MLB game to make history with all-women broadcast team


Five women are about to make Major League Baseball history.
A game next week between the Baltimore Orioles and the Tampa Bay Rays is set to have a team of five women serve as the on-air crew, which is "believed to be the first time an all-women team will handle the entire broadcast for a major league game," The New York Times reports.
Play-by-play announcer Melanie Newman is set to call the action, while Sarah Langs will serve as analyst in the booth, Alanna Rizzo will provide on-field reporting, and the pre-game and post-game shows will be anchored by Heidi Watney and Lauren Gardner, according to the report. Newman previously took part in the first all-female minor league baseball game broadcast in 2019.
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"It can't help but feel different," Rizzo told the Times. "I've always had a male play-by-play voice in my ear during every game I've ever done. So, to do a game where those voices are Melanie and Sarah, that will be a unique feeling and a unique perspective of the game. It's exciting to be a part of something like this. … It's not an all-male game anymore, and we don't live in an all-male world."
Sportscaster Suzyn Waldman told the Times this is a "big deal," though at the same time, she said she's "looking forward to when this is no longer a novelty event." Newman also told the Times, "We also want to make sure that while we are getting all these firsts in there, that we also are not the last."
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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
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