Fred Hoey | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1884-05-12)May 12, 1884[1] |
| Died | November 17, 1949(1949-11-17) (aged 65) |
| Years active | 1925–1938 |
| Sports commentary career | |
| Team(s) | Boston Braves,Boston Red Sox |
| Genre | Play-by-play |
| Sport | Major League Baseball |
| Employer | CBS Radio,Mutual |
Fred James Hoey (May 12, 1884 – November 17, 1949) was an American radiosports announcer who was the first full-time voice ofMajor League Baseball inBoston. Hoey called games for theBoston Braves from 1925 to 1938 and theBoston Red Sox from 1927 to 1938.
Hoey was born inBoston and raised inSaxonville, Massachusetts. At the age of 12, Hoey saw his first baseball game during the 1897Temple Cup. Hoey would later playsemi-professional baseball and work as an usher at theHuntington Avenue Grounds.[2]
In 1903, Hoey was hired as a sportswriter, writing about high school sports, baseball, and hockey. In 1924, he became the first publicity director of theBoston Bruins. Hoey began broadcastingBoston Braves games in 1925 andBoston Red Sox games in 1927, becoming the first full-time announcer for both teams. Such double duty would be impossible today. However, in those days, the Braves and Red Sox almost never played at home on the same day. Like most teams, the Braves and Red Sox "recreated" road games in the studio using telegraphed messages from the ballpark rather than have Hoey travel for road play-by-play.
In 1933, Hoey was hired byCBS Radio to call Games 1 and 5 of theWorld Series after commissionerKenesaw Mountain Landis declared thatTed Husing andGraham McNamee could not call World Series games because they did not call any regular season games.[3] Hoey was removed from the CBS broadcasting booth during the fourth inning of Game 1 after his voice went out. Although reported as a cold, Hoey's garbled and incoherent words led many to think that Hoey was drunk.[3][2] After this incident, Hoey never went to the broadcast booth without a tin ofthroat lozenges.[3] His only other national assignment was calling the1936 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, played in Boston, forMutual.
After the 1936 season, Hoey was fired by the head of theYankee Network,John Shepard III. Baseball fans, includingFranklin D. Roosevelt, rallied to his defense. After the 1938 season, Hoey demanded a raise, but the sponsors, despite public pressure, replaced Hoey with former player and managerFrankie Frisch. After leaving the booth, Hoey covered the Red Sox and Braves in Boston newspapers until 1946.[2]
Hoey died in his home inWinthrop, Massachusetts, of accidental gasasphyxiation on November 17, 1949.[4]
