Bill King
Encyclopedia
- For the British author and games designer see, William King (author)William King (author)William King also known as "Bill King" is the writer of a number of successful science-fiction and fantasy books, most notably in Games Workshop's Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 series, all published by GW's fiction arm, The Black Library...
- For the British naval officer, yachtsman and author, see Commander Bill King
- For the Australian rugby league footballer, see Bill King (rugby league)Bill King (rugby league)William ‘Bill’ King was a rugby league footballer in the New South Wales Rugby Football League's foundation season of 1908. A fullback, King played for the Eastern Suburbs club before joining the North Sydney club in 1912....
Wilbur "Bill" King (October 6, 1927 - October 18, 2005) was one of the most prominent sports announcers in San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
history, widely recognized by his distinctive handlebar mustache and beard and his broadcasting catchphrase "Holy Toledo!"
King was best known as the radio voice of the Oakland Athletics
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....
baseball team for twenty-five years (1981–2005), the longest tenure of any A's announcer since the team's games were first broadcast in Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
in 1938. Earlier in his career, he had been a member of the San Francisco Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
' original broadcasting team (together with Russ Hodges
Russ Hodges
Russell Patrick Hodges was an American broadcaster who did play-by-play for several baseball teams, most notably the New York and San Francisco Giants.-Early career:...
and Lon Simmons
Lon Simmons
Lon Simmons born on July 19, 1923, in Elko, Nevada, is an American baseball and football broadcaster, and is currently broadcasting part-time for the San Francisco Giants.-Career:...
) when the Giants moved west from New York in 1958, had called University of California
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
football and basketball games, and had served as the longtime radio play-by-play announcer for the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
football team and the San Francisco/Golden State Warriors
Golden State Warriors
The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in Oakland, California. They are part of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
basketball team.
Early broadcasting career
King was born in Bloomington, IllinoisBloomington, Illinois
Bloomington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States and the county seat. It is adjacent to Normal, Illinois, and is the more populous of the two principal municipalities of the Bloomington-Normal metropolitan area...
and was stationed on the island of Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
at the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
when he began his broadcasting career with the Armed Forces Radio Network, converting play-by-play accounts of games as they came in over the wire and broadcasting them in a manner that made it sound as if he were actually at the game. After the war, he began his professional sportscasting career in Pekin, Illinois
Pekin, Illinois
Pekin is a the county seat of Tazewell County in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located on the Illinois River, Pekin is also the largest city of Tazewell County, and a key part of the Peoria metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, its population is 34,094. A small portion of the city limits extends...
, broadcasting high school football and basketball games as well as minor league baseball games. He later announced basketball games for Bradley University
Bradley University
Bradley University, founded in 1897, is a private, co-educational university located in Peoria, Illinois. It is a small institution with an enrollment of approximately 6,100 undergraduate and postgraduate students and a full-time faculty of approximately 350....
and basketball and football games for the University of Nebraska. King moved to the Bay Area in , when the San Francisco Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
hired him as an announcer.
Voice of the Warriors
A major turning point in King's career came in 19621962-63 NBA season
The 1962–63 NBA season was the 17th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Boston Celtics winning their 5th straight NBA Championship, beating the Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals.- History :...
, when the Philadelphia Warriors of the National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
moved to San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
and hired him as their play-by-play announcer. King announced Warrior games from 1962
1962-63 NBA season
The 1962–63 NBA season was the 17th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Boston Celtics winning their 5th straight NBA Championship, beating the Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals.- History :...
to 1983
1982-83 NBA season
-Statistics leaders:-NBA awards:*Most Valuable Player: Moses Malone, Philadelphia 76ers*Rookie of the Year: Terry Cummings, San Diego Clippers*Defensive Player of the Year: Sidney Moncrief, Milwaukee Bucks...
, through the Wilt Chamberlain
Wilt Chamberlain
Wilton Norman "Wilt" Chamberlain was an American professional NBA basketball player for the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers; he also played for the Harlem Globetrotters prior to playing in the NBA...
, Nate Thurmond
Nate Thurmond
Nathaniel "Nate" Thurmond is a retired American basketball player. Dominant at both center and power forward, he was a seven-time All-Star and the first player in NBA history to record a quadruple-double....
