Edwin Martin (August 9, 1923 in Wayne, Pennsylvania

Wayne, Pennsylvania

Wayne is an unincorporated community located on the Main Line, centered in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. While the center of Wayne is in Radnor Township, Wayne extends into both Tredyffrin Township in Chester County and Upper Merion Township in Montgomery County...

 – July 23, 2002 in Raleigh, North Carolina

Raleigh, North Carolina

Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...

) was an American sportscaster

Sportscaster

In sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action and spectators also heard in the background. In the case of television commentary, the commentator...

, known primarily as a play-by-play announcer for Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

's Boston Red Sox

Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...

 from to . Martin also was a football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 announcer, covering the American Football League

American Football League

The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...

's Boston Patriots

New England Patriots

The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...

 in 1965, as well as collegiate games for Harvard

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

, Yale

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

, and Dartmouth

Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...

. Nationally, Martin broadcast the 1975 World Series

1975 World Series

The 1975 World Series was played between the Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds . It has been ranked by ESPN as the second-greatest World Series ever played...

 on NBC television and radio, and four American League Championship Series

American League Championship Series

In Major League Baseball, the American League Championship Series , played in October, is a round in the postseason that determines the winner of the American League pennant...

 (1976-1979) on CBS Radio

Major League Baseball on CBS Radio

Major League Baseball on CBS Radio was the de facto title for the CBS Radio Network's coverage of Major League Baseball. Produced by CBS Radio Sports , the program was the official national radio broadcaster for the All-Star Game and the postseason from 1976 to 1997.-Contracts:CBS first covered...

.

Career with the Boston Red Sox

Martin called Red Sox games on both WHDH-AM

WEEI

WEEI is a sports radio station in Boston, Massachusetts, that broadcasts on 850 kHz from a transmitter in Needham, Massachusetts, and is owned by Entercom Communications. The station is one of the top-rated sports talk radio stations in the nation. Studios are located in Brighton, Massachusetts...

 radio and WHDH-TV

WCVB-TV

WCVB-TV, channel 5, is a television station located in Boston, Massachusetts, owned by Hearst Television and affiliated with the ABC Television Network. WCVB-TV's studios and transmitter are co-located in Needham, Massachusetts. WCVB is also one of six Boston television stations seen in Canada by...

 from to , on WHDH-AM only from to , on WMEX-AM/WITS-AM

WWZN

WWZN is an AM radio station licensed to serve the Boston media market. Its programming is a time-brokered mix between progressive talk radio during the daytime , sports talk and religious programming in the overnight hours...

 from to , on WSBK-TV

WSBK-TV

WSBK-TV is a MyNetworkTV television station for eastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire that is licensed to Boston. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 39 from a transmitter along the Needham and Wellesley town line southwest of the MA 9 and I-95 / MA 128...

 from to , and on New England Sports Network

New England Sports Network

The New England Sports Network, or NESN [NESS-en], is a regional cable television network that covers the six New England states except Fairfield County, Connecticut and Southbury, Connecticut, a town in New Haven County, Connecticut which is covered by New York City sports networks...

 cable from to . During that time, he called the entire career of Hall-of-Famer Carl Yastrzemski

Carl Yastrzemski

Carl Michael Yastrzemski is a former American Major League Baseball left fielder and first baseman. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989. Yastrzemski played his entire 23-year baseball career with the Boston Red Sox . He was primarily a left fielder, with part of his later career...

, and was behind the microphone for some of baseball's most memorable moments, including the final win of the Red Sox "Impossible Dream" season of , Carlton Fisk

Carlton Fisk

Carlton Ernest Fisk , nicknamed "Pudge" or "The Commander", is a former Major League Baseball catcher. During a 24-year baseball career, he played for both the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox .Fisk was known by the nickname "Pudge" due to his 6'2", 220 lb frame...

's game-winning home run off the foul pole in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series

1975 World Series

The 1975 World Series was played between the Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds . It has been ranked by ESPN as the second-greatest World Series ever played...

, Yastrzemski's 400th home run and 3000th base hit in , and Roger Clemens

Roger Clemens

William Roger Clemens , nicknamed "Rocket", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who broke into the league with the Boston Red Sox, whose pitching staff he would help anchor for 12 years. Clemens won seven Cy Young Awards, more than any other pitcher. He played for four different teams over...

' first 20-strikeout game on April 29, .

