Moore should be in Hall of Fame

When I listened to Jon Miller give his speech at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., on Sunday, he graciously mentioned Monte Moore, the longtime Oakland A’s play-by-play announcer who has made Porterville his home for almost 35 years.

I kept waiting for Miller to mention that Moore was a fellow Ford C. Frick Award winner during his induction ceremony and thought that was a major oversight. I just assumed that Moore had been inducted into the hall as a Ford C. Frick winner.

Well he hasn’t and that’s a major oversight. Moore should be in the Hall of Fame. But he takes it in stride.

“Without question, the Baseball Hall of Fame is a hallowed place of honor and anyone would love to be in it, but I have no problem with not being there. I can honestly say that the various recognitions and honors mean more to me than the Hall of Fame,” he said.

Among the community awards that Moore has won include being named Man of the Year, the Alan Coates Award, the Friend of Education and the Community Service Award. His efforts to help local athletic teams, local youth and Porterville College are also more important to him than being in the Baseball Hall of Fame. The community has benefited greatly from the Golf-A-Rama held at River Island by Moore over the years.

And of course, a 59-year marriage that has produced successful children and their families “are the most meaningful things in my life,” Moore said. “And it’s all right here in Porterville, which we love.”

Moore has been told that one reason why he hasn’t been inducted into the hall is because of his relationship to former A’s owner Charley Finley. There’s the thought that because many of those who are responsible for voting for members of the hall just didn’t like Finley, that may have affected Moore’s chances. But Moore stressed he didn’t want to blame in any way his not being in the hall to his relationship to Finley.

And besides, four four former Athletics who were part of the Finley era are in the hall: Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson, Rollie Fingers and manager Dick Williams. And one would think the fact that Moore could work for someone like Finley for so long would make him even more qualified to be in the hall.

“He gave me my first break,” said Moore about Finley. “I’ll always be appreciative of that. I never really had any problems with him.” Moore said he would never say anything bad about Finley, “but a lot of people have a lot of bad things to say about Charley.”

And the hall seemed to have a reticent relationship with Finley. In the 25 years that Moore worked with the A’s, they were never invited to play in the Hall of Fame game, an exhibition game between two Major League teams that has been held on the Monday following Sunday’s Hall of Fame ceremonies.

Moore heard after one of their World Championship seasons, the A’s were invited to play in the Hall of Fame game, but the hall asked Finley to pay for all the expenses for his team to travel there and Finley said no. “I never knew it to be fact,” Moore said. “It makes sense.”
And Moore has had a long, distinguished career, not just with Finley. “Some people think he’s the only guy I worked for,” Moore said.

Moore joined the A’s in Kansas City in 1962 and came with the A’s to Oakland in 1968. He stayed as the lead announcer for the A’s through 1977 and worked off and on for the team ever since then.

Moore was the A’s announcer during the team’s hey day when they won three straight World Series from 1972 to 1974. And Moore is credited with coming up with the term “Dinger,” referring to a home run.

He admits that it was actually A’s relief pitcher Darryl Knowles who came up with the term. Knowles had given up a late-inning home run and when Moore interviewed the next day for the pregame show, Knowles talked about that “Dinger” he gave up.

Moore began using the term and while on the road, encouraged fans to bring any kind of bell when the A’s returned home for a key series with the Kansas City Royals. Sounds of the bells ringed throughout the Oakland Coliseum.

Every time that Moore sees Jack McKeon, who was the Royals manager at the time, Moore says that McKeon tells him he covers his ears “because of those cotton pickin’ dingers.”

And Moore said he was thrilled for Miller. Moore gave Miller his first job as a Major League announcer with the A’s in 1974 and Miller invited to pay for the traveling expenses for Moore and his wife for the ceremony in Cooperstown.

But Moore and his family had planned a vacation and reunion for more than a year, so Moore was unable to make it.

And while Moore said there are many great announcers who are not in the hall, let’s hope that someday Moore will be able to make it to Cooperstown in an official capacity.