I met Nellie a few times. Have a wonderful signed picture of him with Clemente. From The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette-
On the radio, Nellie King learned that the key to broadcasting sports events was to get through the microphone and into the listener's living room. As a Pirates' pitcher, he made his way into the hearts of fans and teammates with his sense of humor.
"We were about to come home from Philadelphia when Dale Long was in the midst of hitting eight home runs in eight games in 1956, and Nellie lay down in front of the team bus. He said, 'This bus isn't going anywhere until Dale gets on,' " former teammate ElRoy Face recalled with a chuckle.
"We were both in the minors in New Orleans in 1954 when all the lights went out during the game. I went out to the mound and played my guitar, another guy played the wash tub and Nellie sang to entertain the fans and keep them from leaving," Mr. Face added. "He was a great guy. You don't find them any better."
Nelson Joseph "Nellie" King, who served as sports information director and broadcaster at Duquesne University after pitching in the big leagues and sharing the Pirates' broadcast booth with Bob Prince, died early Wednesday at the age of 82 surrounded by his three daughters in the Family Hospice Center in Mt. Lebanon. In recent years, he had fought a protracted battle with colon cancer, complicated by pneumonia. He was a longtime resident of Mt. Lebanon but in recent years lived in an assisted living facility in Upper St. Clair.
As a folk historian, the tall and lanky Mr. King didn't mind laughing at himself. In his 2009 autobiography "Happiness Is Like A Cur Dog: The Thirty Year Journey of a Major League Baseball Pitcher and Broadcaster," he wrote about the laugh he got when an opponent poked fun at his 6-foot-6, 180-pound physique.
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http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10224/1079436-455.stm#ixzz0wOjavAXT
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