Mark Scott

Best known as the host of the 1960 television series, Home Run Derby, Mark Scott’s career encompassed acting, serving as a television broadcaster for the Cincinnati Reds in 1956, and five-seasons (1952-55; 1957) as the radio play-by-play voice of the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League.

Scott was born Samuel Marks Solomon on February 21, 1915, in Chicago, Illinois. He was the oldest of two children of Benjamin and Blanche (Marks) Solomon. Scott had a younger brother, Donald. Scott’s father, Benjamin Solomon, was the son of Russian immigrants. His mother was the daughter of German immigrants. Benjamin Solomon worked as a wholesale grocery sales rep before opening a jewelry store. The family home was an apartment on East 78th Street in the city’s 7th Ward.1

Scott grew up in a musical household. He practiced the violin and in 1930, at the age of 15, was the featured soloist in a special Mother’s Day event staged by the Rock Island Lodge of B’nai B’rith.2

Scott attended Hyde Park High School, where he was a yell leader, as well as the captain and leading scorer on the track team. He also participated in baseball and swimming.3

After graduating in June 1932, Scott enrolled at the University of Illinois, where in the spring of 1933 he was a standout sprinter on the freshman track team, clocking a 10.2 100-yard dash in a meet against the University of Michigan.4

During the fall of 1935 Scott’s life would veer in a different direction. He worked as a spotter for the University of Illinois’ football radio broadcaster. At halftime of Illinois’ game with the University of Michigan, the play-by-play broadcaster became ill. With no time to get an experienced replacement, Scott was put in front of the microphone. By the end of the game, Scott had decided to pursue a career as a sports broadcaster.5

Over the next two years Scott did odd jobs at WILL, the University of Illinois campus radio station. Then, in 1938 he was hired as the staff announcer at WSBT in South Bend, Indiana. While the job put money in Scott’s pocket, it lacked sportscasting opportunities. Scott honed his play-by-play skills by calling the action while sitting in the stands at various Notre Dame games. “People thought I was crazy just sitting there in the stands talking to myself,” he said.6

A family emergency put Scott’s budding career on hold. He was summoned home to Chicago. Owing to his father’s illness, he assumed management of the jewelry store.7 Five years later Scott returned to broadcasting but in an unconventional way. He moved to Norfolk, Virginia, to manage a dress shop.8 Once there, he recognized a void on local radio – nobody was broadcasting baseball to the area. Scott approached WLOW and was hired.9 It was at this stage of his career that he eschewed his birth name for the pseudonym Mark Scott. He later completed the change legally.10 Scott’s first full-time sportscasting job kept the young broadcaster working at a frenetic pace. He performed eight news and sports segments per day, every day of the week. His days began at 6:30 A.M. and ended at 5:30 in the evening.11

In addition, Scott did recreations of New York Yankees games, called games for the minor league Norfolk Tars, broadcast college football for the Tobacco and Virginia Sports Networks, and also described amateur boxing matches.12 During the 1949 baseball season Scott called a total of 292 games.13 The Virginian-Pilot newspaper suggested that Scott was “about to lay claim to having been the world’s busiest baseball reporter.”14

Scott’s career and life took a fortuitous turn in 1950. That year he switched baseball play-by-play responsibilities from the Norfolk Tars to their Piedmont League rival, the Portsmouth Cubs. At a dinner party hosted by Cubs pitcher Duke Markell, Scott was introduced to a visitor from New York, Dorothy Rothstein. Romance ensued and following the season, the couple married. One year later they welcomed their first child, daughter Mary Jane. A son, Douglas, was born in 1954.

Broadcasting commitments kept Scott from fulfilling a promise to take his wife on a honeymoon. In December 1951, the couple made plans to take their infant daughter to Chicago for the Christmas holidays. A severe storm, however, caused a change of plans, the Scotts traveled, instead, to Havana, Cuba.

