The man with a ringside seat for much of the last century of Washington history will turn 96 on Saturday.
That history is on display on the wall of beloved Washington announcer Charlie Brotman’s room at the Silver Spring, Maryland, assisted-living home where he resides these days. There are photos of him with presidents Gerald Ford, Bill Clinton and others from his days as the public address voice for 12 presidential inaugurations.
Mixed in are photos of Brotman with such sports legends as Ted Williams, Gil Hodges, and Sugar Ray Leonard. There’s a picture of Brotman holding up home plate at the final baseball game at RFK Stadium. A Washington Senators program cover from the days he was the announcer and promotions director of the baseball team that left the city in 1960. When that happened, Brotman helped start the legendary public relations company Brotman/Winter/Fried.
A sporting event, a business opening, a speech to be made — there was Brotman, in one role or another. In some ways, he was the Zelig of Washington, to be found somewhere in photos that chronicled life in the nation’s capital.
He was welcomed pretty much everywhere.
During a recent visit, Brotman revealed this simple reason why: “I find it easy to be easy with people.”
There you go, kiddies. Mark it down in your life plan, your business plan, any plan. Find it easy to be easy with people. It’s the wisdom that made Brotman beloved and respected.
Ted Williams liked Brotman. When the baseball Hall of Famer was manager of the Washington Senators in 1970, he had a book published called, “The Science of Hitting.” Brotman had a client in Northern Virginia who needed to sell new homes. The PR wizards married the two.
“A builder in Northern Virginia who was a client asked me, ‘How can we get people out here to see all these houses?’ I said ‘I have an idea. The most popular guy in town is Ted Williams. He would be fantastic. Keep in mind, he is impossible to get and he’ll charge you an arm and a leg. There is one thing we have that he would want, and whatever he wants he gets.
“I went to Ted and said, ‘I got a great idea for you. Would you be interested in selling 500 books?’ He said, ‘Charlie, for 500 books I would do anything.’ I told him we would have a book signing over in Virginia where all these houses are. He is into it. ‘Charlie you set it up, I’ll do whatever you say.’
“Ted liked the idea,” Brotman said. “Everybody liked the idea. The only thing that went wrong here was I was driving with 500 books in the back, and couldn’t find the houses. There’s no signs. I said, ‘Ted, I’m sorry but I’m lost.’ He was such a good guy to me. He said, ‘Charlie, don’t be concerned. They’ll all be there waiting for me to get their books.’ I finally found the place. We got there late and there were people lined up. Ted said, ‘Charlie, look at all these people here. What did I tell you?’”
Gil Hodges liked Brotman. The baseball Hall of Famer was manager of the Senators from 1963 to 1967. Brotman was the public address announcer, and recalled one time when he was chewed out by an umpire — and Hodges came to his aid.
“In baseball, any changes or announcements made during a game must be approved by the home plate umpire,” Brotman said. “Once I was a little early on making an announcement, now somebody coming in to pitch for Washington. Somebody was always coming in to pitch for Washington. It was my favorite announcement. The problem was the announcement came before the home plate umpire had given the signal for the pitcher to come in.
“The next day I was on the field and the umpire comes up to me and says, ‘Hey, don’t you know the rules? You don’t just make an announcement. You wait until I tell you to make the announcement.’ He was mad, in my face. Then somebody tapped me on the shoulder. It was Gil Hodges, who said, ‘Let me get in on this. Charlie is on my team. If you got any problems with Charlie, you come to see me. I’m the guy you want to talk to.’
“Gil Hodges has been my hero ever since,” Brotman said. “He stood up for me.”
Add Harmon Killebrew to the list of Brotman’s Hall of Fame friends — after Brotman, on his first day on the job working for Senators owner Calvin Griffith, had an uncomfortable introduction to the slugger.
Killebrew, who his debut with the Senators in 1954, was struggling two years later and the team decided to send him down to the minors.
“My first day at work, Calvin Griffith called me into his office,” Brotman said. “He said, ‘Charlie, I’ve got a little chore for you. We have some young fellows who are going to be really good players. But they are not good now and can’t play here now. I want you to give these tickets for one of the kids.’
“Nobody likes to be sent down,” Brotman said. “It’s a terrible feeling. I had to give him his train tickets. Here I am, scared. I go up to the player, introduce myself and say, ‘Calvin Griffith asked me to give these to you. They are tickets. He said I need to tell you that this is not the end. It is just the beginning.’
“I took him to Union Station,” Brotman said. “He and I are at the station. I’m trying to be the big brother. ‘This is nothing to be ashamed of,’ I tell him. ‘You’ve not failed. We will see you when you come back.’ I go back to my car. I just broke this kid’s heart. I said to myself, ‘Nice guy, but I’ll probably never see him again.’”
But Killebrew never forgot how Brotman tried to comfort him in that tough time and they remained friends until Killebrew, who would go on to hit 573 home runs, most of them with the Minnesota Twins after the Senator relocated in 1960, passed away in 2011.
“We became close friends,” Brotman said. “I would tell that story and when he would see me, he would say, ‘Never see me again, eh?’”
To know Charlie Brotman has always been to like Charlie Brotman, still telling stories about how he found it easy to be easy with people.
You can hear Thom Loverro on The Kevin Sheehan Show podcast.
• Thom Loverro can be reached at tloverro@washingtontimes.com.
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