Dave Van Horne

From BR Bullpen

Dave Van Horne

Biographical Information[edit]

Dave Van Horne was a broadcaster and longtime voice of the Montreal Expos, from their inaugural season in 1969 until 2001, and Florida Marlins and Miami Marlins from 2002 to 2021. His move to Florida coincided with Expos owner Jeffrey Loria swapping ownership of the Expos for the Marlins, and taking all of the front office and scouting staff with him to Florida. He wound up calling the final Expos home game from the visiting radio side. He previously worked for the Richmond Braves from 1966-1968. His most famous call might have been "El Presidente, El Perfecto!" after Dennis Martinez's perfect game on July 28, 1991. His catch phrase for homers was "Up, up and away!", which was later used as the title of a book on the history of the Expos written by Jonah Keri, who had grown up listening to his radio calls. In 2000, because the Expos did not have a local English-language broadcasting contract, thanks to Loria's outrageous demands, he broadcast games over the internet, which was a novel way of proceeding at the time.

Van Horne was awarded the Jack Graney Award in 1996 by the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and won the 2011 Ford C. Frick Award given by the Hall of Fame. In 2014, he was inducted to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in a class with Murray Cook, Jim Ridley and Tim Wallach. He partnered in the broadcast booth with former major league player Tom Hutton in both Montreal and Florida.

He was offered an opportunity to work again for the Marlins in 2022 with a limited package of games, but declined the offer, deciding to retire at 82 after 56 years in the business.

He is not to be confused with college coach Dave Van Horn.

Further Reading[edit]

  • Barry Jackson (Miami Herald): "Miami Marlins radio voice Dave Van Horne retires. Here’s why and what listeners can expect", Yahoo! Sports, January 14, 2022. [1]

External Links[edit]