Harold Osborn Totten (July 28, 1901 – April 5, 1985) was an American sportscaster from

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

who called

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 ...

games from 1924 to 1950.

Early life

Totten was born on July 28, 1901, in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

. He attended public school in

Ithaca, New York Ithaca () is a city in and the county seat of Tompkins County, New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metrop ...

, from 1906 to 1912, when his family moved to

. After graduating from Nicholas Senn High School, Totten attended

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

, where he played baseball and was the sports editor of ''

The Daily Northwestern ''The Daily Northwestern'' is the student newspaper at Northwestern University which is published in print on Mondays and Thursdays and online daily during the academic year. Founded in 1881, and printed in Evanston, Illinois, it is staffed prim ...

''. While at Northwestern, Totten also served as a college correspondent for the ''

Chicago Daily Journal The ''Chicago Daily Journal'' (''Chicago Evening Journal'' from 1861–1896) was a Chicago newspaper that published from 1844 to 1929.(11 June 1928)The Press: Chicago Journal ''Time'' Journalism Originally a Whig paper, by the late 1850s it firm ...

'' and the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

. He worked for the ''Journal'' in various roles from 1922 to 1924, including a year-long stint covering the criminal court. His coverage of the

Leopold and Loeb Nathan Freudenthal Leopold Jr. (November 19, 1904 – August 29, 1971) and Richard Albert Loeb (; June 11, 1905 – January 28, 1936), usually referred to collectively as Leopold and Loeb, were two American students at the University of Chicago ...

trial led to him getting a job as a

Rewrite man The rewrite man (rewrite person) is a newspaper reporter A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism ...

with the ''

Chicago Daily News The ''Chicago Daily News'' was an afternoon daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, published between 1875 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois. History The ''Daily News'' was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Dougherty ...

''.

Broadcasting

In 1924, Totten joined the ''Daily News''-owned WMAQ as a sports broadcaster. On April 23, 1924, Totten called the first radio broadcast of a Major League Baseball game in Chicago, a 12–1 victory of the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

over the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

. In 1925 he became the first regular baseball announcer when WMAQ began regularly broadcasting Cub home games. In 1926, Totten began calling

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

games as well. In 1933, Totten became the first person to call the

Major League Baseball All-Star Game The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual professional baseball game sanctioned by Major League Baseball (MLB) and contested between the all-stars from the American League (AL) and National ...

. He is also credited as the first announcer to conduct on-field interviews. In additional to baseball, Totten also called

Chicago Maroons football The Chicago Maroons football team represents the University of Chicago in college football. The Maroons, which play in NCAA Division III, have been a football-only member of the Midwest Conference since 2017. The University of Chicago was a foun ...

and boxing, including the 1927

Jack Dempsey William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey (June 24, 1895 – May 31, 1983), nicknamed Kid Blackie and The Manassa Mauler, was an American boxer who competed from 1914 to 1927, and world heavyweight champion from 1919 to 1926. One of the most iconic athl ...

Gene Tunney James Joseph Tunney (May 25, 1897 – November 7, 1978) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1915 to 1928. He held the world heavyweight title from 1926 to 1928, and the American light heavyweight title twice between 1922 and 1923 ...

Long Count Fight. In 1945, Totten, then working for WGN, was reassigned to farm reporter. He also served as a backup announcer for Mutual's '' Game of the Day''. In 1950, he left Chicago for

Keokuk, Iowa Keokuk is a city in and a county seat of Lee County, Iowa, United States. It is Iowa's southernmost city. The population was 9,900 at the time of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. The city is named after the Sauk people, Sauk chief K ...

, where he took over management of KOKX.

Later life

From 1951 to 1960, Totten served as president of the Three-I League. He then served as president of the

Southern Association The Southern Association (SA) was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class B (1902-19 ...

until its demise in 1961. Totten died on April 5, 1985, in

Fort Myers, Florida Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in and the county seat of Lee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 86,395; it was estimated to have grown to 95,949 in 2022, making it the List o ...

. He was survived by a son, John Totten, who was the longtime public address announcer for

Indianapolis Motor Speedway The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a motor racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400, and and formerly the home of the U ...

, and twin daughters, Barbara Totten Sales and Joyce Totten Apitz. In 2016, Totten was a finalist for the

National 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 St ...

's 2016

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Totten, Hal 1901 births 1985 deaths American journalists American radio sports announcers American boxing commentators Chicago Cubs announcers Chicago Daily News people Chicago White Sox announcers College football announcers Major League Baseball broadcasters Mass media people from Chicago Minor league baseball executives Northwestern University alumni Northwestern Wildcats baseball players People from Ithaca, New York Mass media people from Newark, New Jersey Sigma Alpha Epsilon members