Bob Murphy (broadcaster)

Robert Allan Murphy

• Born September 19, 1924
• Died August 3, 2004 in West Palm Beach, FL USA

Biographical Information

Bob Murphy was a radio and television broadcaster for the New York Mets from the club's inception in 1962 until 2003. His was the first voice heard on the radio broadcast of the Mets' first game, in St. Louis on April 11, 1962. For the first 18 years of his career, he split Mets' TV and radio duties with partners Lindsey Nelson and Ralph Kiner. Later he became the Mets' lead radio voice, sharing duties with a number of sidekicks, most notably Gary Thorne and later Gary Cohen. The Shea Stadium radio booth was renamed in his honor during the Mets' 40th anniversary celebrations in the 2002 season. He announced his retirement on his own Bobblehead Day in July 2003. His final regular season broadcast was September 25, 2003 (also Bob Murphy Day at Shea Stadium) in a game the Mets lost to Pittsburgh. He also did play-by-play for at least one spring training game in Florida in March 2004 before passing away that summer.

He received the Ford C. Frick Award from the Hall of Fame in 1994.

Prior to joining the Mets, he broadcast Boston Red Sox games from 1954 through 1960 and Baltimore Orioles games in 1961 and 1962.

Memorable calls

Some of the most memorable Bob Murphy calls were:

• "And it's hit hard to leftfield...It's going to be a base hit...A base hit by Jimmy Qualls and it breaks up the perfect game...Now the applause for Tom Seaver...Eight and one third innings of perfect baseball by Seaver."

- Murphy's call of Jim Qualls' single to left off Tom Seaver on July 9, 1969. The hit broke up Seaver's bid for a perfect game. Tom Terrific would finish with a complete-game, one-hit, 4-0 shutout over the Chicago Cubs.

• "The crowd is chanting, 'We're number one!' The Mets made up fifteen-and-a-half games since the 13th of August. Lou Brock is on second, and Vic Davalillo, the runner on first with one man out...ninth inning, 6-0, New York. Gentry pitching, working hard here against Joe Torre. Now in the set position, here's the pitch...ground ball hit to shortstop... Harrelson to Weis, there's one, first base... Double play... The Mets Win! It's All Over! Ohhhh, the roar going up from this crowd! An unbelievable scene on the field... fans are pouring out on the field."

- Murphy's call of the final out to give the Mets the 1969 NL Eastern Division crown on September 24, 1969 with a 6-0 win vs. St. Louis at Shea.

• "Now the stretch by McGraw... the 3-2 delivery... the runner goes... a little pop up... Milner's got it... he'll run to first... Double play! The Mets win the pennant! The Mets have just won the pennant in the Eastern Division! It's all over! They won the pennant with a magnificent stretch drive."

- Murphy's call of the final out in a 6-4 win vs. Chicago at Wrigley Field to give the Mets the National League Eastern Division title on October 1, 1973, in game number 161.

• "Ground ball to the right side of the infield... Backman has it... to Hernandez... The Mets win it!... It's over."

- Murphy's call of the final out in New York's 4-2 win over the Cubs to clinch the 1986 National League Eastern Division.

• "Lenny Dykstra, the man they call Nails on the Mets ballclub is waiting... Now the pitch and it's a high fly ball hit to rightfield... It's fairly deep...I t's way back, by the wall... A home run!! A home run!! The Mets win the ballgame... Dykstra wins it... Len Dykstra hit a home run... This ballgame is over... Lenny Dykstra is being mobbed by his teammates."

- Murphy's call of Lenny Dykstra's 9th-inning game-winning home run at Shea which gave the Mets a 6-5 win over Houston in Game 3 of the 1986 NLCS.

• "Mookie Wilson still hopes to win it for New York... 3-2 the count... And the pitch by Stanley... And a ground ball trickling... It's a fair ball. It gets by Buckner! Rounding third is Knight... The Mets will win the ballgame... They win! They win!"

- Murphy's call of the most famous E3 in the history of the franchise in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series as New York rallies to beat Boston, 6-5, in 10 innings, to tie the Series at three games apiece on October 25, 1986.

• "Now the pitch on the way... He struck him out!... Struck him out! The Mets have won the World Series! The dream has come true. The Mets have won the World Series coming from behind to win the seventh game."

- Murphy's call of the final out of the 1986 World Series which gave New York its second title on October 27, 1986.

• "Here's the pitch on the way. Line drive -- caught! The game is over! The Mets win it! A line drive to Mario Diaz and the Mets win the ballgame! They win the damn thing by a score of 10 to 9!"

- Murphy's call of the final out of a 10-9 squeaker in Philadephia on July 25, 1990. The play ended a game which the Mets had once led 9-0 and still led 10-3 entering the bottom of the 9th. Note Murph's emotional use of a mild obscenity.

• "Here's the pitch on the way to Bonds... Fly ball to center... Can he run it down ? On the run, Payton... Makes the catch... It's all over... The Mets win it!!! Jay Payton makes the catch... A one-hit shutout by Bobby Jones... And they're all racing to the mound and mobbing Bobby Jones... What a magnificent game... The Mets have never had a better game pitched it their 39-year history than this game pitched by Bobby Jones."

- Murphy's call of the final out from Bobby Jones' complete-game, one-hit, 4-0 shutout over the San Francisco Giants in Game 4 of the 2000 National League Division Series. The win sent the Mets to the NLCS.

• "A fly ball well hit to rightfield... on the run.... going back... looking for it... Can't get it... off the wall... Extra base hit... Three runs are going to score. Three runs come in on a drive off the right-centerfield wall by Todd Zeile. The Mets now have a 6-0 lead."

- Murphy's call of Todd Zeile's bases-loaded, bases-clearing double in the 4th inning of Game 5 of the National League Championship Series against the St. Louis Cardinals on October 16, 2000. New York would defeat St. Louis 7-0 that night to advance to the World Series.