Giwner: One final call for announcer Bob Meyer

Sunday was the end of an era for me in the sport of harness racing. Track announcer “Bullet” Bob Meyer, who I spent a good portion of my late teens and 20’s listening to on a regular basis, called the December 2 card at Saratoga and bid us a good night for the final time in his nearly 50-year career.

Race after race I listened on Sunday, even on my phone while walking down the aisles of the supermarket while grocery shopping. The performance was far from vintage Meyer, but it didn’t matter. This wasn’t about performance or accuracy. The moment was about my youth and early years in the sport.

Going back in time 30 years, there was no watching races from the comfort of our homes. For me it began at Yonkers Raceway listening to Meyer call the races and extended to my local NYC OTB parlor where the crowd would stand and listen because that was all we could do without live video. We hung on every word from the Bullet’s mouth and once in a while he would throw us a curveball by calling two horses the entire stretch and tossing in a new contender right at the wire with his typical “coming on to get the lead”.

Years before I met the man in November 1996, I always envisioned a dapper southern man in my head. His voice was so crisp and remarkable. His calls were very much definitive and his cadence was always on point.

Meyer was nothing like I expected. He’s a fellow Brooklyn native with a sharp tongue and we hit it off pretty easily. After spending three nights a week in the same 8x6 room with a man for years, you grow to either love them or hate them. Even after he left Yonkers Raceway to call at Saratoga, we kept in touch here and there. I’d make fun of his announcing style and he’d get on the Yankees.

Meyer began calling races in 1970 at Monticello Raceway. Two years later he would move on to Yonkers Raceway for a 27-year run behind the mic. He put in nearly six more years at Saratoga and semi-retired in December of 2005, serving only as backup to current announcer Mike Sardella in the years since.

The years at Yonkers afforded Meyer the opportunity to call some of the greats of the sport. Green Speed, Mack Lobell, Cam Fella and Western Hanover are just a few of the future Triple Crown winners that had the privilege of hearing “in front” as they crossed the wire in races like the Yonkers Trot and Messenger Pace. In total, Meyer had the pleasure to call 38 Triple Crown events.

On this final Sunday, 49 years of race calling was far from the mind of Meyer as he simply looked to perform the task despite taking a bad fall down the stairs a few days prior. His family was on hand to witness the moment and a parade of people went in and out of the announcer’s booth to chat for one last time.

“I wasn’t particularly sharp, but I got through it,” said Meyer when I called him the day after his final 11-race card. “Mike (Sardella) offered to work for me all or part of the day, but I haven’t missed a day in my entire career and I wasn’t going to start yesterday.

“I’m turning 80 in September; it’s enough already. It was a good career. I knew it was coming. Nothing goes on forever.”

While his career is now complete, Meyer’s voice will be forever engrained in my mind. Catch phrases like “this field is in the hands of the starter” or “this field is in motion” are as clear in my head as thousands of songs from the last 40 years. His voice was a big part of my life and I wish him well.