Jul 20, 2019 4 min read

A Mon Valley native who became the voice of Major League Baseball for much of America will be posthumously remembered today with a plaque in a ceremony at Cooperstown, N.Y.

George Alvin “Al” Helfer Jr., who was born in 1911 in Elrama and grew up in Monongahela, began his radio career while he was still a teenager attending Monongahela High School.

He was selected as the 43rd recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award, presented annually for excellence in broadcasting by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

A member of the Monongahela High School Class of 1929, Helfer lettered in track and field, football and basketball. He earned Washington & Jefferson College scholarships for the latter two sports, and also played first base for the Presidents’ baseball team.

He was offered a pro contract to play baseball by Philadelphia Athletics manager and future Hall of Famer Connie Mack in 1935, but turned it down to focus on his broadcasting career, where he became a pioneer.

He had stints in the booth for the Pirates, Reds, Yankees and Dodgers, then enlisted in the U.S. Navy during World War II, serving as a lieutenant commander.

After the war he called gridiron contests such as the Army-Navy game and the Rose Bowl.

Helfer began a five-year stint, April through September, with his “Game of the Day” feature on the Mutual Broadcasting System, bringing baseball far beyond cities with major league teams.

It’s estimated that he reached about 65 percent of the baseball audience, an approximate 80 million fans.

Fans in cosmopolitan New York also knew him, because Helfer was the only person to broadcast for three New York teams: the Yankees; Giants, who relocated to San Francisco in 1957; and the Brooklyn Dodgers, who moved to Los Angeles the same year.

He also broadcast several All-Star games, seven World Series and 14 no-hitters, including Catfish Hunter’s perfect game for the Oakland Athletics on May 8, 1968.

“Al Helfer helped grow interest in baseball exponentially as the voice of Mutual Game of the Day radio broadcasts during the sport’s golden days of the 1950s,” said Jeff Idelson, president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

“Working in the dominant broadcasting medium with television in its infancy, Helfer was known as ‘Mr. Radio Baseball,’ bringing game action into living rooms across the country every week.

“A true fan of the game, Helfer’s work with eight teams over four decades connected listeners in their markets to their team’s heroes, as baseball spread its reach throughout America and around the world. His passion and delivery made him one of the iconic voices of his era.”

Sportscaster colleague Vin Scully said of Helfer, “His character came through over the air, to the point where you would like him instinctively. So many of us in baseball thought the world of him.”

Helfer also worked with Dizzy Dean and future Frick Awardee Red Barber, who called him “Brother Al.”

Helfer and Barber combined to form one of the first play-by-play teams in the booth, a departure from the days when broadcasters worked alone.

His last year in broadcasting was 1969 with the Oakland Athletics. He said he logged 5 million miles during his career.

Scott Frederick, representing the Monongahela Historical Society at a meeting of the Washington County Commissioners Thursday, pointed out that Helfer’s award in Cooperstown coincides with two other significant events:

• The 250th anniversary of Monongahela’s founding;
• And the 65th anniversary of Monongahela winning the Pony League championship.

For many years, Helfer awarded a trophy and scholarship to an outstanding Monongahela High School athlete.

The commissioners gave the historical society a certificate of recognition for Helfer’s achievements.

“Thank you on behalf of the entire City of Monongahela,” Frederick told the board of commissioners, noting that Helfer was always “a big man in Monongahela, standing 6 feet, 4 inches and weighing 280 pounds.”

Helfer died in 1975 at age 63 in Sacramento, Calif.

Among the eight Frick Award finalists he bested this year was Rosey Rowswell, the first full-time play-by-play announcer for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

According to Monongahela Historical Society, Helfer rebroadcast Pirates’ games with Rowswell.