Jenny Cavnar is NBC Sports California’s newest primary play-by-play announcer for live-game coverage of the Oakland Athletics, which makes her the first woman to hold such a position in Major League Baseball history.
Cavnar will lead the call for most A’s broadcasts this season, the network announced Tuesday. The new frontier in her career comes after she spent the past 12 years as the backup play-by-play announcer for regional television coverage of her hometown Colorado Rockies, also serving as pregame/postgame host and reporter.
This isn’t Cavnar’s first time making history as she was the first woman in 25 years to do television play-by-play for an MLB game in April 2018, when the San Diego Padres visited the Rockies. It was a perfect debut for Cavnar after she spent almost five years covering the San Diego Padres as a reporter and anchor.
She has 20 years of experience in sports media, 17 of them dedicated to covering baseball. In 2015, she was the first woman to provide analysis for a National League series on the radio.
“It is a dream come true to join the broadcast team for the Oakland A’s and their rich baseball history,” Cavnar said in a statement. “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.”
Before beginning her professional career, the five-time Emmy Award winner graduated from Colorado State University, where she played lacrosse.
She’s set to join NBC Sports California color commentator Dallas Braden, a former A’s pitcher. Cavnar and Braden met through her husband, Steven Spurgeon, a former right-hander with the White Sox’s minor-league club.
Braden, who welcomed Cavnar to the team in an excited video posted Tuesday on social media, also spoke with The Athletic about her talent.
“I always tell [Spurgeon], man, I can’t wait for us to hang out because I can finally talk baseball. He’s like, I played professionally, but I tell him you don’t know s*** about baseball, but your wife, she and I can talk ball,” Braden said, laughing. “I think with the way that she prepares, she’s going to put herself in a great position to succeed.”
A’s fans will get their first glimpse of Cavnar’s style in the booth when baseball returns this spring.
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