Jim Woods (broadcaster)

Jim Woods was a broadcaster most famous for teaming up with Ned Martin to do Boston Red Sox radio broadcasts from 1974 to 1978. The two veterans worked beautifully together and were compared to "Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers" or "Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn" for their ability to work seamlessly together, but also to recall a classic bygone and more sophisticated era.

Jim worked with some of the greatest names in the profession. He had actually got his start as Mel Allen and Red Barber's partner on New York Yankees broadcasts in the mid-1950s. He had to leave the Yankees when they hired Phil Rizzuto after he was done as a player, leaving no room for him. After a year teaming up with Russ Hodges on New York Giants broadcasts, he was let go when the team relocated to California. In 1958, he moved to Pittsburgh, PA where he teamed up with Bob Prince on broadcasts of the Pittsburgh Pirates until 1969. Prince was a great announcer, but also had the reputation of being impossible to work with, so quirky was he, but he and Woods meshed perfectly together. He later worked with Jack Buck on St. Louis Cardinals broadcasts for couple of years but resented the extreme seriousness of his partner, then for two years covered the Oakland Athletics and had to deal with the impossible demands of owner Charles Finley, before defecting to join the Red Sox. Along the way, he earned the nickname "Possum", apparently from Enos Slaughter, who taking a look at him, jibed "I've seen better heads on a possum."

One of the reasons he moved so often was that he tended to enjoy his drinks and betting at the harness track, the sorts of pastimes that did not endear him to executives in the broadcast industry. He also did not like to do the sort of schmoozing and toeing of the corporate lines that bosses often required, but as an announcer, he was exceptionally gifted.

Born in Missouri in 1916, he died of cancer at age 71 in 1988.

Further Reading

• Curt Smith: "Jim Woods", in Clifton Blue Parker and Bill Nowlin, ed.: Sweet '60: The 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates, SABR, Phoenix, AZ, 2013, pp. 267-272. ISBN 978-1-93359-948-9
• Curt Smith: "Jim Woods", in Bill Nowlin and Cecilia Tan, ed.: '75:The Red Sox Team that Saved Baseball, SABR, Phoenix, AZ, 2015, pp. 268-273. ISBN 978-1-933599-97-7

Related Sites

• Jim Woods at the SABR Bio Project