Let me start by saying I grew up a Los Angeles Dodgers fan in the heart of San Francisco Giants country. And as much as I hated the Giants and enjoyed rooting against them, I enjoyed listening to Hank Greenwald and Ron Fairly call those games. For 18 seasons Greenwald taught me the game and is a big reason along with Vince Scully that I grew up with any kind of aspirations to become a professional broadcaster.

Even on teams that stunk, of which there were several, both Greenwald and Scully sounded like they could not have been enjoying what they were doing more, while giving the occasional needle to a player who deserved it.

It’s quite a thing to be able to share your love for something and have that love be infectious. I spent many many hours a week at night during the school year when I couldn’t get a Dodger game out of Las Vegas on my little, silver Realistic radio listening to the Giants and rooting against them and enjoying every minute of it because of Greenwald and Fairly. In fact I remember how sad I was when I heard Greenwald had taken the job calling games for the New York Yankees because that meant I wasn’t going to get to hear him anymore. Thankfully, that lasted just two years before he came back to call games and tutor the current greats, Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow.

Sure I’ve come to enjoy those tandems that are on the airwaves now for the Giants and I’m sure that this generation of young fans will feel the same way about this group as I do about Greenwald. But there was something special about him to me, something that I grew to love and something that is now forever gone. He was one of the greats And I’m grateful to have made his acquaintance, if only over the radio.