CHICAGO -- The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum announced today that legendary Chicago White Sox television play-by-play announcer Ken “Hawk” Harrelson is one of eight finalists for the Hall of Fame’s 2020 Ford C. Frick Award, which is presented annually for excellence in baseball broadcasting.

Harrelson, 78, joins fellow broadcasters Joe Castiglione, Jacques Doucet, Tom Hamilton, Pat Hughes, Ned Martin, Mike Shannon and Dewayne Staats as the eight finalists for 2020 Frick Award honors.

In 2020, only major-league, team-specific broadcasters are eligible for the award, based on their commitment to excellence, quality of broadcasting abilities, reverence within the game, popularity with fans and recognition by peers. Candidates, active or retired, must have a minimum of 10 years of continuous major league broadcast service with a ball club, network or a combination of the two.

Harrelson, a 2007, 2014 and 2017 Frick Award finalist, retired from broadcasting following the completion of the 2018 major-league season after serving as the voice of White Sox television for 33 seasons. His final game behind the microphone came on September 23, 2018, when the White Sox played host to the Chicago Cubs.

“I want to thank Sox fans for giving me all those 35 years of their time,” he said in the ninth inning that day. “When you take a man’s money, you take a man’s money. But when you take a man’s time, you take a part of his life. I love our White Sox fans and I always will.”

He is a two-time Illinois Sportscaster of the Year, five-time Emmy Award winner, was honored with the 2010 Ring Lardner Award for Excellence in Sports Journalism and received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the CSN Awards Dinner in February 2007.

The passionate Harrelson might be most famous for his popular catch phrases that have remained an important part of the baseball vocabulary. Sayings like, “He gone!”, “Grab some bench!” and “You can put it on the board, yes!” are now part of baseball’s lexicon. In addition to his “Hawkisms,” Harrelson also delivered decades worth of nicknames for White Sox players, including “The Big Hurt” (Frank Thomas), “Black Jack” (Jack McDowell), “El Caballo” (Carlos Lee) and “The Cuban Missile” (Alexei Ramírez), among many others.

Harrelson, who has over 40 years of broadcasting experience, also spent seven seasons in the television booth for the Red Sox from 1975-81 and two years with the Yankees from 1987-88.

Final voting for the 2020 Frick Award will be conducted by a 15-member committee comprised of the 11 living Frick Award recipients and four broadcast historians/columnists. Past living Frick honorees include: Marty Brennaman, Bob Costas, Jaime Jarrín, Tony Kubek, Denny Matthews, Tim McCarver, Jon Miller, Eric Nadel, Vin Scully, Bob Uecker and Dave Van Horne. The broadcast historians/columnists include: David J. Halberstam (historian), Barry Horn (formerly of the Dallas Morning News), Ted Patterson (historian) and Curt Smith (historian).

The 2020 Frick Award winner will be announced December 11 at the 2019 Winter Meetings at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront in San Diego. Induction ceremonies take place July 25, 2020 in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Former White Sox broadcasters to receive the honor include: Jack Brickhouse (1983), Harry Caray (1989), Bob Elson (1979) and Milo Hamilton (1992).