Arch Linn McDonald Sr. (May 23, 1901 – October 16, 1960) was an American radio sportscaster who served as the
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 ...
voice of
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
's
Washington Senators from 1934 to 1956, with the exception of 1939, when he broadcast the
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...
and
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...
.
Biography
McDonald was born in
Hot Springs, Arkansas
Hot Springs is a resort city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Garland County, Arkansas, Garland County. The city is located in the Ouachita Mountains among the U.S. Interior Highlands, and is set among several natural hot springs ...
, and grew up in
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...
.
[ During the early 1930s, he broadcast for the ]Chattanooga Lookouts
The Chattanooga Lookouts are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and are named for nearby Lookout Mountain. The team plays its home g ...
, a Minor League Baseball
Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...
team. In 1932, he won a national contest sponsored by ''The Sporting News
''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...
'' for "the most popular sports broadcaster", garnering 57,960 votes—a remarkable achievement, considering that the Lookouts were a Class A team. Washington Senators owner Clark Griffith
Clark Calvin Griffith (November 20, 1869 – October 27, 1955, ), nicknamed "the Old Fox", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher, manager and team owner. He began his MLB playing career with the St. Louis Browns (1891), Boston Re ...
jumped McDonald straight to broadcasting for the major league team in 1934, and he immediately became a hit.
McDonald was one of the first to use "ducks on the pond" as a term for players on base,[ and was notable for quoting an old country tune, "They Cut Down the Old Pine Tree", after a Senators win.][ He also gave ]Joe DiMaggio
Joseph Paul DiMaggio (; born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio, ; November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "the Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American professional baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career ...
the nickname "the Yankee Clipper".[ McDonald was best known, however, for his studio re-creations of road games,][ a common practice in the 1930s, when line charges were too expensive for live road coverage. The radio listeners would hear the click of a ]ticker tape
Ticker tape was the earliest electrical dedicated financial communications medium, transmitting stock price information over electrical telegraph, telegraph lines, in use from around 1870 to 1970. It consisted of a paper strip that ran through ...
machine, and the announcer would convey the play; "It's a long fly ball to deep center, going, going... gone. It's a home run." For many years, it was common for Senators fans to crowd around McDonald's studio at a drug store on G Street, near the White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
, for his recreations.[
In 1939, McDonald became the first full-time voice of the Yankees and Giants,][ working the second half of the season alongside a young ]Mel Allen
Mel Allen (born Melvin Allen Israel; February 14, 1913 – June 16, 1996) was an American sportscaster, best known for his long tenure as the primary play-by-play announcer for the New York Yankees. During the peak of his career in the 1940s, 1 ...
. In June that year, he helped broadcast activities at the opening of the Baseball Hall of Fame
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United S ...
in Cooperstown, New York
Cooperstown is a village in and the county seat of Otsego County, New York, United States. Most of the village lies within the town of Otsego, but some of the eastern part is in the town of Middlefield. Located at the foot of Otsego Lake in ...
, for CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
. However, his homespun style didn't play well in New York, and he was back in Washington for the 1940 season.
For the most part, McDonald called losing baseball; the Senators only finished higher than fifth four times during his tenure. Despite the team's losing efforts, McDonald was again named outstanding baseball broadcaster in 1942 and 1945.[ During the 1940s, he began calling ]Washington Redskins
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...
and college football
College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...
games. McDonald was forced off Senators broadcasts by a sponsor change following their 1956 season, but remained behind the microphone for the Redskins.
Personal life
McDonald was the Democratic candidate for Maryland's 6th congressional district
Maryland's 6th congressional district elects a representative to the United States House of Representatives from the northwest part of the state. The district comprises all of Garrett, Allegany, Frederick, and Washington counties as well as a po ...
in the 1946 House of Representatives election,[ losing to incumbent James Glenn Beall, 58.1% to 41.9%.
McDonald died in 1960, of a ]heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
at age 59, while returning to Washington, D.C., via train from a Redskins game in New York City.[ He was buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery in ]Suitland, Maryland
Suitland is a suburb of Washington, D.C., approximately one mile (1.6 km) southeast of Washington, D.C. Suitland is a census designated place (CDP), as of the 2020 census, its population was 25,839. Prior to 2010, it was part of the Suitland ...
. In 1999, McDonald was posthumously honored with the Ford C. Frick Award
The Ford C. Frick Award is presented annually by the Baseball Hall of Fame in the United States to a broadcaster for "major contributions to baseball". It is named for Ford C. Frick, former commissioner of baseball. Prior to his career as an exe ...
, given annually to one baseball broadcaster.
References
External links
Arch McDonald
Ford C. Frick Award biography at the National Baseball Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Arch
1901 births
1960 deaths
American radio sports announcers
College football announcers
Ford C. Frick Award recipients
Major League Baseball broadcasters
Maryland Democrats
Minor League Baseball broadcasters
NFL announcers
New York Giants (baseball) announcers
New York Yankees announcers
People from Chattanooga, Tennessee
People from Hot Springs, Arkansas
Washington Senators (1901–1960) announcers
Washington Redskins announcers