Jim Woods

From SoSH

Jim "Possum" Woods broadcast major league baseball games for 31 years and served as Red Sox radio voice from 1974 through 1978. He was teamed with longtime Red Sox voice Ned Martin, who hand-picked him as his partner, at WMEX 1510 AM, the team's flagship station. Together they formed one of the most admired and respected broadcasting duos in the history of the sport. Woods was known for his smooth cadence during lulls in the action, and his deep, gravelly voice that lent added excitement to his home run and strikeout calls.

Career Overview

Jim Woods was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1917. At age 4, he became mascot of the Kansas City Blues, a minor league team in the American Association, and became their batboy at age 8. As a young adult, he played semi-pro baseball in the Ban Johnson League for three years in Kansas City.

In 1937, he joined radio station KGLO in Mason City, Iowa, and was named its sports director in 1939. He remained in that capacity until 1942, covering University of Iowa basketball and golf, and succeeding future US president Ronald Reagan calling football games for the Hawkeyes.

Woods served in the Navy from 1942-45 during World War II, holding the rank of chief petty officer. From 1945-48, Woods was sports director of WTAD in Quincy, Illinois, where he covered football and basketball at the University of Illinois and the University of Missouri.

In 1948, Woods moved to Atlanta, Georgia as sports director of WAGA. During his five-year stint, he hosted three weekly radio sports shows and a weekly television sports show while also also broadcasting University of Georgia football games for the Georgia Network. Woods also replaced Ernie Harwell in broaddcasting minor league baseball for the Atlanta Crackers of the Southern Association.

His first major league radio role was in the New York Yankees booth with Red Barber from 1953 until 1956, when he was replaced by Phil Rizzuto. After working with Russ Hodges broadcasting New York Giants games in 1957, he decided not to join the team in its move west to San Francisco.

Instead, Woods began a long stint with the Pittsburgh Pirates, working with Mel Allen and Bob Prince from 1958 to 1969. He shared play-by-play duties for St. Louis Cardinals games in 1970-71, replacing one legend, Harry Caray, to work alongside another, Jack Buck. Woods moved on to Oakland to call games for the Athletics in 1972-73, when they won the first of three consecutive World Series titles, but Woods was fired by enigmatic owner Charles Finley. "He fired me without giving any particular reason, but after I got a job that winter he tried four times to get me back. He kept calling me disloyal," Woods later recalled with a laugh.

Meanwhile, Ned Martin had been given permission by WHDH-AM to peruse audition tapes as part of the station's search for his new partmer. "As soon as I heard Jim I hardly had any doubt he would be the person," Martin later recalled.

Following his move to Boston, Woods and his earthy baritone meshed seamlessly with Martin and his laid back tenor. The pair traded innings handling play-by-play, and exchanged pleasant but brief banter that failed to distract from the game action. Both Woods and Martin painted vivid imagery over the airwaves without being verbose, especially between pitches, but both knew when to let their coverage ebb with a few seconds of silence. On batted balls, they described plays accurately and succinctly, never stumbling over their words or misleading listeners by insinuating home runs on routine flies. Their work during he 1975 season was captured on the Super Sox '75 album released after the World Series. The pair remained a fixture in Boston through the 1978 campaign, including the famed one-game playoff between the Red Sox and Yankees.

The straightforward and honest approach the pair took in their work earned them a legion of fans, but not necessarily those in front office and radio station circles. They eschewed being perceived as homers or frontrunners, or as putting lipstick on a pig. This irked owner Tom Yawkey and some station personnel. One station manager voiced displeasure that Martin would raise his voice equally high on home runs hit by the opposition. Meanwhile Woods, wrote the Boston Globe's Jack Craig, "possessed a fearlessness consistent with a fellow who never wanted a No. 1 announcing job lest it interfere with his independence and enjoyment. Together, Martin and Woods were pure gold to the audience, but it was difficult to get any Sox official to admit it."

Prior to the 1978 season, WMEX owner Dick Richmond sold the station to Cincinnati-based Mariner Communications, which changed the call letters to WITS and the broadcast format to talk radio. At season's end, station boss Joe Scallan unceremoniously dropped the ax on Martin. Woods then resigned in protest, and they were replaced by Ken Coleman and Rico Petrocelli. As Craig reported, Woods "jumped before he could be pushed, as was Ned Martin, from that job."

The station's ratings plummeted in the wake of public outrage over the dismissals. Martin moved over to WSBK-TV to become the Red Sox' TV play-by-play announcer, but Woods moved on. In February 1980, Boston Globe columnist Peter Gammons reported that Baseball Magazine had named Ned Martin and Jim Woods "the best broadcasting team in all the game for the '70s, which is no surprise."

Woods moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida began broadcasting occasional University of Miami baseball games. From 1979 to 1982, He worked USA TV Network, broadcasting the USA Game of the Week on Thursday and Friday nights. He teamed mainly with ex-players Bud Harrelson and Nelson Briles, but in 1980 he was also paired with an unlikely partner in Petrocelli, who had been axed from his Red Sox job after just one season. Woods was also reunited in the booth with Ned Martin for a memorable game at Montreal's Olympic Stadium. Before a crowd of more than 57,000, the visiting Philadelphia Phillies beat the Expos 2-1 on October 3, 1980 to take sole possession of first place in the National League East.

