PA Announcer's Responsibilities

Listen to your gut.

^^^^^ This......though if I saw the visiting team using an illegal bat all the way from the pressbox....and my sonplaying SS and his best friend who is catching didn't notice it, I'd probably ground him....and tell him to find a new friend....

IMHO - You aren't a game official, so stick with your responsibility, which is to announce the players. If you want to be really good (IMHO) do the following:

Arrive early so you can prepare. Insist upon getting a lineup card early from each team. For the visitors, read it when you can't read the hand writing or pronounce the names go find a parent or assistant coach and ask them. They will be happy to help you out. Don't forget to ask for first names if the head coach has used initials and consider the subs. If they have a sheet for scouts, ask for a copy, that is a lot faster than writing down first names for 20+ players.

Introduce the National Anthem as if you were a returning veteran and it was the most important speech you'll ever give. "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, please rise and remove your hats as we honor our nation with our national anthem" (think Sherm Feller). This is the visitor's first impression and if you do a half as*d job honoring America, you're doing a half as*d job at a half as*d school (in their opinion).

If your league, state or whatever has a "statement" you have to read (one of those, be nice things), read clearly and effectively, practice so it is fluid with proper announciation on the important parts.

Be respectful of both teams. You aren't a commentator, your job is to introduce the players and play hideous walk up songs. Claiming the iPod died in the second inning is OK even if it didn't. Parents will thank you.

If you also have the scoreboard, do your best. Find a guy with a scorebook and make him your friend. Find a 10-13 year old sibling of one of the players and teach him to run the score board. Give a kid to fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a little kid to run a scoreboard and you never have to mess with it again.

The important thing is to be "professional". When I went to visiting stadiums, you couldn't help but be impressed by a quality, unbiased annoucer who had his poop together, knew how to pronouce the names and wasn't rooting for the home team. Our guy tried to do the same for our games and I think it came off well.

@JMoff - Yes, that pretty much sums up my approach to doing the PA and I absolutely can't stand a "homer" announcer. Early on, I read much of the same good advice you've given on a PA announcing website and I did take it to heart. I feel like all of these kids on both teams have worked hard for a long time to make their varsity team and deserve to get my best and most professional and unbiased job. I was blessed with a good voice and the kids and coaches do seem to appreciate the job I do for them which is gratifying. It's a volunteer job but it feels good to help out my alma mater.

As concerns my original question, I've always felt that the announcer's job is to announce but I was curious what the umpires' thoughts would be on the topic. I think the only time that the announcer should "jump in" is if there is something going on that could threaten the safety and well-being of the crowd or participants in a real way.

P.S. I have a cohort who mans the iPod and plays the hideous and "fun" songs so I claim no responsibility for that I'm guilty of getting a little kick out of it though when he plays the breaking glass sound after a foul ball.

Thank you everyone for your input!

KK,

Good announcers add a lot to everyone's enjoyment of the event, and it's great you're taking your responsibilities seriously.  Everything JMoff said is correct, especially the parts about being unbiased, prepared, and professional.

May I toss the question back to you and ask for an example of a situation in which you might feel the need to jump in?

The two you mention, blood on a uniform and an illegal bat, clearly do not call for announcer participation.  The stain might not be blood, or it might have already been laundered or sprayed by that neutralizing spray the trainers have.  The illegal bat issue is already so minutely managed that there's no need for additional parties.  

Please remember that your authority and jurisdiction are identical to that of the Dad working the grill.  A fan with a mic should be more even circumspect in his comments than the fans in the stands.

As an umpire, I've never had to deal with an announcer inserting himself into the game, but I definitely would not appreciate "voice from above" input on when lightning is in the area (we have a system in place for that) or when it's time to turn on the lights (if it was necessary, the umpires probably reminded the home team's coach an inning before you noticed it).  I'd probably pull the plug on your PA system if you ever announced that a team was batting out of order.

On the other hand, you should prepare scripts for pre-game sportsmanship reminders,  shelter instructions for lightning delays, and other likely contingencies unrelated to the action on the field.  

Oh, please suggest to your sound effects friend that the breaking glass noise is a crowd pleaser only when it's a surprise.  He doesn't need to punctuate every foul ball with a crash, just one or two per game, please. 

If you encounter or think of a situation you think warrants announcer involvement, please post it here and see what others think.  I really can't think of any.  

