Chuck Thompson

Died: March 6, 2005 in Baltimore, Md.
Notes: Broadcaster for Orioles and Senators Games. Received the Ford C. Frick Award in 1993

Chuck Thompson, a Baltimore broadcaster who received Frick Award, died on March 6, 2005, in Baltimore, Md., after suffering a massive stroke on the day before. He was 83.

He called Orioles games for five decades and spent 30 years as the play-by-play announcer for the Colts. His catchphrase of "Ain't the beer cold!" came when the Orioles or Colts delivered. That phrase was also the title of his autobiography in 1996.

He received the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting in 1993 when he was 71 years old and he continued to call up to 25 Orioles games a year through the end of the decade.

He had been treated for macular degeneration and the disorder limited his vision to the point that he stopped play-by-play announcing.

His career in broadcasting started in 1939 at a station in Reading, Pa. He later moved to Philadelphia where he did baseball, basketball and football games.

He came to Baltimore in 1949 as an announcer for the International League team and went to work for the Orioles in 1955. In 1956, he left Baltimore to broadcast Senators games, but returned to the Orioles in 1961.

Source: Associated Press obituary