Growing up, I grew up in two places. Ohio for the first (almost) 10 years (it’s why the Reds are my 1b favorite team), and Maryland for the next 12+. I became an Orioles fan (my 1a favorite team) when I attended my first game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards (OPACY). I nominated Rex Barney because going to those games, in that beautiful ballpark, was an experience. Rex had a lot to do with making it more than just a regular ballgame experience. He was the Orioles public address announcer. As a player with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1943 & 1946-1950, Rex had a respectable career, but nothing that would make his accomplishments stand out amongst some of the game’s great hurlers (35-31, 4.31 ERA, 336 K’s).

Though Rex would have told you that he never went a day without wondering “what if” about the player he could have become if he had done things a little differently, he had a much bigger impact on the game as a public address announcer in Baltimore from 1969 until his death in 1997. He was famous for the cadence he would use when announcing players at the plate, with brief pauses to add dramatic effect, but also allowed a moment for you to shush your friend to hear who was approaching the plate if you brought along one of those types that never seems to stop talking (much like me). His deep, booming voice would come on and say something like this … “Now batting … number eight … the shortstop … Caaaal Riiipken.”