Brett Morgan Butler (born June 15, 1957 in Los Angeles, California) is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball who played for five different teams from 1981 through 1997.

Playing career[link]

Butler spent his teenaged years in Libertyville, Illinois, where he was a reserve on the Libertyville High School baseball team that finished second in the Illinois state tournament. Upon graduating, he announced plans to play baseball in college, and his high school coach, Ernie Ritta, scoffed. Butler, who had explored walking on at baseball powerhouse Arizona State, made the team at Southeastern Oklahoma State University.

After attending Southeastern Oklahoma, Butler was drafted in the 23rd round of the 1979 amateur draft by the Atlanta Braves. The Braves were building a contender with players like Dale Murphy, Bob Horner, and Glenn Hubbard after years of losing, but they lacked a leadoff hitter with speed. After playing in the minor leagues, he made his major league debut with the Braves on August 20, 1981. Butler helped lead the Braves to a 13–0 start and the National League West Division title in 1982, their first division title since 1969. He had another fine year with the Braves in 1983, but they finished second in the West to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In October 1983, Butler was sent to the Cleveland Indians (along with Brook Jacoby and Rick Behenna) to complete a deal in which the Braves had acquired Len Barker for cash, toward the end of the 1983 season. In 1984, he became the first batter Roger Clemens would face in the big leagues. He played with the Indians for four seasons, batting a career-high .311 in 1985.

Butler signed with the San Francisco Giants as a free agent after the 1987 season and established himself as one of the premier leadoff hitters in the National League. He helped the Giants to the NL pennant in 1989, as the leadoff hitter in a lineup that included Will Clark, Kevin Mitchell, and Matt Williams.

Following the 1990 season, Butler signed a contract with Los Angeles Dodgers. As a member of the Dodgers from 1991 to 1995, Butler reached the prime of his career. In 1991, Butler earned a roster spot on the National League All-Star team, and finished 7th in MVP voting. During the 1995 season, Butler was signed as a free agent by the New York Mets. In August 1995, Butler rejoined the Dodgers in a trade for Dwight Manees and Scott Hunter. After finishing the season with the Dodgers, he again became a free agent and returned to the Dodgers.

In May 1996, Butler learned that he was suffering from Squamous cell carcinoma of the tonsils, a type of cancer which only rarely involves the tonsils. Following an operation to remove the tumor, and intensive treatment to combat the disease, he returned to the Dodgers' lineup in September of the same year—defying the predictions of those who had speculated he would never be able to play again.^[1] Butler finished the 1996 season with the Dodgers and played with them for one more year, participating in his final game on September 28, 1997.

Throughout his career, Butler averaged a .290 batting average, compiled over 2,000 hits, and stole 558 bases. Many consider him to be one of the best leadoff hitters of the 1980s and early 1990s, due to his high on-base percentage, speed and dynamic bunting.

Coaching career[link]

Butler was a coach with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the 2005 season. He was hired to manage the Lancaster JetHawks of the class-A advanced club for the 2006 season.

He was hired to manage the Mobile BayBears, a newly acquired Double-A team Arizona Diamondbacks, for the 2007 season.

In October 2008, it was announced that Butler was hired to manage the Reno Aces of the class-AAA club for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Brett was named as a coach for the 2011 All-Star Futures Game.

Personal life[link]

Butler, a born-again Christian, has been active in a number of Christian and Pro-life causes. He lives in Phoenix, Arizona with his wife Eveline and four children.

On April 24, 2006, Butler was hospitalized with chest pains after a Lancaster JetHawks game he managed. Butler apparently did not have a heart attack, and underwent further tests. Butler returned to his coaching duties "after a week off due to a viral infection."^[2]

On July 29, 2007, Butler was hospitalized again after suffering a mild stroke.

Quotes[link]

"Somebody's trying to shake us up. All right, Lord, I heard ya!"

• (after the earthquake interrupted Game 3 of the 1989 World Series)

See also[link]

• List of major league players with 2,000 hits
• List of Major League Baseball players with 100 triples
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career stolen bases
• List of Major League Baseball runs scored champions
• List of Major League Baseball triples champions
• List of Major League Baseball triples records

Books[link]

• Brett Butler (1997). Field of Hope: An Inspiring Autobiography of a Lifetime of Overcoming Odds. Thomas Nelson Inc.. ISBN 0-7852-7144-9. 

