Bob Murphy doing Boston Red Sox PBP (only known clip) vs New York Yankees, 7/9/1959 (short)
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 Published On Aug 4, 2021

Legendary broadcaster Bob Murphy, doing play-by-play for the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park in 1959! Before his long-time tenure with the New York Mets (1962-2003), Murphy began his MLB career with the Red Sox (1954-1959, alongside Curt Gowdy), then the Baltimore Orioles (1960-1961), before moving to the Mets in 1962. No full games of Murphy broadcasting with either the Red Sox or Orioles have been known to survive, and this remains the only known clip of Murphy doing MLB play-by-play prior to 1962 (play-by-play details below).

Broadcast on WHDH radio, Boston (now WEEI), Fenway Park, Thursday, July 9, 1959, and we pick up the action in the bottom of the 3rd inning, 1 out, man on 1st, Red Sox already up 2-0 on the New York Yankees, and Sox CF Marty Keough at bat against Yanks hurler Bob Turley. Audio was posted as found, but is edited; some pitches and one batter are skipped. As Murphy calls it, Keough would pop to short but Yanks SS Gil McDougald would drop the ball to put 2 men on (Don Buddin advancing to 2nd), then Bobby Avila would sock a 3-run HR into the net atop the Green Monster to put Boston up 5-0. Vic Wertz’s AB is skipped (he walked), Jackie Jensen also walked, and then Ted Williams steps in and takes a call strike, but unfortunately the short audio clip ends at that point. The Red Sox would win in a rout, 14-3, but would still remain in last place in the American League (they'd finish 5th in 1959, the Yankees 3rd). Bob Murphy wouldn't call the plays for a first place finisher until the Mets in 1969, in his 16th year of broadcasting, and likely didn’t call a game at Fenway Park after 1961 until the 1986 World Series.

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