Inductees

His passion for sports took root in south St. Louis, where he and his buddies played just about every sport you could think of. In the summers, they’d ride their bikes through south Kingshighway to Mertz Field, a sandlot really, and at night he would listen to the KMOX broadcast of the St. Louis Cardinals through the crackle of the AM radio.

Frank Kirchmer knew then that his calling was in sports broadcasting, especially as he listened to Jack Buck (MSHOF 1980) and Harry Caray call big-league games.

“Many an evening I fell asleep listening to those magical broadcasts, especially West Coast games, and upon waking up in the morning, my 9-volt battery was dead,” Kirchmer said. “I probably went through 100 9-volt batteries as a kid.”

Kirchmer not only chased his dream but he lived it, calling sports on radio – and now streaming – since 1971, and his success is why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame proudly inducted him with the Class of 2024.

Overall, he enriched our sports experience – and told the stories of high school athletes – in calling more than 4,000 broadcasts, doing so mostly in Ste. Genevieve, a quaint community about an hour south of St. Louis that hugs the Mississippi River.

A 1967 graduate of Bishop DuBourg High School and later Southeast Missouri State University, Kirchmer has worked in Farmington, Sikeston and Jackson.

He has called 28 state championship games, with a focus on Valle Catholic High School football, baseball, softball and volleyball through the Valle Catholic Sports Network powered by Prepcasts the past 17 years. He also has called Ste. Genevieve football, Chaffee football and Perryville girls basketball.

“I distinctly remember my first play-by-play broadcast,” Kirchmer said. “I was working at a 250-watt daytime station in Farmington. The year was 1972 and the game was down I-55 at Sikeston in early September. We had to tape-delay the broadcast of the Friday night football game on an old reel-to-reel tape recorder. I did my homework on both teams and was ready to go. I took a deep breath and said, ‘Good evening, this is Frank Kirchmer, and alongside is my partner, uh …’ I forgot his name.”

On the drive home that night, Kirchmer joked that maybe he could tell his boss that the tapes flew out the window.

“It probably took two to three years before I really felt comfortable broadcasting sports. It’s not nearly as easy as people perceive,” Kirchmer said.

No, but Kirchmer has made it look seamless, largely because of his pre-game preparation. And that’s not done just hours before a game but days in advance.

“I would always talk to the head coaches, have the starting lineups for both teams well in advance, secure stats for both teams offensively, defensively, and special teams, check for injuries as we got closer to game day, watch game film, and have a scouting report to know what the tendencies were for both teams,” Kirchmer said.

Stats of every player next to their names and human interest stories were always on the ready, too.

Among his favorite games was Valle Catholic’s 2011 football state championship victory, the program’s first since 1995. The Warriors beat Westran 22-21 in overtime after Valle Catholic, having lost its All-State running back on the fifth play of the game, successfully went for the 2-point conversation.

Fortunately, Kirchmer has had positive influences, such as Caray, Buck, St. Louis Hawks broadcasters Buddy Blattner and Jerry Gross, Bob Costas (MSHOF 1994) and John Rooney (MSHOF 2004).

“They mentored me without them even knowing it,” Kirchmer said. “It was a great lesson in how to paint the picture for listeners who couldn’t be there.”

Another important person was Tim Miller, owner of Prepcasts in St. Louis who supported Kirchmer in 2007 as broadcasters began streaming. That led to Kirchmer eventually setting up his own business.

Kirchmer also thanks coaches, players, analysts, listeners, parents and other family members of players.

Best of all, Kirchmer has long had the support of his wife of 48 years, Theresa, and their daughters Katie, Kelly and Julie. Theresa helps behind the scenes on the broadcasts.

“I can’t tell you how much fun I’ve had over these 50-plus years broadcasting sports,” Kirchmer said. “I’ve done games from a hay wagon at the 30-yard line all the way to the Dome in St. Louis; from a driving rainstorm out in the open to Faurot Field in Columbia. It has been a journey that I wouldn’t have missed. I’ve been so lucky and so blessed.”