References[link]

External links[link]

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Pro-Life beliefs

Brett Butler may refer to:

• Brett Butler (baseball) (born 1957), American baseball center fielder
• Brett Butler (actress) (born 1958), American actress, writer and stand-up comedy performer
• Brett Butler (voice actor) (born 1971), American stage and voice actor
• Brett Butler (racing driver) (born 1985), American NASCAR driver

See also[link]

• Butler (surname)

This disambiguation page lists articles about people with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

George Brett
Brett batting in 1990.
Third baseman / Designated hitter / First baseman
Born: (1953-05-15) May 15, 1953 (age 59) Glen Dale, West Virginia
Batted: Left	Threw: Right
MLB debut
August 2, 1973 for the Kansas City Royals
Last MLB appearance
October 3, 1993 for the Kansas City Royals
Career statistics
Batting average	.305
Hits	3,154
Home runs	317
Runs batted in	1,595
Teams
Kansas City Royals (1973–1993)
Career highlights and awards
13× All-Star (1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988) World Series champion (1985) Gold Glove Award (1985) 3× Silver Slugger Award (1980, 1985, 1988) AL MVP (1980) ALCS MVP (1985) Lou Gehrig Memorial Award (1986) Hutch Award (1980) Kansas City Royals #5 retired
Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction	1999
Vote	98.2% (first ballot)

George Howard Brett (born May 15, 1953), is an American former Major League Baseball third baseman, designated hitter, and first baseman. He played his entire 21-year baseball career for the Kansas City Royals. Brett's 3,154 career hits are the most by any third baseman in major league history, and 16th all-time. Brett is one of four players in MLB history to accumulate 3,000 hits, 300 home runs, and a career .300 batting average with the others being Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Stan Musial. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999 on the first ballot.

Biography[link]

Early life and baseball career[link]

Brett was born in Glen Dale, West Virginia. He was the youngest of four sons of a sports-minded family which included Ken, the second oldest, a major league pitcher who had pitched in the 1967 World Series at age 19. Brothers John (eldest) and Bobby had brief careers in the minor leagues. Although his three older brothers were born in Brooklyn, George was born in the northern panhandle of West Virginia. Jack & Ethel Brett then moved the family to the Midwest and three years later to El Segundo, a suburb of Los Angeles, just south of Los Angeles International Airport. George grew up hoping to follow in the footsteps of his three older brothers. He graduated from El Segundo High School in 1971 and was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the second round (29th overall) of the 1971 baseball draft. His high school teammate was pitcher Scott McGregor. ^[1]

Brett began his professional baseball career as a shortstop, but had trouble going to his right defensively and was soon shifted to third base. As a third baseman, his powerful arm remained an asset, and he remained at that spot for more than 15 years. Brett's minor league stops were in Billings, Montana (1971) for Rookie League, San Jose, California (1972) for Single-A, and Omaha, Nebraska in 1973 for Triple-A with the Omaha Royals, batting .291, .274, and .284 respectively. The Royals promoted him to the major leagues on August 2, 1973, when he played in 13 games and was 5 for 40 (.125).

Brett won the starting third base job in 1974, but struggled at the plate until he asked for help from Charlie Lau, the Royals' batting coach. Spending the 1974 All-Star break working together, Lau taught Brett how to protect the entire plate and cover up some holes in his swing that experienced big-league pitchers were exploiting. Armed with this knowledge, Brett developed rapidly as a hitter, and finished the year with a .282 batting average in 113 games.

Brett topped the .300 mark for the first time in 1975, hitting .308, and then won his first batting title in 1976 with a .333 average. The four contenders for the batting title that year were Brett and Royals teammate Hal McRae, and Minnesota Twins teammates Rod Carew and Lyman Bostock. In dramatic fashion, Brett went 2 for 4 in the final game of the season against the Twins, beating out his three rivals, all playing in the same game. His lead over second-place McRae was less than .001. Brett won the title when a fly ball dropped in front of Twins left fielder Steve Brye, bounced on the Royals Stadium AstroTurf and over Brye's head to the wall; Brett circled the bases for an inside-the-park home run. McRae, batting just behind Brett in the line up, grounded out and Brett won his first batting title.

