Longtime Cleveland Cavs broadcaster and Northeast Ohio native Fred McLeod passed away last evening after suffering a heart attack. He was 67.
Born in Strongsville, McLeod began his career in Cleveland in 1970 before doing play-by-play for the Oakland A’s while working at a San Francisco TV station and then play-by-play for the Detroit Pistons.
In 2006, he made his return to Cleveland, pairing up with Austin Carr for the Cavs’ TV broadcast.
The team issued a statement on his passing this morning.
It is with the most extreme sadness that the Cleveland Cavaliers share that Cavs and Fox Sports Ohio play-by-play announcer Fred McLeod died suddenly Monday evening. The entire Cavaliers organization mourns the loss of their great friend and teammate. Fred’s deep love for Cleveland and the Cavaliers was clearly evident in everything he did in and around the community and on-air during his more than 1,000 Cavalier game broadcasts. He was a true, heart-felt ambassador for the team, fans and entire greater Cleveland community.Sign up for Scene’s weekly newsletters to get the latest on Cleveland news, things to do and places to eat delivered right to your inbox.The Cavaliers extend our deepest condolences to Fred’s entire family, including his wife Beth, mother Marilyn, sister Lynn, and his three children, Sean, Jenna, Molly and each of their families.
Fred was born and grew up in nearby Strongsville, Ohio. He was the Cavaliers television play-by-play announcer on FOX Sports Ohio since the 2006 season. He was about to embark on his 14th consecutive season, and 15th overall, as he served in the same capacity with the Cavs during the 1979-80 season. In addition to his play-by-play duties, Fred also served as the Cavaliers’ Executive Producer for Multimedia, providing fans behind-the-scenes access on Cavs.com, Cavs HQ, Twitter and Facebook with daily updates and interviews during the season.
One of the most accomplished and respected announcers in the NBA, Fred recently celebrated his 36th season of broadcasting games, having also spent 22 seasons announcing Detroit Pistons games, prior to returning home to join the Cavaliers in 2006. Fred spent the 1979 MLB baseball season in Cleveland as well, as a TV announcer for the Cleveland Indians. His diverse and extensive sports broadcasting career also included time with the NFL’s Detroit Lions and MLB’s Detroit Tigers.
Fred was a multiple regional Emmy Award winner as part of the Fox Sports Ohio Cavs broadcast crew, along with his beloved game broadcast partner Austin Carr. He was also a proud recipient of the National Academy of Arts and Sciences’ prestigious Silver Circle Award in recognition of lifetime achievement in television.
Fred was a Point Park University (Pittsburgh) graduate, where he played baseball and pitched in the NAIA College World Series.
This article appears in Sep 4-10, 2019.
My husband and I cannot find the words to express our sadness at the loss of Fred McLeod. After listening to the friendly banter between he and AC for years, we felt as if we were all friends. As a team, they were perfect.
Fred was knowledgeable, funny, creative, and an all-round wonderful play-by play professional. He even brought light to the most dismal and dark losing seasons the Cavs and their fans have experienced. His catch phrases were legend; one of my favorites : “Right down Euclid!! felt like an inside joke, only Ohio fans were in on.
We feel his loss on personal level, as if weve lost a member of the family. Its going to be tough to tune in to games this year knowing we wont hear his familiar voice as the constant soundtrack to whatever is happening on the court.
For the last ten years, weve lived in South Carolina, but whenever we watched our beloved Cavs and heard Freds voice, we were home again.
Our deepest and heartfelt sympathies to his family, friends, and members of the Cavalier Nation, especially, Austin Carr. Priss and Tom Calanni
This is incredibly sad and disappointing, my heart goes out to his loved ones. The city of Cleveland and Cavalier fans lost a wonderful person…he will be sorely missed.