Bob Murphy, Original Voice of the New York Mets, Dies

Bob Murphy, ASA member and longtime New York Mets sportscaster, died on August 3, 2004, at a hospice in West Palm Beach, Fla., from lung cancer. He was 79. Murphy, who retired after the 2003 season, was a fixture in the Mets broadcast booth since the team’s inception in 1962.

Before coming to New York, Murphy worked with ASA Hall of Famer Curt Gowdy calling Boston Red Sox games from 1954-59. After spending two years in Baltimore, Murphy was chosen as the nuts and bolts broadcaster to join nationally known Lindsey Nelson and former player Ralph Kiner as the broadcasting trio for the newly formed Mets franchise.

Along the way, Murphy called over 6,000 Mets games including the unforgettable Game 6 of the 1986 World Series when the Mets were trying to keep a rally alive in the 10th inning. “It gets by Buckner!,” Murphy’s call of Mookie Wilson’s ground ball that rolled through the legs of Boston Red Sox first basemen Bill Buckner, still brings smiles to the faces of Mets fans everywhere. That play forced a Game 7 which the Mets won to become World Champions.

Murphy, who was born in Oklahoma, began his broadcasting career with the Class C Muskogee Reds after coming out of the Marines at the end of WWII. Besides baseball, Murphy did college basketball and football, New York Titans football and one season of “Bowling for Dollars.” In 1994, Murphy was inducted into the Broadcasters’ Wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame.