Powerful Voice for High School Sports
December 19, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Paul Carey was home from the U.S. Army only a few months and just shy of 25 years old when Beal City embarked on its first trip deep into the MHSAA boys basketball tournament.
On the call for local radio station WCEN from gyms at Saginaw Arthur Hill and Lansing Sexton, Carey served as the voice of the previously “laughable” Aggies as they reached the Class D Semifinals before falling just six points short of playing for the title.
“All of Beal City emptied out. They’d never had anything before,” Carey recalled during his annual Thanksgiving weekend visit to the MHSAA Football Finals at Ford Field. “When I got home, within the next two weeks I got a letter from every citizen of Beal City thanking me for broadcasting their games. That’s the kind of appreciation that meant so much.”
During 42 years on the airwaves, Carey was best known as a voice of the Detroit Tigers bounding out of transistor radios all over Michigan, thanks to WJR’s powerful signal.
But for the state’s high school sports community, his legacy is similarly memorable as the voice of the longtime football and basketball scoreboard show and a voter for various all-state teams and wire polls over the decades.
Now 86 and retired since 1991, Carey remains a regular during the first day of the Football Finals, taking in games he broadcast for the MHSAA during the late 1970s and that continue to hold his eye as they have for more than a half-century.
“It was a passion of mine. High school sports always has been,” Carey said. “I think because my dad was a high school coach, and teacher initially, and my brother was a high school coach and teacher, I just grew up in families that appreciated coaching and athletics. I was not a great athlete, but it kept my hand in following sports that way.”
Now, the scores
Carey partnered with Ernie Harwell for Tigers radio broadcasts from 1973-91, including during the march to the 1984 World Series championship. He was named Michigan Sportscaster of the Year six times and to the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 1992.
But Carey’s early career included sitting on top of a car, plugged into a phone pole, for a Sacred Heart football game at old Fancher Field just a few blocks from his family’s Mount Pleasant home. Among many more accolades are a Distinguished Service Award from the Michigan High School Coaches Association and a place in the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan Hall of Fame.
In fact, the start of his weekly announcing of statewide football and basketball scores preceded his baseball career by 16 years and ended two months after he announced his final professional out.
The Michigan High School Scoreboard show was a staple of WJR’s late Friday nights from 1957-91. Carey would read every score he could collect from a variety of sources, often organized by league and with state rankings and context mixed in.
His idea came from something similar read by Len Colby for Kalamazoo’s WKZO. Carey’s brother Terry was coaching at Niles during the second half of the 1950s, and he and other coaches would get together to listen to the Friday night scores from the southwestern part of the state.
Carey, who left WKNX in Saginaw for WJR in 1956, explained to then-sports director Bob Reynolds that the station’s strong signal could provide for a truly statewide scoreboard experience.
Carey then connected with Edgar Hayes of the former Detroit Times, who gave the OK for Carey to call the paper on Friday nights to get scores from the Detroit metro area. For the rest, Carey relied on wire services – there were three at the time – who relied on newspapers from all over Michigan to call in scores over the course of an evening.
Before every Friday during high school football season – and later Tuesdays and Fridays during boys basketball season – Carey typed up lists of games based on schedules in the newspaper, with spaces to add scores. More than a few times, Carey raced down a back ramp at Tiger Stadium after a Friday night game, back to the WJR studio, with 15 minutes to prep for the show’s 11:30 p.m. start.
“If the Flint Journal, the Grand Rapids Press, the Traverse City paper didn’t call in scores to the AP, then I was out of luck too. And that happened all the time,” Carey said. “I would call back occasionally, say, ‘Did you get anything more?’ It was a rat race.”
The show originally was set for 10 minutes and then extended to 15. American Airlines sponsored a record show that followed, and Carey’s scoreboard show had a sponsor only once in 35 years. Finishing up on time was expected, even with more than 200 scores to read.
But Carey said he always went 20 minutes, sometimes 25.
“Because I wasn’t done. I just kept right on going,” Carey said. “Jay Roberts did the all-night show most of the time, and he was patient with me. He didn’t say too much on the air about ‘that guy ahead of me took all of my time.’”
Carey continued the “rat race” until his final scoreboard show, Dec. 20, 1991. He retired from WJR at the end of that calendar year. And it's important to note: Carey was never paid a dime extra for doing the program. .
“I think Paul is really just a sports fan, and that came across to the listener on his broadcasts,” MHSAA historian Ron Pesch said. “Paul would gather as much as possible off the wire. He'd interject if scores were missing from sections of the state. Press polls from the Free Press, News, AP and UPI were big, so he could point out close calls and upsets.
