Vince Lloyd
Encyclopedia
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
announcer
Announcer
An announcer is a presenter who makes "announcements" in an audio medium or a physical location.-Television and other media:Some announcers work in television production , radio or filmmaking, usually providing narrations, news updates, station identification, or an introduction of a product in...
for Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
's Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
for over 30 years.
Lloyd was born in Beresford, South Dakota
Beresford, South Dakota
Beresford is a city in Lincoln and Union counties in the U.S. state of South Dakota. The population was 2,005 as of the 2010 census. The southern two-thirds is part of the Sioux City, IA–NE–SD Metropolitan Statistical Area, while the northern one-third is part of the Sioux Falls...
and after graduating from Yankton College
Yankton College
Yankton College was a small liberal arts college in Yankton, South Dakota, affiliated with the Congregational Christian Churches .Founded in 1881, it was the first institution of higher learning in the Dakota Territory...
in 1940 started his career with a number of local radio stations around the Midwest. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
during World War II.
During the 1950s, Lloyd was the sidekick to Jack Brickhouse
Jack Brickhouse
John Beasley "Jack" Brickhouse was an American sportscaster. Known primarily for his play-by-play coverage of Chicago Cubs games on WGN-TV from 1948 to 1981, he received the Ford C. Frick Award from the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983...
on Cubs and Chicago White Sox
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
broadcasts, during a time when WGN-TV
WGN-TV
WGN-TV, virtual channel 9 , is the CW-affiliated television station in Chicago, Illinois built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WGN-TV's studios and offices are located at 2501 W...
covered both team's home games and selected road games. When beloved Cubs radio play-by-play man Jack Quinlan
Jack Quinlan
Jack Quinlan was an American sportscaster. He was best known for covering the Chicago Cubs first on WIND 1955-56, then on WGN radio from 1957 to 1964, his broadcast partner was Hall of Famer Lou Boudreau 1957 to April 1960, 1961 to 1964 and Cubs legend Charlie Grimm April 1960 to October...
died in an auto accident during spring training, 1965, Lloyd was promoted to that position and Lloyd Pettit
Lloyd Pettit
Lloyd Pettit was a sportscaster in Chicago and Milwaukee as well as the owner of the Milwaukee Admirals.-Early life:Pettit was born in Chicago and moved as a small child to the Milwaukee suburb of Shorewood, Wisconsin, where he graduated from Shorewood High School...
was brought in to back up Brickhouse.
Lloyd then began more than a 20-year radio run partnered with Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame
A hall of fame, wall of fame, walk of fame, walk of stars or avenue of stars is a type of attraction established for any field of endeavor to honor individuals of noteworthy achievement in that field...
shortstop Lou Boudreau
Lou Boudreau
Louis "Lou" Boudreau was an American Major League Baseball player and manager. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1970...
. Between Lloyd's enthusiastic play-by-play description and Boudreau's expert analysis of game strategy, as well as the constant by-play, discussion of food sent by fans to the portly pair, and so on, the two made a memorable and well-loved team.
Various announcers have punctuated particularly exciting moments during a game with the exclamation "Holy..." something: Harry Caray
Harry Caray
Harry Caray, born Harry Christopher Carabina, was an American baseball broadcaster on radio and television. He covered four Major League Baseball teams, beginning with a long tenure calling the games of the St...
and Phil Rizzuto
Phil Rizzuto
Philip Francis Rizzuto , nicknamed "The Scooter", was an American Major League Baseball shortstop. He spent his entire 13-year baseball career for the New York Yankees...
invoked "Holy cow!" Milo Hamilton
Milo Hamilton
Leland Milo Hamilton is an American sportscaster, best known for calling play-by-play for seven different Major League Baseball teams since 1953...
's was "Holy Toledo!" For a while, Vince was known for "Holy mackerel!" During the 1970s, a fan sent the broadcasting team a cow bell
Cow bell
A cowbell or cow bell is a bell worn by freely roaming livestock, so that they do not run away or wander off without being heard. While bells were used on various types of animals, they are typically referred to as "cowbells" due to their extensive use with cattle.A trychel is a large cow bell...
, and when a Cubs player would hit a home run, Lloyd and Boudreau would ring the bell as Lloyd proclaimed, "It's a bell-ringer!"
Vince Lloyd was also the first baseball announcer to interview a current US President on TV, when he spoke to John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
during the White Sox TV pre-game show for the traditional Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
season opener, at Griffith Stadium
Griffith Stadium
Griffith Stadium was a sports stadium that stood in Washington, D.C. from 1911 to 1965, between Georgia Avenue and 5th Street, and between W Street and Florida Avenue, NW. An earlier wooden baseball park had been built on the same site in 1891...
on April 10, 1961.
Lloyd also broadcast Chicago Bulls
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...
basketball for WGN, as well as Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
, Chicago Fire and Big Ten football and pro wrestling.
Lloyd died of stomach cancer
Stomach cancer
Gastric cancer, commonly referred to as stomach cancer, can develop in any part of the stomach and may spread throughout the stomach and to other organs; particularly the esophagus, lungs, lymph nodes, and the liver...
on July 3, 2003, in Green Valley, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
.