King, Cheek, Doucet among finalists for Frick award
Bill King, Tom Cheek and Jacques Doucet won an online vote to be finalists for the Ford C. Frick Award, the broadcasting equivalent of election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
King, who died in 2005, spent 25 years on the microphone for the Oakland Athletics. Cheek, who also died in '05, had a 27-year tenure with the Toronto Blue Jays. Doucet, 72, spent 32 years announcing Montreal Expos games, and he is currently a member of the Toronto Blue Jays' television crew.
The other finalists for the Frick award are Ken Coleman, John Gordon, Graham McNamee, Eric Nadel, Eduardo Ortega, Mike Shannon and Dewayne Staats.
There were 41 candidates on the initial ballot that was whittled down to 10. Among those who didn't make the cut were Ron Santo, Joe Buck, Skip Caray, Thom Brennaman, Ken Harrelson, Phil Rizzuto, Steve Stone and Pete Van Wieren.
Voting for this year's winner will be done by the 16 living Frick Award winners, plus five other announcers, journalists and historians.
The Hall of Fame will announce the winner on Dec. 4 at the baseball winter meetings in Nashville, according to MLB.com. The winner will be enshrined in Cooperstown during the induction ceremonies next July.
