Former Pirates pitcher, broadcaster King dies at 82

By Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/
Thursday, August 12, 2010

On Friday, Steve Blass saw his friend, Nellie King, for the last time. King was in a nursing home, weakened by cancer and pneumonia.

"He said, 'I'm fine, I'm satisfied, I've had a great life, but I'm tired of fighting,' " recounted Blass, the Pirates' broadcaster and former pitcher. "It was time."

Former Pirates pitcher and radio announcer Nellie King (left) is pictured here with broadcasting partner Bob Prince. King, who partnered with Prince on Pirates broadcasts from 1967 to 1975, died Wednesday at the age of 82.
(Pittsburgh Pirates)

Raised in a Hershey, Pa., orphanage, (his mother could not afford to care for him), Nelson Joseph King died Wednesday at the age of 82. A Pittsburgh icon, he was less known as a tall, lanky Pirates pitcher for four seasons during the 1950s than as a broadcaster for the club working alongside Bob Prince from 1967 through 1975.

After he and Prince were fired, King began a new career as Duquesne's sports information director, men's golf coach and for 24 years the analyst on the Dukes' men's basketball broadcasts, teaming with play-by-play man Ray Goss.

"He was a hard worker, unselfish, and even though he still had a pretty big name, he had no ego," Goss said. "I just wasn't aware of any airs that he had. People might have disagreed with him from time to time, but I don't know if he had any enemies."

During his playing career, Blass developed a close friendship with King. Along with pitcher Dave Giusti, they were the Pirates' version of the Three Amigos.

"It was just a great relationship," Blass said. "Nellie was a terrific broadcaster, but he was a better friend. He was a real gentleman, a class act as much as anyone I've ever run across in the game of baseball."

Blass, who began broadcasting in 1983, said he used to talk about sharing the booth with King. But it never happened; he and Prince were fired eight years earlier. It remains generally viewed that the animated, voluble Prince was the target and the more thoughtful and reserved King an innocent bystander.

"They were a wonderful tandem," Blass said. "Prince commanded a room, but Nellie would make you think about what was being said in the room. (The firing) was an absolute crime. It was a sad way to do things with Prince, and even worse was the way they handled the Nellie King situation."

King, who worked at several small radio stations before landing the Pirates' job, spent many years compiling a collection of stories from his career, a book titled, "Happiness is Like a Cur Dog: The Thirty-Year Journey of a Major League Baseball Pitcher and Broadcaster." It finally was published in 2009.

"He was very intellectual," Goss said. "Very painstaking in everything he did, and he didn't rush to get (the book) out."

Goss said King cultivated a close relationship with Roberto Clemente, the supremely talented but temperamental Pirates star.

"(King) said a lot of people misunderstood Clemente," Goss said. "Nellie really admired him and spoke up on his behalf. He had a great understanding of people. He wasn't critical. Not that he couldn't be, but he generally saw the best in people."

Alex Mellon was in his car yesterday when he heard of King's death. It was King who hired Mellon as the public address announcer for Duquesne men's and women's basketball games. A disc jockey and concert promoter by trade, Mellon said he had to pull over to compose himself.

"Being in radio for 26 years and being in the entertainment business, he is the kindest person I ever met," Mellon said. "Bar none. He treated me like a son. He was just amazing."

King, who was born in Hershey on March 15, 1928, is survived by his wife, Bernadette, and three daughters, Laurie, Leslie and Amy.