Early career success[link]

From May 8 through May 16, 1976, Brett had 3 or more hits in 6 consecutive games, a Major League record. That year, the Royals won the first of three straight AL West Division titles, beginning a great rivalry with the New York Yankees — whom they faced in the American League Championship Series each of those three years. In the fifth and final game of the 1976 ALCS, Brett hit a three-run homer in the top of the eighth inning to tie the score at six — only to see the Yankees' Chris Chambliss launch a solo shot in the bottom of the ninth to give the Yankees a 7–6 win.

A year later, Brett emerged as a power hitter with 22 home runs helping the Royals to another American League Championship Series, 1977. In 1978 Brett batted .294 (the only time between 1976 and 1983 in which he did not bat at least .300) in helping the Royals win a third consecutive American League West title. However, Kansas City once again lost to the Yankees in the ALCS, but not before Brett hit three home runs off Catfish Hunter in Game Three, becoming the second player to hit three home runs in an LCS game (Bob Robertson was the first, having done so in Game 2 of the 1971 NLCS).

Brett followed that up with a successful 1979 season, in which he finished third in AL MVP voting. He became the sixth player in league history to have at least 20 doubles, triples and homers all in one season (42-20-23) and led the league in hits, doubles and triples while batting .329, with an on-base percentage of .376 and a slugging percentage of .563.

1980[link]

All these impressive statistics were just a prelude to 1980, when Brett won the American League MVP and batted .390, a modern record for a third baseman. Brett's batting average was at or above .400 as late in the season as September 19, and the country closely followed his quest to bat .400 for an entire season, a feat which has not been accomplished since Ted Williams in 1941.

Brett's 1980 batting average of .390 is second only to Tony Gwynn's 1994 average of .394 (Gwynn played in 110 games and had 419 at-bats in the strike-shortened season, compared to Brett's 449 at bats in 1980) for the highest single season batting average since 1941. Brett also recorded 118 RBI, while appearing in just 117 games; it is the first instance of a player averaging one RBI per game (in more than 100 games) since Walt Dropo thirty seasons prior. He led the American League in both slugging and on-base percentage.

Brett started out slowly, hitting only .259 in April. In May, he hit .329 to get his season average to .301. In June, the 27 year-old third baseman hit .472 (17-36) to raise his season average to .337, but played his last game for a month on June 10, not returning to the lineup until after the All-Star Break on July 10.

In July, after being off for a month, he played in 21 games and hit .494 (42–85), raising his season average to .390. Brett started a 30-game hitting streak on July 18, which lasted until he went 0-3 on August 19 (the following night he went 3-for-3). During these 30 games Brett hit .467 (57-122). His high mark for the season came a week later, when Brett's batting average was at .407 on August 26, after he went 5-for-5 on a Tuesday night in Milwaukee. He batted .430 for the month of August (30 games), and his season average was at .403 with five weeks to go. For the three hot months of June, July, and August 1980, George Brett played in 60 American League games and hit .459 (111–242), most of it after a return from a monthlong injury. For these 60 games he had 69 RBIs and 14 home runs.

Brett missed another 10 days in early September and hit just .290 for the month. His average was at .400 as late as September 19, but he then had a 4 for 27 slump, and the average dipped to .384 on September 27, with a week to play. For the final week, Brett went 10-for-19, which included going 2 for 4 in the final regular season game on October 4. His season average ended up at .390 (175 hits in 449 at-bats = .389755), and he averaged more than one RBI per game. Brett was the first major league player since 1950 to have more than one RBI per game (90 or more RBIs). Brett led the league in both on-base percentage (.454) and slugging percentage (.664) on his way to capturing 17 of 28 possible first-place votes in the MVP race.^[2] Since Al Simmons also batted .390 in 1931 for the Philadelphia Athletics, the only higher averages subsequent to 1931 were by Ted Williams of the Red Sox (.406 in 1941) and Tony Gwynn of the San Diego Padres (.394 in the strike-shortened 1994 season).

More importantly, the Royals won the American League West, and would face the Eastern champion Yankees in the ALCS.

