Editing Chuck Thompson (section)

===Career in Baltimore===
In 1949, Thompson was hired by the [[Gunther Brewing Company]] to be [[WFOA|WITH]]'s play-by-play voice for both the [[International League]] [[Baltimore Orioles (minor league)|Orioles]] and the [[Baltimore Colts (1947-50)|Colts]], at the time a member of the [[All-America Football Conference]] (AAFC). Despite being laid off following the 1951 IL season because the brewery felt no need for a salaried announcer, he joined WITH in order to continue doing the broadcasts.

When the [[American League]]'s [[St. Louis Browns]] moved to [[Baltimore|Baltimore, Maryland]], and were rechristened the Orioles in [[1954 in baseball|1954]], his previous connections with Gunther prevented him from becoming a broadcaster for the franchise. The [[National Bohemian|National Brewing Company]] had purchased the team's broadcast rights and hired [[Ernie Harwell]] as the lead voice, but still wanted Thompson to be part of the coverage. He agreed to work with Harwell on Orioles broadcasts on [[WCBM]] and [[WMAR-TV]] in 1955. Two years later he joined [[Bob Wolff]] to call [[Washington Senators (1901–60)|Washington Senators]] games on [[WQOF|WWDC]] and [[WUSA (TV)|WTOP-TV]], succeeding [[Arch McDonald]] as a result of National Brewing's becoming the team's new sponsor.

Thompson returned to broadcast Orioles games on both radio and television ([[WBAL (AM)|WBAL]] and [[WJZ-TV]] from 1962&ndash;1978, [[WJZ (AM)|WFBR]] from 1979&ndash;1982, and WMAR-TV from 1979&ndash;1987).  He resigned from the radio broadcasts after the 1982 season and the death of longtime broadcast partner [[Bill O'Donnell (sportscaster)|Bill O'Donnell]].  However, he remained on the television broadcasts until his first retirement after the 1987 season. The prime of his career was the 17 years he shared the broadcast booth with O'Donnell beginning in 1966. During that span, the pair would describe two [[World Series]] Championships (1966 and 1970), five American League [[pennant (sports)|Pennants]] (1966, 1969, 1970, 1971, and 1979), six A.L. Eastern Division titles (1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, and 1979), and only one losing season. Others who worked with Thompson on Orioles broadcasts included [[Frank Messer]] (1964&ndash;1967), [[Jim Karvellas]] (1968&ndash;1969), [[John Gordon (sportscaster)|John Gordon]] (1970&ndash;1972), [[Brooks Robinson]] (1978&ndash;1987), and [[Tom Marr]] (1979&ndash;1982). Thompson was also the [[narrator]] of the official [[1966 World Series]] highlight film jointly produced by both major leagues.

Besides his baseball-related achievements, Thompson also called Colts football for many years, first on [[NFL on CBS|CBS]] television in the 1950s and '60s, and then alongside [[Vince Bagli]] on [[WCBM]] Radio from 1973 until the team's relocation to [[Indianapolis]] in 1984. From 1964 to 1969, he narrated the Colts' season review films produced by [[NFL Films]], making on-camera appearances in the first two. The [[National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association]] named Thompson as Maryland Sportscaster of the Year for eight consecutive years from 1959 to 1966.