Walter Lanier (Red) Barber, Hall of Fame baseball broadcaster, died October 22, 1992. He was 84.

Barber was born February 17, 1908 in Columbus, Mississippi. Nicknamed Red, Barber intended on an education career when he majored in English at the University of Florida. But when he substituted as a reporter for Radio Station WRUF, he became hooked on broadcasting, and decided to make it his profession.

He worked at WRUF for four years before accepting a position in 1933 as a broadcaster for Cincinnati Reds baseball in Cincinnati, Ohio. He moved on to Brooklyn in 1939 where he broadcast Dodger baseball on radio for 7 years.

Barber is credited with helping pave the way for the first black baseball player, Jackie Robinson, who joined the Dodgers in 1947. Barber was a contributing writer to a book about Robinson entitled The Jackie Robinson Reader: Perspectives on an American Hero.

In 1947, Barber joined CBS Sports Radio where he remained until 1954 when he became the announcer for New York Yankee baseball.

He retired from New York in 1972. While in retirement, Barber was elected to the baseball Hall of Fame in 1978, and the Florida Sports Hall of Fame in 1979.

Returning to broadcasting in 1980 as a sports commentator, he won the Peabody Award for sports commentary in 1991.

Along the way, he wrote four books---When All Hell Broke Loose in Baseball, The Broadcasters, Rhubarb in the Catbird Seat and Show Me the Way to go Home.

Barber died of heart failure on October 22, 1992 in Tallahassee, Florida.