Curt Gowdy

From SoSH

"Hi neighbor, this is Curt Gowdy bringing you Red Sox baseball..."

1 The Cowboy At The Mike
2 The Voice of The Red Sox
3 The Author
4 The Business Man
5 Moment in the Sun
6 Awards
7 Trivia
8 External links

The Cowboy At The Mike

Curt Gowdy was the voice of a generation of Red Sox fans via his boradcasts from 1951-65. The Cowboy at the Mike native of Wyoming, went on to tremendous acclaim nationally as the broadcaster of virtually every major sports event- including 16 World Series, 12 Rose Bowls, 9 Super Bowls, 16 MLB All-Star Games, 8 Olympic Games, and 24 Final Fours.

Fans at Fenway Park were able to thanks the warm-voiced story-teller when he was honored in a pre-game ceremony August 28th, 2005 at "Thanks, Curt" day at the park. Those of a certain age smiled as they recalled Curt's trademark greeting of: "Hi neighboor..."

Curt Gowdy died at age 86 at his winter home in Palm Beach, Florida, after an extended battle with leukemia. His funeral procession circled Fenway Park and he was interred in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was survived by his wife Jerre, daughter Cheryl Ann, sons Curt, Jr. & Trevor, and five grandchildren.

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The Voice of The Red Sox

In April 1951 at the age of 31, Gowdy became the lead announcer for the Boston Red Sox. For the next 15 years, he called the exploits of generally mediocre Red Sox teams on WHDH radio and on three Boston TV stations: WBZ-TV, WHDH-TV, and WNAC-TV. During that time, Gowdy partnered with two future baseball broadcasting legends: Bob Murphy and Ned Martin. His nagging bad back caused Gowdy to miss the entire 1957 season.

He left the Red Sox after the 1965 season for NBC Sports, where for the next ten years he called the national baseball telecasts of the Saturday afternoon Game of the Week and Monday Night Baseball during the regular season (and the All-Star Game in July), and the post-season playoffs and World Series in October.

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The Author

Mr. Gowdy, who also did some sportswriting during his early broadcasting days, wrote two books: Cowboy at the Mike (1966), with Al Hirshberg, and Seasons to Remember: The Way It Was in American Sports, 1945-1960 (1993), with John Powers.

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The Business Man

In 1963, Gowdy purchased radio stations WCCM and WCCM-FM in Lawrence, Massachusetts, later changing the FM station's call letters to WCGY to somewhat match his name. Gowdy also owned several radio stations in Wyoming, including KOWB and KCGY-FM in Laramie. He sold his broadcast interests in Massachusetts in 1994 and his Wyoming stations in 2002. He also owned WEAT AM-FM in St. Petersburg, Florida, and WBBX-AM in New Hampshire The year away from broadcasting the Red Sox in 1957 awakened him to the fact that he may need an alternate way of making of living, leading to his interest in station ownership.

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Moment in the Sun

Broadcaster for the Red Sox 1951-1965

-The Broadcaster of-

16 World Series
12 Rose Bowls
The first 9 Super Bowls
16 MLB All-Star Games
8 Olympic Games
24 Final Fours.

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Awards

In 1970, Curt Gowdy became the first sportscaster to receive the George Foster Peabody Award. He was elected to the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Hall of Fame in 1981. In addition, he was given the Ford C. Frick Award from the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984, the Pete Rozelle Award from the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993 and a lifetime achievement Emmy in 1992, and was selected to the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 1995. Gowdy was president of the Basketball Hall of Fame for several years, and that institution's Curt Gowdy Award is presented annually to outstanding basketball writers and broadcasters; he was one of its first two recipients.

Curt Gowdy's 20 Halls of Fame honors/inductions

Conservation Hall of Fame International - April 16, 1973
International Fishing Hall of Fame - 1981
Natl. Sportscasters & Sportswriters Hall of Fame - 1981
Sportswriters & Broadcasters Hall of Fame - 1984
National Baseball Hall of Fame - 1984, Ford Frick Award recipient
American Sportscasters Hall of Fame - 1985
Museum of Broadcasting Hall of Fame - 1990
Gold Medal Hall of Fame Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in New England
Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame - 1992
Oklahoma Assoc. of Broadcasters Hall of Fame - 1994
Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame - 1995
American Football League Hall of Fame - 1995
University of Wyoming Athletics Hall of Fame - Sept. 25, 1998
Florida Sports Hall of Fame - 1999
Wyoming Sports Hall of Fame --- 2001
International Game Fish Association (IGFA) Fishing Hall of Fame - 2003
Wyoming Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame - 2003
Wyoming Outdoor Hall of Fame - 2004
National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame - 2005
Rose Bowl Hall of Fame --- 2005 inductee (Jan. 3, 2006)

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Trivia

Curt Gowdy State Park A new state park in Wyoming, opened in 1971, was officially named for Gowdy on March 27, 1972, one of numerous honors bestowed on the native son from the state of Wyoming on "Curt Gowdy Day." The 11,000 acre (4450 hectare) Curt Gowdy State Park is halfway between his hometown of Cheyenne and his college town of Laramie. Additional acreage was acquired by the state for the park in 2006. "It has two beautiful lakes, hiking trails, camping, boating, fishing, and beauty," said Gowdy. "It has everything I love. What greater honor can a man receive?"

Gowdy was proud of his Wyoming heritage and loved the outdoors, and said that he was "born with a fly-rod in one hand," and that the sports microphone came a little later. In 2002 he recalled that his father, Edward Curtis Gowdy, who had taught him to hunt and fish, was the best fly-fisherman in the state. "We had free access to prime-time fishing and hunting. The outdoors was a way of life for me. I should have paid them to host The American Sportsman."

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