Curt Gowdy Curtis Edward " Curt " Gowdy ( July 31 , 1919 – February 20 , 2006 ) 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 . Biography . Early years . The son of a manager for the Union Pacific railroad , Curt Gowdy was born in Green River , Wyoming , and moved to Cheyenne at age six . As a high school basketball player in the 1930s , he led the state in scoring . He enrolled at the University of Wyoming in Laramie where he was a 5 ' 9 " ( 175 cm ) starter on the basketball team and played varsity tennis , lettering three years in both sports for the Cowboys . He was also a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity . After graduating in 1942 with a degree in business statistics , Gowdy aimed to become a fighter pilot , but a ruptured disk in his spine from a previous sports injury cut short his service in the Army Air Force , leading to a medical discharge in 1943 . In November of that year , recovering from back surgery , Gowdy made his broadcasting debut in Cheyenne calling a " six - man " high school football game from atop a wooden grocery crate in sub - zero weather , with about 15 people in attendance . He found he had a knack for broadcasting and worked at the small KFBC radio station and at the " Wyoming Eagle " newspaper as a sportswriter ( and later sports editor ) . After several years in Cheyenne , he accepted an offer from CBS ' s KOMA radio in Oklahoma City in 1946 . He was hired primarily to broadcast Oklahoma college football ( then coached by new hire Bud Wilkinson ) and Oklahoma State college basketball games ( then coached by Hank Iba ) . It was in Oklahoma that he met his wife , Jerre Dawkins , a graduate student at OU . Gowdy ' s distinctive play - by - play style during his subsequent broadcasts of minor league baseball , college football , and college basketball in Oklahoma City earned him a national audition and then an opportunity with the New York Yankees in 1949 , working with ( and learning from ) the legendary Mel Allen for two seasons . Family Background . He was married to Geraldine Dawkins Gowdy . He had 3 children : Cheryl Ann Gowdy , Curtis Edward Gowdy Jr . , and Trevor Allen Gowdy Boston Red Sox . Gowdy began his Major League Baseball broadcasting career working as the No . 2 announcer to Mel Allen for New York Yankees games on radio and television in 1949 – 50 . There , he succeeded Russ Hodges , who departed to become the New York Giants ' lead announcer when the Yankees and Giants decided to broadcast a full slate of 154 games , instead of sharing the same radio network and announcers for 77 games each . Two years later , in Boston , the Red Sox and the Boston Braves followed a similar path , with each team opting for its own networks and announcers . Jim Britt decided to stay with the Braves , opening the top spot on the Red Sox ' broadcast team . In April at the age of 31 , Gowdy began his tenure as the lead announcer for the Red Sox . For the next 15 years , he called the exploits of generally mediocre Red Sox teams on WHDH radio and on three Boston TV stations : WBZ - TV , WHDH - TV , and WNAC - TV . During that time , Gowdy partnered with two future baseball broadcasting legends : Bob Murphy and Ned Martin . Chronic back pain caused Gowdy to miss the entire season . He left the Red Sox after the season for NBC Sports , where for the next ten years he called the national baseball telecasts of the Saturday afternoon " Game of the Week " and " Monday Night Baseball " during the regular season ( and the All - Star Game in July ) , and the post - season playoffs and World Series in October . National broadcaster . Early ABC Sports career . Gowdy had numerous network assignments , first for ABC - TV in 1960 , where he covered the first five seasons of the American Football League with broadcast partner Paul Christman . Gowdy and Christman also teamed to call college football for ABC during this period . NBC Sports . In the fall of 1965 he moved to NBC , with whom he would be employed for over a decade . Gowdy was the lead play - by - play announcer for the network for both the American Football League ( AFC from 1970 on ) and Major League Baseball , but Gowdy also covered a wide range of sports , earning him the nickname of the " broadcaster of everything . " Besides Paul Christman , who followed him to NBC in 1965 , his other football broadcast partners were Kyle Rote , Al DeRogatis , Don Meredith , John Brodie , and Merlin Olsen . His broadcast partners for baseball included Pee Wee Reese , Tony Kubek , Sandy Koufax , and Joe Garagiola . He also had many different partners for basketball . Al DeRogatis was also Gowdy ' s partner for the college football games . Departure from NBC ' s baseball telecasts . After the 1975 World Series , he was removed from NBC ' s baseball telecasts , after a controversy over comments