INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — What were you doing 50 years ago? For those who have been around long enough to think about this question, the answer is probably a little fuzzy. That’s not the case for Indianapolis Indians broadcaster Howard Kellman, who can tell you exactly what he was doing: working tirelessly to get a broadcast job in Minor League Baseball.
That mission was successful, as Kellman was hired by the team he still calls games for today, and he is now on the cusp of his golden anniversary season. Kellman’s remarkable longevity is comparable, on an individual level, to that of the Indianapolis Indians themselves. The team, the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates since 2005, has been in continuous operation since 1902.
Kellman grew up in the Sheepshead Bay neighborhood of Brooklyn, rooting for the New York Yankees. He was nine years old when his hero Roger Maris reached 61.st home run in 1961, an event he says he “remembers like it was yesterday.” He then got his start in broadcasting while attending Brooklyn College, calling basketball and football games for St. John’s University. Baseball, however, remained his first love and he was determined to make it in the industry.
“In the fall of 1973, as I began my senior year of college, I wrote to every Minor League Baseball team to inquire about a broadcast opening. 110 letters,” Kellman said, speaking last month before a game at Victory Field in Indianapolis. “I was really naive. I thought the reason I hadn’t received more responses was because letters were getting lost in the mail.
25 teams returned to Kellman and, of those, only three reported having a job available. Indianapolis, where Kellman’s hero Roger Maris played in 1956, was one of those teams. Looking to impress, Kellman sent Indians president Max Schumacher a videotape of him calling the eighth inning of a September 1973 game between the Yankees and Red Sox. He recorded this sample of his work in an empty broadcast booth at Yankee Stadium, after writing George Steinbrenner a letter about his professional aspirations.
Schumacher offered Kellman a job in February 1974, and on April 17 of that season he called the first of a total of approximately 6,700 games. The Indians were then affiliated with the Reds, members of the (now defunct) Triple-A American Association who played their home games at Bush Stadium.
“We didn’t attract many people, except on special evenings, which were free evenings,” he remembers. “We would have the UAW party; Night at Stokely-Van camp; Standard-Del Farm, a grocery chain. We attracted large crowds for these events, but the typical crowd was only a few thousand people.
Better times were ahead, as the Indians won five American Association titles in the 1980s alone. The last four of them, won consecutively from 1986 to 1989, came when the Indians were affiliated with the Montreal Expos.
“Oh, it was a special time,” said Kellman, who can recount games, dates and players with eerie precision. “Randy Johnson was here for all of 1988 and three weeks in 1989. He started with Montreal, struggled and was optioned to Indianapolis. I think it was Memorial Day weekend, a Saturday, we were in Rochester and found out he had been traded to Seattle. Larry Walker was here for most of 1989. In 1988 he was supposed to be here, but he tore his knee and missed the entire season.
“They were special teams. Everyone (on the Indians) said, ‘The big leagues will take care of themselves. It’s about winning and being a team.’ And it was so great, with all the turnover in Minor League Baseball, that we were able to win championship after championship.
Lots of turnovers, but one constant: Razor Shines, an infielder who played in Indianapolis almost every season from 1984 to 1993. Kellman calls him “the most popular player in Indians history,” noting that he is one of only two players honored on their own day at the ballpark (the other, whom Kellman remembers without hesitation, was Frank Sigafoos in 1933).
“He was a good player who got a lot of hits. He’s a switch hitter, but a natural left-handed hitter, which was unusual,” Kellman said. “In 1984, he was the MVP of our team. Three or four weeks into the season, our PA announcer, Kurt Hunt, says “Now hit Rrr-azor Shines.” Razor lined a ball into space for a double, the crowd was buzzing. …It caught on and the people in town were saying “Rrr-azor Shines.” This contributed to its popularity.
Kellman spent the first 22 years of his tenure in Indianapolis at Bush Stadium, which has since been converted into an apartment complex.
“We (the Indians) were at Bush Stadium from 1931 until July 3, 1996,” he said. “Baseball is about childhood memories and a lot of people wanted to renovate Bush Stadium. They grew up here. Max (Schumacher) grew up here. But he had the vision to say, “No, we need a baseball stadium downtown.” » And it was a huge success.
The Indians moved to the International League in 1998 and, two years later, won what remains their most recent championship (the sixth of Kellman’s tenure). Their current affiliation with Pittsburgh began in 2005, and one of the highlights of that era was watching Andrew McCutchen put the pieces in place to become a star player. Kellman is now excited about the players on the team who are on their own upward path, citing Andy Rodriguez and Henry Davis as highlights of the ’23 campaign.
As the years went by, Kellman realized he didn’t just get a job in Indianapolis. He had found a home. In addition to his long career with the Indians, he juggled numerous sports media gigs around town while also working as a motivational speaker. He says that although he was “very close” to big league jobs in the 1980s, he eventually realized that “my situation was great.” I don’t need to leave. »
Speaking of big league jobs, Kellman has had the opportunity to call games for both New York MLB teams. He did fill-in work for the Mets radio booth in 2014 and on Sept. 2 of last season he called a Yankees game against the Rays in Tampa Bay.
“Having grown up as a Yankees fan, it was a big kick to do that. I started there (at Yankee Stadium) 50 years ago doing play-by-play in a vacant broadcast booth,” he said. “So it’s been wonderful to be in Indianapolis all these years. It was absolutely sensational.
