Salem Red Sox to debut first all-female broadcast booth in professional baseball
Melanie Newman and Suzie Cool will debut together on April 23.
The Salem Red Sox, the organization’s Class A affiliate, announced Wednesday that their booth will feature professional baseball’s first all-female broadcast team this season.
Melanie Newman and Suzie Cool will debut together on April 23. The organization noted that there are eight women calling games in the professional ranks, and just three — Kirsten Karbach (Reading Fightin Phils), Emma Tiedemann (Lexington Legends), and Jill Gearin (Visalia Rawhide) — in the minor leagues.
“I’m so beyond thrilled to be joining Salem for numerous reasons,” Newman said. “The timing could not have been more perfect; the ability to finally work with Suzie, after bonding over social media, the way most of us women in sports have, makes everything come full circle.”
WE HAVE BIG NEWS! ?@MelanieLynneN will be the new broadcaster for Salem in 2019! The Sox now have the first all female broadcasting booth in all of @MLB and @MiLB, with the duo of Newman and @SuzKewl.
Take time to congratulate Melanie & read more here: https://t.co/VbUzGOjhjO pic.twitter.com/9roqYUiQEn
— Salem Red Sox (@salemredsox) February 27, 2019
Newman brings a decade of broadcasting experience to the Red Sox, including a stint as the play-by-play announcer for the Frisco Roughriders last season. Salem’s president, Ryan Shelton, said Newman and Cool are going to “take this historical moment for the game of baseball, and make this season one to remember for the organization.”
Salem, the organization’s third-level team after the Pawtucket Red Sox and Portland Sea Dogs, opens their season on the road against the Wilmington Blue Rocks on April 4.