“He provided immediacy, or the closest thing to it in the days before cable TV and the Internet, and because of his scoreboard show, you could get the results before the morning paper. For listeners, he brought life to something as simple as game scores.”
First team all the way
Carey, who resides in Rochester, also served as the engineer on Tigers broadcasts for 16 years, through 1990. He broadcast Pistons games on the radio for six seasons and did the first broadcast of a Central Michigan University football game, in 1949.
Harry Atkins, covering Detroit’s teams while with The Associated Press for 29 years including the last 21 as its sports editor for Detroit, took note of his colleague's hard work – and especially that Carey was one of few broadcasters who was a journalist in addition to a voice.
That made Carey's other major role in high school sports a natural fit.
Atkins split The Associated Press all-state selection panels for football and basketball into 11 regions, and Carey represented the Detroit area for a number of years. He also was a longtime voter in those sports' weekly polls.
“Paul is just that kind of guy. He thought it was important and he made time in his busy schedule to do it,” Atkins said “And it had an impact on the other 10 voters on the All-State panels, too.
“Some of them were from small out-state newspapers or radio or TV stations. Yet every one of them knew who Paul Carey was. And when he spoke, of course, with what often is called "The Voice of God," those voters paid attention.”
And he still does, as well.
At the end of each fall, Carey still puts together a compilation of the three high school all-state football teams – Associated Press, Detroit Free Press and Detroit News – and files them with years of research and results.
“It’s important to me. Nobody sees it but me, but I get a certain kick,” Carey said. “Once in a while I’ll see a kid playing at Central, Western or (Michigan) State or Michigan, and they’ll say he came from Clawson. I’ll go into my all-state collections, say that would’ve been 2009 he played, and I find a name.”
In addition to the Football Finals on WJR, Carey was part of the Baseball Finals broadcasts into the early 1990s, continuing to contribute even after his retirement from his fulltime gig.
He spent high school games over the years sitting next to legends like the Free Press’ Hal Schram and remembers when current Free Press longtime scribe Mick McCabe was just a rookie. One of Carey's final broadcasts was a 1992 Baseball Final with his nephew Mike Carey, who continues to broadcast MHSAA championship games to this day.
“I am eternally grateful to Paul Carey. His contribution to high school sports in Michigan has been great and significant,” Atkins said.
“We are lucky to have him.”
PHOTO: Paul Carey (left) and nephew Mike Carey broadcast the MHSAA 1992 Class D Baseball Final between Hillman and Athens for PASS.
Flashback 1982: Diamond Finals Dominated by 1-Run Title Deciders
By
Ron Pesch
MHSAA historian
June 6, 2022
Heavy downpours earlier in the week, combined with all-night rain on Friday, meant the title games in both baseball and softball were postponed from Saturday, June 19 to the following Monday.
BASEBALL
Those baseball fans making the trip to Central Michigan University’s Alumni Field for the 1982 MHSAA Baseball Finals saw five of the Detroit Free Press’ 11-member Dream team – Rick Leppien of Midland, Bill Hanis from Plymouth Canton, Paul Ouillette from Bay City Handy, Frank Kendall of Mesick and Ron Fillmore from Sanford Meridian (a rare all-stater in three sports).
Runner-up in Class D in 1981, Mesick brought home a state title in ’82, posting a 30-0-1 record, capped by a thrilling – and for some, controversial – 3-2 win over Colon before an opening game crowd of 500.
Colon grabbed a 2-1 advantage in the third inning and had multiple opportunities to up its lead, loading the bases in both the fourth and again in the top of the sixth innings. But the Magi were unable to capitalize. In the bottom of the sixth with one out, Mesick’s Monty Geiger ripped an opposite-field double within inches of the rightfield foul line, scoring Chuck Hockey to knot the game at 2-2, setting the stage for a thrilling finish.
In the seventh, with Mesick runners at second and third and nobody out, Colon coach Mike Sowles ordered an intentional walk to Bulldogs star Frank Kendall. With the bases loaded, a grounder to short was tossed to home plate for the inning’s first out. Another near-identical shot, again to the shortstop, followed. The throw to the plate was accurate and beat the sliding runner, Ken LeFountain. However, the umpire ruled the catcher had been pulled off the plate by the throw, allowing Mesick to score the game winner.
“Our clutch hitting didn’t come through for the first time in a long time,” said Sowles to the Battle Creek Enquirer. His team had stranded 13 runners on the morning. “We just didn’t get the key hits to put them away.”
