When Tyler Murray strolled out of Polar Park on the afternoon of Sept. 15, 2024, he knew where he was headed but not what he was headed for.
The WooSox broadcaster had just been hired as the new radio voice of the New York Knickerbockers, a storied NBA franchise that was getting uncomfortably close to becoming the pre-2004 Boston Red Sox.
It had been more than a half-century since the Knicks’ last league title, 1973 to be exact.
That took fewer than two years to change. The Knickerbockers ended their championship drought June 13 with Murray making a memorable radio call:
“It’s happening, Knicks fans! It’s happening! It’s been 53 years, but for this moment, it was well worth the wait. A playoff run that will go down in history and a team that will live forever.
“Next stop, the Canyon of Heroes! The New York Knicks are NBA champions!”
Just a couple of days later Murray was back home in New Hampshire answering the phone. The Knicks might be NBA champs, but it was time for bed for his 16-month-old son, Owen, who would hear the playoff stories in a few years.
This city was the last stop before Murray got a full-time broadcast job in major league sports, but not the only stop. He started here in 2022 and the three seasons with the WooSox were crucial ones for his career.
“I can say it got me ready for the big moments because I had a similar feeling when they were closing out Game 5 as I did when the WooSox were going for their first no-hitter,” Murray recalled. “I don’t know if it was butterflies or excitement or just knowing that a big moment was coming, and you had the opportunity to get it right and tell the right story.
“To that point in my career a no-hitter was the biggest moment that I’d called, so to have that experience to fall back on was huge for me.”
Between the two cities, Pawtucket and Worcester have sent a lot of broadcasters to the major leagues, and not just in baseball. The teams might have been in the minors, but the market was big league.
“The PawSox and Woosox have been launching pads,” Murray said, “and definitely put me on the map initially. I wouldn’t have been ready for that (Knicks) audition if it hadn’t been for the experience I got in Worcester, that’s for sure.”
It was not just that the Knickerbockers won the title, it was also how they won it. Their Game 4 triumph after they were down by 29 points had the same quality as the Red Sox’ victory in Game 6 in the 1975 World Series, another example of hopeless turning to hopeful.
“The comeback game,” he said, “there was so much stress in the building for that because if you lose by 20, the series is tied at 2-2 and then you are going to San Antonio. That game was the crazier environment. The tip-in game, it was so mind blowing that we stayed in the arena until like 2 a.m. just to decompress what had just happened.”
Murray might be a Knicks fan but did not have the luxury of acting like one while on the air
“Especially on radio the game is so fast that your job is to see what’s going on, time and score, seting the stage,” he said, “and you only have so much brain capacity to worry about the results or stress out about — are we gonna blow this 3-1 lead, are we gonna come back from 29 points down? You just kinda do the game and talk about what happens, and that kind of helps you just kind of focus on th job.”
The notion of history possibly being made arrived late in the series.
“I think that when I woke up the morning of Game 5,” Murray said, “I thought of being able to focus on the game, and not zoom out and worry about the stakes of it.
“When I woke up that morning, I thought — wait a minute. What if they win this game, and the ‘Can You Believe It’ call by Joe Castiglione popped into my head, that’s a call that will live forever.
“Well, as long as you don’t screw it up you’re not gonna live forever as the guy who screwed up the champioinship call after 53 years. Let’s get my thoughts in order to make sure I’m not all over the place in terms of knowing what to say.”
Murray does not follow the WooSox on a daily basis but keeps in touch with friends from his days in the city. He was thrilled to hear that Chad Tracy had been hired as Boston’s interim manager.
“That was the best news outside of basketball this year,” Murray said.
He, wife Chrissy, and Owen may move to Connecticut, closer to home and where he was born. The Murrays plan to make a visit to Polar Park before the baseball season ends.
The Knickerbockers season ran late this year, so it will not be long before their long-awaited championship banner is raised to the Madison Square Garden ceiling and Murray will talking about the defending NBA champions.