1980 post-season[link]

In the 1980 post-season, Brett led the Royals to their first American League pennant, sweeping the playoffs in three games from the rival Yankees who had beaten K.C. in the 1976, 1977 and 1978 playoffs. In Game 3, Brett hit a ball well into the third deck of Yankee Stadium off of Yankees closer Goose Gossage. Gossage's previous pitch had been timed at 97 mph, leading ABC broadcaster Jim Palmer to say, "I doubt if he threw that ball 97 miles an hour." A moment later Palmer was given the actual reading of 98. "Well, I said it wasn't 97." Brett then hit .375 in the 1980 World Series, but the Royals lost in six games to the Philadelphia Phillies. During the Series, Brett made headlines after leaving Game 2 in the 6th inning due to hemorrhoid pain. Brett had minor surgery the next day, and in Game 3 returned to hit a home run as the Royals won in 10 innings 4-3. After the game, Brett was famously quoted "...my problems are all behind me."^[3] In 1981 he missed two weeks of Spring training to have his hemorrhoids removed.^[4]

The Pine Tar Incident[link]

The baseball bat used by George Brett in the Pine Tar Incident on July 24, 1983.

On July 24, 1983, the Royals played the Yankees at Yankee Stadium. In the top of the ninth inning with two out, Brett hit a two-run homer to put the Royals up 5–4. Upon Brett crossing the plate, Yankees manager Billy Martin cited to the umpires a rule that stated that any foreign substance on a bat could extend no further than 18 inches from the knob. The umpires measured the amount of pine tar, a legal substance used by hitters to improve their grip, on Brett's bat; the pine tar extended about 24 inches. The home plate umpire, Tim McClelland, signaled the player out, ending the game as a Yankees win. An angry Brett charged out of the dugout and was immediately ejected. The Royals protested the game, and American League president Lee MacPhail upheld the protest, reasoning that the bat should have been excluded from future use but the home run should not have been nullified. Amid much controversy, the game was resumed on August 18 from the point of Brett's home run and ended with a Royals win.

1985[link]

In 1985, Brett had another brilliant season in which he helped propel the Royals to their second American League Championship. He batted .335 with 30 home runs and 112 RBI, finishing in the top 10 of the league in 10 different offensive categories. Defensively, he won his only Gold Glove. In the final week of the regular season, he went 9-for-20 at the plate with 7 runs, 5 homers, and 9 RBI in six crucial games, five of them victories, as the Royals closed a gap and won the division title at the end. He was MVP of the 1985 playoffs against the Toronto Blue Jays, with an incredible Game 3. With KC down in the series two games to none, Brett went 4-for-4, homering in his first two at bats against Doyle Alexander, and doubled to the same spot in right field in his third at bat, leading the Royals comeback. Brett then batted .370 in the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals including a four-hit performance in Game 7. The Royals again rallied from a 3–1 deficit to become World Series Champions for the only time in Royals history.

Later career[link]

In 1988, Brett moved across the diamond to first base in an effort to reduce his chances of injury and had another top-notch season with a .306 average, 24 homers and 104 RBI. But after batting just .290 with 16 homers the next year, it looked like his career might be slowing down. He got off to a terrible start in 1990 and at one point even considered retirement. But his manager, former teammate John Wathan, encouraged him to stick it out. Finally, in July, the slump ended and Brett batted .386 for the rest of the season. In September, he caught Rickey Henderson for the league lead, and in a battle down to the last day of the season, captured his third batting title with a .329 mark. This feat made Brett the only major league player to win batting titles in three different decades.

Brett played three more seasons for the Royals, mostly as their designated hitter, but occasionally filling in for injured teammates at first base. He passed the 3,000-hit mark in 1992, though he was picked off by Angel first baseman Gary Gaetti after stepping off the base to start enjoying the moment. Brett retired after the 1993 season; in his final at-bat, he hit a single up the middle against Rangers closer Tom Henke and scored on a home run by now teammate Gaetti. His last game was also notable as being the final game ever played at Arlington Stadium.

Brett's #5 was retired by the Royals on April 7, 1997. His number was the second number retired in Royals history, preceded by former Royals manager, Dick Howser (#10), in 1987. It was followed by second baseman and longtime teammate Frank White's #20 in 1998.

