally syndicated telecaster.
| FactSnippet No. 2,188,682 |
23 Facts About Merle Harmon
1.
3.
Merle Harmon's recorded call of the New York Jets winning Super Bowl III was played prior to Suzyn Waldman's first live update.
| FactSnippet No. 2,188,684 |
4.
Merle Harmon began his broadcasting career later that same year with the Topeka Owls, a minor league baseball team in the Kansas–Oklahoma–Missouri League.
| FactSnippet No. 2,188,685 |
5.
Merle Harmon replaced By Saam, who returned to being the Phillies' main voice.
| FactSnippet No. 2,188,686 |
Related searches
Football League York WFAN New York Jets Super Bowl Charlie Finley Kansas City Milwaukee Braves Minnesota Twins CBS Kansas City Chiefs Dallas Milwaukee Brewers Bob Uecker McLean Stevenson Burt Reynolds Summer Olympics Moscow Seoul NBC NFL Raycom Sports Bud Wilkinson Oklahoma NCAA Texas6.
Merle Harmon first did Athletics play-by-play on KMBC-AM with Larry Ray and Ed Edwards, then later on WDAF radio and television with Bill Grigsby.
| FactSnippet No. 2,188,687 |
7.
Merle Harmon was fired after the 1961 season by Charlie Finley, who had purchased the ballclub the previous year, for refusing to participate in a campaign intended to spite the sports editor of the Kansas City Star.
| FactSnippet No. 2,188,688 |
9.
Merle Harmon joined Herb Carneal and Halsey Hall for Minnesota Twins broadcasts on WCCO-AM and WTCN-TV from 1967 to 1969.
| FactSnippet No. 2,188,690 |
10.
Merle Harmon had replaced Ray Scott, who was designated the lead National Football League announcer on CBS.
| FactSnippet No. 2,188,691 |
11.
Merle Harmon lent his talents to professional football, reteaming with Grigsby to call Kansas City Chiefs games in 1963, its first season after moving from Dallas.
| FactSnippet No. 2,188,692 |
12.
Merle Harmon became the voice of the New York Jets for the next nine years, first on WABC-AM, then on WOR-AM.
| FactSnippet No. 2,188,693 |
13.
In 1970, Merle Harmon became lead announcer for the Milwaukee Brewers and continued in that role through the remainder of the decade, teaming with Tom Collins and later Bob Uecker.
| FactSnippet No. 2,188,694 |
14.
Merle Harmon went into business during this period with Merle Harmon's Fan Fair, a chain of retail stores devoted to licensed sports merchandise.
| FactSnippet No. 2,188,695 |
15.
Also, Merle Harmon was the play-by-play voice for the World Football League's Thursday night Game of the Week telecasts on TVS in 1974, the circuit's only complete season.
| FactSnippet No. 2,188,696 |
16.
Merle Harmon was joined in the broadcast booth by regular game analyst Alex Hawkins and various guest commentators, who included George Plimpton, Burt Reynolds and McLean Stevenson.
| FactSnippet No. 2,188,697 |
17.
Merle Harmon was slated to work on the network's coverage of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, before the US boycott of those Games.
| FactSnippet No. 2,188,698 |
18.
In 1988, Merle Harmon returned to call several September NFL telecasts for NBC while the network's regular announcers were working that year's Summer Olympics in Seoul.
| FactSnippet No. 2,188,699 |
19.
Merle Harmon called Southwest Conference college-football telecasts for the regional broadcaster Raycom Sports in the early 1980s, frequently paired with former Oklahoma head football coach Bud Wilkinson.
| FactSnippet No. 2,188,700 |
20.
Merle Harmon called the 1985 and 1986 Liberty Bowl broadcasts for Raycom as well.
| FactSnippet No. 2,188,701 |
21.
Merle Harmon made a cinematic appearance, playing one of the two NCAA Finals announcers in the 2006 feature film Glory Road.
| FactSnippet No. 2,188,702 |
22.
Merle Harmon was a successful keynote speaker at numerous conferences and association meetings.
| FactSnippet No. 2,188,703 |
23.
Merle Harmon died of pneumonia at a hospital in Arlington, Texas on April 15,2009.
| FactSnippet No. 2,188,704 |