NEWSLETTER
Pretty awesome day for the history of Major League Baseball and the advancement of women in professional sports. According to multiple reports, the Oakland A’s just hired Jenny Cavnar to be their primary play-by-play announcer, making here the first female to hold that job in baseball history! Congrats to her!
Jenny Cavnar Gets the Big Chair
In recent years, the Cubs have rotated Beth Mowins into the Marquee broadcast booth for similar duties. And she’s been great. But the distinction here is that Jenny Cavnar will be the primary/everyday play-by-play voice. That’s huge.
Jenny Cavnar: Background
I don’t know much about Jenny Cavnar, myself, so I’ll just share her history and experience via NBC Sports Bay Area:
The 20-year media veteran, who has 17 years of experience covering baseball, becomes the first female primary play-by-play voice in Major League Baseball history. She will call a majority of A’s games.
For the past 12 years, Cavnar has served as a backup play-by-play announcer, pregame and postgame host, and reporter for regional TV coverage of the Colorado Rockies. During her tenure covering the Rockies, she became the first woman in a quarter century to call TV play-by-play for an MLB game in 2018, and in 2015, she was the first woman to provide analysis for a National League series on radio. She previously covered the San Diego Padres for nearly five years as a reporter and anchor.
Qualifications aplenty! Like Brett said when the Cubs promoted Rachel Folden to hitting coach at Double-A: Although Cavnar is not getting this promotion because she’s a woman, I don’t think it should go without mention that this is a big and important moment for the industry. Representation matters. Diversity matters. To some people, this will mean nothing, but to a lot of people (hopefully a lot of young women), it could mean the difference between getting into baseball or not.
Here’s what Cavnar had to say about the historic promotion: “It is a dream come true to join the broadcast team for the Oakland A’s and their rich baseball history,” Cavnar said. “Growing up the daughter of a baseball coach, I have loved the game from a young age, along with the stories, history and relationships the game provides. I’m excited to start my 18th season as a major league broadcaster with my good friend, Dallas Braden, and share our experiences with the loyal fans of the Athletics as we go on this ride together.”