He was voted the Hometown Hero for the Royals in a two-month fan vote. This was revealed on the night of September 27, 2006 in an hour-long telecast on ESPN. He was one of the few players to receive more than 400,000 votes.^[5]

Legacy[link]

Brett's number 5 was retired by the Royals alongside Dick Howser and Frank White.

George Brett's number 5 was retired by the Kansas City Royals in 1994.

His 3,154 career hits (2,044 hits actually as a third baseman, with Wade Boggs at 2,788 at the position according to www.baseball-reference.com) are the second most by any third baseman in major league history, and 15th all-time. Baseball historian Bill James regards him as the second-best third baseman of all time, trailing only his contemporary, Mike Schmidt. Brett was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1999, with what was then the fourth-highest voting percentage in baseball history (98.2%), trailing only Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, and Ty Cobb. In 2007, Cal Ripken Jr. passed Brett with 98.5% of the vote. His voting percentage was higher than all-time outfielders Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Stan Musial, Ted Williams, and Joe DiMaggio. That same year, he ranked Number 55 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was nominated as a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. Brett is one of four players in MLB history to accumulate 3,000 hits, 300 home runs, and a career .300 batting average (the others are Stan Musial, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron). Most indicative of his hitting style, Brett is sixth on the career doubles list, with 665 (trailing Tris Speaker, Pete Rose, Stan Musial, Ty Cobb, and Craig Biggio). Combining his superior hitting skill with his great defensive ability and team focus (and humility), George Brett is arguably one of the most complete baseball players of all time.

Post baseball activities[link]

Brett in February 2009.

Following the end of his baseball career, Brett became a vice president of the Royals and has worked as a part-time coach, as a special instructor in spring training, filling in as the batting coach, and as a minor league instructor dispatched to help prospects develop. He also runs a baseball equipment and foam-hand company, Brett Bros., with Bobby and, until his death, Ken Brett. He has also lent his name to a restaurant that failed on the Country Club Plaza.

In 1992, Brett married the former Leslie Davenport and they currently reside in the Kansas City suburb of Mission Hills, Kansas. The couple has three children: Jackson (named after his father), Dylan (named after Bob Dylan), and Robin (named after fellow Hall of Famer Robin Yount of the Milwaukee Brewers).^[6]

Brett has also continued to raise money for ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. Brett started to raise money for the Keith Worthington Chapter during his playing career in the mid 1980s.

Team Ownership[link]

In 1998, an investor group headed by Brett and his older brother, Bobby, made an unsuccessful bid to purchase the Kansas City Royals. Brett is the principal owner of the Tri-City Dust Devils, the Single-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies.^[7] He and his brother Bobby also co-own the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, a Los Angeles Dodgers Single-A partner, and lead ownership groups that control the Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League,^[8] the West Coast League's Bellingham Bells, and the High Desert Mavericks of the California League.^[9]

See also[link]

• List of Major League Baseball Hit Records
• List of Major League Baseball doubles records
• List of top 300 Major League Baseball home run hitters
• List of major league players with 2,000 hits
• List of Major League Baseball players with 400 doubles
• List of Major League Baseball players with 100 triples
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBIs
• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career stolen bases
• 3000 hit club
• 20–20–20 club
• Hitting for the cycle
• List of Major League Baseball batting champions
• List of Major League Baseball doubles champions
• List of Major League Baseball triples champions

References[link]

External links[link]

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Career statistics at Baseball-Almanac.com
• George Brett at the Baseball Hall of Fame

Bryant Gumbel
Gumbel in 2008
Born	Bryant Charles Gumbel (1948-09-29) September 29, 1948 (age 63) New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Occupation	Television personality, sportscaster
Years active	1972–present
Notable credit(s)	The Today Show The Early Show
Spouse	June Baranco (1973–2001) Hilary Quinlan (2002–present)
Children	2

Bryant Charles Gumbel (born September 29, 1948) is an American television journalist and sportscaster. He is best known for his 15 years as co-host of NBC's The Today Show. He is the younger brother of sportscaster Greg Gumbel.

Life and career[link]

Early life[link]

Gumbel was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is the son of Rhea Alice (née LeCesne), a city clerk, and Richard Dunbar Gumbel, a judge.^[1] He graduated from Bates College in 1970. Gumbel began his television career in October 1972, when he was made a sportscaster for KNBC-TV out of Los Angeles.

