New York-based sports station WFAN scored big at this year’s Radio Hall of Fame.
New York Yankees color commentator Suzyn Waldman and former “Mike and the Mad Dog” co-host Chris Russo are among the 2022 inductees, the Hall announced Monday.
Other inductees are radio executive Marv Dyson, Lon Helton of Country Countdown USA, KOST host Ellen K, WCBS’ Broadway Bill Lee, Gospel Traxx’s Walt “Baby” Love, Carol Miller of WAXQ, and Emmis Communications President and CEO Jeff Smulyan, who previously owned the Seattle Mariners.
“Our forthcoming inductees have made a wonderful impact on the lives of their listeners and our industry,” Hall co-chair Kraig T. Kitchin said in a statement.
Waldman, 75, launched WFAN as the first voice heard on its airwaves in 1987 and has continued to narrate the Bronx Bombers for decades. She remains one of the only women doing color for a Major League Baseball team.
Her radio partner, John Sterling, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2018.
“We applaud the well-deserved recognition, particularly for Suzyn’s trailblazing leadership that has been an example to so many fans and women working in our game,” MLB said in a statement.
Other colleagues, including New York Mets’ CBS play-by-play announcer Howie Rose and MLB Network Radio host Mike Ferrin, shared similar sentiments.
“I’m proud to call her a friend of 35 years and am thrilled by her well deserved induction to the Radio Hall of Fame,” Rose tweeted.
Russo, 62, nicknamed “Mad Dog” by New York Daily News columnist Bob Raissman, launched to fame at WFAN when Don Imus invited him onto “Imus in the Morning” as the show’s sports reporter. In 1989, he got his own show and later that year, he was paired with Mike Francesa where they became the infamous Mike and the Mad Dog.
He left WFAN in 2008 for SiriusXM, which includes a daily show on the MLB Network.
“While others are slowing down, Doggie is flying high and is still at the top of his game and Suzyn has inspired countless women in the industry,” Eric Spitz, the vice president of sports programming at SiriusXM, tweeted. “So well deserved!”
Francesa was inducted into the Hall in 2018.
The 2022 inductees will be honored on Nov. 2 at the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel in Chicago.
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