View source for Lindsey Nelson

{{Short description|American sportscaster}}
{{for|the tennis player|Lindsey Nelson (tennis)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Lindsey Nelson
|image = Red Grange Lindsey Nelson Game of the Week 1955.JPG
|image_caption = Nelson (foreground) with [[Red Grange]] in 1955
|birth_name =
|birth_date = {{Birth date |1919|5|25|mf=yes}}
|birth_place = [[Pulaski, Tennessee]]
|death_date = {{Death date and age|1995|6|10|1919|5|25}}
|death_place = [[Atlanta|Atlanta, Georgia]]
|occupation = [[Sportscaster]]
|known_for = Covering the New York Mets, Cotton Bowls, Sugar Bowls, announcing Notre Dame games, and founder of the University of Tennessee's Vol Network
}}
'''Lindsey Nelson''' (May 25, 1919 – June 10, 1995) was an American sportscaster best known for his long career calling [[play-by-play]] of [[college football]] and [[New York Mets]] [[baseball]].

Nelson spent 17 years with the Mets and three years with the [[San Francisco Giants]]. For 33 years Nelson covered college football, including 26 [[Cotton Bowl Classic|Cotton Bowl]]s, five [[Sugar Bowl]]s, four [[Rose Bowl Game|Rose Bowl]]s, and 14 years announcing syndicated [[Notre Dame Fighting Irish football|Notre Dame]] games. He is in or honored by 13 separate Halls of Fame. Fans remember a talented broadcaster, an expert storyteller, and a true sports enthusiast. From his colorful jackets to his equally colorful broadcasts and enthusiastic manner of speaking, Nelson established himself as one of the industry's leading sportscasters.

==Early life==
Nelson was born on May 25, 1919, in [[Pulaski, Tennessee]],<ref name=nyt/> the third child of Jon and Asie Nelson.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SPHH-TZ9|title=FamilySearch.org|website=[[FamilySearch]] |accessdate=July 1, 2023}}</ref> He graduated from [[Columbia Central High School (Columbia, Tennessee)|Columbia Central High School]] in [[Columbia, Tennessee|Columbia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://columbiadailyherald.com/sports/local/kesling-tells-stories-lindsey-nelson|title=Kesling tells stories of Lindsey Nelson|website=columbiadailyherald.com}}</ref> He graduated from the [[University of Tennessee]] in 1941, taught English, and then served in the [[U.S. Army]],<ref name=nyt/> where he was a captain in North Africa and Europe during [[World War II]]. He also served as a war correspondent and public relations specialist, and played on an Army baseball team managed by [[Harry Walker]].<ref name=nyt/>

==Career==
Nelson broke into broadcasting in 1948 following a short career as a [[reporter]] in [[Columbia, Tennessee]], for the ''[[Daily Herald (Columbia, Tennessee)|Columbia Daily Herald]]'' [[newspaper]]. Nelson then returned to his alma mater in [[Knoxville, Tennessee]] to create and become the first [[play-by-play]] announcer for the [[Vol Network]], broadcasting the college football games of the [[Tennessee Volunteers]].

Affectionately known as "Mr. New Year's Day," Nelson subsequently did the play-by-play of the [[Cotton Bowl Classic]] for 26 seasons on [[CBS Sports|CBS]] television, where he earned widespread recognition for his Tennessee drawl and signature opening greeting: ''"Happy New Year; this is Lindsey Nelson in the [[Cotton Bowl (stadium)|Cotton Bowl]] in [[Dallas]]."'' He also called many [[Army–Navy Game]]s for CBS, including the 1963 contest in which [[instant replay]] was first introduced. (After the initial replay, it fell to Nelson to reassure viewers that Army had not scored again.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-tony-verna-20150119-story.html|title=Tony Verna, TV director who introduced instant replay, dies at 81|last=Erskine|first=Chris|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=January 18, 2015}}</ref>) For 14 years Nelson was the syndicated television voice of [[Notre Dame football]], and he also called the [[Mutual Broadcasting System]]'s [[Monday Night Football|Monday night]] radio broadcasts of [[National Football League|NFL]] games from [[1974 NFL season|1974]] to [[1977 NFL season|1977]], in addition to NFL games for CBS television for many years.

