Longtime Indianapolis Indians broadcaster getting called up to the big leagues next week

Indianapolis, Indiana – Later this month, the longtime play-by-play announcer for the Indianapolis Indians will call a Major League Baseball game.

When the New York Yankees visit the Kansas City Royals on Friday, September 29, Howard Kellman, who is almost through with his 47th season as the Voice of the Indians, will provide play-by-play on the Yankees Radio Network.

This will be the fourth big-league game that Kellman has called.

The 1984 Chicago White Sox game caller, 2014 New York Mets game caller, and 2022 Yankees game caller is a native of Brooklyn, New York, and a graduate of Brooklyn College.

In fact, “after fulfilling pinch-hit duties for the Yankees-Rays game on Sept. 2, 2022, at Tropicana Field, he
became the only voice in baseball history to handle radio play-by-play duties for both New York-based ballclubs,” according to an Indianapolis Indians news release.

“I am thankful to both the Yankees and WFAN for giving me another opportunity to broadcast a big-league game,” Kellman said in the news release. “I greatly enjoyed my experience calling a Yankees-Rays game last season and am thrilled to have the chance to be behind the mic once again for one of Major League Baseball’s most prestigious franchises, the 27-time World Series champion New York Yankees.”

Next week’s game will be called by Kellman and Suzyn Waldman, a color analyst for the Yankees.

When this year’s Indians’ season concludes, “Kellman will have called 6,764 games in his tenure with the Indians, a run that includes 13 division titles, seven postseason championships, and nine no-hitters thrown by Indy.”

The Indians recruited him in 1974. He has only served as the team’s primary play-by-play broadcaster in two seasons, 1975 and 1980.

In his career, Kellman has won a great deal of recognition. Among his many achievements were being named Indiana’s Sportscaster of the Year in 2002 and being inducted into the Indiana Sportswriters & Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame in 2009.