Houston Astros broadcaster Milo Hamilton, who was presented the 1992 Ford C. Frick Award at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, was the most recent guest in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum’s "Voices of the Game" series. With renowned broadcasting historian Curt Smith serving as host, Hamilton enthralled the Saturday night crowd in the Bullpen Theater with stories from a broadcasting past that stretches back to the mid-1940s.

Known for his signature phrase "Holy Toledo," Hamilton, who will turn 80 on Sept. 2, got involved in his future career after he joined the Navy in 1945.

While stationed in Guam, a representative from Armed Forces Radio liked his voice enough to offer an audition. This upcoming November will make it 62 years on the air.

After graduating from the University of Iowa with a degree in radio speech, his baseball broadcasting career began with the minor league team in Davenport, Iowa in 1950. Amazingly, after only three minor league seasons, the 25-year-old Hamilton was calling games for the big league St. Louis Browns in 1953.

"People have asked me how I got to the big leagues after only three years in the minors," Hamilton said. "I am fully convinced that doing baseball recreations helped me get there."

Besides the Browns, Hamilton has broadcast games for the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Atlanta Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Astros. It was during his tenure with the Braves (1966-75) that he made what could arguably be called his most famous call.

With Braves slugger Hank Aaron having ended the 1973 season with 713 career homers, the nation was waiting in anticipation for Ruth’s record of 714 to be broken the next year.

With his first swing of 1974, Aaron hit 714, tying Ruth. The record-breaker would come on April 8, 1974 against Al Downing of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"George Plimpton, the great writer, got the assignment from Sports Illustrated to cover it," Hamilton said. "He called me two or three times that winter saying, �You’ve got to tell me what you’re going to say.’ I’d say, �George, I can’t do that.’ And if you know my history at all, spontaneity has been my long suit. I don’t script things. I let the call decide."

Vin Scully and Curt Gowdy also broadcast the game, but Hamilton’s call ("... There’s a new home run champion of all time and it’s Henry Aaron ...") is the one most remembered and replayed today.

"The home run itself helped me make a great call because it barely made it over the wall. The circumstance made the call; the announcer didn’t make the call. The home run type made the call. I didn’t have to add any excitement," Hamilton said. "The only thing that I consciously said I wouldn’t do, and I lived up to that, was not say in the call �Holy Toledo,’ which I’ve been saying since 1950, because it was Aaron’s moment, not mine.

"Some people say you must have had it all decided. I didn’t," he added. "The ball barely made it. Bill Buckner, the left fielder for the Dodgers, almost caught it. When Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa hit theirs, there was never any doubt, and when Barry Bonds hits his you know it’s going to go in McCovey Cove. Aaron did not hit upper deck home runs. He did not hit Ruthian clouts."

On Tuesday, Bonds passed Aaron with his 756th career home run. Hamilton was asked how he would approach making the call when Bonds sets a new all-time mark.

"I’ve been asked about this since spring training, what would I do if I were going to call the Bonds home run, and I would treat it as a historic moment," Hamilton said. "It is the biggest record in sports, and you would have to treat it that way, but the thing that differentiates it is when Aaron broke the record there was never any talk about who is going to break it. Isn’t it funny that for the last month they are already talking about A-Rod breaking Bonds’ record?

"One of the things I’ve always said is I’m glad I’m not Bud Selig, who probably has been getting up every morning to shave, looked in the mirror, and said to himself, �I hope somebody calls me today and says Barry Bonds retired last night.’"

Besides his Frick Award, which goes to a broadcaster "for major contributions to the game of baseball," Hamilton has also been inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame, the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame and the Texas Radio Hall of Fame.

When given the choice, Hamilton said he will always pick broadcasting on radio rather than on television.

"Baseball is a radio game. Radio is an imagination game," Hamilton said. "About 10 years ago I went to our ball club and I said, �I don’t want to do television anymore.’ The TV announcer today doesn’t do the game, the truck does. I took a pay cut to get off television. I love radio and I love painting a picture. That’s what we do."

As for retirement plans, the voice of the Astros since 1985 would like to put them off for at least a few more years.

"I’m like the greyhound at the racetrack, I always have to have a rabbit to chase, and my goal now is to go to 2010. That will give me 65 years on the air. I was the first five-year-old announcer," Hamilton joked. "And it would give me 55 years in the big leagues. I’ll leave these kids with something to shoot at.

"People will tell you if you heard a recording of me from 40 years ago and of today that you can’t tell the difference," he added. "The guy upstairs took care of that. Some guys lose their voice timber. I’ve been lucky."

And baseball fans from around the country have been lucky that they’ve had the opportunity to listen to Hamilton over the years.