Oakland Athletics play-by-play announcer Jenny Cavnar made history in 2024, becoming the first woman to be a primary play-by-play announcer for a Major League Baseball team in league history.
Canvar has received support from all over since then. Cavnar’s in town in the Bronx while the A’s play the New York Yankees, And on Tuesday night, she joined YES Network’s Meredith Marakovits for a segment on Yankees Batting Practice.
Cavnar discussed how things have been this year thus far and if her approach has changed or if it’s hit her quite yet.
“No,” Cavnar said through laughter. “Coming to the ballpark every day, you have to kind of pinch yourself. Like, I’m doing this! This is exciting! And really a dream come true, obviously.”
Cavnar said it wasn’t on her radar or even one of her career goals to reach this point. However, she thinks that the “ultimate dream” was her path leading her to this point.
She revealed to Marakovits that in 2015, she filled in as an analyst. Fittingly enough, for the segment, Yankees radio analyst Suzyn Waldman had sent her an email of encouragement, and she was “blown away” that she was being noticed.
Cavnar then began calling games in 2018 and began to hear from young girls about her broadcasting opportunities and emerging talents in the industry. She specifically cited Orioles broadcaster Melanie Newman.
Cavnar added that a college basketball opportunity presented itself for her after that, so she latched onto that and the A’s. On if she was caught by surprise by all the attention, Cavnar said that it’s been a lot. She referenced her appearance on the TODAY Show, which she called “pretty crazy.”
She’s seen a lot of growth over the years and reflected on that during the interview.
“It’s a story of importance because representation is important,” she said. We’ve seen it grow so much,” she said with Marakovits, referencing their long time as peers in the industry. In terms of allowing women to have the space, not only in front of the camera, not only growing as hosts or on play-by-play, but as producers and directors, we run across a lot of females in our game now, which is so exciting. Just to be part of that conversation and opening that door is cool.”
Cavnar said the best thing about the job was “being part of the action.” She raved about the absurdities around Yankees manager Aaron Boone’s ejection Monday afternoon as a reason to be excited at the ballpark. It’s true that in baseball, you really never know what you’re going to see, and sometimes, it’s historic and then some.
“Every game brings such a different vibe and a different feeling, and you get to be the soundtrack of that. You get to have your feelings and your emotions go along with the ride with it,” Cavnar said.
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022