Bob Robertson, beloved broadcaster in Tacoma and across Pacific Northwest, dies at 91
John Robertson remembers gathering around the television set to watch Washington State football games with his siblings.
They would naturally turn the volume on the TV down, and the volume on the radio up to hear a friendly, familiar voice.
“Looking back on it, it seems so odd that’s how I grew up, but at the time it was normal,” John said. “It was, ‘Oh, Dad’s on the radio. Let’s turn down the volume on the TV, and listen to Dad instead.’ ”
Bob Robertson’s voice carried across the airwaves for his four children, his wife Joanne, his friends, his fellow broadcasters, and sports fans across the Pacific Northwest to enjoy for nearly seven decades until his retirement in 2018.
A radio, television and play-by-play broadcaster in the region since 1949, Robertson was beloved as the voice of the Washington State Cougars for 52 seasons, the voice of minor league baseball in the state, primarily in Tacoma in Spokane, and renowned for his wide-ranging knowledge of the statewide sports landscape.
Robertson would always leave listeners with the same encouraging sign-off: “Always be a good sport. Be a good sport all ways.”
He died peacefully Sunday, his son said, with family around him. He was 91.
“All he wanted to do was either play, watch or talk about sports, and that was the case all the way up until his death,” John said. “When he passed away, there was a baseball game on his television.
“He loved people. He loved talking to people. He loved talking about sports. And loved sharing his experiences (in) sports with people.”
Though he was born in Fullerton, Calif. in 1929, Robertson spent most of his life in the Pacific Northwest. He grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia, graduated from Blaine High School and studied broadcasting at Western Washington.
Baseball was where Robertson’s heart was growing up, his son said, and he was talented enough to draw attention from scouts, playing as a semi-pro ball in both Bellingham and Wenatchee, and later signed with Portland in the Pacific Coast League, but opted instead to pursue his broadcasting career.
He accepted his first professional play-by-play radio position with the Wenatchee Chiefs minor league baseball team in 1949, and his voice became a fixture in the northwest for the next seven decades.
Robertson arrived in Tacoma in 1950, accepting a position as the sports director at KMO Radio. He married Joanne, a Lincoln High School graduate, the next year, and, following a brief stint when Robertson covered Notre Dame football and basketball in Indiana from 1955-56, the two raised their family in the Tacoma area, eventually settling in University Place.
Robertson covered everything during his career, including baseball, basketball, football, soccer, hockey, bowling and even roller derby and ping pong. There was nothing his dad didn’t do, John said. If there was a sporting event on, Robertson was more than happy to commentate.
“He absolutely loved what he did,” John said. “He told me many, many, many times that he never worked a day in his life.”
Doug McArthur, 92, a longtime friend of Robertson’s, who worked with him in Tacoma over the years, said Robertson was an all-time professional.
McArthur has a bobblehead on his desk of Robertson’s likeness, wearing a black Tacoma Rainiers shirt with a red and white striped tie that Robertson gave him in his later years. Robertson was an authority on sports, McArthur said, and could be counted on to report accurately and with enthusiasm.
“He knew what he was talking about,” McArthur said. “He was totally well-prepared. He never missed a beat as to what was going on out there.
“He conveyed excitement magnificently with both tone of voice and saying what really did (happen in) a specific instance or play or moment in a game at the very highest level. He was as good as you get in that industry.”
Robertson’s coverage of minor league baseball spanned his entire broadcasting career. He called games in Tacoma, on both local television stations and radio, for decades, and was beloved for calling Triple-A games through the years at Cheney Stadium for the team that eventually became today’s Rainiers.
He was the play-by-play radio voice for the franchise for 16 seasons until 1998, and later returned alongside current Rainiers broadcaster Mike Curto for Sunday games at Cheney Stadium. He joined Curto to do play-by-play in the middle innings for eight seasons until his retirement in 2018.
“He had the great voice, the kind of gravelly voice that’s just fantastic, and then he was outstanding at delivering play-by-play,” Curto said. “He really got into the detail of what’s going on on the field of play.”
The Rainiers named their broadcast booth after Robertson in 2018. As he waved from the booth, surrounded by family for the dedication, fans gave him an ovation.
“You feel like you did something that people appreciated, and they’re willing to say that they appreciated all your time and energy taking them to the ball yard,” Robertson told The News Tribune in 2018.
“I enjoy it very much. I tell people that my vocation and my avocation are the same thing, right down the line.”
Even following his retirement, Robertson still visited the stadium often to take in summer baseball games from the booth.
Rainiers owner Mikal Thomsen, a Curtis High School graduate who also attended WSU, was a neighbor of Robertson’s growing up, and listened to Robertson’s football broadcasts on Saturdays.
He said bringing Robertson back in his later years for Rainiers games created a bridge to the past for generations of baseball fans who had listened to Robertson for decades.
“It was wonderful. ... Seeing him around the park was spectacular,” Thomsen said.
The Rainiers shared a tribute to Robertson on their website Monday.
“Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with Bob Robertson’s family,” the club wrote in a statement. “Bob had an everlasting impact on broadcasting, Washington sports, and Tacoma baseball history.
“He taught us to always be a good sport, and to be a good sport all ways. His legacy will live on at Cheney Stadium and he will be deeply missed by our Rainiers family.”
The Mariners also honored Robertson pregame Monday, and dedicated their broadcast to him.
Robertson’s baseball broadcasting career extended across the state, where he also covered games for the Spokane Indians, the Short-A affiliate of the Rangers.
“His voice was truly the soundtrack of summer and fall in the Pacific Northwest,” the club wrote Monday on Twitter.
The radio booth at Avista Stadium in Spokane is also named in Robertson’s honor. So is Martin Stadium in Pullman, where he spent more than a half-century trekking across the mountains on weekends to call Cougar football. He also spent more than two decades calling basketball games at WSU.
“Today is a sad day for Cougs all over the world,” WSU athletic director Pat Chun said in a statement Monday. “Bob Robertson is an iconic figure in the history of Cougar Athletics and sports radio broadcasting. His ability to vividly paint a picture of our football and basketball games brought generations of Cougs together for over half a century. We are thankful for his impact on WSU. We send our deepest condolences to the entire Robertson Family.”
Robertson’s reach as a broadcaster extended to every corner of the state. He also called three seasons of Washington Huskies football from 1969-71, spent several as the voice of Pacific Lutheran men’s and women’s basketball in Tacoma, and was the voice of the Sounders when they joined the NASL in 1974.
Robertson was the Washington Sportscaster of the Year on 15 separate occasions, and was inducted into the Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall of Fame in 2005, College Football Hall of Fame in 2004 and WSU Hall of Fame in 2002, among other lifetime achievements.
John hopes his dad is remembered not only as one of the region’s most renowned voices in sports, but also for his warm, welcoming demeanor toward all.
“He was approachable to everybody,” John said. “He was always available to talk. It didn’t matter if you were a 50-year-old banker or if you were a 13-year-old kid wanting to sit down and talk about sports. He was always available and always approachable. And that never changed. … He was just a kind, kind man.”
Robertson is survived by his four children — Hugh, Janna, John and Rebecca — his six grandchildren and two great grandchildren. His wife, Joanne, passed away in 2011.
This story was originally published September 7, 2020 at 4:43 PM.
