The men and women who broadcast our sporting events become indelible parts of our lives, even more so than the ones who play them, because they can last longer, and in multiple sports. Al Trautwig was one of those people here in the New York Tri-State Area.
Alan Trautwig (apparently, no middle name) was born on February 26, 1956 on New York's Long Island -- early obituaries did not list a specific town. He graduated from H. Frank Carey Junior-Senior High School in Franklin Square, Nassau County, Long Island. It opened in 1956, named for a board of education president, and other notable graduates include soccer coach Bruce Arena, and Richie Cannata, longtime saxophone player for Billy Joel.
After being a founding franchise in the American Basketball Association in Teaneck in 1967-68, the New Jersey Americans moved to Long Island, and became the New York Nets. In 1972, they moved to the new Nassau Coliseum in Hempstead (mailing address of Uniondale), and the NHL put the expansion New York Islanders there. Al served as a ball boy for the Nets and a stick boy for the Isles.
He graduated from Adelphi University in Garden City, Long Island in 1978. He was hired by the school's radio station, WBAU, 90.3 FM, broadcasting for a professional soccer team, the New York Apollo, which in 1980 featured English soccer star Rodney Marsh. He was hired by WMCA, 570 AM, to broadcast games of the Major Indoor Soccer League's New York Arrows, who played at the Nassau Coliseum.
It was the early days of cable-TV sports, and USA Network hired him to broadcast hockey. This led to its parent network, NBC, giving him games to broadcast. He moved over to ABC and its subsidiary ESPN. In 1986 and 1987, he was a pit reporter alongside Jim McKay for ABC's coverage of the Indianapolis 500. He anchored U.S. Open tennis tournament coverage, the Tour de France, the Ironman Triathlon, international gymnastics events, and the New York City Marathon. Eventually, in 1995, he became one of the original hosts of Classic Sports Network, which was absorbed by ESPN and became ESPN Classic.
Al covered all of the "Big Four" sports on the Madison Square Garden network:
* MLB: From 1991 to 2001, he hosted the Yankees' pregame and postgame shows.
* NFL: From 1987 to 2004, he he hosted Jets Journal.
* NBA: From 2000 to 2019, he hosted the Knicks' pregame and postgame shows.
* NHL: From 1992 to 2021, he hosted the Rangers' pregame and postgame shows, and did play-by-play for them in the 1995-96 and 1996-97 seasons.
He got to cover the Yankees in 5 World Series, winning 4; the Rangers in 2 Stanley Cup Finals, winning 1; the Knicks in 2 NBA Finals, both lost; and the Jets in an AFC Championship Game, lost.
In 2006, he hosted a new MSG show named, appropriately enough, Al Trautwig's MSG Vault, featuring footage of Knicks and Rangers games from the 1960s onward. On this show, he once demonstrated that TV stations used to save money on expensive videotape by taping over games.
This is why we don't have videotape of so many big sporting events prior to the mid-1970s. It's why we don't have an entire videotaped broadcast of Super Bowl I in 1967, even though it was broadcast by 2 different networks, CBS and NBC. I'm glad somebody at NBC saved Super Bowl III for Jet fans and the Mets' home games in the 1969 World Series; and somebody at ABC saved Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals for the Knicks.
As part of MSG Vault, Al Trautwig showed the last 5 minutes of a Ranger game from 1975. When the broadcast ended, there was a flicker, and then the last 30 or so seconds of a 1974 Ranger game was played. At the end of that, there was another flicker, followed by the last minute and change of a 1972 Ranger games.
MSG opted not to renew Al's contract in 2021. He returned to Adelphi to teach, but developed cancer, and died yesterday, February 23, 2025, just short of his 69th birthday.
Marty Lyons, Jets All-Pro defensive lineman: "Al was a true professional at everything he did. Working with him for so many years on Jets Journal, we became close friends, and I used him as a mentor. When I was inducted to the Jets Ring of Honor, Al was on the field, which meant so much to me."
Bob Wischusen, Jets broadcaster: "When Al's voice was the first you heard to start a pregame, no one made a local broadcast feel bigger. He was also as nice as they come. Sending every good thought and prayer to his family. RIP."
Mike Vaccaro, New York Post columnist: "Very good company, and a damn good man."
Howie Rose, Mets broadcaster, formerly with the Rangers and the Islanders: "During my years broadcasting Islander games, whenever we brought in a new host/sideline reporter, if I was asked for advice I would simply say, 'Just watch Al Trautwig.' The best to ever do it. RIP."
Details on his survivors were not available at the time I posted this. All I know for sure is that he had a son, also named Alan.
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