 |
Leo Egan was born on April 19, 1914. A native of Buffalo, New York, he began working in Boston for WNAC and the Yankee Network, in 1939. Soon after, he became sports director, then moved to WBZ in 1946 where he did regular sportscasts. From 1946 to 1973, he worked on radio, where he called Boston Red Sox, Boston Braves, and Boston Bruins games. In 1948 thru 1950, he shared the Red Sox broadcasting booth with Tom Hussey and Jim Britt. He and Jim Britt were replaced in 1951 by Curt Gowdy And Bob DeLaney. Leo was the first baseball announcer to call a game live from an opposing team's ballpark, calling a Red Sox game from Cleveland Municipal Stadium. During the 1960’s he was the morning sports reporter on WHDH with Jess Cain in the 1960s, and also hosted “The Voice of Sports,” telephone talk show on WHDH, from 1972 – 1973. In 1970, he briefly returned to the Red Sox booth when regular announcers Ken Coleman, Ned Martin, and Johnny Pesky refused to cross the picket line of electrical workers. When WHDH came under new ownership, Leo's sports program was canceled due to low ratings and he was fired. He then served as vice president and part owner of the Boston Astros of the American Soccer League. After his broadcasting career, Leo worked as a part-time dispatcher for the Duxbury Fire Department and covered high school sports and wrote a sports column for his local newspaper. He was inducted into the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame and passed away at age 86, on July 10, 2000, at Jordan Hospital in Plymouth, Mass. |
|||
|
|
