Sean McDonough, Todd Frazier praise Tom Hamilton during Wild Card broadcast

Tom Hamilton got his flowers during ESPN’s Wild Card Series coverage.

During Game 3 of the American League Wild Card Series between the Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers, ESPN’s cameras panned to the Cleveland radio booth. It gave Sean McDonough and Todd Frazier a chance to praise one of baseball’s best voices.

Sean McDonough and Todd Frazier share effusive praise for Cleveland Guardians radio announcer Tom Hamilton.

“He’s in Cooperstown, where he belongs.” pic.twitter.com/1ZJHaJVH5L

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 2, 2025

“There’s the legendary Tom Hamilton, the radio voice of the Guardians and the Indians before that,” McDonough said. “The winner of the Ford C. Frick Award for his outstanding broadcasting. He’s in Cooperstown, where he belongs. And they have had some memorable calls here in Northeast Ohio, and around wherever Indians and Guardians fans listen, from Tom Hamilton this year and many years.”

Frazier, who faced the Guardians throughout his career with teams like the Reds and White Sox, added his own perspective.

“One of those voices you will never forget,” Frazier said. “When I played here, I remember hearing some of the great calls against us. When I played, I didn’t like it too much, but I understood. [He’s] one of the best to do it.”

Hamilton won the Frick Award in 2024, cementing his place in Cooperstown alongside baseball’s broadcasting greats. His calls have become synonymous with Cleveland baseball over his decades behind the microphone. Whether it’s his iconic call of the Tim Anderson-José Ramírez brawl or blasting Miguel Sano for being “just fat,” Hamilton doesn’t censor himself.

It’s rare to see a national broadcast stop to acknowledge a local voice, especially during the playoffs when every second of airtime matters. But Hamilton has earned that kind of respect across baseball, even from announcers working the big stage. Awful Announcing readers ranked Hamilton’s radio booth fourth in the 2025 MLB local radio rankings, with one voter noting they’d “listen to Hamilton read me the phone book.”

Frazier’s praise carries extra weight given his history with broadcasters. The former third baseman once confronted Gary Cohen in front of teammates during his Mets days, upset about what he saw as negative coverage. Frazier told Cohen to “start rooting for us,” apparently misunderstanding what a broadcaster’s job actually is. But his respect for Hamilton seems genuine, even if some of Hamilton’s calls came at Frazier’s expense during his playing career.

Frazier has had an up-and-down start to his ESPN broadcasting career. During Game 1 of the same Wild Card Series, he was briefly forced to call the game solo when McDonough disappeared at the start of the sixth inning. Frazier stumbled through play-by-play duties and even misidentified Gleyber Torres as Javy Báez before McDonough returned.

But giving Hamilton his due during a playoff broadcast? That’s something Frazier got right.