MLB's 1st all-female broadcast crew calls Rays' win over Orioles
'It's not a novelty, it's about normalcy,' MLB Network says on Twitter
There was history — and her story, too — in the broadcast booth at Tropicana Field on Tuesday night.
For the first time in Major League Baseball history, an all-female announcing crew called a game as the Tampa Bay Rays played the Baltimore Orioles.
The YouTube broadcast featured Melanie Newman on play-by-play with Sarah Langs as the analyst. Alanna Rizzo was the on-field reporter, and Heidi Watney and Lauren Gardner hosted the pregame and postgame coverage.
"Honoured to be part of a historic moment, but more than anything, just so overjoyed to get to work alongside" her colleagues, she said, praising them as "Strong, smart & inspiring WOMEN and PEOPLE!"
Newman is the Orioles' play-by-play radio announcer, Langs writes for MLB.com and Rizzo, Watney and Gardner are on air for MLB Network.
"It's not a novelty, it's about normalcy," MLB Network tweeted.
"It's not a novelty, it's about normalcy"<br><br>It'll just be a baseball game after the first pitch of the first ever all-female broadcast of the O's vs. Rays tonight at 7pm ET on <a href="https://twitter.com/YouTube?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@YouTube</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/MelanieLynneN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MelanieLynneN</a> I <a href="https://twitter.com/SlangsOnSports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SlangsOnSports</a> I <a href="https://twitter.com/alannarizzo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@alannarizzo</a> I <a href="https://twitter.com/HeidiWatney?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HeidiWatney</a> I <a href="https://twitter.com/LGRed?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LGRed</a> I <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MLBCentral?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MLBCentral</a> <a href="https://t.co/ZORB1TOQVk">pic.twitter.com/ZORB1TOQVk</a>
—@MLBNetwork"Trailblazers" posted the official MLB Twitter account.
Tennis champion and social justice advocate Billie Jean King celebrated the broadcast by posting on Twitter: "It's a history-making night for MLB."
