Feting Fenway: An update

Due to the vagaries of the publishing world, there are bound to be additional books on the Fenway Park and Mets anniversaries.

Case in point, Curt Smith, who specializes in paying homage to the men and women who have brought the game to millions of fans over the years on radio and television, gives his unique take in Mercy! A Celebration of Fenway Park’s Centennial, Told Through Red Sox Radio and TV, due out in May from Potomac Books.

The book takes its name from Red Sox announcer Ned Martin’s signature phrase. According to the catalog, it’s “three books in one: the history of Fenway, the Red Sox, and their Voices on the air.”

Again from the catalog, “Fred Hoey was the team’s first radio announcer. Successor Jim Britt called its first TV broadcast. Since then, broadcasters have become as much a part of Sox history as the park. Curt Gowdy denoted respectability, courtesy, and pluck. Ken Coleman played his voice like a violin. Martin called one legendary game after another, including Carlton Fisk waving fair his World Series-tying home run in 1975. Other well-known Red Sox Voices include Bob Murphy, Jim Woods, Ken Harrelson, Dick Stockton, Jon Miller, Sean McDonough, Joe Castiglione, Dave O’Brien, and Jerry Remy. In 2004, when the Sox finally won their first World Series since 1918, Castiglione asked Red Sox Nation: ‘Can you believe it?’ Many can’t, even now.

“Baseball historian Curt Smith’s interviews with many of these beloved broadcasters provide the backdrop for this unique celebration of ‘America’s Most Beloved Ballpark.’ Nearly forty black and white photos celebrate the park, players from Babe Ruth through Ted Williams to David Ortiz, and Red Sox Voices of the last ten decades.”

Potomac also published Smith’s best-selling Pull Up a Chair: The Vin Scully Story and last year’s official Hall of Fame book, A Talk in the Park: Nine Decades of Baseball Tales from the Broadcast Booth.

Tagged as: Curt Smith, Fenway Park