Al Trautwig, who had a long career as a New York sportscaster and also called national NHL games and Olympics gymnastics, died Monday. He was 68.
The news was shared by Alan Hahn, his former colleague at MSG Network, in a post on X. “We lost a legendary voice in sports,” Hahn wrote. “But we lost a lot more than that. He was not only a friend, but a mentor and a teacher. He was, personally, one of my biggest resources of support when I moved into this career.”
No cause of death was mentioned, but press reports over the past year had indicated that Trautwig had received treatment for cancer.
Known for his lengthy stint at MSG, where he called Yankees baseball, Knicks basketball and a wide range of other live events along with studio programming, Trautwig also was a prominent voice for the NHL, serving as a studio host and sometime-announcer on USA Network broadcasts in the 1980s. He also was the host of NBC’s Ironman triathlon championships that decade.
Among the other sports he covered were tennis’ U.S. Open, the Tour de France, the Arena Football League, but he likely was best known nationally as a play-by-play man for NBC’s coverage of Olympic and other championship gymnastics events.
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Although rooted in New York, Trautwig spent enough time on the national stage to be cast in the Disney movie Cool Runnings as a sportscaster narrating the feats of the Jamaican bobsled team at the 1988 Calgary Olympics.
“I have been blessed to work with some amazing broadcasters but there was no one better than Al Trautwig,” Yankees TV broadcaster Michael Kay posted on X, in one of many social media tributes. “He was meant to be on the air. Smooth. Unflappable. Al patiently walked a young writer through growing pains on TV. His lessons were invaluable. He was part of the soundtrack of New York sports all those years on MSG. I will miss him. Gone too soon. RIP, my friend.”
