Mark Holtz (October 1, 1945 – September 7, 1997) was an American sportscaster, best known for his broadcasts 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 Texas Rangers.

Career

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

, he served as broadcaster on Rangers' cable games, then from

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

as play-by-play announcer on Rangers' radio broadcasts. Holtz and color commentator

Eric Nadel Eric Nadel (born May 16, 1951) is an American sports announcer on radio broadcasts for the Texas Rangers baseball organization. In 2014, he was honored with the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting excellence by the National Baseball Hall of ...

, who joined him in

, became one of the most recognized broadcast teams in the DFW area. Before joining the Rangers, Holtz was the voice of the

Omaha Royals Omaha ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 41st-most-populous city, Omaha had a popu ...

in 1971 and the

Denver Bears Denver ( ) is a consolidated city and county, the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located in the Western United States, in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains east of th ...

from 1976 to 1980. Holtz was also the first radio broadcaster for the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Divisi ...

NBA team in their inaugural season, 1980–81, and during his career called

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 ...

for the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

and

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

, as well as

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

and

Bradley University Bradley University is a private university in Peoria, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1897, Bradley University enrolls 5,200 students who are pursuing degrees in more than 100 undergraduate programs and more than 30 graduate programs in fiv ...

and

college ice hockey College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America. In the United States, competitive "college hockey" refers to ice hockey played between colleges and universities within the go ...

for the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

. In

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, Holtz would return to TV broadcasting, where he remained until May 22,

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, when he had to give up his duties to battle

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

, which would claim his life on September 7 of that year. Holtz was well known for being able to keep people's interest in a game even when things were not going well, which was a frequent occurrence for the generally poor-performing team. He was the voice of the Texas Rangers for their first ever

playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

series, in 1996, against 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 ...

. Holtz was also behind the microphone for

Kenny Rogers' perfect game On July 28, 1994, Kenny Rogers of the Texas Rangers pitched the 14th perfect game in Major League Baseball history, blanking the California Angels 4–0 at The Ballpark at Arlington. Needing 98 pitches to complete his masterpiece, Rogers struc ...

against the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

on July 28, 1994.

Death and remembrance

Holtz began every home Rangers broadcast by jubilantly stating that "It's baseball time in Texas!" This phrase is still often used throughout the Rangers Ballpark by everybody from scoreboard operators to public address announcer Chuck Morgan. Holtz' signature closing phrase was ''"Hello Win Column"'', which he would exclaim after every Rangers win. He was able to use this phrase on May 22, 1997, his last game as broadcaster, as the Rangers won that evening. In his memory, Mark Holtz Lake (a wide spot in Johnson Creek north of

Rangers Ballpark in Arlington Choctaw Stadium, formerly Globe Life Park, is a multi-purpose stadium in Arlington, Texas, United States. The venue opened in April 1994 as a baseball stadium with the name The Ballpark in Arlington, serving as the home for the Texas Rangers ...

) is named for him. And after every Rangers home win, the center-field scoreboard still flashes his signature phrase ''"Hello Win Column."'' Thousands of Texas Rangers fans camped around Mark Holtz Lake for playoff tickets in 1996, 1998, and 1999. When the

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

beat the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...

in Game 5 of the ALDS on October 12, 2010, to capture their first postseason series victory, Eric Nadel exclaimed, "Hello Win Column!" on the Rangers radio broadcast. It has been the only time to date Nadel used the phrase since Holtz's passing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holtz, Mark 1945 births 1997 deaths American radio sports announcers College basketball announcers in the United States College football announcers College hockey announcers in the United States Dallas Mavericks announcers Deaths from leukemia Major League Baseball broadcasters Minor League Baseball broadcasters NBA broadcasters Texas Rangers (baseball) announcers