Best wishes, 

@Swampboy - As to an example of a situation to "jump in", one scenario (unlikely of course) could be this: The ball park has light standards that are above the stands and I notice that one of the big light fixtures has just come loose and is "hanging by a thread" and looks like it might fall down at any second. I think it would be called for for me to ask the fans to exit the stands for their own safety, once again in a safe but expedient manner without consulting anyone in the interest of getting people out of harm's way as fast as possible. How about a person approaching with a gun? Don't know what I'd do there and I hope I never see that happen but I can't think of anything that would be helpful over the mic in that situation. I think that would call for personal intervention if possible.

As to the blood on a uniform and an illegal bat, these were kind of lame examples but I got the answer I was looking for and that is, "no, it's never the place of the announcer to inform the ump about any potential violations or infractions and please let those on the field handle it, even if you think they're missing something". I'd also like to say that I would NEVER even consider asking a question of, or saying something to, the umpire over the mic (or giving a personal opinion about a play on the field for that matter). At our field I sit right behind the backstop at a table so I do have the ability to say something privately to the umpire if I had to which is one of the reasons I even considered the question in the first place. I've always felt that my job is to be an informed observer and information giver to those in the stands and, as you've now confirmed for me, that's where it stops. Believe me, I don't have an authority complex or anything but I want to be the best announcer possible and part of that is to be sure that I never ignore something that I SHOULD do. Thanks for helping me be more sure of that by answering my questions.

Even your new examples require decisions beyond the announcer's authority. If the announcer  see something wrong with the lights, he should notify facility management immediately, and then announce the decision management has made.

If he sees someone with a gun he should notify the authorities and let them take it from there.  No need to excite the crowd into panic. 

An announcer should announce.  He has no decision making authority.  I wouldn't even want him to announce the first sighting of lightning.  If he sees it before me, he should send work down so I can look for it.  I can't call/delay a game on someone else's sighting, but I can use that info to keep a sharp eye out. Since I can't use that information to delay the game, an announcer making it public before I see it will only incite the fans or coaches.

As a High School PA announcer, you have a very limited role, albeit a good one......as above announce the game.....if you are playing music, know when to start and stop it.......I will not delay a game until you have gotten "Bobby's" walk up music queued up..... do not play music that is derogatory to participants or profane....do not attempt be the "play by play" announcer...

@Jimmy03 -  What you said about having word sent down where lightning is concerned made me realize that I should have phrased my original question more succinctly.

So, let me restate:
Are there any circumstances where the umpire would consider it helpful and appropriate to get a heads up (have word sent to him discreetly) based on something noticed by the scorekeeper, the PA Announcer or anyone else not on the playing field who is present at typical high school baseball game?

Once again, this is about trying to do the best, most helpful, and most professional job possible and is NOT about being in control or an authority. I'm equally happy with "No, never. Just be a great announcer and nothing else" as I am with "Yes, I'd appreciate having word sent down if you see….". I'm just looking for information and guidance here. Thanks again!

Originally Posted by Kovina Kris:

“…Are there any circumstances where the umpire would consider it helpful and appropriate to get a heads up (have word sent to him discreetly) based on something noticed by the scorekeeper, the PA Announcer or anyone else not on the playing field who is present at typical high school baseball game?”

This one’s pretty much a no-brainer.

STAY OUT OF IT! IT AIN’T YOUR JOB! DON’T TRY TO COMMUNICATE WITH AN UMPIRE WHILE THE GAME’S GOING ON!

Now if you see someone aiming a rifle at a player from the parking lot, that’s one thing. But for all the things I’ve seen mentioned so far, talk to the coach! He’s allowed to talk to the ump because its his job.

I'm sorry if my persistence was annoying to anyone but thank you to all. My question was answered clearly and thoroughly for sure. Dead topic from my end now. Promise!

And I agree with JMoff about the excessive walk up stuff. The few times I was also in charge of the music, I only played it between innings.

Maybe it's because I'm a bit younger than most here, but I don't mind the walkup stuff...unless it's country. Also, if I hear "Centerfield" one more time, I'm going to punch the responsible party in the jewels.

I've done PA for quite a few years and have needed to occasionally do one of these:"Attention please, would the bullpen pitchers please close the gate. Thank you." And confession time, I did do this once, which crossed the line:" Would Mr. X please report to the press box...with a large glass of sweet tea?"

I've probably posted this before....but there is a school hereabouts that is creative with the walkup songs for the visitors....stuff like:  "I Enjoy Being a Girl",  "Girls  Just Wanna Have Fun", "My Boyfriend's Back", "Tiny Dancer", "Brown Eyed Girl", "She's a lady", "Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair", "Impossible Dream", "Winnie the Pooh", "Can't Touch This".......