While sitting in the lobby of the Hotel Nacional, Scott heard a bellboy call out the name of J. G. Taylor Spink. He immediately recognized the man as the publisher of The Sporting News. An ardent reader of the weekly, Scott sought to meet Spink. He phoned the publisher’s room and received an invitation to come up.15

During their conversation Scott expressed his career goals. Spink replied that friends who ran the Toledo Mud Hens and Hollywood Stars were looking for radio broadcasters. He suggested that Scott apply. Scott was aware that the Toledo job was close to being filled, so he turned his focus to the Hollywood spot.16 On a Sunday in early February, Scott received a call from Bob Cobb, president of the Stars. Forty-eight hours later, having paid his own way to Los Angeles, Scott was sitting in a booth at Cobb’s restaurant, The Brown Derby, discussing the job with Cobb and the club’s part-owner, entertainer Bing Crosby. After lunch, the men retreated to Cobb’s upstairs office. Cobb and Crosby asked Scott to wait outside while they listened to a tape of Scott’s work. After several minutes Crosby came out, gave Scott a wink and said, “Don’t worry, kid, you’re in.”17 It was on February 21 when Scott received the official call from Cobb with news that the job was his.

Scott arrived in Los Angeles so close to the opening night of the Pacific Coast League season that he had little time to learn about the Hollywood players. He was only able to meet the Stars manager, Fred Haney, for the first time, two hours prior to the first pitch. He needed an usher’s help to find the radio booth at Gilmore Field.18

Two weeks into the season Scott was thrust into perhaps his biggest challenge as a sportscaster. Hollywood and the Los Angeles Angels battled for 18 innings. Scott was on the air for more than seven hours.

Scott became a popular figure in Los Angeles. His catch phrases – such as “star-studded” to describe when Hollywood loaded the bases – proved to be endearing.19 When reading commercials for 7 UP, Scott would boost his daughter, Mary Jane, onto his knee and ask what she thought of the drink. “I yike it,” she would chirp.20 Many who watched Stars games on local television would turn off the sound and instead listen to Scott’s call on KFWB radio.21 On August 15 the club held a night in Scott’s honor. Appreciative fans showered him with gifts that included cash and a dog. The media columnist for the Los Angeles Daily News suggested that Scott was “probably the best man to hit town since Fred Haney decided to quit announcing and manage the Stars.”22

Following Scott’s second season with the Hollywood Stars, he was given a two-year contract to continue as the team’s radio broadcaster. Bob Cobb declared, “As far as I’m concerned, Mark Scott can stay with the ball club as long as he wants.”23

By then Scott may have been the most recognizable sportscaster in Los Angeles. He was hired as the sports director of the Stars’ flagship radio station, KFWB. In addition to producing morning, afternoon, and evening sportscasts and calling Stars games for the radio station, Scott described boxing matches and college football games on local television (KHJ Channel 9). In January 1953 Scott was paired with Oakland Oaks broadcaster Bud Foster to call the NFL Pro Bowl for NBC.24 Around Southern California Scott was in constant demand to emcee events and speak to area service clubs. When mulling what to call the award for the Los Angeles area high school football player of the year, organizers called the trophy the Mark Scott Gold Cup.25

Scott’s popularity and friendships with people in the entertainment industry led to motion picture opportunities. Barely two months into his first season with the Stars, Scott received a part in a movie, Back at the Front, written by the celebrated World War II cartoonist, Bill Mauldin.26 What began with bit parts offered by industry friends grew into speaking opportunities – usually as a sportscaster or reporter – then evolved into character roles.

Over a span of six years Scott appeared in 18 movies and television shows. Among his motion picture appearances were The Kid from Left Field, The Harder They Fall, and Chicago Confidential. Jack Webb cast Scott in three episodes of his Dragnet television series. Scott appeared twice each in Fury and the horror anthology Target.27

Through it all Scott never wavered from his career goal. “My ambition is to broadcast major league games,” he told Frank Finch in a 1955 interview for The Sporting News.28 One year later that came to fruition. Scott was hired by the Cincinnati Reds. He joined George Bryson to form the Reds television broadcast team on WLWT Channel 5. The pair handled a 53-game schedule during the 1956 season.29

The initial reaction to the two was mixed. “I think some of those expressions they use are corny,” wrote one viewer.30 Yet overall, Reds management was pleased with the duo’s work. “Our mail has been 25-1 on the favorable side,” said Gabe Paul, the Reds general manager. “I like the way they handle themselves very much myself.”31

At the end of the 1956 season, Scott cast an eye on two other big-league jobs. A New York Giants television broadcaster, Frankie Frisch, had suffered a heart attack. Scott was under consideration to replace him.32 He also pursued the vacant Baltimore Orioles broadcast job. But in January 1957, a healthy raise brought Scott back to the Hollywood Stars.

