Monthly Archives: November 2012

The Smokies Radio Network would like to congratulate Cody Chrusciel who was recently named the Director of Broadcasting for University of Massachusetts athletics in Amherst, Mass.

Cody Chrusciel Broadcasting a Smokies game in 2012

Chrusciel was the Senior Broadcasting Assistant in 2012 for the Smokies Radio Network. He anchored the broadcasts pre-game and post-game shows and provided play-by-play for most of team’s 140 games.

He returns to UMass in a fulltime role and is responsible for the oversight of all broadcasting and video content plus production. He is also the broadcast voice of the women’s basketball team and sideline reporter for Minutemen football.

“Working with the Smokies Radio Network was a great experience,” Chrusciel said. “I was proud to be part of a major-league quality broadcast.”

Cody worked part-time in the UMass media relations office before joining the Smokies in March. He also spent four seasons as the Director of Broadcasting and Media Relations with the New Jersey Jackals in the Can-Am League.

“Cody did a tremendous job for us last season,” said Smokies Director of Broadcasting Mick Gillispie. “We all appreciated the professionalism and attention to detail in his work. He was among the elite broadcasters in the Southern League and we all wish him the very best.”

Chrusciel, a native of Wayne, N.J., has also worked in professional baseball with the Philadelphia Phillies, where he served as a video production intern for the 2007 season, He has also worked for Army Athletics in West Point, N.Y., as a Coordinator of Multimedia and Broadcasting, as well as work in the broadcast department for the Trenton Devils of the ECHL for the 2007-08 seasons.

Roger Hoover and Cody Chrusciel joined by 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist Claire Donahue

“We have a very high expectation, the quality of our work is how success is measured,” Gillispie said. “The entire crew in 2012 exceeded an already lofty standard. From the very first broadcast until the final wrap our collective product was excellent. Don’t forget that we have great partners with the Chicago Cubs and the Sports Animal that help make it the best in Minor League Baseball.”

Cody follows Roger Hoover who announced in October that he would leave the Smokies Radio Network to return to the Southern League’s Jacksonville Suns to serve as their Director of Broadcasting and play-by-play broadcaster. Studio producer Jonathan Guess has also taken a fulltime position in Atlanta and is not expected to return in 2013.

Mick Gillispie and Len Kasper in Mesa before a Chicago Cubs Spring Training Game.

The Hotstove League is in full swing and its time to start thinking about the 2013 baseball season. Nothing is better then catching a game on the radio. We found this blog post which mentioned our own Mick Gillispie who broadcasts Chicago Cubs Spring Training games along with Cubs voice Len Kasper each spring. Mick is entering his seventh season as the  ”The Voice” of Smokies Baseball. The Holy Coleslaw blog  posted this last March and it won’t be long before pitchers and catchers report again.

Holy Coleslaw blog includes great pictures and stuff worth checking out and here is the story posted below;

Watching baseball on the radio

(warning the following post is full of baseball nostalgia)

One of my favorite days of the year is the first March afternoon I get in my car and I turn on the radio and hear Pat Hughes say “Chicago Cubs baseball is on the air”. Some years I’m driving in a blizzard, and this year it’s May or June like weather. Still there is something comforting about having baseball on the radio. It’s a sign that spring and summer are near, a sign that my sad addiction for Cubs baseball has a 7 month fix all lined up.

A few years ago I was sitting out on my front stoop and I had the radio on listening to the Cubs. A neighbor of mine stopped by and asked what the score was. I told him, I suspect the Cubs were losing. He asked why I wasn’t inside watching the game. I told him it was a nice day and I actually enjoyed listening to baseball more than I did watching it. He looked at me like I had two heads. After that we sat their and chatted about something unimportant in between listening to pitches.  

I have no idea why, but even as a kid I remember feeling that way. I remember my Dad working in the garage and he would have the game on. I would be playing some sort of game with a couple of neighbor kids, and poke my head in every few minutes to listen to a pitch or two. During late summer nights I can recall trying to dial in games from Cincinnati, St. Louis, or Detroit. All of this seems simple today with mlb.com. But in those days getting a game from a Detroit station felt like I was listening to something from another world.

IMO Baseball lends itself to the radio. You don’t have to follow every single pitch. Unlike constant action sports like hockey and basketball there is plenty of time for the commentators to tell you stories about ballplayers or bygone days. 

The rise of internet and mlb.com has been great for those of us who want access to baseball on the radio without having to wait for those late nights when a radio signal might hit just right into your house. Baseball is available all the time from spring training to the World Series and you can hear broadcasts from coast to coast. I’ve really enjoyed listening to Len Kasper and Mick Gillespie call Cubs spring training games on cubs.com. It’s the new media at it’s best IMO. Bringing us games we wouldn’t otherwise hear on terrestrial radio. Truthfully, I never recognized Len’s talent as a broadcaster until I heard him calling these games. Like his hero Ernie Harwell he brings the game to life.

So here’s looking forward to a great summer. I can’t wait for that first Saturday when I can go outside, turn on the ballgame and do some yard work. Hell, I might even crack an Old Style or two.