R.I.P.: Longtime Royals Radio Voice Fred White Dies

Fred White

Fred White, a Royals radio voice for 25 years and associated with the club for 40 years, died on Wednesday due to complications from melanoma.

He was 76. According to the Kansas City Royal.

White's death in hospice care came just one day after the team announced his retirement as director of broadcast services and the Royals Alumni. Funeral arrangements are pending.

"All of us are just shocked," said Royals owner David Glass.

White was best known for the 25 years, 1974-98, that he teamed with Denny Matthews in the Royals' radio booth.

"I had great admiration and respect for Fred and even after he left the broadcast booth, he did a fantastic job with our radio network," Glass said. "Fred and I used to talk about the fact that the Cardinals used to have the real radio network covering so many towns with so many stations. And I think that what Fred put together for us probably was second to what the Cardinals did but he had a great feel for it and he did just a super job for us.

"And Fred was really good with the alumni and provided a lot of leadership there. So we're just really proud of our association with him and we send our sincere condolences to Fred's family. It's a shock to all of us and he's really going to be missed."

White joined Matthews, one of the Royals' original broadcasters, when Buddy Blattner left the club.

"The thing I remember most is how we assimilated with each other in the booth. I think it takes the better part of a year working with somebody you've never worked with before, to figure them out and what their style is and their sense of humor. And we got along, I thought, very, very well," Matthews said.

White left the booth when Ryan Lefebvre was hired for the Royals' broadcasting team in 1999. Afterward, White occasionally did games on a fill-in basis.

White had some memorable moments, including calling George Brett's classic home run off the Yankees' Goose Gossage in the 1980 postseason and Brett's 3,000th hit against the Angels in Anaheim. He covered several playoffs and the World Series teams of 1980 and 1985.

White, originally from Homer, Ill., did his first baseball broadcasts calling American League games in Hastings, Neb. He became the voice of Kansas State University athletics in the 1960s-70s and was sports director of WIBW in Topeka. He was nationally known for his TV basketball coverage, notably in the Big Eight and later the Big 12.

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