He may hold the distinction of having seen more Red Sox games in person than any other person, having spent 31 entire seasons with the club's broadcast team, which meant he saw more than 5,000 Red Sox games.

Ned Martin was inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame

Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame

The Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame was instituted in 1995 to recognize the careers of former Boston Red Sox baseball players. A 15-member selection committee of Red Sox broadcasters and executives, past and present media personnel, and representatives from The Sports Museum of New England and the...

 in 2000.

Broadcast trademarks

Martin was known for his erudition and literary references during broadcasts (quotations from Shakespeare were not uncommon) and for his signature exclamation, "Mercy!", for plays both good and bad.

Broadcast partners over the years

His broadcast partners over the years included Curt Gowdy

Curt Gowdy

Curtis Edward "Curt" Gowdy was an American sportscaster, well known as the longtime "voice" of the Boston Red Sox and for his coverage of many nationally-televised sporting events, primarily for NBC Sports in the 1960s and 1970s.-Early years:The son of a manager for the Union Pacific railroad,...

, Art Gleeson

Art Gleeson

Art Gleeson was an American baseball announcer.Gleeson got his start calling games for teams in the California League games during the late 1930s and early 1940s...

, Mel Parnell

Mel Parnell

Melvin Lloyd Parnell is a former Major League Baseball left-handed starting pitcher.Parnell spent his entire ten-year career with the Boston Red Sox , compiling a 123-75 record with 732 strikeouts, a 3.50 earned run average, 113 complete games, 20 shutouts, and 1752.2 innings pitched in 289 games...

, Ken Coleman

Ken Coleman

Kenneth R. Coleman was an American radio and television sportscaster for 38 years . He was born in Quincy, Massachusetts....

, Johnny Pesky

Johnny Pesky

John Michael Pesky , nicknamed "The Needle" and "Mr. Red Sox", was a Major League Baseball shortstop, third baseman, and manager. During a 10-year career, he played in 1942 and from 1946-1954 for three different teams. He missed all of the 1943, 1944, and 1945 seasons while serving in World War...

, John MacLean

John MacLean (sportscaster)

John F. MacLean was a Major League Baseball announcer for the Washington Senators from 1961-1968 and the Boston Red Sox in 1972. He left the Red Sox radio broadcast crew in June 1972 due to illness. He died on September 13, 1973 following open-heart surgery. -References:...

, Dave Martin (no relation), Jim Woods

Jim Woods

James M. Woods was an American sportscaster, best known for his play-by-play work on Major League Baseball broadcasts.-Early life:...

, Ken Harrelson

Ken Harrelson

Kenneth Smith Harrelson , nicknamed "The Hawk" due to his distinctive profile, is a former All-Star first baseman and outfielder in Major League Baseball...

, Bob Montgomery

Bob Montgomery (baseball player)

Robert Edward Montgomery is a former Major League Baseball catcher who played in the American League for the Boston Red Sox from 1970 to 1979. He was known as "The Hammer" or "Monty"....

, and Jerry Remy

Jerry Remy

Gerald Peter "Rem Dawg" Remy is a Major League Baseball broadcaster and former Major League Baseball second baseman. Remy grew up in Somerset, Massachusetts.-Playing career:...

.

Death

Ned Martin attended a memorial service for Hall of Fame slugger Ted Williams

Ted Williams

Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year Major League Baseball career as the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox...

 at Boston's Fenway Park

Fenway Park

Fenway Park is a baseball park near Kenmore Square in Boston, Massachusetts. Located at 4 Yawkey Way, it has served as the home ballpark of the Boston Red Sox baseball club since it opened in 1912, and is the oldest Major League Baseball stadium currently in use. It is one of two "classic"...

 on July 22, 2002, and was returning to his home in Clarksville, Virginia

Clarksville, Virginia

Clarksville is a town founded in Mecklenburg County and overlapping across Halifax County in the U.S. state of Virginia, near the southern border of the state. The population was 1,139 at the 2010 census...

 the following day when he was stricken with a massive coronary on a shuttle bus at Raleigh-Durham International Airport

Raleigh-Durham International Airport

Raleigh-Durham International Airport is a public international airport located 4.5 miles northeast of the town of Morrisville in suburban Wake County, North Carolina, United States. The airport covers and operates three runways, providing direct service to 40 domestic and international...

 and died there.

Quotes