Boston Red Sox Announcer, Carl Beane, Dead at 59

Carl Beane, the Boston Red Sox public address announcer whose baritone voice called ballplayers to the plate for two World Series champions, died on Wednesday after suffering a heart attack while driving. He was 59.

“We are filled with sadness at this tragic news,” Red Sox president Larry Lucchino said in a statement issued by the team that attributed the death to a heart attack. “His legion of friends with the Red Sox and the media will miss him enormously, and all of Red Sox Nation will remember his presence, his warmth, and his voice.”

According to the district attorney, Beane died in an accident after his car crossed the double yellow lines and left the road before hitting a tree and a wall. He was pronounced dead at Harrington Hospital in Southbridge a short time later, according to a release from D.A. Joseph D. Early Jr.

A longtime fixture in the Red Sox media who provided radio reports and gathered sound for broadcasters, including The Associated Press, Beane landed what he called his dream job when he won a competition for the job announcing the lineups at Fenway Park after the 2002 season. In his second season, he announced the home games of the World Series when the Red Sox won the championship to end an 86-year title drought.

“His voice was pretty unique,” Sox DH David Ortiz said Wednesday before Boston’s game in Kansas City. “I’m pretty sure everybody is going to remember that forever.”

He is survived by his wife, Lorraine; his daughter, Nicole; and his granddaughters, Maddie and Gena.