Longtime Legendary Guardians Broadcaster Earns Prestigious Honor

When Cleveland Guardians fans think of Cleveland baseball, a voice comes to mind as its soundtrack over the years.

“A swing and a drive!” “How about that?” “Cleveland, you will have an October to remember.” These are just some of the signature calls from longtime Guardians Radio Play-by-Play Broadcaster Tom Hamilton, who has been calling Cleveland games on the radio for the last 35 years.

And now, the 70-year-old has received arguably baseball’s highest honor for a broadcaster.

On Wednesday, in his third consecutive year as a finalist and fourth time overall, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum announced that Hamilton has been named the winner of the 2025 Ford C. Frick Award. This is a yearly award that is presented to a broadcaster for “major contributions to baseball.”

“I’m so humbled,” Hamilton said during media availability on Wednesday. “I’m so grateful, and can’t believe it happened. Because I certainly looked at that list of 10 [finalists], and if you were to rank them, I would’ve put myself 10th.”

The longtime Guardians radio voice has certainly made major contributions to baseball during his time behind the microphone. Since joining the franchise in 1990, Hamilton is the team’s only broadcaster to call three different World Series teams. He has also called over 100 MLB Postseason games, and has served as the Guardians’ primary radio play-by-play broadcaster since Herb Score’s retirement in 1997.

Prior to his time with Cleveland, he called games for Triple-A Columbus Clippers for three seasons from 1987-1989. And before that, he called games for the Appleton Foxes (now the High-A Midwest League’s Wisconsin Timber Rattlers).

Hamilton will be honored with the award in Cooperstown during the Hall of Fame’s induction weekend, which will take place from July 25-28, 2025.