They were the eyes and voices for fans throughout the midwest. For me, they helped form my early impressions of baseball and baseball broadcasters. I would sometimes take my grandma's transistor radio and ear plug to school, hide them in my coat, and then listen during classtime to see how the Royals were doing in the playoffs. This is a project I started because of that nostalgic love of radio, and especially sports on radio. Immediately I realized how lucky we were to have these guys as our announcers.
Radio is a wonderful medium and a wonderful art form.
For fans of the Kansas City Royals, Denny Matthews and Fred White have been those announcers. He started out as the Royals' number 2 announcer working with the legendary Buddy Blattner, and took over as the main broadcaster in 1975. Matthews, a terrific collegiate athlete, lettered in baseball and football at Illinois Wesleyan before graduating in 1966. Matthews, a die-hard hockey fan, resides in Leawood, Kansas. Fred White, a product of Eastern Illinois University, joined the Royals in 1973, while still working for WIBW-TV in Topeka, Kansas.