"Most observers in the press box located directly behind home plate, thought the umpire was right,” stated Steve Morse, staff writer at the Enquirer, who had covered the game.
While Sowles disagreed with the game-ending call, he added, “You’ve got to give credit to Mesick. They pitched out of those jams time and time again.”
Also named all-state in football and basketball, Sanford Meridian’s Ron Fillmore doubled off the centerfield fence, then scored what proved to be the winning run in the fifth inning following a two-out single by catcher Brian Garner as the Mustangs downed Buchanan 6-4 to earn the Class C baseball crown. It was the second consecutive runner-up finish for the Bucks, who finished the year at 25-6.
Beaten only once, at a tournament during the regular season by eventual Class A champion Midland, Sanford Meridian (29-1) banged out 13 hits and opened the scoring in the top of the first when Dave Ehlert scored on a double steal. The Mustangs then added runs in the second, and a pair in the third inning, for a 4-1 lead.
Buchanan knotted the game in the fourth inning.
Fillmore, who was headed back to Central Michigan University in the fall on a football scholarship, tripled, scored twice, and added an RBI on the day. Garner drove in three runs on a double and a pair of singles, while Jim Bailey and Kirk Shauger also added two singles. The Mustangs had added an insurance run in the sixth following a Dennis Ladlow sacrifice fly.
“Fillmore concluded an outstanding athletic career at Sanford-Meridian with his performance in the title contest,” wrote Jack Walkden in the St. Joseph Herald-Palladium. “Three times he bailed starter Dave Walter (12-0) out of tight jams. And the senior righthander closed out the game with a flourish striking out Buchanan’s 1-2-3 batters. He worked 2 2/3 innings in all, yielding no runs, no hits, striking out five, and walking just two.”
“Sanford-Meridian got some other good news Monday,” added Walkden. “The baseball program had been dropped for 1983 as part of budget cuts at the school.
“‘But it’s about 80 percent sure that it will be reinstated through outside funding,’ Sanford-Meridian Athletic Director Steve Digsby said.”
Bob Podschline drove home the tying run with a two-run double in the Class B contest, scored the winning run on a Carl Novick two-run double in the third inning, then racked up 10 strikeouts as Southgate Aquinas topped Bay City Handy, 6-2. The Raiders southpaw allowed just two hits across six innings. Novak added a fifth-inning home run, and Gary Lizanich tossed a hitless seventh to seal the win. Aquinas ended the season with a 22-10 mark, while Handy closed out the year 30-9.
In the day’s final contest, Midland’s Chemics downed Plymouth Canton, 5-4, in Class A. Rick Leppien smacked a 385-foot two-run homer over the left-centerfield fence in the top of the second inning to open the scoring. It was his eighth round-tripper of the year. He scored again on a double steal to up the score to 3-0 in the fourth.
“The Chemics increased their lead to 5-0 with two more runs in the top of the fifth,” stated Don Winger in the Midland Daily News. “Bryan Kuehne doubled, moved to third on a ground out by Chris Carter, and scored when (Canton) shortstop Don Dombey threw wild to first on Mark Sayad’s grounder. Sayad raced all the way to third on the play and pitcher (Greg) Money promptly doubled him home.”
Victory, however, would not come easy.
Leppien, the ace of the Midland pitching staff with a 16-1 record, was limited to a relief role in the championship contest because of a “30 outs rule in effect for the semifinal and final games.” Hence, Midland coach Frank Altimore was forced into juggling pitching duties across four members of the staff.
A series of walks, a passed ball, and a timely single – Canton’s lone hit on the day – cut the margin to 5-3 in the fifth inning. Additional issues in the sixth led to another run, setting the stage for an exciting finish.
In the bottom of the seventh, Altimore moved pitchers in and out like chess pieces. The Chiefs had the winning run at third base when Money returned to the mound for the fourth time, and “blew a 3-2 pitch” past Canton’s batter to end the game for the final out.
“It was dark, and I told them to just come in with heat. They did, and we won. It was a great ballgame,” said Altimore.
Moments later, “a heavy downpour inundated the playing field,” concluded Winger. “But, by that time the Chemics were celebrating their second state title in 10 years, and they were oblivious to the raindrops.”
Money, the starter, was credited with both the win and the save for Midland, which finished with a 35-5 mark. Canton ended the season at 25-5.
“They were on a vision quest,” their coach would recall in 2007 when the team was honored with induction into the Midland County Sports Hall of Fame. “We had an incredibly talented team in 1981, senior-loaded. They went to the regional finals, where they got beat by a very poor team from Jackson with a great pitcher.”