As it developed, the 1957 season was the last season for the Stars and for Scott as a full-time baseball play-by-play broadcaster. Following the season, the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles and brought with them their broadcasters, Vin Scully and Jerry Doggett. The Hollywood Stars were sold and moved to Salt Lake City. Over the next year Scott struggled to gain full-time employment. He performed a nightly sports show on KCOP-TV and did bit parts on a handful of television shows. In January 1958 Scott was hired by KABC-TV to produce and host “Meet the Dodgers,” a weekly show in which he interviewed and profiled Dodgers players and staff. The show debuted in February 1958 with a heavily advertised profile of Roy Campanella.33 Scott’s work was received favorably but differences between him and the station led them to part ways after two months.34 He did recreations of horse races from Santa Anita Racetrack and Detroit Tigers games on radio station KFOX. Then, in November 1958 Scott suffered a mild heart attack. He spent a week in Cedars of Lebanon Hospital recovering.35

In 1959, the emphasis of Scott’s work would shift from being stationed behind a microphone to the business side of sports and broadcasting. His move was initially spurred by the efforts of a powerful New York City attorney, William Shea, who announced plans for a new baseball league, the Continental League. In Los Angeles, a group formed to try and secure a franchise in the new league. Mark Scott was front and center in the effort. He joined a partnership comprised of financier Stanley Brown, Webb, entertainer Dean Martin, former baseball player turned actor Chuck Connors, and others from the entertainment industry. Scott announced that the group had raised $5 million and would call their team the Los Angeles Stars.36 Scott was made the group’s executive vice president.

Soon after, Scott embarked upon a project that would become the signature achievement of his career. The concept came from Lou Breslow, a writer, producer, and director. He shared with Scott his idea for a television series that would pit the best power hitters in baseball in a tournament style home run hitting competition. Breslow wondered if Scott would help him. The broadcaster eagerly agreed and the two formed Homer Productions.37

Scott pursued the top home run hitters in the big leagues. Henry Aaron, Mickey Mantle, and Willie Mays were among the 18 who agreed to participate. Ziv Productions was secured to distribute the series to stations around the country. In all, 147 stations signed on to air what would be called Home Run Derby.38

Help was sought from Al Campanis, then scouting director for the Dodgers. Campanis supplied two of the organization’s minor-leaguers who resided in the area, Ronnie Boone and John Van Ornum. They would take turns pitching and catching. Another Dodgers minor-leaguer, Tom Saffell, and Jim Marshall of the Chicago Cubs patrolled the outfield. Each was paid $100 per day.39

Shooting began in December at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles. Scott not only coordinated the production but was the on-air host. He introduced the participants, did play-by-play of each contest, and conducted interviews with the participants. “Mark ramrodded everything. He was a one-man show,” Van Ornum recalled. “He was great to everybody. Just a real nice guy.”40

Each day two contests were shot. “A lot of the guys weren’t in shape. They hadn’t swung a bat in a month. Some who normally didn’t wore gloves so they wouldn’t get blisters,” Van Ornum said.41 The filming took three weeks and produced a total of 26 30-minute episodes. Home Run Derby debuted around the country on April 14, 1959.42 “It has proven very popular,” wrote Pete Kokon in The Valley Times.43 Dick Anderson of the Evansville Press called the show “a rather well-done thing.”44

From its debut, Home Run Derby aired on Saturdays for seven months. The series culminated with Mickey Mantle defeating Willie Mays 9-8 in the final to claim the $2,000 first prize.45 During the competition, Mantle hit the longest home run, one that crashed through a window of a house across the street from the park and broke a lamp in the front room.46

Scott, Breslow, and Ziv Productions made plans for a second season of Home Run Derby. Buoyed by his success, Scott embarked upon new television ventures. He developed a concept for a golf series, with the competition would match Hollywood celebrities. Webb agreed to finance the project through his production company, Mark VII.47 Actors Dennis Morgan, Desi Arnaz, and Guy Madison signed up to participate. Lakeside Golf Club in Burbank was secured as the venue.48 Ziv Productions committed to distribute the shows and was able to convince CBS to air what was to be called The Back Nine.49

A production schedule was set. Shooting was to begin on July 16, 1960. But just three days before Mark Scott’s latest television project was to unfold, Angelenos awoke to stunning news. On the night of July 13, 1960, Mark Scott went to sleep and never woke up. The celebrated sportscaster had succumbed to a fatal heart attack while he slept. At the time of his death, Scott was 45.