Professional career[link]

NBC Sports[link]

Gumbel was hired by NBC Sports in the fall of 1975 as co-host of its National Football League pre-game show GrandStand with Jack Buck. From 1975 until January 1982 (when he left to do The Today Show) Gumbel hosted numerous sporting events for NBC including Major League Baseball, college basketball and the National Football League. Gumbel returned to sportscasting for NBC when he hosted the prime time coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics from Seoul and the PGA Tour in 1990.

One of Gumbel's more memorable moments during his time at NBC Sports occurred in 1982, when he was on-site for the "Epic in Miami" NFL playoff game between the San Diego Chargers and Miami Dolphins. At the end of the game, Gumbel told the viewing audience "If you didn't like this football game then you don't like football!"

[edit] Today

Gumbel began his affiliation with Today as the program's chief sports reporter contributing twice-weekly features to the program, including a regular series entitled "Sportsman of the Week," featuring up-and-coming athletes. In June 1981, NBC announced that Tom Brokaw would depart Today to anchor the NBC Nightly News with Roger Mudd beginning in the spring of 1982. The search for Brokaw's replacement was on, and the initial candidates were all NBC News correspondents, including John Palmer, Chris Wallace, Bob Kur, Bob Jamieson, and Jessica Savitch. The candidates auditioned for Brokaw's job throughout the summer of 1981 when Brokaw was on vacation. Gumbel became a candidate for the job just by chance when he served as a last-minute substitute for Today co-anchor Jane Pauley in August 1981. Gumbel so impressed executive producer Steve Friedman and other NBC executives that he quickly became a top contender for the Today anchor position.^{[citation needed]}

While Friedman and other NBC executives favored Gumbel as Brokaw's replacement, another contingent within the NBC News division felt strongly that Brokaw should be replaced by a fellow news correspondent, not a sports reporter. Chris Wallace was the favored candidate of then-NBC News president Bill Small. NBC News decided to split the difference, selecting Gumbel as the program's anchor and Wallace as the Washington-based anchor. Jane Pauley would remain co-anchor in New York. Brokaw signed off of Today on December 18, 1981, and Gumbel replaced Brokaw on January 4, 1982.

The Gumbel-Pauley-Wallace arrangement, known internally as the "Mod Squad," lasted only nine months. It was an arrangement that proved intriguing on paper but unwieldy on television. Gumbel served as the show's traffic cop, opening and closing the program and conducting New York-based interviews, but Pauley and Wallace handled newsreading duties, and Wallace conducted all Washington-based hard news interviews. With ABC's Good Morning America in first place and expanding its lead, NBC News made Gumbel the principal anchor of Today beginning September 27, 1982, with Jane Pauley as his co-anchor. Wallace became chief White House correspondent covering President Reagan, and John Palmer, previously a White House correspondent, became Today's New York-based news anchor.

Gumbel and Pauley had a challenging first two years together as Today anchors as they sought to find a rhythm as a team. Good Morning America solidified its lead over Today in the ratings during the summer of 1983, and Pauley's departure for maternity leave sent Today into a ratings tailspin. But when Pauley returned in February 1984, she and Gumbel began to work well together as a team. NBC took Today on the road in the fall of '84, sending Gumbel to the Soviet Union for an unprecedented series of live broadcasts from Moscow. Gumbel won plaudits for his performance in Moscow, erasing any doubts about his hard-news capabilities. That Moscow trip began a whirlwind period of travel for Today. Remote broadcasts from Vietnam, Vatican City, Europe, South America, and much of the United States followed between 1984 and 1989. Today began to regain its old ratings dominance against Good Morning America throughout 1985, and by early 1986, the NBC program was once again atop the ratings.

