Halsey Hall

The first person ever to use the expression “Holy Cow!” on a baseball broadcast was one of the region’s best loved sportscasters and storytellers, Halsey Hall. Remembered today as a broadcaster, he was also an accomplished journalist whose first newspaper byline appeared in 1919. In 1933 he began broadcasting Minneapolis Millers baseball games on WCCO Minneapolis/Saint Paul. He moved to KSTP Saint Paul/Minneapolis in 1935, and returned to WCCO in 1944. Besides play-by-play announcing for baseball games and University of Minnesota football games, he hosted nightly sportscasts as well. He became a member of the original Minnesota Twins baseball broadcast team for WCCO in 1961, and continued until 1972, when he was presented with a lifetime pass by the American League. He was known for his love of green onions, cigars, and good stories. He died in 1977,at the age of 78, but was not forgotten. In a poll taken two years later, he was voted top Minnesota sportscaster of the 1970s.