Red Barber - Oh Doctor, Resurrect This Man!

For anyone who laments the demise of sports broadcasting into colorless truisms, you ought to check out Red Barber's list of catchphrases. I first encountered Red last month at the Museum of the City of New York's outstanding exhibit "The Glory Days: New York Baseball 1947-1957." Barber broadcast Brooklyn Dodger games on radio, and later Yankee games on television. His call of Bobby Thompson's 1951 Shot Heard Round the World is gorgeously restrained (for 54 seconds, he simply lets the roar of the Polo Grounds speak for itself. Can you imagine a modern broadcaster keeping silent for 54 seconds in that situation? In any situation?)

Anyhow, as the link above shows, apparently Barber cultivated a "Southern Gentleman" image through the use of signature catchphrases. Man, I would give anything to tune into WFAN and hear Howie Rose say"the Mets are walkin' in the tall cotton now" - evidently a phrase Red used to describe success. Even occasional use of the exclamation "Oh, Doctor!" would do.

Red Barber was also a mentor to the young Vin Scully, which I know will be of intense interest to at least one potential reader.