The Obit For Ned Martin

Former Broadcaster Ned Martin Dies
.c The Associated Press
07/23/02 22:37 EDT

BOSTON (AP) - Ned Martin, the radio and television voice of the Boston Red Sox for 31 years, died Tuesday, a day after attending the Ted Williams tribute at Fenway Park. He was 79.

Martin collapsed at Raleigh-Durham International Airport after a return trip from Boston, team officials said. The cause of death was not immediately known.

Martin's trademark call - ``Mercy'' - was a familiar sound to generations of Red Sox fans.

Martin began his career in 1956 covering minor league baseball in West Virginia. He joined Curt Gowdy in the Red Sox booth in 1961 and stayed for the rest of his career. He retired in 1992.

He announced the AL playoffs on CBS radio four times and worked the 1975 World Series on television for NBC.

The Red Sox inducted Martin into their Hall of Fame in 2000.
T
he Duke graduate also was a talented football announcer and did play-by-play for the Boston Patriots, Harvard, Dartmouth and Yale.