Veteran broadcaster Mel Proctor is calling University of Hawaii baseball games for a second straight season. Proctor’s career has been filled with calling NBA Finals, World Series and some of baseball’s historic moments.

This month we look back at his career, a new book and his time spent in Hawaii.

During the 1970s Proctor anchored sports in the islands at KGMB television. He called local high school sports, bowling, the World Football League Hawaiians, Hawaii Islanders baseball, UH football and basketball on TV and radio.

His most memorable local sporting event was 40 years ago in 1976, when the Islanders won the Pacific Coast League championship. The Islanders, despite having a winning record, had major financial problems with players’ paychecks bouncing. The team’s front office was padlocked by the IRS, and the PCL playoffs all had to be played on the road in Salt Lake City to save travel expenses. “They overcame almost insurmountable obstacles to win,” said Proctor.

When Proctor left the islands in 1978, he got his first big break by joining the broadcast team for the defending NBA champion Washington Bullets. The Bullets would reach the NBA Finals the following year. Proctor also called games for the NBA’s New Jersey Nets and MLB’s Texas Rangers. In 1984 Proctor began calling games for the the Baltimore Orioles, the defending World Series champions.

The Orioles had future Hall of Famers Jim Palmer, Eddie Murray and Cal Ripken Jr. While with the Orioles, Proctor called the biggest event of his career when Ripken broke Lou Gehrig’s consecutive-games record in 1995. “It was an unforgettable night,” Proctor said.

In 1997 Proctor moved to California and began calling games for the San Diego Padres. He was there when the team reached the World Series in 1998 against the New York Yankees, and called Tony Gwynn’s 3,000th hit in 1999.

Proctor also called games during the Washington Nationals’ inaugural season in 2005 with former New York Mets pitching ace Ron Darling, who was born in Honolulu.

In addition to all of his broadcasting achievements in calling over 5,000 events and more than 2,000 interviews, you can also add author to his plate. His latest book, “The Little General: Gene Mauch, a Baseball Life” covers the life and career of longtime Major League Baseball manager Gene Mauch.

Proctor worked for the CBS affiliate in Palm Springs, Calif., in 2002 when he met Mauch. “Gene Mauch is the most fascinating man I’ve ever met,” he said. “He could be gruff on the outside, but once he got to know you, he was one of the most caring people ever. He loved his players and just wanted them to do well. He was a baseball genius. He knew the game better than anyone.”

It was 30 years ago when Mauch’s California Angels blew a 3-1 lead against the Boston Red Sox in the MLB playoffs. The Angels were one strike away from the World Series.

“Mauch was involved in three of baseball’s biggest flops with the 1964 Philadelphia Phillies and the 1982 and 1986 Angels, but he never had great teams,” Proctor said. “I think he should be in the Hall of Fame. He’s 12th on the all-time win list, and all of the managers ahead of him and many behind him are in the Hall of Fame.”

Proctor is also having a ball broadcasting UH baseball games on the ESPN 1420 (KKEA-AM) radio dial.

“I love working with coach Mike Trapasso and his staff and being around these wonderful student-athletes,” Proctor said. “I salute Don Robbs on his 40 years of calling UH games.”

This season he is calling 16 UH road games in California. “I like this team, and I know Mike Trapasso does, too,” Proctor said. “The shortstop from Australia, Jacob Sheldon-Collins, leads the team in just about every offensive category and is a wizard defensively. Trapasso says his freshman catcher Kekai Rios is the best catcher he’s ever had at UH, and first baseman Eric Ramirez is a solid, steady player.”

Proctor lives in the San Diego area and has a media consulting business where he mentors pro athletes transitioning into broadcasting. His roots in Hawaii will always remain strong. Proctor’s wife, Julie, whom he married in 1978 at the Columbia Inn, is from Maui.

“My years in Hawaii were the best years of my life,” Proctor said. “I’ll never forget the aloha spirit or the wonderful people I met there. Doing UH baseball is wonderful. It gives me a chance to reconnect with my favorite place on earth.”

Proctor’s book on Mauch can be bought on amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and other online retailers.

AJ McWhorter, a collector of film and videotape cataloging Hawaii’s TV history, has worked as a producer, writer and researcher for both local and national media. Email him at flashback@hawaii.rr.com.