Andy Freed

Last updated

Andy Freed (born 1971 in Ellicott City, Maryland) is a sports broadcaster who has been one of the radio voices for the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball since 2005, when he was hired as half of a new broadcast team with Dave Wills. The two shared play-by-play and color commentating duties during each ballgame, usually alternating roles for two or three innings at a time. Freed and Wills were well-liked in the local market and well-respected across baseball, and in 2020, they were chosen as the best radio team in the American League by The Athletic. [1] [2]

Contents

Freed and Wills signed several contract extensions with the Rays, but the partnership ended suddenly when Willis died just before the start of the 2023 season. [1] Since then, Freed has worked Rays radio broadcasts with Neil Solondz, with whom he has continued to swap roles during games. [3] Since 2021, Freed has also served as the Rays' television play-by-play announcer on select road trips when regular TV announcer Dewayne Staats is on vacation. [4]

Freed's radio career has featured work with the Pawtucket Red Sox, the Trenton Thunder, and the St. Lucie Mets in minor league baseball. He also did radio broadcasts for Providence College basketball, Rider University basketball, College of New Jersey football, and Baltimore Spirit soccer. Freed started his broadcast career while still a student at his alma mater, Towson State University, when he covered various sporting events for the university's radio station, WTMD. [5] During baseball's offseason, he has occasionally done play by play duties for college basketball broadcasts for ESPN Regional. [4]

Personal life

Andy Freed grew up outside of Baltimore, Maryland as a Baltimore Orioles fan. In 1992, he met longtime Orioles and ESPN broadcaster Jon Miller, who became a mentor for Freed when he was getting started in the business. Freed and his wife Amy have three children named Sarah, Casey, and Madeline. They also have a dog named Charlie Brown. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baltimore Orioles</span> American professional baseball team

The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the American League's eight charter teams in 1901, the franchise spent its first year as a major league club in Milwaukee as the Milwaukee Brewers before moving to St. Louis to become the St. Louis Browns in 1902. After 52 years in St. Louis, the franchise was purchased in 1953 by a syndicate of Baltimore business and civic interests, led by attorney and civic activist Clarence Miles and Mayor Thomas D'Alesandro Jr. The team's current owner is David Rubenstein. The Orioles' home ballpark is Oriole Park at Camden Yards, which opened in 1992 in downtown Baltimore. The oriole is the official state bird of Maryland; the name has been used by several baseball clubs in the city, including another AL charter member franchise which folded after the 1902 season and was replaced the next year by the New York Highlanders, later the Yankees. Nicknames for the team include the "O's" and the "Birds".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Kennedy (baseball)</span> American baseball analyst and manager

Kevin Curtis Kennedy is an American former manager in Major League Baseball and a former television host for Fox Sports' baseball coverage. He was given the nickname "the Skipper" by Fox Sports due to his prior managerial career. Kennedy joined the Tampa Bay Rays broadcast team for the 2009 baseball season as a replacement for Joe Magrane.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chuck Thompson</span> American sportscaster

Charles Lloyd Thompson was an American sportscaster best known for his broadcasts of Major League Baseball's Baltimore Orioles and the National Football League (NFL)'s Baltimore Colts. He was well-recognized for his resonant voice, crisply descriptive style of play-by-play, and signature on-air exclamations "Go to war, Miss Agnes!" and "Ain't the beer cold!"

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MASN</span> American regional sports network

Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) is an American regional sports network owned as a joint venture between two Major League Baseball franchises, the Baltimore Orioles and the Washington Nationals. Headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, the channel broadcasts regional coverage of sports events in the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore metropolitan areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Thorne</span> American sportscaster

Gary Francis Thorne is an American sportscaster. He was the lead play-by-play announcer for Baltimore Orioles games on MASN from 2007 to 2020. He has also worked for ESPN and ABC, including National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, college football, and the Frozen Four hockey tournament. He also works for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he is the narrator for the WrestleMania Rewind program on its WWE Network streaming video service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken Singleton</span> American baseball player (born 1947)

Kenneth Wayne Singleton is an American former professional baseball player and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder and designated hitter from 1970 to 1984, most prominently as a member of the Baltimore Orioles where, he was a three-time All-Star player and was a member of the 1983 World Series winning team. He also played for the New York Mets and the Montreal Expos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Duquette</span> American baseball executive

Jim Duquette is an American baseball executive. He was the general manager of the New York Mets from 2003–2004, before the team replaced him with Omar Minaya. Duquette subsequently stayed with the Mets in a front office job for a full season before moving on to the Baltimore Orioles. With the Orioles former vice president of baseball operations, where he worked under Mike Flanagan, the team's general manager. Jim Duquette serves as a prominent host on SiriusXM's MLB Network Radio, where he has been a full-time baseball analyst. His extensive work includes hosting shows directly from spring training locations, as well as providing in-depth analysis for every League Championship Series (LCS) and World Series since 2009.

