Arthur Levi Gleeson (September 29, 1906 – November 27, 1964) was an American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

announcer. Gleeson was born in

Sumpter, Oregon Sumpter is a city in Baker County, Oregon, United States. The population was 204 at the 2020 census. Sumpter is named after Fort Sumter by its founders. The name was inspired by a rock as smooth and round as a cannonball, which reminded a loca ...

. He got his start calling games for teams in the

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leagu ...

games during the late 1930s and early 1940s. Gleeson served in the U.S. Navy during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and worked for the

Armed Forces Network The American Forces Network (AFN) is a government television and radio broadcast service the United States Armed Forces provides to soldiers stationed or assigned overseas, and is headquartered at Fort Meade in Maryland. AFN comprises two sub ...

after being discharged from submarine service. From 1946 to 1949 he was play-by-play announcer for the

Oakland Oaks Oakland Oaks may refer to one of the following sport teams, listed chronologically: *Oakland Oaks (PCL), a minor league baseball team that played in the Pacific Coast League from 1903 to 1955 *Oakland Oaks (ice hockey), a professional ice hockey te ...

of the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

. In 1950, he joined

Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Golden Age of Radio, ...

, where he called

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 ...

games with

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 ...

from 1951 to 1952 and the "Mutual Game of the Day" from 1953 to 1959. From 1956 to 1960 Gleeson was the sports director of MBS. Gleeson joined the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

broadcast team in 1960, calling games with

Curt Gowdy Curtis Edward Gowdy (July 31, 1919 – February 20, 2006) was an American sportscaster. He called Boston Red Sox games on radio and TV for 15 years, and then covered many nationally televised sporting events, primarily for NBC Sports and ABC S ...

, Bill Crowley (1960), and Ned Martin (1961–1964) for five seasons. Gleeson died of an apparent heart attack in a hotel room in

Gold Beach, Oregon Gold Beach (Tolowa: yan-shu’-chit, yan-shuu-chit’-dvn) is a city in and the county seat of Curry County, Oregon, United States, on the Oregon Coast. The population was 2,241 at the 2020 census. History The community was originally named Ell ...

, after the 1964 season. He was replaced by

Mel Parnell Melvin Lloyd Parnell (June 13, 1922 – March 20, 2012) was an American professional baseball pitcher who spent his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Boston Red Sox. Listed at and , he threw and batted left-handed. Playing ca ...

in the Red Sox booth.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gleeson, Art 1906 births 1964 deaths American radio sports announcers American television sports announcers Boston Red Sox announcers Major League Baseball broadcasters Minor League Baseball broadcasters New York Yankees announcers People from Sumpter, Oregon Sports in Boston Sportspeople from Oregon United States Navy personnel of World War II