Tom Hamilton (broadcaster)

Thomas Hamilton
(Hammy)

• School Brown College

• Born August 19, 1954 in Waterloo, WI USA

Biograpohical Information

Tom Hamilton is a broadcaster for the Cleveland Guardians and before that for the Indians. He was the winner of the Ford Frick Award for excellence in broadcasting in December 2024, to be inducted as part of the Class of 2025 of the Hall of Fame.

He joined the Indians' radio broadcast crew in 1990 and continued in the job for over three decades, becoming the lead announcer in 1998. While his place of birth is listed as Waterloo, WI, he was actually born on a farm a few miles outside town and did not move there until he was a teenager. Quickly realizing that he had little chance of making it as an athlete, he went to college in Minneapolis, MN to study broadcasting, which turned out to be a good career move. He worked in radio around Wisconsin for a few years, cutting his teeth on calling college football and college basketball games. He eventually got a job in Columbus, OH in 1986, where he worked both on Ohio State University football broadcasts and on calling the games of the AAA Columbus Clippers. From there he moved to Cleveland, where he replaced Paul Olden, who had retired after the 1989 season.

Related Sites

• Tom Hamilton at the SABR Bio Project
• Announcement regarding the Ford Frick Award