, and Rick Barry
Rick Barry
Richard Francis Dennis Barry III , better known as Rick Barry, is a retired American professional basketball player. He is considered by many veteran basketball observers to be one of the greatest pure small forwards of all time as a result of his very precise outside shot, uncanny court vision,...
eras and the team's only NBA Championship on the West Coast, in 1974-1975
1974-75 NBA season
The 1974–75 NBA season was the 29th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Golden State Warriors winning the NBA Championship, sweeping the Washington Bullets 4 games to 0 in the NBA Finals.-Notable occurrences:...
.
Franklin Mieuli
Franklin Mieuli
Franklin Mieuli was a San Francisco Bay Area radio and television producer who was best known as the principal owner of the Golden State Warriors from 1962 to 1986. The pinnacle of his twenty-four years with the franchise was its National Basketball Association Championship in 1975...
, the owner of the Warriors upon their transfer to the Bay Area, had worked with King on Giants baseball on KSFO and the Golden West Radio Network, serving as executive producer for the broadcasts.
King was not shy about disagreeing with the referee's calls during the course of his play-by-play work, and was a notorious ref-baiter. In his most infamous incident, he used an expletive on the air to describe a referee's call, and the Warriors were charged with a technical foul. He may be the only professional sports announcer ever charged with an infraction during the course of play.
Voice of the Raiders
In 1966, while continuing to call Warrior games, King was hired as the play-by-play announcer for the Oakland RaidersOakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, then of the American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
, a post he held until after the 1992 season
1992 NFL season
The 1992 NFL season was the 73rd regular season of the National Football League.Due to the damage caused by Hurricane Andrew, the New England Patriots–Miami Dolphins game that was scheduled for September 6 at Joe Robbie Stadium was rescheduled to October 18. Both teams originally had that...
. For a time, he commuted to Los Angeles when the Raiders relocated to Southern California from 1982
1982 NFL season
The 1982 NFL season was the 63rd regular season of the National Football League. A 57-day long players' strike reduced the 1982 season from a 16-game schedule per team to an abbreviated nine game schedule...
-1994
1994 NFL season
The 1994 NFL season was the 75th regular season of the National Football League. To honor the NFL's 75th season, a special anniversary logo was designed and each player wore a patch on their jerseys with this logo throughout the season...
. He announced the Raiders' three Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
victories, as well as countless other memorable games.
Perhaps King's most famous call came during the Raiders' infamous Holy Roller
Holy Roller (American football)
In American football, "the Holy Roller" is the nickname given to a controversial game-winning play by the Oakland Raiders against the San Diego Chargers on September 10, 1978. The game was played at the Chargers' home field, Jack Murphy or San Diego Stadium...
game against the San Diego Chargers
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
on September 10, 1978
1978 NFL season
The 1978 NFL season was the 59th regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded the regular season from a 14-game schedule to 16. Furthermore, the playoff format was expanded from 8 teams to 10 teams by adding another wild card from each conference...
. In the final seconds of the game, Raider quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
Ken Stabler
Ken Stabler
Kenneth "Kenny" Michael Stabler , is a former American football quarterback in the NFL for the Oakland Raiders , the Houston Oilers , and the New Orleans Saints...
fumbled the ball forward, and tight end
Tight end
The tight end is a position in American football on the offense. The tight end is often seen as a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like offensive linemen, they are usually lined up on the offensive line and are large enough to be...
Dave Casper
Dave Casper
David John Casper , nicknamed "The Ghost." is a former American football player. He was an offensive lineman and tight end.-High school:...
grabbed it in the end zone for a disputed, game-winning touchdown. King's description:
Another famous call came on November 8, 1970
1970 NFL season
The 1970 NFL season was the 51st regular season of the National Football League, and the first one after the AFL-NFL Merger.The merger forced a realignment between the combined league's clubs. Because there were 16 NFL teams and 10 AFL teams, three teams needed to transfer to balance the two new...
, when George Blanda
George Blanda
George Frederick Blanda was a collegiate and professional football quarterback and placekicker...
came off the bench in the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, threw for a tying touchdown with less than 2 minutes left, and kicked the winning field goal as time ran out. King reacted by declaring "George Blanda has just been elected King of the World!"
