The American Spectator

Chick needed no sidekicks. Baseball has so little action, Vin could spin his yarns minutes at a time. The basketball changes hands however every few seconds and the simulcast doesn’t allow much time for analysis.

My friends and I used to make fun of Stu Lantz’s usual brief summation, “Well, that’s right, Chick.” Chick would take it from there. KCAL should have never forced the second announcer on him anyway.

Also, the amazing thing about Chick’s Laker broadcasts was his realizing that his old lines had become clichés and never repeating them with the same intonation. When Stu (b)egged him to declare the “game in the fridge,” Chick toyed with Stu and the listeners by saying it just at the right moment.

These days, one can hear a typical baseball announcer force his way into a third-rate home-run call. But Hearn had a complete command over his terminology.

To use another worn-out cliché, he was a pro’s pro.