Nelson began his national baseball broadcast career as one of [[Gordon McLendon]]'s radio announcers for the [[Liberty Broadcasting System]], which primarily did recreations of games. After a stretch as an administrator with [[NBC Sports]], he began doing the network's baseball broadcasts in {{baseball year|1957}}. He also broadcast college football, [[NBA]] and college basketball, and professional golf and tennis during his NBC tenure.

===New York Mets===
In {{baseball year|1962}}, he was hired as the lead broadcaster by the expansion New York Mets, and for the next 17 seasons did both radio and [[television]] with [[Ralph Kiner]] and [[Bob Murphy (announcer)|Bob Murphy]]. Nelson and Murphy were eventually honored with the [[Ford C. Frick Award]], presented annually to an announcer for "major contributions to baseball" during a ceremony at the Baseball Hall of Fame. While with the Mets, Nelson made the first (and only) radio broadcast of a baseball game from directly above the field. On April 28, 1965, Nelson accompanied the team to the [[Houston Astrodome]] for their game against the Astros, and his producer noticed that there was a gondola suspended from the ceiling; Nelson and a broadcast executive agreed to be hoisted in the gondola to a point 208 feet above second base, and called the play-by-play, though as Nelson described it, "At first, I couldn't see anything except a lot of tiny figures. Everybody looked the same height... You couldn't tell a line drive from a pop fly." The Mets lost, 12–9, and Nelson declined to repeat the stunt.<ref>[http://werehistory.org/tenth-man/ "The Tenth Man on the Field…or Above It"], by Michael Green</ref>
When [[Chicago White Sox]] pitcher and former Mets ace [[Tom Seaver]] went for his 300th victory in August 1985 against the host [[New York Yankees]], the Yankees TV flagship station [[WPIX]] had Nelson call the final half-inning of Seaver's history-making win.

===San Francisco Giants===
In {{baseball year|1979}}, Nelson moved on to the [[San Francisco Giants]], for whom he worked three seasons. He also worked with [[Major League Baseball on CBS Radio|CBS Radio broadcasts of Major League Baseball]] in {{baseball year|1985}}. He is remembered for being the announcer during the first [[NFL on CBS|NFL game on CBS]] to use "[[instant replay]]", which he had to explain repeatedly during the game, reminding viewers that "this is not live."

==Honors==
Nelson's honors and awards include induction into the [[National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association]] Hall of Fame in [[Salisbury, North Carolina]] in 1979; the [[New York Mets Hall of Fame]] in {{baseball year|1984}}; the [[American Sportscasters Association]] Hall of Fame in 1986; the Tuss McLaughry Service Award for sports broadcasting in 1988; the [[Ford C. Frick Award]] from the [[Baseball Hall of Fame]] in 1988; the [[Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award]] from the [[Pro Football Hall of Fame]] in 1990; and many more. He was awarded an [[Emmy]] Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1991. Nelson was inducted into the [https://alumni.utk.edu/s/1341/2/20/interior.aspx?sid=1341&gid=2&pgid=8907 University of Tennessee, Knoxville Army ROTC Hall of Fame] in 2021. He is a member of the 2020 Class.

The [[Tennessee Volunteers baseball]] team's home field was named [[Lindsey Nelson Stadium]] after him. Likewise, his high school alma mater of [[Columbia Central High School (Columbia, Tennessee)|Columbia Central High School]]'s Stadium is also named in honor of Nelson.