Woods and Martin worked together in the Red Sox booth for the last time toward the end of the 1981 season, with Woods filling in for three games while color commentator Ken "Hawk" Harrelson played in a PGA golf tournament in Sutton, Massachusetts. Following the season, WSBK-TV reportedly considered hiring Woods to rejoin Martin in the booth after Hawk left to the Chicago White Sox broadcast team, but the station eventually chose retired Red Sox catcher Bob Montgomery.

Woods retired from broadcasting after the 1982 season when he became seriously ill that winter. He recovered and was reported by the Boston Globe's Jack Craig to be "enjoying a robust retirement in Oveida, Fla., near Orlando" in July 1983. Woods underwent major surgery in January 1984, from which he recovered slowly according to Craig.

On February 20, 1988, Woods died of cancer at Florida Hospital North in Altamonte Springs, Florida at age 72. He was survived by his wife, Audrey, and buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.

Jim Woods has appeared on the ballot for the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum's Ford C. Frick Award since 2004, but he has yet to be named one of the 10 finalists in any year.

Quotes

"Jim Woods was around here five years as a Red Sox broadcaster, a long visit for his business. In retrospect, it was not long enough. He is missed on-air and off." -- Jack Craig, in his May 30, 1980 SporTView column in the Boston Globe.

"I don't think Jim Woods was quite appreciated for his craft. Jim had no ego, unlike some others. He never was aggressive enough, and absolutely refused to try to step over anyone" -- Audrey Woods, his widow, in a February 25, 1988 interview with Jack Craig.

"I grew up in New England, listening to Red Sox games on radio and TV -- that was the late Ned Martin and Jim Woods, a terrific radio duo, and later Ken Coleman, who sounded like Fenway Park." -- Dave O'Brien, ESPN Baseball and WEEI Red Sox broadcaster.

"I miss the Ned Martin-Jim Woods broadcast duo more and more with each passing year. I fear we'll never hear its like again." -- Bob Ryan, in his Boston Globe column on March 1, 1983.

"You know what's sad? Sad and scary, actually. What's sad and scary is that the people who ruled over them and signed their paychecks had no idea how good and how special Martin and Woods were. I mean, none. I'm not trying to insult anyone who has come after them by suggesting that there is no possibility we'll ever hear anything like that again. Neither Ned Martin nor Jim Woods would get a job today. Too independent is why." -- Ryan, in his Boston Globe column on March 8, 1995.

"Jim was one of my closest friends and one of the best guys I ever worked with. He told me his five years in Boston were second only to his 12 in Pittsburgh. He really enjoyed his work and he was a throwback to the old days. He was so alert, knowing when men were replaced in the field, and he could size up the flavor of a game so well. I really enjoyed his company. When we were stuck with a rain delay, he could talk forever. He could just go on and on. Jim kept baseball simple, like most beautiful things. He was sentimental about the game. He didn't need to be reinforced by stats on a 3 by 5. He would bring just a scorecard and a pencil to spring training. He also had a special way of touching people. He was a special guy and a special friend." -- Ned Martin

""I've been around and I must say the fan support up there is really something. And the people were so wonderful to us. Next to Pittsburgh and Prince, my years with Ned were the happiest of my career." -- Jim Woods

"People who traveled with the team in those days tell of postgame gatherings of broadcasters, writers, and the coaching staff during which Martin and Woods would be spellbinding with their baseball tales. Martin and Woods were so perfectly matched that they could use movements - a hand gesture, shrug, raised eyebrow - to communicate with each other while on the air." -- Bill Griffith, in his July 25, 2002 Boston Globe column.

"It was Martin and Woods who understood us best of all, who knew that baseball unified us, made us cosmopolitan ... Ballplayers weren't just ballplayers, they were Texans and Michiganders. They had home towns and middle names. Woods localized the game and helped us keep that sense of village connectedness that had been born long ago in front of the radio listening to the familiar voices carrying across the dark fields of the republic recounting the changeless ritual. Ned Martin reminded us that baseball is a game of wit and intelligence. Woods kept alive our sense of wonder. Between them they were perfect. Only Red Barber was their equal. We shall not see their like again." -- Novelist Robert B. Parker in the April 6, 1980 Boston Sunday Globe Magazine.

Trivia

• Woods had an incredible memory and could rattle off lists and facts including every Kentucky Derby winner. "I believe he had total recall," noted Ned Martin.
• He was given his playful nickname of "Possum" by outfielder Enos Slaughter during his broadcasting stint with the Yankees. Upon seeing Woods with a buzzcut, Slaughter joked, "I've seen better heads on a possum!"
• Woods loved horse racing and enjoyed both harness and thoroughbred tracks. Before accepting the Cardinals job, he joked, "I'll only go if they throw in lifetime passes to Cahokia Downs and Fairmont Park."
• Woods was once asked by former Yankees outfielder Irv Noren, who had become a thoroughbred horse breeder, if Noren could name one of his horses after him. "You have to get written permission, you see, to use the name of a living person, which I am, I think," Woods replied.
• Woods and his wife lived at different times in Cambridge, Weymouth and Cohasset along with their dog, Homer. Their phone number was listed in the white pages under Homer's name. "You'd be surprised how it worked," he said. "The dog never had a call the whole time."