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Vince Lloyd Skaff (June 1, 1917 – July 3, 2003), who worked under the name Vince Lloyd, was a
Vince Lloyd Skaff (June 1, 1917 – July 3, 2003), who worked under the name Vince Lloyd, was a radio
Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...
announcer
An announcer is a voice artist who relays information to the audience on a broadcast media programme or live event either on radio or television.
Television and other media
Some announcers work in television production, radio or filmmaki ...
for 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 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 ...
for over 30 years. He also was the first radio voice in Chicago Bulls history.
Lloyd was born in Beresford, South Dakota, and after graduating from Yankton College
Yankton College was a private liberal arts college in Yankton, South Dakota, United States, affiliated with the Congregational Christian Churches (later the United Church of Christ). Yankton College produced nine Rhodes Scholars, more than any ...
in 1940 started his career with a number of local radio stations around the Midwest. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II.
During the 1950s, Lloyd was the sidekick to Jack Brickhouse on Cubs and 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 ...
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, ...
broadcasts, during a time when WGN-TV
WGN-TV (channel 9) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, serving as the local outlet for The CW. It is owned and operated by the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is sister station, sister to the company ...
covered both teams' home games and selected road games. When Cubs radio 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 ...
man Jack Quinlan died in an auto accident during spring training, in 1965, Lloyd was promoted to that position and Lloyd Pettit
Lloyd Pettit (March 22, 1927 – November 11, 2003) was a sportscaster in Chicago, Illinois, Chicago and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Milwaukee as well as the owner of the Milwaukee Admirals.
Early life
Pettit was born in Chicago to Howard William Petti ...
was brought in to back up Brickhouse.
Lloyd then began a more than 20-year radio run partnered with Hall of Fame
A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
shortstop Lou Boudreau
Louis Boudreau (July 17, 1917 – August 10, 2001), nicknamed "Old Shufflefoot", "Handsome Lou", and "the Good Kid", was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 15 seasons, primarily as a ...
.
Various announcers have punctuated particularly exciting moments during a game with the exclamation "Holy..." something: Harry Caray
Harry Christopher Caray (; March 1, 1914 – February 18, 1998) was an American radio and television Sports commentator, sportscaster. During his career he called the play-by-play for five Major League Baseball teams, beginning with 25 years of ...
and Phil Rizzuto
Philip Francis Rizzuto ( ; September 25, 1917 – August 13, 2007), nicknamed "the Scooter", was an American Major League Baseball shortstop. He spent his entire 13-year baseball career with the New York Yankees (1941–1956), and was elected to ...
invoked "Holy cow!" Milo Hamilton's was "Holy Toledo!" For a while, Lloyd was known for "Holy mackerel!" During the 1970s, a fan sent the broadcasting team a cowbell
A cowbell (or cow bell) is a bell (instrument), bell worn around the neck of free-roaming livestock so herders can keep track of an animal via the sound of the bell when the animal is grazing out of view in hilly landscapes or vast plains. ...
, and when a Cubs player would hit a home run, Lloyd and Boudreau would ring the bell as Lloyd proclaimed, "It's a bell-ringer!"
Vince Lloyd was also the first baseball announcer to interview a current US president on TV, when he spoke to John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...
during the White Sox TV pre-game show for the traditional Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
season opener, at Griffith Stadium
Griffith Stadium stood in Washington, D.C., from 1911 to 1965, between Georgia Avenue and 5th Street (left field), and between W Street and Florida Avenue NW.
The site was once home to a wooden baseball park. Built in 1891, it was called Bounda ...
on April 10, 1961.
In the 1966–67 season, Lloyd teamed with Boudreau on Bulls' broadcasts for WGN Radio. He also was the voice of the Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...
, Chicago Fire and Big Ten
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...
football and pro wrestling.
Lloyd died of stomach cancer
Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a malignant tumor of the stomach. It is a cancer that develops in the Gastric mucosa, lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a numb ...
on July 3, 2003, in Green Valley, Arizona
Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
.
References