I don’t mind the music, no matter what the style. What I do mind is the volume! Maybe people don’t understand that you don’t have to play walk-up or between innings music at the same volume you play music at practices so the guys in the batting cages on the far side of the centerfield fence can hear it like they were sitting next to a speaker!

Agree there are some songs that have been played to death. Centerfield being one and Sweet Caroline, being another.

Music is for the kids

Clean lyrics is for the grandparents who come to watch their grandkids.

This was a small issue with our basketball teams at the start of the season.  As athletic director I told them if I heard anything again then I pick the music and it's going to be all Frank Sinatra the rest of the season.

Amazingly the music cleaned up.

Thanks everyone for all the good tips.  I was recently asked to be the PA announcer for my son's high school team (a job I've never done).  The school just installed a new PA system and scoreboard so any tips and hints are greatly appreciated.  If anyone can help me with suggestions please let me know.  I love the game of baseball and enjoy attending the games; I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to add some excitement/entertainment to the games.

Please just announce the starting lineups, the hitters and the substitutions.  Leave the excitement/entertainment to the players.

I agree with Dash.  There is nothing more annoying as a PA guy trying to be a play by play guy.  Announce the starters, play the anthem, announce the batters, and maybe say the score between innings.  Most people get annoyed if the PA guy goes on and on and on and on and on and on.  

Dash and New2,  Thanks and I plan on keeping it simple.  Last thing I want to do is become a distraction. 

@Falcon64 - Here's a great webpage from a seasoned and respected veteran PA announcer (Rob Emery) that has some great tips to get started with: http://www.pa-announcer.com/pa_006.htm

Here's another good one from the NASPAA, the announcers code of conduct: https://www.naspaa.net/?p=Code%20of%20Conduct

I'm writing up some stuff that's a little more to the practical side of things that I've learned that should be helpful as well but I may not be able to post it for a day or two so check back.

I like the PA announcer my son's DII JUCO has.  For the home team, each player has his own walk up song and the announcer does a nice job announcing the batter - usually their name and position.  Visiting team players are announced as they come to bat, but no walk up song.  At the end of each full inning, he'll announce how many runs, hits for that inning and the score.  It helps that he has a very smooth voice with a slight southern drawl.

The most distasteful experience was one of my son's varsity opponents in HS.  Some of the walk up songs were borderline duragatory.  The worst incident was when our coach changed pitchers (our ace was not having a great day though we were still leading by 2 at the time he came off the mound), the parent handling the music decided to play "So you had a bad day....."   More than a few parents on our side looked at this gentleman with disgust.   Shortly after that the plate umpire calmly warned him to cool it with his poor selection of music or just shut it off for the rest of the game. 

@Falcon64 - All right, here are my thoughts and tips where doing the PA duties is concerned. I didn't really intend for it to be this lengthy when I started typing it up. I hope you find it relevant and helpful.

Here is the PA announcer stuff that comes to mind from my experience:



1. Get there about an hour early. Nothing begs mistakes like feeling rushed and pressured due to lack of time.

2. Bring some clear packing tape with you and tape all of your scripts and rosters (after they've been verified) to the table so they will stay put and the wind won't blow them away etc. Bring extra sharpened pencils and I like to bring one of those extendable erasers that looks like a pen with me as well.  

3. I like to bring water, a few non-messy snacks (I don't like to take free food and cut into the team's snack bar earnings), throat lozenges, hand cleaner, a cleansing wipe for the microphone and NOT forget my reading glasses! Don't drink too much before the game though unless you have a bathroom that's very close by and use the bathroom one last time about 15 minutes before game time. 

4. If you do one, have your opening welcome script prepared, typed, and printed. Ditto for an end-of-game script. Give the pertinent facts but keep them brief. I sometimes give the teams' records as part of the welcome script for a league game but I don't if a team is coming in 0-7 or the like. It just seems like rubbing it in. Our school doesn't do a National Anthem for baseball (the band only does basketball and football games) but it's usually right after the welcome if you need to introduce it. If so, find out if there's a singer or band to introduce too.

5. As said by others, check all suspect name pronunciations before the game with someone involved with the team in question who knows. Here in So. Cal. I'm often asking if a spanish name has the ñ sound or not (is Centeno pronounced "Sen-ten-oh" or "Sen-ten-yo") but any name that's not a slam dunk should be questioned and it's a good idea to ask coach if there are any names that people often get wrong on his team. Heaven forbid, you could have a Robert who's pronounced "Row-bear" but you sure can't catch stuff like that without help.  

