Baseball is a tongue-tied kid from Georgia growing up to be an announcer and praising the Lord for showing him the way to Cooperstown. This is a game for America. Still a game for America, this baseball!

Baseball is continuity. Pitch to pitch. Inning to inning. Season to season.

In baseball, democracy shines its clearest. The only race that matters is the race to the bag. The creed is the rule book. And color, merely something to distinguish one team's uniform from another's.

I've been lucky to broadcast some great events and to broadcast the exploits of some great players.

It's time to say goodbye, but I think goodbyes are sad and I'd much rather say hello. Hello to a new adventure.

So much happened (in 1968) it was hard to keep up with everything. We had Denny McLain's thirty-one victories, Gates Brown's great pinch-hitting in the clutch, Tom Matchick's home run to beat Baltimore in the ninth inning, then Daryl Patterson striking out the side to beat them in the ninth. Excitement every day in the ballpark.

Baseball is a rookie, his experience no bigger than the lump in his throat as he begins fulfillment of his dream.