Ray Fosse — longtime Oakland Athletics broadcaster and two-time World Series champion as an MLB catcher — died on Wednesday after a 16-year battle with cancer. He was 74.
The A’s and NBC Sports California released statements on Fosse’s passing:
On Aug. 5, Fosse announced that he had been silently battling cancer for 16 years, and that he would step away from the broadcast booth to focus on his treatment.
Fosse played 12 years in the majors and was a two-time All-Star. He won championships with the A’s in 1973 and 1974.
In 1986, he joined the A’s broadcast booth and turned that into a 35-year post-playing career as an announcer for A’s games (32 years on television), with the last 18 years alongside play-by-play man Glen Kuiper.
Here’s some reaction to the news from the baseball world:
Ray Fosse was a part of my baseball childhood and getting to meet him as a professional later in life was an honor. I’ll never forget the kindness he showed to my boys after their father passed or that he always asked about them when I saw him. https://t.co/GdDXUfGQ88
— Melissa Lockard (@melissalockard) October 14, 2021