In total, over 3,100 attended Monday’s baseball games.
SOFTBALL
Three one-run games kept softball fans on the edge of their seats at Lansing’s Ranney Park.
Paula DeFord and Jean Sullivan each drove in three runs as Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard rolled over Gaylord St. Mary, 9-2, for the Class D title. Senior Ann O’Sullivan held St. Mary to just two hits in the day’s opening game. Rain also had pushed the Softball Finals to Monday.
The Irish, focused on aggressive baserunning, stole 10 bases and took advantage of six errors by the young Gaylord squad. Up 2-0 after the first, and 4-2 after three innings, Gabriel Richard pushed across four more runs in the fourth. The Irish ended the campaign with a 30-6 mark, with O’Sullivan finishing her senior year with 16 wins against four defeats.
“New Lothrop’s first batter of the game, Kelly Fisher, crossed the plate with the game’s only score,” stated Bill Khan of the Flint Journal in his article covering the Hornets’ 1-0 win over Pontiac Catholic in the Class C Final. According to Khan, the “lone run couldn’t have been planned much better.
“Fisher led off the Hornets’ half of the first inning with a walk, then proceeded to swipe her 71st base of the season.”
The thefts marked the top season total recorded in Michigan, as well as the nation, at the time.
Fisher advanced to third on a groundout. A squeeze that went back to the mound initially held her at third, but the toss by the pitcher to first for the out opened an opportunity.
“… Fisher came streaking down the line and made a headfirst slide into home,” just under the tag of the relay to the plate, scoring the game’s only run.
Pontiac Catholic junior Vicki Morrow, who would later earn the Big Ten Softball Player of the Year honor at the University of Michigan in 1987 and was later selected to the Big Ten All-Decade Team, struck out five and allowed only four hits, while New Lothrop pitcher Sandy Deneen limited Pontiac’s offense to just five scattered hits and two walks across seven innings. New Lothrop ended the year with a 29-4 record, while the Titans finished at 30-3.
In Class B, Chelsea topped West Branch Ogemaw Heights, 3-2 in 13 innings. Senior Amy Unterbrink allowed just four hits on the day. Lisa Beeman scored the game winner following a single by Amy Hume.
Ogemaw Heights held a 2-0 lead entering the seventh, but a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning by the Bulldogs pushed the game to extra innings. It was the third straight “cliffhanger” for Chelsea, which ended the year with an impressive 33-2 record – tops in school history.
“In the regional final, they scored four runs with two outs in the seventh inning to trip Dearborn Divine Child, 4-2,” according to Rob Allstetter of the Ann Arbor News, “and they needed an Unterbrink double in the bottom of the eighth inning to turn back Richmond in the semifinals, 4-3.”
Royal Oak Kimball topped Grandville 1-0 in a Class A showdown featuring two of the state’s top pitchers, Kimball senior Julie Bishop and Grandville junior Kathy VanDerMolen.
A leadoff single in the seventh was the only hit allowed by Bishop, who upped her career mark to 46-5 with the win.
Kimball’s Lisa Bean, who had walked earlier in the inning, scored the game’s only run in the third when Mary Pike smashed a two-out double over the left fielder’s head. It was one of only two hits allowed by VanDerMolen.
Bean, Pike, and VanDerMolen, Chelsea’s Unterbrink, the Ogemaw Heights battery of pitcher Pam Czach and catcher Sue Pauley, Morrow and Pontiac Catholic teammates Mary Hashinger and Bridget Syron, Gabriel Richard’s O’Sullivan, her catcher Martha Rogers, and infielder Alicia Seegert, as well as Gaylord St. Mary junior Kristin Fosdick all were among postseason all-state first-team selections named by the Michigan High School Softball Coaches Association in mid-July.
Ron Pesch has taken an active role in researching the history of MHSAA events since 1985 and began writing for MHSAA Finals programs in 1986, adding additional features and "flashbacks" in 1992. He inherited the title of MHSAA historian from the late Dick Kishpaugh following the 1993-94 school year, and resides in Muskegon. Contact him at [email protected] with ideas for historical articles.
PHOTOS (Top) New Lothrop’s softball team celebrated the 1982 Class C championship with a 1-0 win over Pontiac Catholic. (2) Mesick won the Class D baseball title that spring. (3) Sanford Meridian’s Ron Fillmore would go on to play football at Central Michigan. (4) Kimball’s Lisa Bean would score the only run of the 1982 Class A Final. (Photos gathered by Ron Pesch. CMU football photo courtesy of the CMU Athletics Organizational Records.)