Angel, Hunter advance in 2013 Frick Award balloting

Longtime Orioles voices Joe Angel and Jim Hunter are among 41 veteran broadcasters chosen as candidates for the 2013 Ford C. Frick Award, which is presented annually by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y., for excellence in baseball broadcasting. More than 12,000 votes were cast in the first round of fan voting on the Hall of Fame's Facebook page. Every broadcaster, active or retired, who has broadcast at least 10 consecutive years for a team or network was eligible for consideration during the first round. Voting in the Fan Finals begins with a clean slate for each candidate, as vote totals do not carry over from Round One. Bios of each eligible candidate will appear at www.baseballhall.org throughout the voting. WBAL Radio's Angel is in his ninth consecutive season as the "Voice of the Orioles" on radio broadcasts and his 34th season overall as a major league broadcaster. He previously called O's games from 1988-90 an d 1992. Angel has also broadcast games for the Giants, A's, Twins and Yankees, and was the original voice of the Marlins. Hunter has been part of the Orioles broadcast team for 16 seasons. He calls games on radio, television and serves as the host of the "O's Xtra" pregame and postgame shows on MASN. Prior to his tenure in Baltimore, Hunter worked at CBS Radio Sports, where he had been a member of the network's "Game of the Week" announcing team. The next round of voting on the Hall of Fame's Facebook page will run until 5 p.m. on Oct. 5 and will yield three finalists. Those finalists, along with seven others chosen by a Hall of Fame committee, will be part of the final ballot announced Oct. 9. The 2013 Frick Award winner will be selected by a 21-member electorate, with the winner to be announced at baseball's Winter Meetings in Nashville in early December. Longtime Baltimore broadcaster and sports historian Ted Patterson is a member of the 21-member electorate. Votes may be cast here.