The voice of the Mets has died
Voice of the Mets passes away
Hall of Fame broadcaster called games for 50 years
By Kevin Czerwinski / MLB.com
Bob Murphy, who called more than 6,000 Mets games, is one of 28 broadcasters in the Hall of Fame. (Ed Betz/AP)
NEW YORK -- The Voice of Summer in New York, calm and confident, steady and reliable for so many years was stilled on Tuesday afternoon, when it was learned that longtime Mets broadcaster Bob Murphy had passed away after a brief battle with lung cancer.
Murphy had a style and ease behind the microphone that made baseball on the radio enjoyable for generations of fans. He sat in the broadcast booth for a half century. He started his career in 1954, describing the exploits of Ted Williams to the Red Sox Nation, and ended it after last season, having spent more than four decades calling games for the Mets, providing all those happy recaps for fans as they drove home from the park.
He was as much a part of Mets baseball as any of the players who have worn the blue and orange since 1962. Murphy was a friend on air, calling games in a simple yet classic manner that earned him a place in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown in 1994 as the winner of the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting contributions to the game.
Murphy called his last game for the Mets on Sept. 25, 2003, the night he was honored at Shea Stadium for his long and outstanding service. He and longtime broadcast partners Lindsey Nelson and Ralph Kiner were inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame in 1984. The radio booth at Shea Stadium bears Murphy's name.
'It's horrible,' said Gary Cohen, a Queens native who sat alongside Murphy in the Mets radio booth for 15 seasons. 'It's painful to have someone work his entire life, someone who was so beloved, finally have a chance to enjoy his life and have so little time. My heart goes out to [Murphy's wife] Joye and all our thoughts and prayers are with her.
'What stands out the most about Bob is the first game I ever broadcast for the Mets in 1988. I was filling in for one night and I was a minor league kid who had looked up to Murph from the time I was six years old. I was petrified, to put it lightly. At one point early in the broadcast, I just froze. I didn't know what to say or do next. Murph reached out with his hand and patted mine and took over, making the rest of the evening easy. He was a very sweet man. He made sure that I was comfortable and that I could function and succeed and I'll never forget that.'
Murphy's health, however, had been failing in recent years. The schedule of games he worked declined steadily when he decided last summer that it was time to hang up the microphone. He was honored on the night of his last broadcast at Shea and was greeted with thunderous applause.
'The Mets have provided me with a way of life,' Murphy said. 'And I have enjoyed it so much. Just can't believe how much I love it. I just hate to say goodbye. It was a lot easier saying hello the first day I came to New York 42 years ago. Let me tell you fans how much I love you and how great you've been. Thanks for allowing us to be a part of your life.
'I've loved this so much and enjoyed this so much,' Murphy said. 'I'd still be going strong if I felt as good as I did a few years ago.'
Bob Mandt joined the Mets in 1961, working in their ticket office. He stayed with the club through his retirement this season, leaving as a vice president. He was as close to Murphy as anyone in the organization outside of Kiner.
'He called me last week to congratulate me on my retirement,' Mandt said. 'So I got to speak to him and I was glad about that. I told him I was praying for him. He said 'I'm going to need your prayers' and that was the last I spoke to him. I had a lot of fun with him over the years.
'He was a heck of a guy. I never had an argument with him. He was the same at the end of his career as he was at the beginning. They were playing a tape of the Mets' first game in St. Louis at the park the other day and you'd swear it was yesterday with Murph. He didn't change. Everyone considered him a homer but he never let it on. He wasn't the kind of announcer that would be actively rooting. But he didn't make it so apparent like some of today's announcers do.'
Kevin Czerwinski is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Hall of Fame broadcaster called games for 50 years
By Kevin Czerwinski / MLB.com
Bob Murphy, who called more than 6,000 Mets games, is one of 28 broadcasters in the Hall of Fame. (Ed Betz/AP)
NEW YORK -- The Voice of Summer in New York, calm and confident, steady and reliable for so many years was stilled on Tuesday afternoon, when it was learned that longtime Mets broadcaster Bob Murphy had passed away after a brief battle with lung cancer.
Murphy had a style and ease behind the microphone that made baseball on the radio enjoyable for generations of fans. He sat in the broadcast booth for a half century. He started his career in 1954, describing the exploits of Ted Williams to the Red Sox Nation, and ended it after last season, having spent more than four decades calling games for the Mets, providing all those happy recaps for fans as they drove home from the park.
He was as much a part of Mets baseball as any of the players who have worn the blue and orange since 1962. Murphy was a friend on air, calling games in a simple yet classic manner that earned him a place in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown in 1994 as the winner of the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting contributions to the game.
Murphy called his last game for the Mets on Sept. 25, 2003, the night he was honored at Shea Stadium for his long and outstanding service. He and longtime broadcast partners Lindsey Nelson and Ralph Kiner were inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame in 1984. The radio booth at Shea Stadium bears Murphy's name.
'It's horrible,' said Gary Cohen, a Queens native who sat alongside Murphy in the Mets radio booth for 15 seasons. 'It's painful to have someone work his entire life, someone who was so beloved, finally have a chance to enjoy his life and have so little time. My heart goes out to [Murphy's wife] Joye and all our thoughts and prayers are with her.
'What stands out the most about Bob is the first game I ever broadcast for the Mets in 1988. I was filling in for one night and I was a minor league kid who had looked up to Murph from the time I was six years old. I was petrified, to put it lightly. At one point early in the broadcast, I just froze. I didn't know what to say or do next. Murph reached out with his hand and patted mine and took over, making the rest of the evening easy. He was a very sweet man. He made sure that I was comfortable and that I could function and succeed and I'll never forget that.'
Murphy's health, however, had been failing in recent years. The schedule of games he worked declined steadily when he decided last summer that it was time to hang up the microphone. He was honored on the night of his last broadcast at Shea and was greeted with thunderous applause.
'The Mets have provided me with a way of life,' Murphy said. 'And I have enjoyed it so much. Just can't believe how much I love it. I just hate to say goodbye. It was a lot easier saying hello the first day I came to New York 42 years ago. Let me tell you fans how much I love you and how great you've been. Thanks for allowing us to be a part of your life.
'I've loved this so much and enjoyed this so much,' Murphy said. 'I'd still be going strong if I felt as good as I did a few years ago.'
Bob Mandt joined the Mets in 1961, working in their ticket office. He stayed with the club through his retirement this season, leaving as a vice president. He was as close to Murphy as anyone in the organization outside of Kiner.
'He called me last week to congratulate me on my retirement,' Mandt said. 'So I got to speak to him and I was glad about that. I told him I was praying for him. He said 'I'm going to need your prayers' and that was the last I spoke to him. I had a lot of fun with him over the years.
'He was a heck of a guy. I never had an argument with him. He was the same at the end of his career as he was at the beginning. They were playing a tape of the Mets' first game in St. Louis at the park the other day and you'd swear it was yesterday with Murph. He didn't change. Everyone considered him a homer but he never let it on. He wasn't the kind of announcer that would be actively rooting. But he didn't make it so apparent like some of today's announcers do.'
Kevin Czerwinski is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
