MANNING, THOMAS EDWARD "RED" (27 Sept. 1899-4 Sept. 1969), a radio sportscaster, was born in Cleveland to John and Catherine (Cahill) Manning. Winning a Euclid Beach contest for the newsboy with the loudest voice led to Manning's career as an announcer. An outfielder with the Telling team in Class AAA, Manning was hired by the CLEVELAND INDIANS as field announcer at Dunn Fld. (LEAGUE PARK). Using a 4' megaphone, Manning shouted the lineups to the press box and the batteries to the fans, with "the second loudest noise in Cleveland, the first being the foghorn off WHISKEY ISLAND."
Manning's first radio job came in 1926 when WJAY hired him to give baseball scores. Manning moved to WTAM in 1928, and the Tribe hired him as the first radio voice of the Indians. In 1931 another radio station got the baseball contract, and Manning's connection with the Indians ended. Years later, in 1956, he joined Jimmy Dudley to announce Cleveland baseball over station WERE, but had to resign in 1957 because an ear infection made it painful to fly. For 6 years, beginning in 1929, Manning joined Graham McNamee to do network baseball and World Series broadcasting. He was the radio voice of the Ohio State University football team for 30 years. He announced for WERE, KYW, and WHK before retiring in 1967. Manning married his first wife, Amelia, in 1924; they divorced in 1939. His second wife, Hazel, whom he married on 30 Sept. 1939, survived him.