6. Get the lineups as early as possible from each coach. Some lineup cards are great and complete and can function as a roster as well. Others are hand written with only the starting lineup and with names written like, "J. James". You don't know what you're gonna get from the visitors so:

7. Get rosters from MaxPreps, from each school's website, or wherever the schools in your league put them if possible before you arrive at the game, print them out and bring them with you. If a roster is not available then you'll have to build your own before the game. Uniform#, full name, positions played and class (Jr. Sr. etc) are the most useful data elements to have on a roster but uniform# and full name are essential. BTW, don't enter the class as a grade level (11, 12, etc.) or carry data elements that you don't really need (like height and weight for example) because it could cause confusion when looking up a player's number. See an example of what can go wrong further down the page. Coaches oftentimes will give you a lineup card that has names entered like J. James and you will of course want to announce each player by full name like, "Now batting, Shortstop, #12 John James". Having the roster will give you the ability to fill in your scorebook and/or starting lineup sheets with the full names parsed from the first initials that the coach may have given you. If you don't have a roster with first names you will have to ask an assistant coach or student helper for that info before the game which takes up more of their time and yours.

8. Verify your rosters with a coach before the game as to any additions, deletes or changes that vary from what you have printed. Look for any obvious potential mistakes and ask for those entries to be verified as well.

9. If you can, print the rosters on colored paper that reflects one of each school's colors which makes for easier identification. Print your home team's roster on the same color every game during the season for consistency. It makes it much harder to reference the wrong roster when looking up a player.

10.  Go introduce yourself to the coaches and ask them for the lineup cards because they will be juggling many tasks and won't likely bring them to you on their own. Fill out your scorebook and/or starting lineup sheet as soon as you've received them. Because you can't do this before hand, it will be one of the more time consuming pre-game tasks you have to take care of. Make sure you have one, and only one, player for each position on the field from each lineup card (plus a DH usually).

11. Always verify the uniform# of the next batter coming to bat before they get to the plate. Don't assume that the player in the 3rd spot in the lineup is leading off the inning because the scorebook shows that the number 2 hitter was the last batter last inning. The scorebook could be wrong. There may have been a suspended at-bat last inning due to a runner being tagged out for the 3rd out etc. that you didn't score properly and forgot about that would result in the player in the 2nd spot batting again. There also may have been a substitution that you weren't privy to. They could also be batting out of order which the umpire will handle. If the player is who you're expecting on your lineup sheet or scorebook great, but if not just get the number, look it up on the roster and announce the name that goes with it. As long as you've verified your rosters before the game with the coaches you won't have a problem. If the coach failed to tell you there's been a uniform number switch it's not your fault and there's nothing you can do about it. You can't possibly know all players by sight, especially on the visiting team. Get your introduction done before the batter has settled into the batter's box. Don't speak during a pitch. If you missed your intro for some reason, slip it in quickly after the first pitch if you can.

12. Same thing goes for the pitchers. Check their number at the start of every inning. I can't tell you how many times there has been a pitching change between innings without me being informed. If the pitcher is different from the previous inning, look him up and announce something like, "Your attention please, now pitching for the Mudville Mariners, #12, John James". I wish I was quick enough to check all 9 players this same way as there are often substitutions in the field that I don't get told about but the pitching changes are the most important defensive replacements and I can handle those visually all by myself. Every now and then I get a really helpful umpire who informs me about all player substitutions but for whatever reason (and I sit right behind the backstop screen) that is rarely the case in our league. The other ones that are easily handled and common in HS are running substitutions. I just look up the number of the running sub trotting to the base and say something like, ""Your attention please, into the game to run at 1st base for the Mudville Mariners, #12, John James".

13. Ask the coach or AD etc. about sponsors that should be mentioned. I only like to mention sponsors between innings though. I sometimes use pitching changes to mention things like our team's next game or the Facebook page where info can be found etc. I don't say anything of this nature between batters or pitches of course. The internet is often a good place to get info about sponsors such as their motto, years in business, specialities, etc. This is an area where you can get a little creative and do a little "commercial announcement" for them. I have called sponsors too sometimes to get their location and info such as the nearest cross street or well known landmarks or businesses that they're next to etc. because giving out straight addresses isn't real helpful. Better to say "So go give 'em a try. Located on Main St., just west of Beal" than it is to give out the actual address IMO. I don't give out phone numbers but I do keep them and tell people to see me after the game if they'd like the phone number of the sponsor in question.

