Andrew J. Musser Jr. (December 28, 1937 – January 22, 2012) was an American sportscaster. He is best known for his time as a

play-by-play In Broadcasting of sports events, sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as a sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real time (media), real-time live commentary of a game or event, traditionally delivered in the present t ...

announcer for

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

baseball from 1976 to 2002.

Early life and education

Born in Lemoyne, Pennsylvania he grew up in nearby

Harrisburg Harrisburg ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat, seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50, ...

. He received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in communications from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

in 1959.

Career

Musser,

Richie Ashburn Don Richard Ashburn (March 19, 1927September 9, 1997), also known by the nicknames "Putt-Putt", "the Tilden Flash", and "Whitey" (due to his light-blond hair), was an American professional baseball player and television sports commentator. He pl ...

, and

Harry Kalas Harold Norbert Kalas (March 26, 1936 – April 13, 2009) was an American Sports commentator, sportscaster, best known for his Ford C. Frick Award, Ford C. Frick Award-winning role as lead Sports commentator, play-by-play announcer for the Phila ...

formed a broadcast team that covered Phillies games on both radio and television for 21 consecutive seasons from 1976 to 1997. He retired after the 2002 season. Musser worked for WCAU radio and

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

in Philadelphia from 1965 to 1971. During this time, he served as a radio play-by-play announcer for

Eagles Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

football, as well as 76ers and

Villanova Wildcats The Villanova Wildcats are the athletic teams of Villanova University. They compete in the Big East (NCAA Division I) for every sport; except football and women's rowing where they compete in the Coastal Athletic Association (Football Champions ...

basketball. One of the youngest lead broadcasters in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

at the time, he covered the Eagles' games with

Charlie Gauer Charles Edward Gauer (September 24, 1921 – October 22, 1973) was a professional American football, football player, and later an assistant coach, for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). However, he was also a member o ...

for four years until the station lost the broadcast rights to WIP in 1969. Musser also called various events nationally for CBS Radio, including

Super Bowl VI Super Bowl VI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Miami Dolphins to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the ...

Super Bowl VIII Super Bowl VIII was an American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular Ameri ...

and the 1976 MLB All-Star Game. Musser was the lead voice for

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

telecasts on WSNS from 1973 through 1976, pairing with Dick Gonski in the first two seasons and Lorn Brown in the third. He also called

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

away games with Cal Ramsey on

WOR-TV WWOR-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York metropolitan area as the flagship of the MyNetworkTV programming service. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alo ...

and Manhattan Cable Television home games for the next four seasons from 1976 to 1980. He handled all the games in the first three years, but only home games in the fourth year. The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia inducted Musser into their Hall of Fame in November 2011.

Personal life

Musser was married to Eun Joo for 50 years. They had two children, Allan and Luanne, and four grandchildren. Musser died on January 22, 2012.

Memorable calls

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Musser, Andy 1937 births 2012 deaths American radio sports announcers American television sports announcers Chicago Bulls announcers College basketball announcers in the United States College football announcers Major League Baseball broadcasters NBA broadcasters NFL announcers New York Knicks announcers NFL Films people People from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Philadelphia 76ers announcers Philadelphia Eagles announcers Philadelphia Phillies announcers S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications alumni Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) commentators