In 1989, Gumbel, who was already known for his strong management style as Today anchor, wrote a memo to Today executive producer Marty Ryan, on Ryan's request, critiquing the program and identifying its shortcomings. Many of Gumbel's criticisms were directed at fellow Today staffers. This memo was leaked to the press. In the memo, Gumbel commented that Willard Scott, "holds the show hostage to his assortment of whims, wishes, birthdays and bad taste...This guy is killing us and no one's even trying to rein him in". He commented that Gene Shalit's movie reviews "are often late and his interviews aren't very good."^[2]

There was enough negative backlash in regard to Gumbel's comments toward Scott, that Gumbel was shown making up with Scott on Today.^[3]

Following Jane Pauley's departure from Today in December 1989, Gumbel was joined by Deborah Norville in a short-lived partnership that lasted just over a year. Today dropped to second place in the ratings during this period as a result of intensely negative publicity surrounding Norville's replacement of Pauley, and Gumbel's feud with Scott. Norville was replaced by Katie Couric in April 1991, and the Gumbel-Couric team helped refocus Today as the morning news program on public affairs during the 1992 presidential campaign. The program returned to first place in the ratings in December 1995.

Gumbel's work on Today earned him several Emmys and a large group of fans. He is the second longest serving co-host of Today, serving 2 months less than Couric. Gumbel stepped down from the show on January 3, 1997 after 15 years.

[edit] The Early Show

After leaving the Today Show and Dateline NBC in 1997, Gumbel moved to CBS, where he hosted various shows before becoming co-host of the network's morning show The Early Show on November 1, 1999. Gumbel left The Early Show (and CBS that same year) in May 2002. He returned to his morning television roots when, in the spring and summer of 2010, he served as special guest moderator of ABC's "The View" for multiple days.

Boy Scouts[link]

A CBS camera caught a disgusted Bryant Gumbel blurting out "What a fucking idiot" just after he had finished a hostile interview with Robert Knight of the Family Research Council (FRC). The incident occurred at about 7:15 a.m. ET on Thursday, June 29, 2000 following Knight's appearance to defend the Boy Scout policy of excluding gays from being leaders. The Media Research Center reported that he uttered those words; Gumbel openly admitted to saying so when guest-hosting a June 2007 episode of Live with Regis and Kelly.^[4]

[edit] Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel

Gumbel has concentrated most of his energy recently on his duties as host of HBO's acclaimed investigative series Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel (a show that he has hosted since 1995). HBO's web page claims that Real Sports has been described as "flat out TV's best sports program" by the Los Angeles Times.^[5] Also according to HBO, Real Sports has earned 15 sports Emmys, and a 2006 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for broadcast journalism, the first time in the award's history that it was given to a sports program.^[6] The award was for a story called "The Sport of Sheikhs", an investigation into the exploitation of children as camel jockeys in the United Arab Emirates.

Controversial remarks[link]

In February 2006, Gumbel made remarks regarding the Winter Olympics and the lack of African-American participation.^[7]

On the August 15, 2006 episode of Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, Gumbel made the following remarks about former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue and Players' Union president Gene Upshaw and directed these comments to new commissioner Roger Goodell:

In response, Tagliabue said:

Gumbel's response was:

On the October 18, 2011 episode, Gumbel evoked slavery in his criticism of NBA Commissioner David Stern over the league's lockout.^[9]

[edit] The Weather Man

Gumbel made a cameo appearance alongside Nicolas Cage and Michael Caine in The Weather Man, a film directed by Gore Verbinski. In the film, Gumbel co-hosts a morning show entitled Hello America for which Cage's character, a depressed weatherman, auditions.

The NFL Network[link]

In April 2006, the NFL Network announced that Gumbel, along with Cris Collinsworth and Dick Vermeil, would commentate on its new package of NFL games. Unlike his brother Greg, Bryant had never called play-by-play^[10][11] for live sporting events in his career. Before his first game commentary for the network, Gumbel's status was brought into question after he stirred up controversy in his closing remarks on his HBO program on August 15, 2006, in which he criticized NFL Players Association head Gene Upshaw and outgoing NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue. Gumbel would later reconcile with the NFL and retained his play-by-play job with the NFL Network.^[12] On December 29, 2007, Gumbel had a reunion of sorts as he called the Patriots-Giants game on the NFL Network, CBS, and NBC. This is the first 3-network simulcast NFL game and coincidentally Gumbel has worked for all three networks during his career. He also had a strong affiliation with NFL films.

Gumbel was fired as play-by-play announcer in April 2008, prior to the 2008 NFL season. He would be replaced on the NFL Network telecasts by Bob Papa.

Personal life[link]

In October 2009, Bryant Gumbel had surgery to remove a malignant tumor near his lung.^[13]