by a call by an umpire , and when sponsor Chrysler insisted on having Joe Garagiola ( who was their spokesman in many commercials ) be the lead play - by - play voice . While Gowdy was on hand in the press box for Carlton Fisk ' s legendary home run in Game 6 of the 1975 Series , the actual calls went to two of Gowdy ' s Red Sox successors , Dick Stockton on TV and Ned Martin on radio . Gowdy was Martin ' s color man on that home run . Later work . Gowdy continued as NBC ' s lead NFL announcer through the 1978 season , with his final broadcast being the memorable Super Bowl XIII between Pittsburgh and Dallas . With NBC now anxious to promote Dick Enberg to the lead NFL position , Gowdy moved over to CBS to call more football , as well as baseball on radio . He also called regional college football for ABC in 1982 and 1983 . Notable moments called by Gowdy . Curt Gowdy was present for some of American sports ' storied moments , including Ted Williams ' home run in his final at - bat in , Super Bowl I , the AFL ' s infamous " Heidi " game of 1968 , and ( after the 1968 pro football season ) the third AFL - NFL World Championship game ( Super Bowl III ) in which Joe Namath and the New York Jets defeated the NFL champion Baltimore Colts . He also covered Franco Harris ' " Immaculate Reception " of 1972 , Clarence Davis ' miraculous catch in a " sea of hands " from Oakland Raiders Quarterback Ken Stabler , to defeat the Miami Dolphins in the final seconds of a legendary 1974 AFC playoff game , and Hank Aaron ' s 715th home run in . In an interview by NFL Films , he said his most memorable game was Super Bowl III when the Jets upset the heavily - favored Colts 16 – 7 after Namath guaranteed victory . Gowdy endeared himself to long - suffering American Football League fans when it was learned that in an off - air break towards the end of the game , he asked rhetorically : " " I wonder if that ( S . O . B . ) Tex Maule is watching ? " " , a reference to the Sports Illustrated writer who for years had denigrated the AFL . On - air , in contrast to his contemporary announcers of NFL games , he avoided their hyperbole and transparent adulation of players , and gave steady , non - partisan , but colorful descriptions of AFL games . Gowdy was also known for the occasional malapropism , including a consoling comment just after the Red Sox lost the 1975 World Series : " " Their future is ahead of them ! " " Notable assignments . Over the course of a career that stretched into the 1980s , Gowdy covered pro football ( both the AFL and NFL ) , Major League Baseball , college football , and college basketball . He was involved in the broadcast of 13 World Series , 16 baseball All - Star Games , 9 Super Bowl s , 14 Rose Bowl s , 8 Olympic Games and 24 NCAA Final Four s . He also hosted the long - running outdoors show " The American Sportsman " on ABC . Gowdy called all the Olympic Games televised by ABC from 1964 – 84 with Roone Arledge ' s sports department at ABC . In the mid - 1970s Gowdy was host and producer of " The Way It Was " , for PBS , and in later years provided historic commentary for " Inside the NFL " , on HBO . Relationship with Roone Arledge . Gowdy was also close friends with Arledge , and acknowledges that he gives him all the credit for making ABC what it is today , including the creation of the network ' s sports department , and the innovations for televising sporting events that made the sports departments at NBC and CBS jealous . The two were the creators , and very first producers for the " Wide World of Sports " television show . In 1970 , he was coveted by ABC ' s Roone Arledge for the new " Monday Night Football " , but Gowdy was bound by his contract to NBC Sports ( although he continued with Grits Gresham of Natchitoches , Louisiana , to host the outdoors show " The American Sportsman " on ABC ) . Commentating style . Gowdy was said to have a warm , slightly gravelly voice and an unforced , easy style that set him apart from his peers . ( Author John Updike once described him as sounding " like everybody ' s brother - in - law " . ) Unlike many well - known sportscasters , Gowdy never developed catchphrase s or signature calls , but merely described the action in a straightforward manner . Examples : Retirement . Gowdy retired in 1985 , when " The American Sportsman " was canceled . He briefly came out of retirement in 1987 to call the New England Patriots ' radio broadcasts , and in 1988 he returned to NBC to call some September NFL games with Merlin Olsen and old partner Al DeRogatis , while Olsen ' s regular partner Dick Enberg was covering the Summer Olympics in Seoul . In May , a few months shy of his 84th birthday , Gowdy called a – game from Fenway Park , as part of the " ESPN Major League Baseball " " Living Legends " series . At the end of the broadcast , he