Royals Hall of Famer Denny Matthews signs four-year extension with club
KANSAS CITY, MO (January 31, 2015) - The Kansas City Royals announced on Saturday at Fanfest that long-time broadcaster Denny Matthews, the 2007 Ford C. Frick Award winner, has agreed to a four-year extension with the Royals Radio Network that will run through the 2018 season, which will be his 50th season in the Kansas City broadcast booth.
"I'm thrilled that we were able to reach this agreement with Denny to ensure that he'll be behind the microphone for the first 50 years of Royals' baseball which will put him in elite company among his big league peers," said Mike Swanson, Royals Vice President of Communications and Broadcasting. "He has delivered the word pictures of virtually every important moment in team history, highlighted by the franchise's eight postseason appearances, and this assures our fans that they'll continue to hear his description of the play on the field through at least our milestone 50th year of play."
In 2008, Matthews became the fifth broadcaster in Major League history to spend 40 consecutive seasons behind the microphone for one club, joining Vin Scully (Brooklyn/Los Angeles, 65), Jaime Jarrin (Los Angeles, 55), Bob Prince (Pittsburgh, 48) and Jack Buck (St. Louis, 47) as the only announcers to accomplish that feat. Denny received the prestigious Ford C. Frick Award during Hall of Fame Induction ceremonies in Cooperstown, N.Y., on July 29, 2007 and was elected to the Royals Hall of Fame in 2004.
Matthews has been at the mic for more than 7,000 games during his 46-year career with the Royals. He was chosen from more than 300 applicants for the No. 2 announcer position alongside the late Buddy Blattner prior to the Royals initial season in 1969, before taking over the No. 1 job following the 1975 season. He teamed with Fred White on the Royals Radio Network from 1974-98 before Ryan Lefebvre joined him in the booth in 1999. Bob Davis, Steve Stewart and Steve Physioc have served as Denny's partners since the beginning of the 2008 season.
Prior to joining the Royals, Matthews worked for WMBD-TV and radio as well as KMOX-TV.