Howard Kellman decided he wanted to be a baseball radio announcer at age 14. He'd practice with a muted TV. He'd go to games and practice while trying not to bother anyone, he recalled to The Indianapolis News in 1979.
Then, five years into his career as a broadcaster for the Indianapolis Indians, the 27-year-old recounted to The News how he loved describing the game, telling the story to listeners.
"I just do not want to give up broadcasting baseball, period," Kellman told The News then. "It's what stimulates me more than anything I could possibly do for a living. If you can say that, then you're mighty fortunate. I'm able to say that with baseball."
Kellman still hasn't given up broadcasting. In 2024. He announced his 6,000th game in 2017 and has now, at the age of 74, remained in the Indians radio booth for half a century.
Kellman's career with the Indians began in 1974, having started in his native Brooklyn at Brooklyn College.
He announced for the Indians and even worked as a fill-in in Chicago with the White Sox. In the years since, he's also filled in elsewhere, including for the Mets and the Yankees.
Early on, he looked to move up for good, he told told MiLB.com in 2023, but he eventually understood "I've got a great situation. I don't have to leave."
With the Indians, he spent most of his first two decades alongside fellow announcer Tom Akins. In 1997, his 23rd season, Kellman announced his 3,000th game.
"He's incredibly loyal and dedicated to Indians baseball," Akins told The Indianapolis Star of Kellman upon that milestone. "He is an absolute student of the game and delights in baseball strategy and lore."
As he prepared to announce his 6,000 game in 2017, Kellman looked back on his long career in the Indianapolis broadcast booth another MiLB.com article.
"It means everything in the world," Kellman told MiLB.com then. "This is what I would like to do more than anything else I could be doing for a living or as a hobby, and I've done that virtually my entire adult life. It's been a dream come true."
- Indianapolis News, Aug. 14, 1979: Howard Kellman Scores As Baseball Broadcaster
- Indianapolis Star, June 7, 1997: For Kellman, it's 2,999 and counting
- MiLB.com, June 30, 2017: Born to Broadcast, Howard Kellman to call his 6,000th Game Tonight
- MiLB.com, Oct. 19, 2023: Indianapolis icon: Broadcaster Howard Kellman on cusp of 50th anniversary
Made the Majors:1,410-32.2
Never Made Majors:2,966-67.8%
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