Gene Elston

From SoSH

Gene Elston (b. 1922) was the longtime radio voice of the Houston Astros.

Broadcasting Biography

Elston started out broadcasting high school basketball in 1941 before moving on to minor league baseball in 1946. In 1954, he was hired as the #2 voice to Vince Lloyd for the Chicago Cubs. He reached a national radio audience with Bob Feller announcing the Game of the Day on the Mutual Broadcasting System. When baseball added four expansion franchises in 1962, the Houston Colt .45s selected Elston to lead their radio team. Elston stayed with the club through 1986, when he was fired in favor of the team's #2 announcer, Milo Hamilton. Elston called CBS Radio's Game of the Week from 1987 to 1995, plus postseason games in 1996 and 1997, after which he retired.

Elston received the Ford C. Frick Award from the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006.

Further Reading

• Gene Elston's biography at the Baseball Hall of Fame website
• Gene Elston - Courtesy of Wikipedia