R.I.P.: CT Sports Broadcaster Paul Baker Has Died

Paul Baker

Paul Baker, a beloved sports announcer in the Danburg, CT, has died.

Baker died Saturday at 12:10 a.m. at Waterbury Hospital, where he had been hospitalized with lung disease and pneumonia, his family said.

Baker was 94, according to newstimes.com.

"He told me last week, `Bake,' -- he called me Bake -- `what I wouldn't give to be 92 again,'" said Baker's son, Joe Baker. "He had a wonderful sense of humor."

For generations of Danbury families, Paul Baker was the voice of their city, the man who immortalized their kids on the basketball court, the baseball diamond and the football field.

Baker called games and broadcast the news at Danbury's WLAD from 1947 to 1977. He was just as well known -- perhaps even more so -- as the signature voice of the Danbury Racearena.

"Enough can't be said about Paul's commitment to the community. He was one of those towering figures," said Harry Minot, former station manager at Bridgeport's WPKN, who started his radio career at WLAD in 1973.

"He was a totally caring person, who brought that caring to everything he touched," Minot said. "He and his long-time partner, Abe Najamy, were one of the more amazing morning teams ever on the radio."