Ross Porter (sportscaster)

Ross U. Porter Jr. (born November 29, 1938) is an Americansportscaster, known for his 28-year tenure (1977–2004) as a play-by-play announcer for Los Angeles Dodgers baseball.

Porter was born in Shawnee, Oklahoma, and graduated from Shawnee High School in 1955, then went on to earn a radio journalism degree at the University of Oklahoma. His broadcasting career began in 1953 at age 14, when he broadcast a few innings of several baseball games involving the Class D Shawnee Hawks, a Brooklyn Dodgers farm club, over KGFF. At age 15, Porter was elevated to play-by-play man of the Shawnee Wolves' football and basketball broadcasts and the Hawks when their regular announcer resigned. At a high school football game one night, Ross was introduced by his father to the legendary Jim Thorpe.

After earning his college degree, Porter was hired by WKY radio in Oklahoma City as a newscaster. He also was a sports anchor for WKY-TV, and at age 24 became the youngest recipient of the Oklahoma Sportscaster of the Year award, and the youngest state winner ever in the nation. Ross repeated the next year. Between 1960 and 1966, he did the play-by-play of the previous day's University of Oklahoma football game on channel 4's one-hour "Sunday Playback Show."

In 1966, at age 27, he left for Los Angeles and subsequently spent 10 years as a sportscaster for KNBC-TV in Los Angeles. He worked alongside Tom Snyder on the 6 PM news and Tom Brokaw on the 11 PM news. Porter won two local Emmys.

Porter worked for NBC Sports in the early 1970s, calling NFL football from 1970 to 1976 and Pacific-8 college basketball from 1972 to 1976. He also served as the halftime host of the 1974 Final Four, the sideline reporter for the 1975 Rose Bowl, and a hole announcer for the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am golf tournament. Porter had to give up his NBC assignments when he joined the Dodgers in 1977, due to an overlap in seasons. He later was the radio and television voice of UNLV Rebels football and basketball from 1978 to 1992.

During the 1970s, Porter had been the television play-by-play announcer for the high school basketball Game of The Week on KNBC showing matchups between Los Angeles area teams. Former Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax worked as a game analyst with Ross the first year. One of their games went five overtimes.

صُنِّف روس ضمن أفضل 60 معلقًا رياضيًا في تاريخ البيسبول من قبل كورت سميث في كتابه " أصوات الصيف" .

يُعدّ روس بورتر المذيع الوحيد الذي علّق على مباريات فريقين فائزين ببطولة العالم للبيسبول (فريق لوس أنجلوس دودجرز عامي 1981 و1988) وبطولة كرة السلة الجامعية (مع فريق جامعة نيفادا، لاس فيغاس عام 1990). وفي عام 1968، كُرّم بورتر كخريج متميز من جامعة أوكلاهوما.

انضم روس إلى قاعة مشاهير مذيعي الرياضة في جنوب كاليفورنيا عام 2005، وقدمه زميله في التعليق الرياضي لفريق لوس أنجلوس دودجرز، فين سكالي . قال سكالي: "لقد تشرفت بالعمل مع روس لمدة 28 عامًا. إنه يستوفي جميع متطلبات المذيع المحترف الناجح. عاداته في العمل واستعداده مثاليان. يتميز روس بالدقة والإفادة والتشويق، مع تواضعه الشديد الذي يجعله في المرتبة الثانية بعد المباراة. أكن له إعجابًا واحترامًا كبيرين، ليس فقط كمذيع محترف، بل كإنسان أيضًا". في عام 2007، حصل بورتر على جائزة بيل تيغينز للتميز في التعليق الرياضي من متحف أوكلاهوما الرياضي.

في 23 أغسطس 1989، سجّل بورتر رقماً قياسياً في دوري البيسبول الرئيسي ببثه 22 شوطاً متتالياً عبر الراديو بمفرده في مباراة استمرت ست ساعات و14 دقيقة ضد فريق إكسبوز في مونتريال. لم يسافر فين سكالي إلى كندا لعدم بث أي مباريات تلفزيونياً. تولى دون دريسديل التعليق على أول مباراتين من السلسلة، ثم غادر إلى لوس أنجلوس عندما بدأت زوجته آن المخاض بطفلهما الثاني.

