#Melanie Newman makes Orioles history with play-by-play call

The 29-year-old made her play-by-play debut on the Orioles Radio Network in the team’s 4-0 loss to the Marlins, becoming the first woman in franchise history to broadcast a regular-season game.

“I never even thought that this would be in the realm of possibility for me,” Newman told MLB.com recently. “It was a situation that presented itself, and of course I said yes. … Being challenged to win teams’ and individuals’ trust, and to have them give me their stories and to know that I’m going to tell them justly, that’s something that I really don’t take for granted. And that means a lot to me.”

Newman was originally slated to be part of around 65 radio and Mid-Atlantic Sports Network television broadcasts before the coronavirus pandemic, according to MLB.com. She is now slated to call roughly 35 on the radio during the abbreviated 60-game season, while also dabbling in TV and sideline reporting as well.

Newman’s debut made her the fourth active female broadcaster in Major League Baseball. She follows in the footsteps of broadcasting pioneers like Yankees voice and longtime WFAN analyst Suzyn Waldman.

TNewman previously held roles on broadcast teams for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Texas Rangers and Boston Red Sox. In 2019, she led an all-female broadcast team for Boston’s Class-A Advanced affiliate in Salem.

Newman first began calling spring training games earlier this year in Sarasota, Fla. She then called an exhibition game in late July. In addition to calling play-by-play during the regular season, she debuted as a sideline reporter during the Orioles’ series against the Rays.

“Once I started in the play-by-play side of things, I realized kind-of where I lived was in between pitches,” she said. “It’s just that extra little anecdote, whether it’s about a person or the fact that, for example, August is the official month of migration for the Baltimore Orioles, literally. It’s just stuff like that, that if you know it, it makes you smile on your drive home or make you stop while you’re washing the dishes. That’s what means a lot to me, just to make it a little more personable.”