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Bob Prince (July 1, 1916 - June 10, 1985) was a radio and television sportscaster and commentator best known for his 28-year stint as the voice of the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball club, where he earned his nickname, “the Gunner”. Prince was known for his unique style of broadcast lingo, and his unusual sayings and nicknames came to be called "Gunnerisms". His announcing style influenced later sports broadcasters such as Mike Lange and Myron Cope.

Contents 1 Early life and career 2 Popularity 3 Post-Pirates career 4 Later career 5 Gunnerisms 6 External links

Prince was born in Los Angeles, California, and joined Rosey Rowswell in the Pirates' broadcast booth as a commentator in 1948, taking over for Rowswell’s duties when he died in 1955.

The “Gunner's” raspy voice, colorful vocabulary, and “everyman” persona made him instantly popular with Pirates fans. Prince called the Pirates from 1948 to 1975, including the World Series championship years of 1960 and 1971. Nationally, Prince broadcast the 1960, 1966, and 1971 World Series and the 1965 All-Star Game for NBC Radio.

Prince's conflicts with Westinghouse Broadcasting management and the perception of declining work led to his firing in 1975. Pirate fans, incensed at the unceremonious dumping of their beloved “Gunner”, held a downtown parade in his honor.

After his time with the Pirates, Prince had stints calling Houston Astros baseball, Pittsburgh Penguins hockey and appeared on ABC's Monday Night Baseball. However, he never matched the popularity he had in his heyday with the Pirates. He was removed from ABC's primary Monday night broadcast team during his first season and dropped after that one year. He also was released by the Astros after just one season.

Prince drifted among many jobs in the Pittsburgh area, including some that were considered small for a broadcaster who had once been the hottest act in town. Eventually he returned to baseball, calling Pirates games for a cable station in the early 1980s, but by then he was just a shadow of the force he had once been.

Prince returned to the Pirates broadcast booth on May 3, 1985 to announce three innings of the game between the Pirates and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Prince, weakened from cancer, was able to announce only two innings but was given three standing ovations by the crowd. He died five weeks later.

Bob Prince was posthumously awarded the Ford C. Frick Award by the Baseball Hall of Fame as a broadcaster in 1986.

Among the more colorful “Gunnerisms” are:

• "Kiss it good-bye!" - Prince’s legendary home run call and current broadcast standard
• "A dying quail" - a bloop base hit
• "We had 'em all the way" or "The Buccos had 'em all the way" - a way to say that the Pirates never trailed in a game; also used humorously and ironically after a late rally gave the Pirates a close, come from behind win
• "Radio ball" - a fastball so fast it “could be heard but not seen”
• "The bases are F.O.B." - the based are loaded (“Full of Bucs,” probably borrowed from Red Barber's "Full of Brooklyns")
• "Soup cooler" - a pitch delivered high and inside
• "Hoover" - a double play in which the pirates would “clean up” the bases
• "Bloop and a blast" - a base hit and a home run, usually late in the game when the Bucs were down by a run
• "A bug on the rug" - on Astroturf, a ground ball that was scooting between all the fielders on the defensive team
• "Foul by a gnat's eyelash" and "Close as fuzz on a tick's ear" - usually meant as the difference between a ball being fair or foul or a player being safe or out
• "You can have chicken on the Hill with Will" - denotes a home run hit by Pirates all-star Willie Stargell who owned a fried chicken establishment in the Hill District of Pittsburgh and offered free chicken to any customer ordering when Stargell homered.
• "Tweener" - a hit to the outfield wall between left field and center field or between right field and center field
• "The alabaster plaster" - the hard, rocklike infield at Pittsburgh's Forbes Field

In addition, Prince gave colorful nicknames to Pirate players including:

• Ralph Kiner: “The Alhambra Kid”
• Nellie Briles: "the Rainmaker"
• Manny Sanguillen: "Road Runner"
• Dick Groat: “Double Dozen”
• Elroy Face: “The Baron of the Bullpen”
• Harvey Haddix: "The Kitten" (reference: 1960 World Series Game 7 broadcast mp3 available at MLB.com)
• Don Hoak: "The Tiger" (reference: 1960 World Series Game 7 broadcast mp3 available at MLB.com)
• Vern Law: "The Deacon" (reference: 1960 World Series Game 7 broadcast mp3 available at MLB.com)
• Bob Skinner: "The Dog" (reference: 1960 World Series Game 7 broadcast mp3 available at MLB.com)
• Bill Virdon: "The Quail" (reference: 1960 World Series Game 7 broadcast mp3 available at MLB.com)
• Bill Mazeroski: "The Glove"

Prince was credited with popularizing “the green weenie" - a rattle in the shape of a green hot dog serving as a good luck charm Pirate fans used to jinx opposing players.

Prince would end some broadcasts by saying, "Good night, Mary Edgerley, wherever you are" though no one ever discovered the identity of Mary Edgerley. Prince admitted the gimmick was based on comedian Jimmy Durante's nightly goodbye to the unseen Mrs. Calabash.

• Baseball Hall of Fame - Frick Award recipient
• Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) Bio Project

Preceded by Buck Canel

Ford C. Frick Award 1986

Succeeded by Jack Buck