Frank Messer, the straight arrow announcer of Yankee games for 18 seasons, died Tuesday at his home in Deerfield Beach, Fla. He was 76.

He died of heart problems, but also had lupus, said Rebecca Messer, his former wife.

Messer replaced Joe Garagiola on the Yankee television and radio team in 1968, offering straightforward play by play for a team several years removed from glory. He witnessed the team's turnaround, with World Series victories in 1977 and 1978.

Messer began his Yankee tenure with Phil Rizzuto and Jerry Coleman as his booth mates. But most of the time, his partners were Rizzuto and Bill White. Their zaniness and frequent sparring required Messer to provide a counterbalance, steering them back to the game's basics. Rizzuto once called him ''Old Reliable.''

''I think that Frank, professionally, was better than Phil, and better than I, were,'' White said. ''He had great command of his voice and knew how to use it. He could do anything. It's too bad he didn't get the credit he deserved.''

Recalling the early years of his collaboration with Rizzuto, Messer said in 1995: ''At one time, I think if I had one game to be broadcast right, I'd pick Rizzuto. Back then, he didn't miss a thing, with all the instincts of a great ballplayer. But as time went on, Phil's interests got diverted.''

In a now famous tale, Rizzuto and Messer were in the booth for a game that was in extra innings. ''Want a cup of coffee?'' Rizzuto said.

Messer said yes, and continued his play by play. Rizzuto left the stadium altogether, returning the next day with a cup of coffee.

He tapped Messer's shoulder and said, ''Here's your coffee.''

In 1985, Messer was taken off the Channel 11 team and called games exclusively on WABC Radio. After the final game of the season, Phil Niekro's 300th victory, Messer's contract was not renewed, and he called Chicago White Sox games for two years. One of the voices added to the WABC radio booth after Messer's departure was Bobby Murcer, a former Yankee.

''He never felt there was a reason why he was let go by WPIX,'' said Rebecca Messer, whose first date with her future husband was on the weekend Billy Martin replaced Bob Lemon as Yankees manager in 1979.

When Messer and Mets announcer Bob Murphy were honored at Shea Stadium in 1986 by New York baseball writers, Messer expressed his dismay. ''I understand that guests on Murph's pregame show receive watches as gifts,'' he said. ''Where I worked, they wouldn't give me the time of day.''

He is survived by a son, Richard, two daughters, Mikki and Krissi, and four grandchildren.

Messer grew up in Asheville, N.C., yet another baseball announcer with Southern roots, like Red Barber, Mel Allen and Ernie Harwell. According to the book ''Sports on New York Radio,'' Messer spent summers at his grandparents' home in Buffalo, and would imitate the play-by-play announcers he heard on the radio.

After serving in the Marines in the South Pacific during World War II, he became a minor league baseball broadcaster, eventually calling the Class AAA Richmond Virginians' games from 1954 to 1963. For the next four seasons, he was a voice of the Baltimore Orioles. After his work with the Yankees and the White Sox, he called University of Miami baseball games on cable TV for several years and some major league games for CBS Radio.

In later years, he was invited back to Yankee Stadium to reprise his role as the master of ceremonies at a Yankee Old-Timers' Day, a duty he assumed from Mel Allen.

''Our daughter, Mikki, plays tapes of her dad's game and remembers how he ended them,'' Rebecca Messer said. ''It was, 'So long, everybody, this is Frank Messer from Yankee Stadium, saying good night.' ''

Wallace F Messer