David Herbert Wills was an American sportscaster best known as an announcer for the Tampa Bay Rays radio broadcasts. A native of the Chicago area, he was involved in both sports and journalism in high school and college. After a short stint as a college baseball coach, he began covering sporting events on local radio and television, then did play by play radio for a minor league baseball club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Manfra</span> American retired sportscaster (born 1946)

Fred Manfra is an American retired sportscaster, best known for radio and television broadcasts of the Baltimore Orioles. He has covered many other sports, including football, basketball, ice hockey, horse racing and the Olympics. He retired in May 2017 as a Baltimore Orioles sportscaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John P. Angelos</span> American businessman (born 1967)

John P. Angelos is an American businessman who managed the Baltimore Orioles from 2020 until its sale to David Rubenstein in 2024, leading the club's front office and overseeing day-to-day business operations. Previously, he served as the Orioles' COO and executive vice president, a position he held since 1999. He also serves as president and chief operating officer of the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN), overseeing the network's business operations. Angelos is the elder son of Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos.

Christopher Verdell Singleton is an American sportscaster and former professional baseball outfielder. He played most of his career as a center fielder for six seasons in Major League Baseball, from 1999 to 2005. He played for the Chicago White Sox (1999-2001), Baltimore Orioles (2002), Oakland Athletics (2003) and Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2005). During his playing career, his listed height and weight were 6'2", 210 pounds. He batted and threw left-handed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tampa Bay Rays</span> Major League Baseball franchise in St. Petersburg, Florida

The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. The Rays are one of two major league clubs based in Florida, alongside the National League (NL)’s Miami Marlins. Since its inception, the team's home ballpark has been Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The Tampa Bay Rays Radio Network is a radio network in the southeastern United States that broadcasts baseball games and related programming for the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball. Additionally, there is a 2-station Spanish language network. Since 2009, WDAE/620 in St. Petersburg, Florida, has served as the flagship station for the network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Todd Kalas</span> American sportscaster

Todd Harry Kalas is an American sportscaster, employed since 2017 as a television play-by-play announcer for Houston Astros baseball.

Rich Herrera is an American sports announcer. Herrera is the only radio announcer in MLB or the NFL of Mexican–American Heritage without a playing background. He was the first nationally syndicated Hispanic sports radio personality in the United States working first at Sports Fan Radio, and later at Fox Sports Radio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Chicago White Sox–Baltimore Orioles crowdless game</span> First such game in Major League Baseball history

On April 29, 2015, the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Chicago White Sox 8–2 in the first crowdless game ever played by Major League Baseball teams. The lack of crowds was due to civil unrest in Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray, an African-American man who was critically injured while in police custody 10 days earlier. With all the civil unrest, there were insufficient security resources available for the game. The previous two games in the teams' series had been postponed, but the remaining game could neither be moved to another venue on short notice nor made up later in the season, so the decision was made to play the game at Camden Yards without allowing any fans to attend. The scheduled evening start time was also moved up to the afternoon for security reasons.

Melanie Lynne Newman is an American radio and television play-by-play broadcaster for the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball (MLB) and previously did national Friday Night Baseball broadcasts on Apple TV+. She is the first woman to be a play-by-play announcer for the Orioles and one of only four female play-by-play broadcasters active in MLB.

References

  1. 1 2 Lacques, Gabe (March 5, 2023). "Tampa Bay Rays play-by-play radio broadcaster Dave Wills dies at 58". USA TODAY.
  2. ↑ Brock, Corey; Lin, Dennis (July 27, 2020). "The Athletic's 2020 MLB radio survey results: Readers' favorite voices of summer". The Athletic.
  3. ↑ Topkin, Marc (March 16, 2023). "Rays promote Neil Solondz to join Andy Freed in radio booth". Tampa Bay Times.
  4. 1 2 "Meet the Rays television and radio broadcast teams | Tampa Bay Rays". MLB.com. Tampa Bay Rays.
  5. ↑ "Andy Freed". Discover Towson. Towson University. April 29, 2009. Archived from the original on November 28, 2010. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
  6. ↑ Driver, David (May 30, 2012). "Mt. Hebron High grad Andy Freed has made it to the Major Leagues as an announcer, but has stayed true to hometown and his work-ethic roots". The Baltimore Sun . Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.