Breslow, Ziv Productions, and others involved agreed that Home Run Derby would not continue without Mark Scott. Webb shelved plans for The Back Nine. Neither the Los Angeles Stars nor the Continental League would ever get off the ground.

In the years that followed the passing of Mark Scott, home run hitting contests became a common facet of local playground events, softball leagues, and minor-league baseball games. The term “home run derby” became oft-used by sportswriters and copy editors to describe games in which many home-runs were hit.

Almost 25 years after production of the original Home Run Derby, Major League Baseball partnered with the NBC television network on a home run hitting competition they titled Super Slam. Throughout the 1984 season 32 players competed in head-to-head contests using a format that John Maher of the Austin American-Statesman called, “a direct steal from my favorite old TV show ‘Home Run Derby.’”50 When Greg Luzinski of the Chicago White Sox defeated Jeffrey Leonard of the San Francisco Giants to win the competition, Leonard’s pitcher was John Van Ornum, by then a Giants coach, who had been a pitcher and catcher on the original TV series.

One year later the event became part of the festivities surrounding the Major League Baseball All-Star game. It was conducted the day prior to the game. “I was in awe,” said Mark Scott’s daughter Mary Jane.51 The event would become both popular and a staple of the annual affair.

In 1988 Mark Scott and Home Run Derby were introduced to a new generation of fans. ESPN obtained the rights to the 1960 series. When plans to air episodes throughout the summer of 1988 were announced, syndicated media columnist Bob Greene called Home Run Derby “my favorite sports show of all time.” He added, “A kid couldn’t watch it without running out into the back yard with a friend and playing a miniature version of Home Run Derby.”52

In the decades since his passing, Mark Scott’s handprint on baseball has endured. His signature program remains a part of the game’s folklore and a contributor to the enthrallment with the home run. Said his daughter Mary Jane, “I am so complimented that Mark Scott lives on and is remembered for the good work he did on Home Run Derby and for baseball and that his efforts for the game we love are still appreciated today.”53

On March 2, 2023, Dorothy Scott passed away at the age of 100. The Scotts’ daughter Mary Jane is married to award-winning actor Michael Dante. The couple was introduced at a Southern California Sports Broadcasters luncheon by Connors. The organization was started in the 1950s by Mark Scott, who numbered Connors among his close friends. “It was my Dad who introduced me to Michael, through Chuck Connors,” Mary Jane Dante said to Don Zminda for his SABR article, “Home Run Derby: A Tale of Baseball and Hollywood.” Under his birth name, Ralph Vitti, Dante was a shortstop in the Boston Braves, Philadelphia Athletics, and St. Louis Browns farm systems. Doug Scott is an innovative sound engineer, designer, and arranger. He has worked with leaders in the music and motion picture industries.

Mark Scott is buried in Hillside Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California.

On Scott’s passing, columnist Pete Koken wrote in the Valley Times, “So, on behalf of his many friends, we all say ‘So long, Mark, you’ve made a fine mark in sports. We all loved and admired you. You meant so much to so many.’”54

Further reading

See Don Zminda, “Home Run Derby: A Tale of Baseball and Hollywood,” in The National Pastime: Endless Seasons: Baseball in Southern California (SABR, 2011).

Acknowledgments

The writer extends thanks to Mary Jane Dante and John Van Ornum. Both are longtime friends.

This biography was reviewed by Rory Costello and David H. Lippman and fact-checked by Bill Johnson.

Sources

Personal interviews

Mars Breslow, Mary Jane Dante, Frank Lewis, John Van Ornum.

Websites

Ancestry.com, IMDB.com, lapl.com (Los Angeles Public Library), LinkedIn.com, Newspapers.com, Paperofrecord.com.

Newspapers

Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, The Sporting News, The Virginian-Pilot.

Notes

1 1930 United States Census, Cook County, Illinois accessed on Ancestry.com.

2 “Prepare Program for Mother’s Day,” Rock Island Argus, May 10, 1930: 5.

3 The Aitchpe 1932 (yearbook).

4 “Plebe Cindermen Start Wiremeet Against Michigan,” The Daily Illini, May 12, 1933: 6.

5 Frank Finch, “Injury, Illness and Page Boy Put Broadcaster in His Job,” The Sporting News, April 27, 1955: 19.

6 Finch, “Injury, Illness and Page Boy Put Broadcaster in His Job.”

7 Finch, “Injury, Illness and Page Boy Put Broadcaster in His Job.”

8 Warner Twyford, “Major League Ball First Love, But Scott Tackles the Field,” Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, October 16, 1949: 80.

