Unknown Major, ’32

Born Melvin Allen Israel, he was a student manager for the Crimson Tide’s football and baseball programs before receiving a chance to do play-by-play for UA football games. He earned undergraduate and law degrees from UA before winning an audition to announce in New York for CBS Radio in 1936.

Allen broadcast his first World Series in 1938 and joined the Yankees the following year, where he stayed for the next 25 seasons. He was the voice of the Yankees from 1939 to 1964 and would wrap up his 58-year career in sports broadcasting having called thousands of Yankees games, 24 MLB World Series, 20 All-Star Games, 14 Rose Bowls, five Orange Bowls, two Sugar Bowls and more than 2,000 newsreels. Allen was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame as the inaugural winner of the Ford C. Frick winner in 1978.