Fenway Park Public Address Announcer Killed In Car Accident

Sad news out of Boston this afternoon as police have announced that Carl Beane, the public address announcer at Fenway Park since 2003, was killed earlier today in a one-car crash in Sturbridge. He was 59 years old.

Before the season started, Beane told the Boston Globe how people often heard his booming voice and were shocked to see his diminutive stature in person:

"The voice doesn't fit the body,'' reveals Beane, who is actually 5-4 and 160 pounds. "I can mingle because people don't know what I look like. Then I talk, and they say, ‘Oh, it's him.' ''

...

Beane said his first memory of Fenway Park dates to 1957, when he was 5 and his father told him to pay special attention to Ted Williams, because "that's the best hitter you'll ever see.'' Beane became a sports radio broadcaster in 1972, and has provided the announcements at every Red Sox home game since 2003.

Beane is a graduate of the Career Academy School of Broadcasting. His voice has been featured in an exhibition at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and in the movie "Fever Pitch.'' He also enjoys an active side business recording voice-mail messages and doing speaking engagements for clubs, civic organizations, and schools. When he speaks at weddings, he introduces bridal parties as if they are in a batting order.

Beane said he is most frequently asked where he sits in the ballpark (inside the enclosed area beneath the 1903 championship banner). In addition to using good diction and grammar, Beane said, Fenway's PA announcer has to be clear, concise, correct, and respectful of tradition.

[ NECN]