Williams swings....And there's a long drive to deep right field. That ball is going…going…and that ball is gone. A home run for Ted Williams in his last major league at bat.

An American icon passes.  Curt Gowdy was one of those classic guys that we just don’t seem to have much of anymore.  He was a great sportscaster, the voice of the Boston Red Sox for 15 years, and a man who had a knack for being in the right place at the right time, and making those moments even more memorable by not getting in the way when he announced them.  He let the game call itself and just went along with the flow.  He was there to make the call when Hank Aaron broke the Babe’s home run record.  He was there for the 1975 World Series, one of the greatest of all time (late in Game 6 (yeah, that game 6) Pete Rose comes to bat, turns to Pudge Fisk behind the plate, and asks him if he knows how lucky they are to be playing in a game like that)(oddly enough, not only was Gowdy at both of those games..the home plate umpire was the same…).  He was there to make the call when Franco Harris made the “Immaculate Reception”.  He did Football, Basketball, Baseball, Hockey, Olympics…he did it all and did it with a style that was wholly his own.  There are no Curt Gowdy catch-phrases because he didn’t use them.  He called it like he saw it, no more, no less.

One of the calls he will always be remembered for in Red Sox Nation is the one above, where he called The Kid’s home run in his final at-bat.  Later he would say that he blew the call because Johnny Orlando, the clubby, told him in confidence that it was Williams’ last game.  Oops!  No matter, it’s one of the great calls of history, and the moment wouldn’t have been the same if Gowdy hadn’t have let that slip.

Hat’s off to you Mr. Gowdy.  I’m glad you got to see the Sox win one before you went.