'The Sounds of Baseball' to feature Gowdy

Special to air on MLB Network tonight at 7 p.m. ET

January 14th, 2021

1984 Ford C. Frick Award winner Curt Gowdy, who was the play-by-play broadcaster of every World Series from 1966-75, will be featured on the next edition of MLB Network’s "The Sounds of Baseball" series tonight at 7 p.m. ET.

Co-hosted by Bob Costas and Tom Verducci, the easygoing play-by-play voice of the Wyoming-born Gowdy will be remembered in this one-hour program featuring signature moments from his four-plus decades in broadcasting, including calling 13 World Series, 16 All-Star Games and 15 years with the Boston Red Sox.

Calls of famous home runs from Hall of Famers Hank Aaron, Carlton Fisk, Reggie Jackson, Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams will be interspersed throughout the program, with Verducci saying of Gowdy, “There is a warmth in the tone of his voice, and there is a warmth in his perspective of these events. He does not make it about himself. I think this goes back to his upbringing coming from Wyoming, as he referred to himself as, ‘The cowboy at the mic.'"

"The Sounds of Baseball" launched in June 2020, as a tribute series to baseball’s iconic voices, with Jack Buck, Harry Caray, Joe Garagiola, Al Michaels, Vin Scully and Bob Uecker highlighted on the first six episodes. Thursday's program will re-air on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET and on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET.

Costas and Verducci will provide anecdotes and context on several Gowdy calls, including Williams’ last Fenway Park at-bat in 1960, Jackson’s mammoth home run in the '71 All-Star Game and Aaron’s record-breaking 715th home run on April 8, 1974 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. The way Gowdy described the defensive wizardry of the Mets’ Tommie Agee in the 1969 World Series and Orioles third baseman and Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson in the 1970 World Series is documented.

The baseball versatility of Gowdy is brought to the forefront in a montage of clips showing Gowdy paired with a different broadcaster for many World Series games, including Lindsey Nelson (1969), Jim McIntyre ('70), Chuck Thompson ('71) and Michaels ('72). Gowdy moments from the thrilling 1975 World Series between the Reds and Red Sox are detailed, as is Roberto Clemente’s last World Series in 1971. Known as the “broadcaster of everything,” Costas and Verducci expand on Gowdy’s omnipresence in sports through his work on Super Bowls, Olympic events, Final Fours and Rose Bowls.