Jimmy Dudley

Who was Jimmy Dudley?

James Randolph "Jimmy" Dudley was an American sportscaster, best known as the play-by-play voice of Major League Baseball's Cleveland Indians for nearly two decades.

A native of Alexandria, Virginia, Dudley majored in chemistry at the University of Virginia. He turned to broadcasting in the late 1930s, starting out at a Charlottesville radio station. He moved up to calling Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox games from 1938–1941 before serving as a pilot in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II.

Dudley was the Indians' lead announcer from 1948 until his firing by the club in January 1968. In 1969, Dudley broadcast for the expansion Seattle Pilots; when the club moved to Milwaukee and became the Brewers the following year, he did not join them. Dudley broadcast for a number of minor league teams in the 1970s before retiring. As an announcer, Dudley was known for his friendly, homespun style and his signature catchphrases: "Hello, baseball fans everywhere", "The string is out", "A swing and a miss!-he struck him out", "That ball is going...going...gone!" and "So long and lots of good luck, you hear?".