Ross Porter

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Ross Porter (born November 29, 1938) is an American sportscaster,

Broadcasting career prior to the Los Angeles Dodgers

Porter was born in Shawnee, Oklahoma, November 29, 1938 to Elizabeth and Ross Porter, Sr. He graduated from Shawnee High School in 1955 then went on to earn a journalism degree at the University of Oklahoma. His broadcasting career begin at age 15 when he broadcast a few innings in several games involving Shawnee's Class D baseball team, the Hawks, over KGFF, his father's radio station. Before finishing high school Porter was elevated to play-by-play man of the Shawnee Wolves' football broadcasts when the regular announcer resigned. After earning his college degree he was hired by WKY radio in Oklahoma City. At age 24 he became the youngest recipient of the Oklahoma Sportscaster of the year. In 1966 he left for Los Angeles and subsequently spent 10 years as a sportscaster for KNBC-TV in Los Angeles.^[1] Porter also called play-by-play of NFL football and NCAA basketball for NBC Sports from 1970–1976, and just over a decade later he replaced Chick Hearn as the voice of UNLV Rebels athletics.

Los Angeles Dodgers career

In 1977, Porter began his first of 28 seasons broadcasting for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball.^[2] The Dodgers replaced him with former New York Yankees broadcaster Charley Steiner following the 2004 season, after denying him a contract extension.^[3]

He is the only broadcaster to have been the voice of a World Series champion (with the 1981 and 1988 Dodger teams) and a college basketball champion (with UNLV), albeit not in the same season.

DodgerTalk

Porter was known for providing fans with in-depth statistical analyses on ballplayers when games were in session. He was also the host of a pregame and postgame show known as DodgerTalk before and after each ballgame, where he would answer people's phone calls about questions pertaining to the ballgame.^[4]

June 3, 1989 broadcast

On June 3, 1989, Porter set a record for broadcasting 22 straight innings without any replacements, in a ballgame against the Montreal Expos.^[5][6]

Notable broadcasting partners

Throughout his tenure as a Dodgers broadcaster he worked alongside Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully, Jerry Doggett, Don Drysdale, and Rick Monday.

Porter broadcast the 1977 and 1978 World Series for the CBS Radio network, and did Game of the Week broadcasts in the 1980s and '90s. His most famous national call is from the sixth and final game of the 1977 Series, during which Reggie Jackson smacked three home runs on three consecutive pitches. The capper:

Jackson with four runs batted in - sends a fly ball to center field and deep! That's going to be way back and THAT'S going to be gone! Reggie Jackson has hit his third home run of the game!

Real Sports Heroes with Ross Porter

Ross Porter began a new venture called Real Sports Heroes with Ross Porter in April 2007. Real Sports Heroes highlights the positive side of athletics and the great things that some athletes are doing and have done to give something back to the community. Porter airs 90 second Real Sports Heroes vignettes on KLAC and KABC radio in Los Angeles. The vignettes and Porter's web site are currently sponsored by American Airlines.

References