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Photo: Red Barber&NPR's Bob Edwards at their only face to face meeting. Location, Flordia State University 1991

A native of Columbus, Mississippi, Walter Lanier "Red" Barber was born February 17, 1908. He launched his colorful and distinguished broad casting career in Cincinnati in 1934. Barber was highly regarded by his peers and his broadcasts were noted for their fairness and accuracy. He was best known by his nickname "Red." Barber followed McPhail to Brooklyn, where he pioneered baseball on radio in New York. He became known as the "Voice of the Brooklyn Dodgers." Barber was at his microphone on August 26, 1939 when the first major league baseball game was telecast from Ebbets Field. The game was a doubleheader between the Dodgers and the Reds. He was with the Dodgers when Jackie Robinson came to Brooklyn in 1947 and he had a major role in shaping the baseball worldÃïÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs reaction to RobinsonÃïÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs breaking the color barrier in major league baseball.

Red Barber left the Dodgers in 1953 and took a job with the rival New York Yankees. He remained there until 1966. The "old Redhead" as he was affectionately known, compiled an impressive record, covering 13 World Series and other major sports broadcasts. His career as a broadcaster lasted 38 years.