Longtime sportscaster Bob Wolff dies at age 96

NYACK, N.Y. - Longtime sportscaster Bob Wolff died Saturday night at his home in Nyack, New York. He was the only sportscaster to call play-by-play of championships in all four major North American team sports, and he was WTTG's first sportscaster on the old Dumont Network back in 1946.

Wolff's son Rick said his father died peacefully Saturday night.

Wolff broadcast the NFL's championship game, World Series, NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Finals. He interviewed Babe Ruth, was the voice of the Washington Senators, and for decades did play-by-play for the New York Knicks and New York Rangers.

"Bob Wolff's iconic, Hall-of-Fame broadcasting career was matched by his class and character," the Yankees said in a team statement. "Beyond his lifetime of professional accomplishments, he was a man of great grace and dignity, serving his country with honor, and proudly calling New York home. Bob was a dear friend of the Yankees organization and he will be deeply missed."

Wolff was cited by the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest consecutive run as a broadcaster at 78 years, dating to 1939 on WDNC Radio when he was a student at Duke University. This year, he did sports commentary on News 12 Long Island and hosted the Con Edison Scholastic Sports Award program on WHUD Radio in Westchester.

Wolff called the only perfect game in World Series history when the Yankees' Don Larsen accomplished the feat against Brooklyn in 1956, and was behind the mic for Baltimore Colts' overtime victory over the New York Giants in the 1958 NFL title game. He did television play-by-play for the New York Knicks' two championships.

Wolff is enshrined in the broadcast wing of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the National Sportscasters-Sportswriters Hall of Fame, the Madison Square Garden Walk of Fame, and in July 2008 was voted into the National Basketball Hall of Fame with the Curt Gowdy Award, joining Gowdy as the only two sportscasters to be in both the basketball and the baseball halls.

Wolff served in the U.S. Navy as a supply officer in the Pacific during World War II.

He is survived by Jane Wolff, his wife of 72 years, sons Dr. Robert Wolff and Rick Wolff, daughter Margy Clark, nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.