Philadelphia Sports Writers’ most courageous player is Phillies PA announcer Dan Baker

Wearing a 2008 World Series ring and a sleek suit with a Phillies pin in his jacket pocket, Dan Baker, the team’s iconic stadium announcer, sits behind the microphone at a sporting event. I remembered the experience of

“And in this corner, he weighs 265 pounds…Bruno Sammartino, world heavyweight champion from Abruzzo, Italy.” Baker recreated his introduction when he was Buddy Wagner’s backup wrestling color announcer on Channel 48.

Baker handles the PA for the Army-Navy game and broadcasts college basketball at a press conference Monday at the Doubletree Hotel in Cherry Hill, where he won Philadelphia Sports’ Most Valuable Award. I told this story along with other stories. Writers Guild annual awards dinner.

“Many of these organizations have gone bankrupt,” said Baker, 76, who was admitted to having endured an ongoing battle with cancer. “The Philadelphia sports reporter is still here.

Baker, who has been the Phillies PA man for nearly half a century, is still showing his talent and hopes to continue voicing Phillies games for another decade.

“If God gives me great health, the Phillies will accept me,” he added.

In 2020, Baker was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma, a type of skin cancer. Since finding a tumor in his right maxillary sinus, he has had his 24 surgeries and his 30 radiation treatments. Meanwhile, Baker was constantly asking surgeons at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, “How soon can I get back?”

He missed the Phillies’ 2020 season, but returned in 2021 and qualified for last year’s World Series. Baker is still rehabilitating and recovering from cancer that affected his vision and speech, but his doctors and friends say he has made miraculous improvements.

» Read more: After half a century in the booth, Dan Baker still lends his voice to the Phillies

Longtime friend and PSWA member Roger Hendler said, “Although Dan continues in rehab, this does not prevent him from performing his professional duties as he always does.” The determination and enthusiasm of the

Also joining Baker on stage at Monday’s event was Phillies manager Rob Thomson and third baseman Alec Bohm. In the audience were family members and several doctors who helped Baker during his treatment.

Baker has been with the Phillies since 1972, his second season at Veterans Stadium. He is the longest serving PA voice in Major League Baseball since the New York Yankees’ Bob Shepard retired in 2009.

He has appeared in six of the Phillies’ eight World Series appearances. He considers his tenure with his team a privilege. This year, Baker summed up Citizens in one word: he’s back in the park.

“In this situation, I may feel sorry for myself. I feel very lucky,” said Baker. “Frankly, if that was me a few years ago, I would say ‘thank you’ to God.”

Born in Philadelphia and raised in Mount Ephraim, he was 25 years old after graduating from Audubon High School when he started working as a PA announcer. In addition to his work with the Phillies, Baker served as his PA announcer for the Eagles from 1985 until he was 2014 and radio station for Drexel men’s basketball from 1997 until he was 2012.

But Baker, a longtime Phillies fan, said nothing beats the feeling of walking into the ballpark.

“It was a lot of fun,” he said. “I was able to share with my family. I met her wife in the Phillies. bottom.