Legendary sports announcer Les Keiter was the voice of the Big 5 from 1963-70.

April 16, 2009

Just days after the passing of Harry Kalas, the community of Philadelphia sports announcers lost another member with the death of Les Keiter on Tuesday in Hawaii.

Keiter, the voice of the Big 5 from 1963 to 1970, was two weeks shy of his 90th birthday. Keiter's wife, Lila, said her husband was surrounded by family when he died at Castle Medical Center in Honolulu.

"I call the Palestra my field of dreams," Keiter told the Daily News before his induction into the Big 5 Hall of Fame in 2003. "The 7 years I worked there, 3 nights a week, I wouldn't trade for anything in the world. And now to be joining the greats [as a Hall of Famer], my life is really, really complete."

Keiter is known for his famous sign-on, at the start of broadcasts at the Palestra - "Welcome to Panicsville, USA," - and also coined phrases such as "ring-tailed howitzer," "tickled the twine" and "in again, out again, Finnegan."

The night Keiter is most asked to recall was the bomb scare at the Palestra during the St. Joe's-Villanova game on Feb. 20, 1965. Keiter ignored police orders to evacuate and stayed on-air in the tiny crow's nest of a broadcast booth high above the Palestra floor.

"Everybody remembers the bomb scare," he said in 2003. "The Big 5 was so celebrated nationally, with all the great teams of the '60s. I remember Adolph Rupp coming in with Kentucky, Dean Smith with Carolina, Rick Barry with Miami . . . so many memories."

Keiter also is famous for calling historic boxing matches, including Muhammad Ali's first title win over Sonny Liston in 1964.

Keiter retired in 1994 as sports director of Honolulu TV station KHON, becoming the spokesman for Aloha Stadium.

"He was a terrific guy. He always called you 'Kid.' Even though he was getting aged, his voice was still strong. And his mind was sharp as a tack," Hawaii sportscaster Jim Leahey said.

Keiter started his broadcasting career in Hawaii after World War II and then moved to the East Coast.

Between 1956 and 1985 Keiter narrated a dozen championship heavyweight fights for ABC and the Mutual Broadcasting Co. He was also a sports announcer for the Giants baseball franchise from 1954 to 1962 - the team moved from New York to San Francisco in 1958 - and for the New York Knicks from 1955 to 1962.

Keiter's book, "Fifty Years Behind the Microphone," explained how he "re-created" baseball games for radio audiences. He was hired to do the broadcasts for New York fans after the Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers both relocated to California in '58.

In the early 1970s, he became the voice of University of Hawaii sports and Triple A baseball's Hawaii Islanders.

In addition to his wife, Keiter is survived by five children and many grandchildren.