Sun archives: Chuck Thompson

Chuck Thompson's lasting gift to church

There wasn't much talk of cold beer or of going to war - this was church, after all - but friends of beloved sports broadcaster Chuck Thompson had plenty to remember him by as they gathered outside St. Leo's in Little Italy yesterday.

Laura Vozzella: Ain't the urn cool!

Chuck Thompson wasn't just a Hall of Fame sports announcer. He also was a husband, the kind who parked himself on a shopping mall bench while his wife roamed the stores. So his final resting place -- in the courtyard of a revamped shopping mall -- could not be more fitting.

Saying goodbye to a familiar voice

Frank DiVenti hobbled into the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen on crutches yesterday to say goodbye to a childhood pal.

Chuck Thompson: 1921 - 2005

'A class all to himself'

Chuck Thompson, whose familiar radio voice painted the picture of Baltimore sports for more than half a century, died yesterday morning after suffering a stroke Saturday. He was 83.

Michael Olesker: The voice at the heart of the Orioles, Colts

His was the Voice of Summer. Across five decades of Baltimore Orioles baseball, those familiar tones arrived in bedrooms and barrooms, in kitchens and in cars strung out along dark lonesome roads. The athletes came and went with the years, as athletes do, but Chuck Thompson held things together. He brought us the ballgames of summer, and these helped turn us into a community.

Chuck Thompson: 1921 - 2005

David Steele: As a voice is stilled, memories are stirred

IT WAS THE spring of 1977. I was 12 years old, living in Landover, pondering my upcoming ascent to high school and sitting at a crossroads. I needed a baseball team to call my own, and it was obvious by then, six years after the Senators moved, that my hometown was not going to provide me with one.

John Eisenberg: He defined era long gone, forever embraced

CHUCK THOMPSON would have blushed at the suggestion that his death and Johnny Unitas' were in any way comparable. He didn't play the games, he just broadcast them. Unitas was the one on the field, the one who was important, the one whose death signaled the passing of an era.

Career highlights and signature phrases

Career highlights

Thompson, 83, expected to be removed from life support

Baltimore broadcasting legend Chuck Thompson is expected to be removed from life support systems today after suffering a stroke that has left him brain dead, his brother said last night.

Dundalk's Bielecki found pitch he could handle

As a chunky 8-year-old youngster in the Dundalk Little League, Mike Bielecki was once exiled to right field because he couldn't catch the ball or hit.

Michael Olesker: Thompson brought listeners to the ballpark

WHEN IT WAS Chuck Thompson's time to say a few words, Fred Manfra led him to the microphone and then Chuck's wife, Betty, and his son, Craig, were there to guide him away. Chuck doesn't see too well now. It is one of the cruel ironies of our time. For so many years, his eyes supplied the vision for a whole community.

Eye disease limits WBAL's Thompson; Role is restricted to radio commentary

In an article in Wednesday's editions, The Sun reported that Orioles radio announcer Chuck Thompson was undergoing "new, experimental therapy" to treat the eye disease macular degeneration.

Thompson's 'Ain't the Beer Cold' clearly the best of this top-10 list

It's the weekend before Christmas and you're tapped out of ideas for what to get the sports fan who has virtually everything.

Michael Olesker: Chuck Thompson's voice resonates from his book

Chuck Thompson arrived behind a microphone back in that distant, primordial time when big league baseball players left their gloves on the field between innings and scoreboards were still operated manually. He remembers broadcasting one game "by peeking through an aperture in the right field scoreboard where they hung the scores" and another from ground level only "10 or 15 feet behind home plate."

Thompson joins Hall, brings fans with him

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. -- Almost a half-century after starting his baseball broadcasting career, Chuck Thompson received the ultimate award here yesterday afternoon.

Thompson makes the call on 'once in a lifetime experience'

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. -- Performance, longevity and a voice smoother than the consistency of maple syrup, dripping with the rich resonance that has always been his, has brought Chuck Thompson to a cherished and satisfying career achievement -- enshrinement in the broadcasting wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

TWO FOR THE HALL: CHUCK Thompson joins broadcast legends after having a ball for many ears

Cooperstown, N.Y. -- When he walked away from retirement three years ago, Chuck Thompson didn't realize he was stepping onto the path that would lead him to the Hall of Fame.

Hall-of-Fame Voice

Thousands of Marylanders have grown up thinking that the sound of Chuck Thompson's voice is as much a part of a radio's apparatus as the volume switch or the channel selector.

Michael Olesker: Chuck Thompson put the audio into boys' dreams

One time, gotta be 30 years ago, I drive past Conlon Field in Northwest Baltimore, around the corner from the clubhouse at the Forest Park Golf Course.

Go to the Hall, Miss Agnes Thompson's being honored

Go to war, Miss Agnes -- Chuck Thompson is in the Baseball Hall of Fame.