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Rod Belcher

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Roderick Belcher (November 4, 1920 – December 12, 2014) was an American sports broadcaster. He served as radio play-by-play announcer for the Seattle Rainiers from 1957 to 1958, having succeeded Leo Lassen in that role.[1] Belcher also wrote the Seattle Pilots theme song, "Go Go You Pilots." He also served as the voice of the San Francisco 49ers.[2]

Biography

Belcher was born November 4, 1920, in Berkeley, California[3] He attended Humboldt State College, where he was a star basketball player. He was a member of the school's 1941 Far Western Conference championship team.[4] Belcher began his sports broadcasting career in 1946 with KMO radio in Tacoma, Washington.[3]

In 1950, Belcher was hired by a San Francisco station which had a beer company as the sponsor; he changed his radio name to Rod Hughes to avoid embarrassment to the sponsor.[5] He returned to the State of Washington in 1954 where he was a sports broadcaster on KOL radio in Seattle.[3] In 1957, he began doing play-by-play of Seattle Rainiers games on KOL.[1] He also broadcast University of Washington football and Seattle University basketball games.[3] From 1960 to 1969, he was employed by KING-TV and radio in Seattle.[3] He was named the State of Washington's top sports broadcaster from 1961 to 1964. He was also selected by the Associated Press as its football board member for the State of Washington.[4][6]

Belcher later worked for more than 10 years as a public information officer for the State of Washington Highway Department.[3][7] He once served as sports editor of the Humboldt Times and contributed to The Seattle Times. Belcher died on December 12, 2014.[3][8]

References

  1. ^ a b "Belcher To Belch". Daily Capital Journal. February 7, 1957. p. 38 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Rod Belcher was an essential voice in Seattle sports history". The Seattle Times. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Rod Belcher, pioneering do-it-all sportscaster, dies at 94". The Seattle Times. December 13, 2014. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  4. ^ a b "Sideline Slants". Eureka Humboldt Standard. June 3, 1961. p. 10.
  5. ^ "Beer Announcer's Privilege -- to Change Name From Belcher". The Decatur Daily Review. September 12, 1950. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "AP Scribe Tops Vote". The Daily Chronicle. March 19, 1964. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "State employees moonlighting". Port Angeles Evening News. August 5, 1971. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Where Are They Now: Rod Belcher, former sports broadcaster". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
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