Coyle an inaugural inductee into Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame
By RICK DEINES, TIMES-REPUBLICAN
POSTED: December 11, 2007
Harry Coyle, arguably the man who revolutionized baseball television broadcasts, will be among 11 members inducted into the newly formed Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame today.
Coyle, who was married to Ramona Hoy, a native of Rhodes, moved to Marshalltown with his wife following his retirement from NBC in 1990.
The winner of four Emmys, Coyle introduced the center field camera, hand-held cameras, player reactions and smooth cutting from shot to shot, according to his New York Times obituary.
Coyle got the idea for the center field shot from watching an umpire call a softball game from behind the pitcher, he said in the book “Voices of the Game.”
Perhaps the most famous baseball reaction shot in television history was Coyle’s, though it may have been an accident.
In the 1975 World Series, Carlton Fisk of the Red Sox led off the bottom of the 12th inning and Coyle directed the cameraman inside Fenway Park to follow the ball.
A large rat had the cameraman’s attention at the time and, petrified by the rodent, the man left the camera frozen on Fisk as he waved for his left-field fly to stay fair, according to an article on sportsvideo.org and confirmed by his widow Ramona.
As famous as Coyle was in broadcasting, he never made an issue of it.
“He was never pretentious. He was more comfortable with the crew, the engineers and the camera guys,” says Michael Weisman, former executive producer of NBC sports.
Ramona agrees, saying her husband shunned the spotlight.
Baseball telecasting today pretty much follows the rules Coyle promulgated in a detailed book he put together for NBC baseball telecasts.
In addition to Coyle, other inductees Tuesday are: Pete Rozelle, Commissioner of the NFL; Roone Arledge of ABC Sports; Frank Chirkinian who, like Coyle, revolutionized television coverage of his sport — golf; Jim McKay, the long-time host of Wide World of Sports; Ed Sabol, the founder of NFL Films; Howard Cosell; Julius Barnathan of ABC; Tom Shelburne, who played a role in establishing the remote production vehicle market; Larry Thorpe and George Wensel, whose technical achievements changed sports television.
Masters of Ceremony for the event are Jim Nantz of CBS Sports and Bob Costas of NBC, who will accept the award for Coyle.
The event will be held at the New York Hilton Hotel from 7-8:30 p.m.
