Ned Martin

Edwin Martin III (August 9, 1923 – July 23, 2002) was an American sportscaster, known primarily as a play-by-play announcer for Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox from 1961 to 1992.

Broadcasting career Martin was born in Wayne, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Upper Merion Township, where as a youth he was a passionate follower of Philadelphia's two major-league teams, the Athletics and the Phillies. He attended Duke University After five years with Charleston, Martin was hired in the autumn of 1960 to succeed Bill Crowley as a member of the Red Sox' radio/TV team; he had filled in with the Bosox' broadcasting crew during a series in Baltimore during the 1960 campaign, effectively a successful audition for a permanent role.

Boston Red Sox Martin called Boston Red Sox games on both WHDH radio and WHDH-TV from 1961 to 1971, on WHDH radio only from 1972 to 1975, on WMEX/WITS radio from 1976 to 1978, on WSBK-TV from 1979 to 1987, and on New England Sports Network cable from 1985 to 1992. He worked alongside fellow announcers or analysts Curt Gowdy, Art Gleeson, Mel Parnell, Ken Coleman, Johnny Pesky, John MacLean, Dave Martin (no relation), Jim Woods, Ken Harrelson, Bob Montgomery, and Jerry Remy. With Martin and Woods "on the radio, I was in the company of two favorite uncles, at once knowledgeable and mischievous. When they were on the job, I didn't mind rain delays. Sometimes I hoped for them," wrote Littlefield in 2013.

However, the team of Martin and Woods was broken up after the 1978 campaign, when the Bosox' flagship radio station, WITS-AM, fired them, seeking more sponsor-friendly on-air talent. Both men moved to television: Martin to WSBK-TV as the television voice of the Red Sox, replacing Dick Stockton, and Woods to national games on USA Network.

During Martin's three decades with the Red Sox, he called the entire career of Hall-of-Famer Carl Yastrzemski, 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 1967, On November 1, 2019, Martin was named as a finalist for the Ford C. Frick Award as part of 2020 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting.

Other assignments Martin also was a football announcer, covering the American Football League's Boston Patriots in 1965, and college football games for Harvard, Yale, and Dartmouth.

Nationally, Martin helped broadcast the 1975 World Series on NBC television, and the 1977 Sun Bowl on CBS Radio.

Death Ned Martin attended a memorial service for Ted Williams at Boston's Fenway Park on July 22, 2002, and was returning to his home in Clarksville, Virginia, the following day when he was stricken with a massive coronary on a shuttle bus at Raleigh-Durham International Airport; he died there.

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