
The "Voice of the Royals," Matthews was behind the microphone for the club's first game in 1969. He joined the ballclub for their inaugural season as the No. 2 radio announcer alongside veteran Buddy Blattner, and took over lead play-by-play duties in 1975. He has broadcast exclusively for the Royals without interruption in five different decades, ranking his tenure among the longest with one club in baseball broadcast history. Matthews was named the 2007 Ford C. Frick Award winner by the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and is honored along with all the game's greatest broadcasters in Cooperstown.