"Do You Remember Rosey?"
By Bill Brant, Radio/TV Broadcaster & Musician

I have been asked that question a number of times; "Do you remember Rosey?" The strange thing about the query is that you never had to retort with, "Rosey who?" Because there was only one and everybody knew that on very well. Albert Kennedy Rowswell. But to everybody "Rosey." The original "radio voice" of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

1943 was the year I joined WWSW as a twenty year old, fledgling announcer. I joined the late Bill Cullen and "Daddy" Dave Tyson who were also on staff at that time. One of the pleasant aspects of that job, was coming in contact with and sharing the good humor of "Rosey" as he recreated out of town Pirate games. When one was in the announcers booth, where we did most of our broadcasting, you looked through a large plate glass window, through a studio, to another studio beyond. And there sat "Rosey," Jack Craddock, his "side kick" and his telegrapher, with his ticker tape machine. From this small space Rosey recreated the baseball games and made you feel as if you were there. How did he do that? It wasn't easy. He had to tell a story that was generated by his fertile mind and small three inch pieces of ticker tape that were given to him in proper rotation by the telegrapher. They would give minimum information about the action. For example... "Strike one"… "Infield moves to right."… "Ott swings"… "Ott on first". These cryptic notes were all on the small pieces of paper lined up on the right side of his work area. We used to marvel at the effortless manner he exhibited, painting the picture he couldn't see and passing it along to his favorite people; anybody who loved the Pittsburgh Pirates. He certainly did. One of my jobs as an announcer, was to keep an eye on Rosey. Sometimes he needed our assistance. For example, when there was a home run, he would give us a signal and that would be our cue to run back to his studio, and pick up a box of broken glass. As he excitedly told "Aunt Minne" to open up the window, there came the sound of a shattering window pane as we dumped the glass into another container. If there was a later homer, we just reversed the procedure, dumping the glass back into its original container. In 1947, when Bob Prince joined Rosey, it became his responsibility to do the honors.

During the Pirate broadcasts the sound of the ticker machine was always present in the background, except when he turned the "mike" off. At that time he would be talking to his associates or on occasion he had a story to tell them or the announcer on duty. He had to interrupt the story many times to continue his "play by play". During those intervals there was no sound in the air. The dreaded "dead air" that broadcasters avoid. But that was Rosey. Most people were not aware that, in the off season, he was in great demand as an after dinner speaker all over the country. He made appearances in forty states and traveled about fifty thousand miles a year. His great humor and philosophy were certainly well known. One time, when Bill Cullen was on duty, Rosey motioned for him to come back to the studio, whereupon he said… "Bill there is some important information I thumb tacked to the door down the hall. Would you mind bringing it to me." Bill replied "I'll be happy to". In a few minutes, Rosey looked around and there was Cullen in the door, which he had removed from its hinges, and carted to the studio, with the note firmly attached. Rosey got such a kick