KC Royals mourn passing of longtime TV and radio broadcaster

On March 21, the Kansas City Royals posted a tribute to their former play-by-play announcer Bob Davis, who passed away at 80 years old just a week after his wife of 53 years, Linda, died on March 13. The Royals' post came just hours after the news of Davis' death was shared through Kansas University's athletic department.

"We remember our dear friend who never stopped being a fan and welcomed so many to join him," the Royals wrote on social media alongside a photo of Davis.

Remembering KC Royals broadcaster Bob Davis

Davis began his career in 1968 at the local radio station Hayes, where he called American Legion baseball and Fort Hayes State University sports. In 1984, he became the play-by-play announcer of the Kansas University football and basketball teams with the Jayhawk Radio Network — a position he went on to hold for more than three decades.

Alongside his role with KU, Davis became the Royals' play-by-play analyst for television and radio in 1997. Broadcasting alongside Royals Hall of Fame pitcher Paul Splittorff, Davis was known for his enthusiasm and animation during plays, and saddened fans when he left the Royals' booth in 2013 after 16 years with the team.

Davis retired from the Jayhawk Radio Network after the 2015-16 KU basketball season. Affectionately called the "Voice of the Jayhawks," Davis broadcast eight of KU’s NCAA Final Four appearances — including their title runs in 1988 and 2008 — and six of their football team's bowl games throughout his career.

“It’s hard to believe that I spent 48 years doing what I loved,” Davis said in a past interview, per the Kansas City Star's Gary Bedore. “I sent out about 500 recordings of myself to radio stations across the state. I finally was contacted by KAYS and went out to Hays to meet with the station director and was hired then and there.”

Throughout his career, Davis was 14-times named the Kansas Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sports Writers Association, and won the Oscar Stauffer Sports Broadcasting Award twice. He was inducted into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2016, and is also in the Fort Hays State Tiger Athletics Hall of Fame, Kansas Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame, Topeka West High School Graduates Hall of Fame, Topeka-Shawnee County Baseball Hall of Fame, and Hays High Hall of Fame.

Following the announcement of Davis' passing on March 21, the Royals' tribute was one of many that flooded social media.

"Saddened to learn of the passing of Bob Davis, the legendary voice of Kansas athletics for decades," Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas wrote. "Beyond the Jayhawks, Kansas Citians knew him well on Royals broadcasts for years with Paul Splittorff where he brought us electric calls even through some lean years... Different times and wonderful memories from his golden Midwestern pipes."