==Personal life and retirement==
Television broadcasts featuring Nelson were notable for his multi-colored [[wikt:Special:Search/plaid|plaid]] [[sports jacket]]s. He reportedly owned 335 of them at one time. During a broadcast, his jackets often clashed with the set and produced a [[Grid illusion|scintillation]] effect in the broadcast image. But he figured that if fans could see rather than just hear broadcasts, he might as well give them something interesting to talk about. Nelson's television fashion sense was an inspiration for [[Brockmire|Jim Brockmire]], the [[title character]] played by [[Hank Azaria]] in the [[IFC (American TV channel)|IFC]] series.<ref>[https://nypost.com/2017/03/27/meet-tvs-most-cringe-worthy-and-shocking-broadcaster/ Starr, Michael. "Meet TV’s most cringe-worthy &ndash; and shocking &ndash; broadcaster," ''New York Post'', Monday, March 27, 2017.] Retrieved February 11, 2022.</ref>

After his [[retirement]] from active broadcasting, he moved to [[Knoxville, Tennessee]], to an apartment across the [[Tennessee River]] from the [[University of Tennessee]] campus from which he had a view of [[Neyland Stadium]], the Vols' home football field. He wrote an [[autobiography|autobiographical]] memoir entitled ''Hello Everybody, I'm Lindsey Nelson'', his landmark opening phrase.

Nelson died of [[Parkinson's disease]] at age 76 on June 10, 1995, in [[Atlanta, Georgia]].<ref name="nyt">{{cite news |title=Lindsey Nelson, 76, Broadcaster For Mets for 17 Years, Is Dead |first=Richard |last=Sandomir |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/12/obituaries/lindsey-nelson-76-broadcaster-for-mets-for-17-years-is-dead.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=June 12, 1995 |access-date=2011-09-05}}</ref> He is buried in Polk Memorial Gardens in Columbia. His wife, Mickie, died in 1973. They had two daughters, Nancy and Sharon.<ref name=nyt/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|last=Nelson|first=Lindsey|title=Hello Everybody, I'm Lindsey Nelson|year=1985|location=New York|publisher=William Morrow & Co.|isbn=0-688-04186-8}}

==External links==
*[https://baseballhall.org/discover-more/awards/frick/lindsey-nelson Lindsey Nelson] Ford C. Frick Award biography at the National Baseball Hall of Fame
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgQWZr12JXY Lindsey Nelson 1986 Interview] via [[YouTube]]
{{s-start}}
{{s-sports}}
{{Succession box| before = First (''[[Major League Baseball Game of the Week|official]]'') | title = Lead play-by-play announcer, ''[[Major League Baseball on NBC]]''| years = 1957&ndash;1961 | after = [[Bob Wolff]]}}
{{succession box|before=[[Van Patrick]] | title=''[[Monday Night Football]]'' national radio play-by-play announcer | years=[[1974 NFL season|1974]]-[[1977 NFL season|1977]] | after=[[Jack Buck]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{New York Mets Hall of Fame}}
{{New York Mets broadcasters}}
{{New York Mets HOF}}
{{Major League Baseball on NBC}}
{{NBA on NBC}}
{{Major League Baseball on CBS Radio}}
{{Major League Baseball on Liberty}}
{{1988 Baseball HOF}}
{{Ford C. Frick Award}}
{{Sports Lifetime Achievement Award}}
{{Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Lindsey}}
[[Category:1919 births]]
[[Category:1995 deaths]]
[[Category:American radio sports announcers]]
[[Category:American television sports announcers]]
[[Category:Chicago Bears announcers]]
[[Category:College basketball announcers in the United States]]
[[Category:College football announcers]]
[[Category:Dallas Cowboys announcers]]
[[Category:Deaths from Parkinson's disease in the United States]]
[[Category:Ford C. Frick Award recipients]]
[[Category:Golf commentators]]
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[[Category:NBA broadcasters]]
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[[Category:Neurological disease deaths in Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:New York Mets announcers]]
[[Category:Notre Dame Fighting Irish football announcers]]
[[Category:People from Pulaski, Tennessee]]
[[Category:Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award recipients]]
[[Category:San Francisco Giants announcers]]
[[Category:People from Atlanta]]
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[[Category:Tennessee Volunteers basketball announcers]]
[[Category:Tennessee Volunteers football announcers]]
[[Category:Tennis commentators]]
[[Category:United States Army officers]]
[[Category:United States Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:University of Tennessee alumni]]