Product Details
The Voice: Mel Allen's Untold Story

The Voice: Mel Allen's Untold Story
By Curt Smith

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Product Description

The definitive biography of sportscasting giant Mel Allen. 

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #228425 in Books
  • Published on: 2007-04-01
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Hardcover
  • 304 pages

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In 1992, Mel and I sat at a sports dinner head table. His old colleague Red Barber had recently passed away. Part of the tribute was a kinescope of Mel and Red from the 1952 World Series. I looked toward Mel, who had tears welling in his eyes. I longed to know what memories had been unearthed. Now, thanks to Curt Smith's great book, I better understand the triumphs and tragedies underscoring the depth of emotion Mel's tears conveyed that night. At last, the definitive and amazing book that needed to be written is here!"



Jon Miller

Play-by-play Voice, "ESPN Sunday Night Baseball"



"Curt Smith, baseball's top radio/TV historian, has masterfully chronicled
the fascinating life of Mel Allen, the game's most celebrated Voice.
Allen's glory, downfall, and comeback make a remarkable story, and Smith
tells it with a great balance of description and scholarship."
-- Ernie Harwell, Baseball Hall of Fame
Sports Illustrated's Voice, "All-Time Dream Team"

"A marvelous narrative, meticulously reported and elegantly written. It
captures not just baseball's most legendary voice but also the sport's
mythic appeal to generations of fans. A psalm to halcyon days of yore, on
and off the diamond."
-- Tom DeFrank
Washington Bureau Chief, New York Daily News

"I couldn't put this book down, devouring page after page as Curt Smith
unravels the perplexing story of how the career of Mel Allen came to such an
abrupt end, only to regain new glory in his later years. No other
sportscaster ever had such a tremendous hold on the baseball public, yet
worried more about losing his grip. A chilling reminder that being the best
may not mean the happiest. Must-read."
-- Bob Wolff, Baseball Hall of Fame.
America's longest-running TV sportscaster

 "This is the fascinating story, lyrically told by Curt Smith, of the
all-time Voice of Baseball. Smith deftly dispels many of the ugly myths
that have long haunted the legacy of this titan of broadcasting. I was
happily returned to my youth, Ballantine Blasts, and 'How About That!'"
-- Fay Vincent, author, "The Last Commissioner."
Major League Baseball Commisioner, 1989-92

"'How About That!' The mystery man who will always be The Voice of the
Yankees comes to life once again. Mel Allen's story is full of baseball
and, even better, full of life with all of its heroes and fiends, glory and
mystery. In Curt Smith's superb hands, this grand-eloquent artist comes out
of the shadows for a long overdue curtain call."
-- Juan Williams
Senior Correspondent, National Public Radio and FOX TV's All-Stars


From the Inside Flap

“This is the fascinating story, lyrically told by Curt Smith, of the all-time Voice of Baseball. Smith deftly dispels many of the ugly myths that have long haunted the legacy of this titan of broadcasting.”
—Fay Vincent, Major League Baseball Commissioner, 1989-92
 
The Voice is the stunning story, brilliantly told, of a life without parallel in sportscasting history: a man who had all, lost all, and, incredibly, came back. To post–World War II America, Mel Allen defined radio and TV, ­airing the World Series, All-Star Game, Rose Bowl, and Movietone newsreels. Variety magazine called his voice among the world’s 25 most recognizable. Allen’s en famille was baseball’s gold standard: the New York Yankees. The nation’s premier sportscaster was in love with his work, yet always afraid it would end.
 In 1940, Mel, 27, became Yankees Voice. In 1964, spurning comment, the pinstripes fired him, near Allen’s peak as an institution. To the average person, America’s nonpareil Voice became a nonperson, simply ceasing to exist. Columnist Maury Allen has covered sports since 1959: “No topic caused more mail than why the Yankees fired Mel.” This is the first book to explain why.
 The Voice also tells how Allen responded: gallantly, even nobly. In the mid-1970s, ­television’s new “This Week In Baseball” asked Mel to audition. Even at “TWIB,” many thought him dead. Instead, Allen forged TV’s highest-rated syndicated sports serial. “For years he was a forgotten man,” said Sports Illustrated, “but it has all come back to him in abundance.” The Voice: Mel Allen’s Untold Story etches the extraordinary rise, ruin, and recovery of baseball’s ultimate broadcasting celebrity.

