Mercy!

The Green Monster. The Triangle. Pesky?s Pole. They are but a few of the defining features of Fenway Park, home base for legions of devoted Red Sox fans. Now, a hundred years after Fenway first opened its gates, Mercy! tells the park?s history through Red Sox radio and TV announcers recalling and commemorating the American institution. Mercy! is three history books in one, covering Fenway, the Red Sox, and their Voices on the air. Announcers have become as much a part of Red Sox lore as the park has. Fred Hoey was the team?s first radio announcer. Successor Jim Britt called its first live TV broadcast. Curt Gowdy denoted respectability, courtesy, and pluck. Ken Coleman played his voice like a violin. Ned Martin?s signature exclamation gives Mercy! its title. He called one legendary game after another, including Carlton Fisk waving fair his World Series?tying home run in 1975. Other well-known Voices include Jon Miller, Ken Harrelson, Dick Stockton, Sean McDonough, and Joe Castiglione. In 2004, when the Sox finally won their first World Series since 1918, Castiglione asked the Nation, ?Can you believe it?? Many can?t, even now. Baseball historian Curt Smith?s interviews with many of these beloved broadcasting personalities provide the backbone for this unique celebration of ?America?s Most Beloved Ballpark.? AUTHOR: USA Today calls Curt Smith the ?Voice of authority on baseball broadcasting.? He is the author of 13 books, including the acclaimed Pull Up a Chair: The Vin Scully Story and A Talk in the Park: Nine Decades of Baseball Tales from the Broadcast Booth. He is a GateHouse Media columnist, National Public Radio affiliate host, senior lecturer of English at the University of Rochester, and former speechwriter for President George H. W. Bush. He has written about baseball for Newsweek and Sports Illustrated, hosted series at the Smithsonian Institution and Baseball Hall of Fame, and wrote ESPN TV?s Voices of the Game. 24 b/w illustrations