9 Tom E. Danson, “Shortcut, Here via Havana, Taken by Sportscaster Scott,” Evening Vanguard, May 2, 1953: 4.

10 Mary Jane Dante via email, February 24, 2023 (hereafter Dante email).

11 Finch, “Injury, Illness and Page Boy Put Broadcaster in His Job.

12 Twyford, “Major League Ball First Love, But Scott Tackles the Field.

13 “Mark Scott Eyes Title ‘Busiest in Baseball,’” Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, October 2, 1949: 74.

14 “Mark Scott Eyes Title ‘Busiest in Baseball.’”

15 Finch, “Injury, Illness and Page Boy Put Broadcaster in His Job.

16 Finch, “Injury, Illness and Page Boy Put Broadcaster in His Job.”

17 Finch, “Injury, Illness and Page Boy Put Broadcaster in His Job.”

18 Finch, “Injury, Illness and Page Boy Put Broadcaster in His Job.”

19 John Hall, “For the Record,” Citizen-News, March 22, 1952: 6.

20 Dan Taylor, “Lights, Camera, Fastball; How the Hollywood Stars Changed Baseball,” Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield, (2021): 294.

21 Terry Vernon, “Tele-Vues,” Long Beach Independent, April 7, 1952: 30.

22 Paul Price, “Paul Price,” Los Angeles Daily News, September 25, 1952: 40.

23 Paul Price, “Paul Price,” Los Angeles Daily News, May 28, 1954, 59.

24 C. E. Butterfield, “Pros to Close Grid Season Tomorrow,” The Richmond News Leader, January 9, 1953: 33.

25 “Gold Cup Award,” Long Beach Independent, October 19, 1952: 40.

26 “Signs For Films,” Pasadena Independent, May 23, 1952: 29.

27 IMDB.com

28 Finch, “Injury, Illness and Page Boy Put Broadcaster in His Job.”

29 “Two Named to Telecast Reds’ Games in 1956,” The Cincinnati Post, November 23, 1955: 1.

30 Joe Quinn, “Baseball Telecasters Welcome Views,” The Cincinnati Post, May 7, 1956: 18.

31 Quinn, “Baseball Telecasters Welcome Views.”

32 “Reds’ TV Team May Split Up Next Year,” The Cincinnati Post, September 14, 1956: 1.

33 Allen Rich, “Listening Post and TV Review,” The Valley Times, February 5, 1958: 19.

34 Allen Rich, “Listening Post and TV Review,” The Valley Times, April 2, 1958: 17.

35 “Scott To Leave Hospital Monday,” Los Angeles Times, November 7, 1958: 78.

36 “L. A. Stars Seek Entry in Third Major League,” Pasadena Independent, October 29, 1959: 43.

37 Arnold Bailey, “TV’s Original Home Run Derby Relived,” SportsCollectorsDigest.com, December 12, 2019.

38 Fred Danzig, “Home Run Derby Seen on 147 Stations,” The Whittier News, May 17, 1960: 11.

39 John Van Ornum, telephone conversation, February 20, 2023 (hereafter Van Ornum conversation).

40 Van Ornum conversation.

41 Van Ornum conversation.

42 Sid Ziff, “The Inside Track,” Mirror News, March 31, 1960: 45.

43 Pete Kokon, “Sluggers Visit Los Angeles,” Valley Times, May 3, 1960: 13.

44 Dick Anderson, “A New Record,” Evansville Press, April 15, 1960: 18.

45 Wayne G. McDonnell, Jr., The Overblown Fallacy of The Home Run Derby Hangover,” Forbes, July 15, 2013.

46 Pete Kokon, “Sluggers Visit Los Angeles,” Valley Times, May 3, 1960: 13.

47 Pete Kokon, “Mark Meant So Much,” The Valley Times, July 16, 1960: 13.

48 Jack Hawn, “Jack in The Box,” Citizen-News, July 2, 1960: 8.

49 Hawn, “Jack in The Box.”

50 John Maher, “Home run derby show draws cheer,” Austin American-Statesman, April 22, 1984: 168.

51 Dante email.

52 Bob Greene, “’Home Run Derby’ is back at the plate,” Muncie Evening Press, July 5, 1989: 4.

53 Dante email.

54 Kokon, “Mark Meant So Much.”