Don Carney (Broadcaster. Born, Boston, MA, Aug. 31, 1922; died, Coral Springs, FL, Mar. 16, 2002.) For nearly 30 years, Donald Carney was the man in charge of Yankees telecasts. Carney succeeded Jack Murphy as the director of WPIX telecasts and literally called the shots until his retirement in 1987. He did numerous other sports as well, including the National Horse Show, college basketball, the Little League World Series, Notre Dame football, N.B.A., A.B.A., and N.H.L. games, and dog shows. Carney, an amateur musician, did many other events, such as the New York St. Patrick’s Day Parade (1954-87), the International Debutante Ball at the Waldorf-Astoria (1960-69), Christmas Midnight Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral (1978-87), ticker-tape parades, funerals (such as Cardinal Cooke’s in 1983), the Tall Ships in 1976 (for the American Bicentennial), and the Papal Mass at Yankee Stadium in 1979. He was a self-taught pianist whose father, Joe, was a famed vaudevillian who performed under the name Joe Pierce. Carney started in the television industry after Navy service in World War II.
