Remembering Herb Score

When the Man and I were first dating, the first thing I had to learn was to not talk during the guitar solos of songs. The second thing I had to learn was baseball.

Before the Man I had zero knowledge or interest in baseball. My dad raised me to watch football and boxing. I had never been to a baseball game and never watched a game on television. And I certainly had never listened to it on the radio.

The Man and I started dating in the winter. When our first spring rolled around I noticed that his truck radio was constantly on Cleveland Indians baseball games. I was bored out of my mind. Why were we listening to this? But as the summer progressed, I grew to love the voice of Herb Score as he called the game. He was folksy and always upbeat even when the team was getting their asses handed to them again.

The Man took me to plenty of ball games those first years we were together. This was back when the Indians played in Municipal Stadium and you could show up anytime and still leave with money in your pocket. We would go way up in the nosebleed section, mostly empty except for us and cheer on the team. Sometimes they would even win.

Herb Score became the background voice for our summers. In the mid 90's, when the team was really put together, we rarely missed a game. More often than not we would have the game on the t.v. with the sound off and the radio on. Television announcers can't measure up when you could be listening to Herb.

The Man and I once went to Indians and White Sox game in Chicago. When we were leaving, we saw Herb crossing the street ahead of us. The Man shouted out, "Hi Herb!" Herb Score turned and waved to us. That was the best part of going to that game.

Herb retired from announcing games in 1997 leaving us stuck with the doom and gloom of Tom Hamilton. Since then, we hardly ever listen to games on the radio. It just isn't the same.

Herb Score passed away this week. He was 75. I just want to say thank you, Herb. Thank you for making baseball interesting to listen to. If it wasn't for you, I don't know if I would have been able to stay with that boyfriend of mine!