Former WBZ-TV journalist and Red Sox Poet Laureate Dick Flavin dies
BOSTON - The man known as the Poet Laureate of the Boston Red Sox has died. Richard "Dick" Flavin was 86.
Flavin was also a former WBZ-TV journalist, playwright and the voice of the Boston Red Sox for many years.
Flavin was born on December 7, 1936, in Quincy and attended Stonehill college. He worked as a press spokesman, speechwriter and press secretary for several Democratic politicians before he turned political reporter in 1970, joining WBZ-TV in 1973. He worked for WBZ-TV for 14 years, winning several Emmys. In 2011, he was inducted into the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame.
Flavin also wrote a one-man play, "According to Tip," about the life of Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Tip O'Neill.
However, his greatest fame came when he drove to Florida with former Red Sox players Dom DiMaggio and Johnny Pesky to visit Ted Williams. Flavin rewrote "Casey at the Bat," turning it into "Teddy at that Bat," changing the poem's plot. He recited the poem for the three former Red Sox players. Word of the poem got out, and Flavin was asked to recite it at Fenway Park when Williams died, eventually reciting the poem all over the country.
Flavin continued to write poems about the Red Sox and became the public address announcer at Fenway Park in 2013.
Over the last several years, Flavin has kept a blog on his website, with his last post, "Who's to blame for the Red Sox Woes?" just six days before his death.