thought he could have done better . ESPN ' s Chris Berman said , " " We ' ll give you another chance . " " Gowdy replied , " " Call me back . " " Gowdy also co - hosted the Championships on from 1989 - 1993 with Steve Rondinaro . Film cameos . Gowdy made cameo appearances in the movies " " ( 1988 ) and " Summer Catch " ( 2001 ) , and his voice can be heard in " Heaven Can Wait " ( 1978 ) and " BASEketball " ( 1998 ) . Author . Mr . Gowdy , who also did some sportswriting during his early broadcasting days , wrote two books : " Cowboy at the Mike " ( 1966 ) , with Al Hirshberg , and " Seasons to Remember : The Way It Was in American Sports , 1945 - 1960 " ( 1993 ) , with John Powers . He also wrote the foreword for the 2000 book " The Golden Boy " , authored by Dr . George I . Martin , in which Gowdy described the subject of the book , Jackie Jensen , as possibly the best athlete he had ever covered . Radio stations . In 1963 , Gowdy purchased radio stations 800 / WCCM and 93 . 7 / WCCM - FM in Lawrence , Massachusetts , later changing the FM station ' s call letters to WCGY to somewhat match his name . Gowdy also owned several radio stations in Wyoming , including KOWB and KCGY in Laramie . He sold his broadcast interests in Massachusetts in 1994 and his Wyoming stations in 2002 . He also owned 850 / WEAT & WEAT - FM in West Palm Beach , Florida , and WBBX ( AM ) in New Hampshire . The year away from broadcasting the Red Sox in 1957 awakened him to the fact that he might need an alternate way of making of living , leading to his interest in station ownership . Television commercials . In the 1980s , Gowdy voiced a series of beer commercials for Genesee , an American product brewed by the Genesee Brewing Company in Rochester , New York . Essentially , these ads had an outdoor enthusiast theme , with Curt ' s tag line being " Genesee - the great outdoors in a glass " . Awards . In 1970 , Gowdy became the first sportscaster to receive the George Foster Peabody Award . He was elected to the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Hall of Fame in 1981 . In 1985 , he was inducted into the American Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame along with the Voice of the Yankees Mel Allen and Chicago legend Jack Brickhouse . He served as the organization ’ s vice president and was a member of its Board of Directors . In addition , he was given the Ford C . Frick Award from the Baseball Hall of Fame in , the Pete Rozelle Award from the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993 and a lifetime achievement Emmy in 1992 , and was selected to the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in . Gowdy was president of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for several years , and that institution ' s Curt Gowdy Media Award is presented annually to outstanding basketball writers and broadcasters ; he was one of its first two recipients . Curt Gowdy ' s 22 Halls of Fame honors / inductions : Curt Gowdy State Park . A new state park in Wyoming , opened in 1971 , was officially named for Gowdy on March 27 , 1972 , one of numerous honors bestowed on the native son from the state of Wyoming on " Curt Gowdy Day . " The 11 , 000 acre ( 44 km² ) Curt Gowdy State Park is halfway between his highschool hometown of Cheyenne and his college town of Laramie . Additional land was acquired by the state for the park in 2006 . " It has two beautiful lakes , hiking trails , camping , boating , fishing , and beauty " , said Gowdy . " It has everything I love . What greater honor can a man receive ? " Gowdy was proud of his Wyoming heritage and loved the outdoors , and said that he was " born with a fly - rod in one hand " , and that the sports microphone came a little later . In 2002 , he recalled that his father , Edward Curtis Gowdy , who had taught him to hunt and fish , was the best fly - fisherman in the state . " We had free access to prime - time fishing and hunting . The outdoors was a way of life for me . I should have paid them to host " The American Sportsman " . " Death . Curt Gowdy died at the age of eighty - six at his winter home in Palm Beach , Florida , after an extended battle with leukemia . His funeral procession circled Fenway Park and he was interred in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge , Massachusetts . He was survived by his wife Geraldine ( Jerre ) nee Dawkins , whom he married June 24 , 1949 , daughter Cheryl Ann , sons Curt , Jr . , and Trevor , and five grandchildren . Curt Gowdy Post Office Building . On October 12 , 2006 , the United States Postal Service building in Green River , Wyoming , was officially designated as the " Curt Gowdy Post Office Building " , honoring the place of Gowdy ' s birth . The legislation required for the USPS name change was introduced by Wyoming House Representative Barbara Cubin .