From the Back Cover

Praise for The Voice: Mel Allen’s Untold Story
 
“Curt Smith, baseball’s top radio/TV historian, has masterfully chronicled the
fascinating life of Mel Allen, the game’s most celebrated Voice. Allen’s glory, downfall, and comeback make a remarkable story, and Smith tells it with a
great balance of description and scholarship.”
 —Ernie Harwell, Baseball Hall of Fame

Sports Illustrated’s Voice, “All-Time Dream Team”
“A marvelous narrative, meticulously reported and elegantly written. It captures not just baseball’s most legendary voice but also the sport’s mythic appeal to generations of fans. A psalm to halcyon days of yore, on and off the diamond.”
 —Tom DeFrank, Washington Bureau Chief, New York Daily News
 
“I couldn’t put this book down, devouring page after page as Curt Smith unravels the perplexing story of how the career of Mel Allen came to such an abrupt end, only to regain new glory in his later years. No other sportscaster ever had such a tremendous hold on the baseball public, yet worried more about losing his grip. A chilling reminder that being the best may not mean the happiest. Must-read.”
 —Bob Wolff, Baseball Hall of Fame

America’s longest-running TV sportscaster
“In 1992, Mel and I sat at a sports dinner head table.  His old colleague Red Barber had recently passed away. A tribute featured a kinescope of Mel and Red from the 1952 World Series. I looked toward Mel, who had tears welling in his eyes. I longed to know what memories had been unearthed. Now, thanks to Curt Smith’s great book, I better understand the triumphs and tragedies underscoring Mel’s emotion. At last, the definitive and amazing book that needed to be written is here!”
 —Jon Miller, Play-by-play Voice, “ESPN Sunday Night Baseball”
 
“‘How About That!’ The mystery man who will always be The Voice of the Yankees comes to life once again. Mel Allen’s story is full of baseball and, even better, full of life with all of its heroes and fiends, glory and mystery. In Curt Smith’s superb hands, this grand eloquent artist comes out of the shadows for a long overdue curtain call.”
—Juan Williams, Senior Correspondent, National Public Radio and FOX TV’s All-Stars

Customer Reviews

what happened to the voice of the Yankees5
When I grew up in New York as a Yankee fan we heard the voices of Hall of Fame announcers Red Barber and Mel Allen. Whether he was generating entusiasm about a Yankee play or selling an ice cold Balantine Beer, Mel Allen was the smooth talker and undisputed voice of the Yankees. Everyone from that era remember his famous phrases "How about that!" and so many times when a Yankee blast would leave the ballpark "It's Going Going Gone!" This was a time of great announcer but Allen was king. Other famous ones were Red Barber, Ernie Harwell, Russ Hodges, Red Barber, Vince Scully, Curt Gowdy, Bob Prince and Harry Carey. Later on came Jack Buck and others. Allen catered to the Yankee fan but showed respect for the oppponent and would praise them when they earned. But he was not the blatant rooter like Prince who would root for the Bucs during the game.

Allen was a bright man of Jewish upbringing and trained as a lawyer. This book relates how Allen wound up as a broadcaster and jow after an illustrious career was callously dumped by the Yankee brass. Allen seemed to be blacklisted for many years. But much later in life he made a comeback as the host of the popular "This Week in Baseball." For Yankee fans players would come and go, owners and managers would too but from the 1950s to the mid 1960s the two constants were Mel Allen behind the microphone and Bob Shepard as the stadium announcer. Amazingly a spry Shepard still announcing with the same familiar voice. Sadly Mel Allen has passed on.

This is a great story and very nostalgic for Yankee fans of the 50s. It seems a little unfair that Allen who called so many historic plays in Yankee Stadium during the regular season and the World Series was not the one to call Roger Maris' 61st home run. The lucky Yankee braodcaster then was Phil Rizzuto.

Great subject, less than great writing2
Mel Allen was a great part of my childhood. I knew nothing whatever of his life and thus was expecting a good read. The problem is that much of this book is about baseball and not Allen. But a bigger problem is the writing; it takes effort to get through the dense prose. The author is fond of wordplay and this takes away so much from the great subject. The puzzle of why Mel got fired at the peak of his career is not much of a puzzle; it was the cold-blooded Yankee brass. A lot of hints of Mel's inner life, including his sexuality, but it's all pretty surface. Mel comes off as an asexual workhorse who couldn't say no. Maybe he just didn't have an interesting inner life. This book is all external. A disappointment. But it does show how Allen as well as the players had so little power compared to now.

Try this book instead1
How About That!: The Life of Mel Allen by Stephan Borelli is a great book and much better investment of your time and money.

Smith's book brought out a couple of things about Mel heretofore unknown to me, but overall it was boring causing me to skip read it. I read in previous reviews that Smith wasn't a good author, but got the book because I learned so much about Allen from reading the above mentioned book.