14. Pay full attention and stay focused, particularly if you're operating the scoreboard as well. Post all changes, especially balls and strikes, promptly. People are going to approach you with requests to announce this and that (hats for sale, special snack bar items for sale, a car parked in the wrong area, location and time of the next team parents meeting etc.) and when they do it's real easy to miss a pitch and then you're wondering if it was a ball or a strike that you need to put up on the board. The umpire doesn't depend on you for the count but I think he likes it when the count is correct and each pitch is posted promptly after he makes the call. I know that parents in the stands do. Missing a pitch will happen and when it does you should ask a person next to you if they saw it if possible. If not, the only thing you can do is wait until the umpire shows the count on his fingers again and then make the correction.

An example of what can go wrong:


My first year I was lucky enough to be announcing the final game of a preseason tournament. My usual team wasn't in the final. I hadn't yet developed the habit of printing and bringing my own rosters to the game but this incident is one of the main reasons I started doing so. One of the coaches gave me a roster for his team that included Uniform#, Age, Full Name, and Positions played. Number 17 came to bat as a pinch hitter. I got the name next to the first 17 that caught my eye which was another player's age. This resulted in me committing the cardinal sin of calling a player by the wrong name. It was sufficiently embarrassing that I stayed after the game and personally apologized to the player and shook his hand. Moral of the story: Print and bring your own rosters and modify them as necessary before the game. It's too easy to make a mistake when you rely on someone elses roster that is formatted differently from what you're used to. If you must, then cross out any extra data elements that you don't need.

It's often stated (rightly so) that PA announcers are not play-by-play announcers but what should you say? It's going to vary from announcer to announcer I'm sure but what I say is:


1. Opening welcome script.


2. National Anthem introduction (if your school does them--mine doesn't for baseball). 


3. Starting lineups.


4. Announce each batter as they arrive at the plate.


5. End of inning summary (The Mariners scored 2 runs on 2 hits with 1 man left on base and our score at the end of 1/2 of an inning…The Mudville Mariners 2, The Antioch Anteaters coming to bat).


6. Between innings announcements (Snack Bar, Next Game, Sponsors, Next Scheduled Game, etc etc.)


7. Player changes and substitutions.


8. I will usually say "Heads Up--Foul Ball" when a foul ball is hit almost straight up but will obviously clear the backstop and come down somewhere near the spectators or kids behind the screen or in the stands.


9. End of game summary. State winner. I include H, R, & LOB totals for both teams and winning pitcher if known. 

10. Date, time, and location of next game. 


11. Please drive carefully and thank you for coming.

@Kovina Kris,    Thanks so much for the information.  Tonight is my 3rd game and I haven't been fired yet.  Parents and fans have commented on how nice it is having someone to let them know what is going on from time to time.  I have taylored my music play list to cater to the fans and now have them singing along most of the time.   Thanks again for all the help.  

You're most welcome Falcon64. Glad that I could help a bit.

I don't announce games but I do play music for HS basketball. It is very important that the music be free of language. I will not take music from teams unless the coach vouches for it. If I do take music, I tell them that first bad word, I am playing what I like, which is going to be classic rock and southern rock. You don't want to hear it, give me clean music. 

@Michael Taylor - I agree. No profanity or explicit language in the music is the policy at our school too. It's not only the right thing to do it could turn into a PR nightmare and could even have liability implications.

P.S. I'm on board with the classic/southern rock as well!

There are some great ideas listed here. I will add this: when getting pronunciations, write it down! Spell the proper pronunciation phonetically (in a way that makes sense to you), and write it on whatever you are using to call the names from (scoresheet, lineup card, etc.). So in the excellent "Robert" example given above by Kovina Kris, I would write the name out as "roe-BAIR". (All caps for the accented syllable)

I have been to state tournaments where the PA announcer actually did ask how to pronounce our players' names...and then still made mistakes on many of them. There were too many difficult names for the announcers to remember during the games. About three quarters of our names are Czech or German ("Hrncir", for instance, is one of the harder ones...I put the answer to that one at the bottom!).

 A few years ago I was doing the PA for our softball tournament. I went to each team and got pronunciations before the game, and wrote them on my scoresheet. After one game the mother of one of the players came up to me and thanked me. She said it was the first time in high school that her daughter's name had been pronounced properly at a game. Later, the same girl's grandfather also thanked me. This means more to the players' families than you might think (probably more than to the players themselves).

(Answer for Hrncir = HIN-cher)

@JWC32 - That's a GREAT tip about using all caps for the accented syllable. I do write them down but I will also use the caps for the accented syllable from now on. Thanks!