Astros announce nominees for induction into Houston Baseball Media Wall of Honor
HOUSTON, TX - The Houston Astros have announced the five nominees for induction into the Houston Baseball Media Wall of Honor. All five esteemed media members were nominated by fellow colleagues in the industry. The 2024 nominees are former Astros broadcaster Alan Ashby, longtime KCOH radio host Ralph Cooper, longtime television sportscaster Matt Musil, former Colt .45s and early Astros beat writer Clark Nealon, and former Colt .45s and original Astros broadcaster Loel Passe.
The Astros began the Houston Baseball Media Wall of Honor in 2007, when Anita Martini was chosen as the inaugural inductee. She’s been followed by Gene Elston (2008), Neil Hohlfeld (2009), Mickey Herskowitz (2010), Bill Brown (2011), Milo Hamilton (2012), Rene Cardenas (2013), Alex Treviño (2014), Harry Shattuck (2015), Mark Berman (2016), Bob Allen (2017), Karen Warren (2018), Larry Dierker (2019), Kevin Eschenfelder (2020), Jamie Hildreth (2022), and Phil Boudreaux (2023).
Votes must be submitted no later than Friday, Aug. 23.
Ashby called 12 seasons of Astros baseball across two stints in the broadcast booth, first on radio (1998-2005) then on television (2013-16). He spent his first eight seasons on radio alongside his on-air partner, Hall of Famer Milo Hamilton. While on radio, Ashby was on air for memorable years in club history, including the Astros 102-win season in 1998, the Astrodome’s final season in 1999, and the opening of Minute Maid Park in 2000. Ashby was also in the booth for the 2004 ALDS and ALCS, which marked the club’s first postseason series victory, and the Astros first World Series run in 2005. After a six-season stint in the Blue Jays broadcast booth, Ashby returned to Houston in 2013 for the Astros first season as an AL club. He remained on air for the Astros through the 2016 season. Prior to his broadcasting career, Ashby spent 11 of his 17 Major League seasons as a catcher with the Astros from 1979-89, during which he was a part of three postseason teams. Ashby currently resides in Houston, which has been his home since 1979.
Cooper, one of Houston’s longest tenured on-air personalities, has been covering the Houston Sports scene at KCOH radio for over 40 years. A native Houstonian, Cooper began his professional career on the radio and as a journalist at the Houston Forward Times in 1969. In 1984, Cooper moved to his longtime home at KCOH 1230 AM, where he has been a Houston staple ever since. His long and successful career in radio earned him an induction into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame as part of the 2020 class. Cooper, who’s covered all five of the Astros World Series runs, can still be heard daily on his sports talk show, Sports Rap, every Monday through Friday from 6-8 p.m. on KCOH 1230 AM. He also has a show on Saturdays on KTSU Radio from 9-10 a.m.
Musil spent more than four decades as a sportscaster on KHOU-TV in Houston, from September of 1980 until retiring in 2024. A longtime staple of Astros coverage, Musil was on air for all 17 of the Astros postseason runs, including the Astros five World Series appearances. Throughout his esteemed career, he covered the biggest names in Houston, including baseball Hall of Famers Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio and Nolan Ryan, as well as stars from across the city, like Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, Earl Campbell, Warren Moon, and Olympic athletes Carl Lewis, Mary Lou Retton and Simone Biles, to name a few.
Nealon, a pioneer of professional baseball in Houston, covered the sport for parts of five decades from the 1930’s until his retirement in 1974. He entered and retired from the Houston media as the sports editor at the Houston Post, with his time at the Post being interrupted by stints in the armed services and with the Houston Press. During his time in the Houston media, Nealon covered the minor league Houston Buffs until Major League Baseball came to Houston in 1962. He was among the first group of Houston-area writers to be at Apache Junction for the Colt .45s inaugural Spring Training. The 1991 recipient of the Fred Hartman Long and Meritorious Award, Nealon passed away in 1992 at the age of 83.
Passe was on the radio calling baseball games in Houston for over 25 years from 1950-1976. He got his start in baseball in 1950 as the main play-by-play announcer for the Houston Buffs, then a minor league baseball team in the city. When Houston was awarded an expansion franchise in 1962, Passe moved over to serve as one of the Colt .45s original broadcasters. He would stay in that role, partnering with Gene Elston, from 1962-76. A native of Alabama, Passe’s southern accent charmed Houston baseball fans for a generation. He passed away in 1997 and was posthumously inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame in 2004.