With 20 years of proof that hard work pays off, major league baseball broadcaster Thom Brennaman is doing what he loves with a smile on his face.
Brennaman came to Damon's Bar and Grill in Muncie Saturday as part of the Reds Winter Caravan, an annual promotional event intended. Accompanying Brennaman was manager Jerry Narron, pitcher Todd Coffey, outfielder Chris Dickerson and Reds' Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Browning.
Serving as the event's spokesperson, Brennaman's signature, engaging, prominent voice caught everybody's attention as a true voice of baseball. Brennaman was not putting on an act; he was happy to be there with the fans.
"This is by far the best crowd we've had," he said, creating a roar of applause from fans of all ages.
As Brennaman moved through the crowd that just cheered for him, he looked up with a smile and said enthusiastically, "How are you all doing?"
Brennaman, who graduated from Ohio University with a degree in communications and political science, started doing play-by-play for women's basketball games during college. He said that helped him gain the needed experience. After college, Brennaman took a job as a weekend sports anchor for a Cincinnati television station, and he said the next thing he knew, he was on-air doing what he's always wanted to do.
"When I took the job with the TV station, I knew right then and there I wasn't going to get a chance to do radio play-by-play," he said. "I was in television. I was going to end up being an anchor of some kind but I always hoped I'd get a chance to do radio play-by-play somewhere, but I just didn't think it would happen so soon."
Brennaman spent his first two years doing play-by-play for the Reds, and then moved to Chicago to announce Cubs games for the next six. He has been in Arizona for the last 12 years and is now returning to the Reds. Moving back to Cincinnati will also allow him to continue broadcasting Fox's Saturday games, which he has been doing since 1996.
Zach Donkowski, the Reds Marketing Operations Manager, said they are happy to have Brennaman back.
"It was a no-brainer to sign Thom," Donkowski said. "He is world-class; he was definitely raised the right way."
Donkowski said the goal is to bring the very best to the Reds, and Brennaman is a part of that.
To Brennaman, though, family is the most important thing. He has been married for almost seven years and has two children, a three-and-a-half-year-old daughter and a son that is almost two. He said being on the road is hard, but he isn't gone as much as one would think.
"You get almost the whole winter off, and so there is a trade-off for everything," Brennaman said. "Nobody misses their wife in the world more than I do when I'm gone, but I'm no different than any other guy who misses their wife and kids when they're gone."
This year, Brennaman will have the opportunity to announce 40 or 50 of his 90 games with his father, who is a Hall of Fame broadcaster.
Although Brennaman is the son of a famous broadcaster, he had to work hard just like anybody else.
"Believe me, I'm no different," he said. "Someone just decided, you know what, that's the guy I'm going to hire. Could have been one out of 300 guys."
Brennaman said he believes you have to go above and beyond if you want to truly get recognized.
"The foot is never going to get in the door if you don't have persistence," he said. "I mean, I always laugh when I talk to somebody even who's already in the business of baseball and maybe they want to do marketing or PR, or work for something else and a job will open for another team and they'll say, 'yeah, I sent them my r+â-¬sum+â-¬.'"
Brennaman said you have to do more than just send a piece of paper with your information on it.
"You're never going to remember the guy who just, you know, sent his r+â-¬sum+â-¬ in," he said. "They're going to remember the guy who sent his r+â-¬sum+â-¬, and then, oh, so-and-so called, and then a week later, so-and-so called again."
With a prominent last name, Brennaman said he may have had a little bit of an advantage, but that isn't why he has accomplished what he has today.
"I was lucky because of my last name because of my dad; it made somebody recognize that name faster," he said. "But at the end of the day, the people that ran the Chicago Cubs and WGN, they don't give a damn what your last name is, they just want to hire somebody."
When asked if he ever felt pressure to be as successful as his father, he quickly responded by saying, "I sure don't think so." He expressed his amazement that people could grow up feeling that way; he said he is grateful for his father and looks forward to working in the booth with him this year.
As a prominent person, Brennaman said he looks at people as no better or worse than him, because you never know who that person is or could turn out to be.
Pointing to a young boy wearing a Colts shirt and hat waiting in line for autographs, Brennaman said, "He could be my boss in 20 years. You never know."
While signing autographs, Brennaman took the time to ask where the fan wanted his signature, rather than just scribbling anywhere like some celebrities do. At one point, he couldn't hear what the person was saying whose baseball he was holding, so he kept asking, "Is right here OK? Is this OK?"
The message Brennaman was trying to convey is everyone should be treated equally, whether you make $40 million or $40, and that is why he lives by the adage in the Bible that says, "Do unto others as you would have done to you."
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