Eric Nadel: Photo by Danny Fulgencio
On Saturday, longtime voice of the Rangers Eric Nadel received the Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in broadcasting from the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.
The ceremony was something of a reunion for Nadel and his best and oldest friends, including people from the radio business as well as his high school pals. The Dallas Morning News was there to capture the scene. The award is given to annually to a broadcaster who has made “major contributions to baseball.”
The last time we interviewed the Preston Hollow resident — who has now logged 36 seasons with the Rangers — was for our July 2012 cover story on local legends in our neighborhood. He talked about the unique relationship baseball broadcasters have with listeners, which stems partly from the slow pace of the game.
Growing up as a Mets fan in Brooklyn, Nadel knew he wanted to be a sports broadcaster as early as 8 years old when he discovered that someone actually gets paid to sit and talk about baseball. Right now, he’s “living his childhood dream,” he told us back in 2012.
“I always had the feeling that [the broadcasters] were my buddies who would talk to me about the Mets every night. I hope that’s how people feel about me.”
