Al Trautwig, one of MSG Network’s most recognizable voices, has died at the age of 68, his former colleague Allan Hahn announced on X.
“Al Trautwig had an amazing voice and knew how to use it the way a tenor could bring depth and intensity to a song,” Hahn wrote. “He loved sports and had incredible versatility from baseball to basketball and hockey. And that’s not even counting his incredible work at the Olympics.”
A cause of death is unknown, but Trautwig revealed last year to Newsday that he was undergoing treatment for an unspecified cancer, adding that he was cleared and “now it is just a matter of getting better.”
A Long Island native, Trautwig was a versatile commentator who most recently hosted MSG Network’s pregame shows for the Knicks and Rangers while serving as a fill-in play-by-play man. He took a leave of absence in 2019 but was teaching classes at Adelphi University on Long Island.
Trautwig also worked for ABC, NBC, and USA Network, covering benchmark events such as the Summer Olympics as a long-time gymnastics play-by-play announcer. Over his four-plus-decade career, he also anchored coverage of the Tour de France and the US Open tennis tournament.
He also appeared on the silver screen, working on the 1993 film “Cool Runnings,” which tells the story of the 1988 Jamaican bobsled team that qualified for the Winter Olympics.
A graduate of Carey High School in Franklin Square on Long Island, Trautwig served as a stick boy for the New York Islanders and a ball boy for the ABA’s New York Nets when both teams played at the Nassau Coliseum.
