Courtesy ESPN

(October 5, 2010) Rangers play-by-play radio voice Eric Nadel (left) is one of 10 finalists for the 2011 Ford C. Frick Award, given annually for excellence in baseball broadcasting by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

It's the first time Nadel has made the list of finalists, joining Rene Cardenas, Tom Cheek, Dizzy Dean, Jacques Doucet, Bill King, Ned Martin, Tim McCarver, Graham McNamee and Dave Van Horne. The winner will be announced on Dec. 7 at the Baseball Winter Meetings in Orlando, Fla, and honored during Hall of Fame Weekend, July 22-25, 2011 in Cooperstown.

"It’s an unbelievable honor," said Nadel, who is preparing to broadcast his fourth playoff series with the Rangers. "I’m very surprised and totally flattered to be thought of in the company of the people who have won this award, many of whom are my heroes in the field. Last year’s winner, of course, Jon Miller is someone I consider to be my mentor."

Nadel said, more than anything, the honor means he's been in the sport a long time. He's been calling Rangers games for 32 seasons now.

"It means I avoided getting fired, which in and of itself is an achievement," Nadel said. "It speaks to the loyalty that I’ve shown to the organization and they’ve shown to me when you consider the long succession of owners, general managers and rightsholders. All of those poee who have been supportive of me and allowed me to do the job the way I think it should be done even in times when the team wasn’t going well and sometimes involved being critical of the team."

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