PLYMOUTH, Mass. ––
Ken Coleman, a radio and television play by play voice of the Boston Red
Sox for 20 years, has died. He was 78.
According to hospital spokesman John Looney, Coleman died at Jordan Hospital
in Plymouth on Thursday, August 21. He did not provide further details.
Coleman also was the voice
of the Cleveland Indians and the NFL's Cleveland Browns from 1952 65,
calling every touchdown Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown ever scored.
He began his Red Sox career
in 1966, broadcasting games on WHDH radio and television with partners
Ned Martin and Mel Parnell. Coleman left the Red Sox in 1975 for Cincinnati,
where he called play by play for the Reds through 1978. He returned to
Boston in 1979, and stayed until his retirement in 1989.
He called Red Sox games during
their Impossible Dream run to the World Series in 1967, as well as their
heartbreaking loss to the New York Mets in the 1986 World Series. In Cincinnati,
he witnessed the rise of the Big Red Machine, including their 1975 World
Series win over the Red Sox.
Coleman was one of the founding fathers of the Red Sox booster club, the
BoSox Club, and was intimately involved with the Jimmy Fund, which raises
money for cancer research.
He wrote five books,
including "So You Want To Be a Sportscaster."
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