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Voice of the Giants, Lon Simmons, to retire
Tuesday September 17, 2002
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) The man with the deep bass voice who has
called baseball games in the San Francisco Bay area for the past
four decades is telling the game goodbye.
Lon Simmons, 79, known for his signature ``Tell it goodbye''
home run call, said Monday he will retire at the end of the San
Francisco Giants' season.
``Doing the games hasn't had the same attraction for me for the
past couple of years,'' Simmons said. ``I've found I prefer going
to the ballpark and, say, sitting with (Willie) McCovey than being
on the air. And that's fine.''
Simmons started with the Giants in 1958 after they moved to San
Francisco from New York. He spent 19 seasons there, 13 in a
partnership with Russ Hodges, before moving across the bay to the
Oakland Athletics in 1981. He left the A's in 1995 and returned to
the Giants in 1996.
Simmons plans to move to Hawaii for the offseason and said he
might be back to call a few games for the Giants next season.
(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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