Walter L. “Red” Barber

Red Barber, who passed away in 1992, was a legendary sports announcer who started his broadcasting career at UF’s WRUF-AM in 1930, where he was director and chief announcer and covered UF Gator football games. He went on to become a radio and television announcer for the Cincinnati Reds (1934–39), Brooklyn Dodgers (1939–53) and New York Yankees (1954–66). Barber also called college and professional football games in his primary market of New York City.

He was also an author and wrote six books, including “The Rhubarb Patch: The Story of the Modern Brooklyn Dodgers” (1954), “When All Hell Broke Loose in Baseball” (1982) about the integration of Major League Baseball, and his autobiography, “Rhubarb in the Catbird Seat” (1968).

Among his numerous honors were being inducted into the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame, American Sportswriter Association Hall of Fame and the Florida Sports Hall of Fame. He received a George Polk Award in 1985 and a Peabody Award in 1990 for his broadcasts on NPR, and in 1995 he was posthumously inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame.