R.I.P.: Former DC Sports Talk Host Ken Beatrice

Ken Beatrice, who entertained and informed Washington sports fans for more than 20 years with his heavy Boston accent and trademark exclamation to callers, “You’re next!,” died Dec. 6 at a hospice center in Aldie, Va.

Ken Beatrice

He was 72, according to The Washington Post. The cause was complications from pneumonia, said his wife, Lyn Beatrice.

As the host of WMAL-AM’s “Sports Call” from 1977 to 1995, Mr. Beatrice was a leading figure in sports talk radio in the Washington area, renowned for his encyclopedic knowledge of NFL draft prospects and his friendly rapport with the callers who kept his show going.

“I don’t have a show without callers,” he once said. “And I treat each one just as if I’d invited them into my house as my guests — really, they are my guests.”

His knowledge extended to such sports as basketball, boxing and baseball. In 1981, Washington Bullets general manager Bob Ferry called Mr. Beatrice “the most knowledgeable sportscaster I’ve ever heard.”