Voice of the Athletics
Though carrying a substantial workload as the announcer for two professional sports teams, King was persuaded by the new owners of the Oakland AthleticsOakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....
to become their lead announcer in . King continued to call Raider and Warrior games, though he retired as the Warriors' announcer after 1983
1982-83 NBA season
-Statistics leaders:-NBA awards:*Most Valuable Player: Moses Malone, Philadelphia 76ers*Rookie of the Year: Terry Cummings, San Diego Clippers*Defensive Player of the Year: Sidney Moncrief, Milwaukee Bucks...
and was fired by the Raider owner Al Davis after the 1992
1992 NFL season
The 1992 NFL season was the 73rd regular season of the National Football League.Due to the damage caused by Hurricane Andrew, the New England Patriots–Miami Dolphins game that was scheduled for September 6 at Joe Robbie Stadium was rescheduled to October 18. Both teams originally had that...
season. For the first 15 years as A's announcer, King was paired with another legendary Bay Area sports announcer, Lon Simmons
Lon Simmons
Lon Simmons born on July 19, 1923, in Elko, Nevada, is an American baseball and football broadcaster, and is currently broadcasting part-time for the San Francisco Giants.-Career:...
, with whom King had worked briefly with the Giants in . He was there during the "Billyball" and "Bash Brothers
Bash Brothers
Bash Bros may refer to:*Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco of the Oakland Athletics in 1987...
" eras, as well as the Moneyball era of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Former Athletics announcer Greg Papa
Greg Papa
Greg Papa is an American sportscaster working in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has been broadcasting for most of the Bay Area professional sports franchises for 21 years, covering the Oakland Raiders, Oakland Athletics, Golden State Warriors and San Francisco Giants.Currently, he is best known as...
, who worked alongside King for 13 years, says of King:
Renaissance man
King was often described as a Renaissance man who was a voracious reader, loved to watch the ballet and opera in his spare time, and study Russian history. He lived in Sausalito, CaliforniaSausalito, California
Sausalito is a San Francisco Bay Area city, in Marin County, California, United States. Sausalito is south-southeast of San Rafael, at an elevation of 13 feet . The population was 7,061 as of the 2010 census. The community is situated near the northern end of the Golden Gate Bridge, and prior to...
, and would often go on long sailing trips in the baseball off-season on his ketch Varuna.
Death
King died of a pulmonary embolus in San Leandro, CaliforniaSan Leandro, California
San Leandro is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is considered a suburb of Oakland and San Francisco. The population was 84,950 as of 2010 census. The climate of the city is mild throughout the year.-Geography and water resources:...
, on October 18, 2005. Although King had long refused to reveal his age, a search of the Social Security Death Index revealed he had been born on October 6, 1927, a year also confirmed by his son, Michael.
Tributes
On November 1, 2005, in conjunction with the Oakland A'sOakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....
, Golden State Warriors
Golden State Warriors
The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in Oakland, California. They are part of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
, and Oakland Raiders
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, a private ceremony celebrating the life of Bill King was attended by family, friends, and the media at The Arena in Oakland. There were performances by the Smuin Ballet and tributes from Bill's former broadcast partners. Hank Greenwald
Hank Greenwald
Howard "Hank" Greenwald is a former Major League Baseball announcer, known best for being a play-by-play announcer for the San Francisco Giants.-Early career:...
, who worked with King during his Warriors tenure, was the master of ceremonies.
The most memorable tributes were from Greenwald, Ken Korach
Ken Korach
Ken Korach is a play-by-play announcer for the Oakland Athletics. He has been with the organization since 1996. During the 2005 season, the Oakland Athletics radio team, including Korach, Bill King and Ray Fosse, was ranked as 2nd best in the American League by USA Today...
, and Raider owner Al Davis
Al Davis
Allen "Al" Davis was an American football executive. He was the principal owner of the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League from 1970 to 2011...
. In his speech, Korach mentioned that King had three rules in his broadcasts. He hated it when an announcer mentioned a "grand slam home run
Grand slam (baseball)
In the sport of baseball, a grand slam is a home run hit with all three bases occupied by baserunners , thereby scoring four runs—the most possible in one play. According to The Dickson Baseball Dictionary, the term originated in the card game of contract bridge, in which a grand slam involves...