اشتهر بورتر بتقديمه معلومات إحصائية عن اللاعبين للجماهير خلال بثه. وقدّم برنامجًا إذاعيًا قبل وبعد المباريات بعنوان "دودجر توك" لمدة 14 عامًا، حيث كان يجيب على مكالمات المستمعين الذين لديهم أسئلة متعلقة بالبيسبول. وحصل على لقب أفضل مُقدّم برامج رياضية في لوس أنجلوس في السنوات الثلاث الأولى التي مُنحت فيها الجائزة من قِبل رابطة مُذيعي الرياضة في جنوب كاليفورنيا، ثم فاز بها للمرة الرابعة. وساهم بورتر في بثّ مباريات بطولة العالم للبيسبول عامي 1977 و 1978 ، وكلاهما شارك فيهما فريق لوس أنجلوس دودجرز، على أكثر من 600 محطة إذاعية تابعة لشبكة سي بي إس حول العالم. كما قدّم روس أيضًا برنامج "مباراة الأسبوع" على إذاعة سي بي إس في ثمانينيات وتسعينيات القرن الماضي. ويُعدّ تعليقه على المباراة السادسة والأخيرة من بطولة العالم عام 1977 أشهر تعليق له على المستوى الوطني، حيث سجّل ريجي جاكسون ثلاث ضربات هوم رن متتالية.

جاكسون يسجل أربع نقاط - يرسل كرة عالية إلى منتصف الملعب وبعيدة! ستكون بعيدة جدًا، وستكون خارج الملعب! ريجي جاكسون يسجل ضربته المنزلية الثالثة في المباراة!

Porter began a new venture called Real Sports Heroes with Ross Porter in April 2007. Real Sports Heroes highlighted the positive side of athletics and the great things that some athletes are doing and have done to give something back to the community. Porter aired 90-second Real Sports Heroes vignettes on KLAC and KABC radio in Los Angeles. The vignettes and Porter's web site were sponsored by American Airlines.

Porter aired high school football games for the IBN Sports Network in 2011, and joined Fox Sports West in 2012 to announce prep football, basketball, and baseball contests.

In 2016, Porter became the announcer for the Cal State Northridge Matadors baseball team. For the next five years, he wrote a weekly column during baseball season for "Dodgers Dugout," a newsletter published by the Los Angeles Times. Titled "Ask Ross," fans from around the world posed baseball questions which he answered.

Since 2006, Porter has hosted a charity golf tournament each November to raise funds for his clinical psychologist son's non-profit organization, Stillpoint Family Resources. Stillpoint was founded when Ross and Lin's first grandson was born with Down Syndrome. John Michael underwent three heart surgeries in the first 18 months of his life, and today at 32 is the joy of the family. 105 celebrities have participated in the Ross Porter Celebrity Golf Classic, played in Southern California.^[1] Ross currently has two sports sites on the internet. On Ross Porter Sports Facebook, he interacts with fans, writes commentaries, answers questions, and urges viewers to not only post their opinions, but also submit photos and visuals. Ross Porter Sports YouTube lets you see and hear 217 interviews and features that Ross has done with sports personalities, celebrities, and close friends.

On February 27, 2024, Ross was presented a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Association for his 38 uninterrupted years on the air on Los Angeles radio and television stations.

Porter published his first book in the fall of 2025, The Ross Porter Chronicles, Volume 1: The Dodger Years. The 225-page book features interviews with 24 former Dodger players and personnel in print and QR codes providing visual additions.

Porter married his wife Lin 65 years ago, in 1961. They have two sets of boy/girl twins, ages 62 and 57, and 11 grandchildren—9 boys and 2 girls. ^[2]

He currently lives in West Hills, California.