The King is Dead

Sad news to report but an true icon of Bay Area broadcasting, Bill King, passed away from complications of hip surgery; he had suffered the injury in spring training and been struggling with it all season. Unfortunately the adage "no surgery is minor" proved true for him. He was 78 years old.

He has (had) been a big part of the Bay Area sports broadcasting scene for many, many decades. He was announcing the Warriors when I first got into following sports in the early 1970's but I don't know how many years prior to that he had been working. I can still remember his rousing "Holy Toledo" punctuating the Warriors broadcasts back in the day. He has been the voice for many teams in the Bay Area, including the Raiders and, of course, the A's, his most recent gig. He even was an announcer for the Giants at one time, with the 49ers being the only major sport in the Bay Area to not have employed his one-of-a-kind voice and personality. An era has ended with his passing.