," because saying "home run" was redundant; he disliked the usage "early on," believing that the word "on" was unnecessary and grammatically incorrect; and he never liked to be thanked by his broadcast partner when he "tossed" to him for his innings. Korach said, "sorry partner, but thanks for everything."
Al Davis gave arguably the most commanding and entertaining eulogy. When he first met him at Raider training camp in 1966, Davis didn't know what to make of the small-statured King with his handlebar mustache and beard, who was sitting shirtless on a blanket and holding a yellow pad making notes of what the players were doing on the field. "You've got to be kidding me!" Davis said. "What could this little fella possibly know about football?" Noting that it's a rare day when all three Oakland teams are represented in one room, Davis said, "To think it was Bill King who brought us together. Bill King never played for the Oakland Raiders, nor did he play for the Los Angeles Raiders. Nor did he wear the famed colors of silver and black. If he had worn them, he would have worn them with poise and with pride and with class, because he was a star." Davis added that King gets a cloak of immortality, because time never stops for the great ones. He said it was his dream to have a sold-out stadium seating 1 to 2 million Raider fans, all listening to the voice of Bill King.
Bruce MacGowan of radio station KNBR
KNBR
KNBR, The Sports Leader, is the on-air branding used by two AM radio stations in the San Francisco, California, area broadcasting a sports radio format, owned by Cumulus Media....
also gave a moving speech about how he met King through Lon Simmons and even worked as a Raider statistician in the early 1970s. He once asked King for a ride home and noted how beat-up King's car was. On the drive to Marin County, MacGowan noticed that there was a draft, even though the windows were rolled up. To his dismay, he discovered there was a hole in the floorboard by his feet. MacGowan asked how long King had been driving his car. King replied, "I just got it a week ago. No sense in paying more than $250 for a car."
Besides the tributes, there was a Bill King "uncensored" segment which really opened up some eyes as the audience heard King's off-air banter with his broadcasters, which included some rather colorful language. The best segment was the actual audio call of the "Mother's Day
Mother's Day
Mother's Day is a celebration honoring mothers and celebrating motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, yet most commonly in March, April, or May...
" incident from the Warriors' game at Seattle on December 6, 1968. King was outraged by poor officiating from official Ed T. Rush
Ed T. Rush
Ed T. Rush is a former professional basketball referee. He joined the NBA as a referee in 1966. In 1973, he left for the American Basketball Association, but returned to the NBA when the ABA merged with that league in 1976. Rush became the NBA's director of officiating in 1998, and served in that...
in his rookie season. After several calls had gone against the Warriors, King took off his headset, turned off his microphone, cupped his hands and yelled a certain expletive at Rush. Unbeknownst to King, the crowd mic was on and Bill's insult went over the airwaves. The Warriors were assessed a technical foul and owner Franklin Mieuli
Franklin Mieuli
Franklin Mieuli was a San Francisco Bay Area radio and television producer who was best known as the principal owner of the Golden State Warriors from 1962 to 1986. The pinnacle of his twenty-four years with the franchise was its National Basketball Association Championship in 1975...
later had to pay a fine to the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
for the incident.
Years later, King would receive a Mother's Day card from Ed Rush with a note saying, "Nice to share a moment with you from the past—and by the way, do you know how hard it is to buy a Mother's Day card in December?"
Legacy
King was one of ten finalists voted by fans to be the annual recipient of the Ford Frick Award for broadcasters from the Baseball Hall of Fame. The 2007 award was given to Denny MatthewsDenny Matthews
Dennis G. "Denny" Matthews is an American sportscaster, best known as a play-by-play announcer for Major League Baseball's Kansas City Royals since the team's inception in .-Early history:...
, announcer for the Kansas City Royals since their inception in 1969.
King is one of only two people ever awarded both a World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
ring and a Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
ring. The other was Bob Sheppard
Bob Sheppard
Robert Leo "Bob" Sheppard was the long-time public address announcer for numerous New York area college and professional sports teams, in particular the MLB New York Yankees , and the NFL New York Giants .Sheppard announced more than 4,500 Yankees baseball games over a period of 56 years,...
, the long-time stadium voice of the New York Football Giants and New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
, and another man famously secretive about his age.
As noted in the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
, "King was believed to be 78. The lack of knowledge of his exact age was one of the many quirks that made King one of the great characters in Bay Area sports."