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Under The Radar – June 6, 2017

Jason Barrett

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Catching up on some news items from the past week. Here’s a number of developments that you may not have been aware of. To have your individual or radio station’s news included in a future edition of Under The Radar please send along any pertinent information via email to [email protected]. Now on to the news!

WEEI in Boston should gain a few extra ears on June 16th when the station utilizes Roger Clemens as a radio analyst for the Red Sox game against the Houston Astros. The game takes place in the city of Houston. Longtime Sox announcer Joe Castiglione will miss the 3-day Houston trip, and Clemens’ appearance is being billed as a one-day stint. No word on if other opportunities in broadcasting could be on the horizon for Clemens.

Former Boston Red Sox play by play announcer Don Orsillo will reunite with his former club for a day when he works the FS1 broadcast of the Sox-Astros game on Saturday June 17th. Orsillo will call the game with Eric Karros and Tom Verducci. In addition to national work, he serves as the lead voice of the San Diego Padres.

After previously announcing he’d reduce his broadcast schedule due to health problems, Fred Manfra was forced to adjust those plans and bring his tenure in the Baltimore Orioles radio booth to a close. The popular O’s voice worked his final series this past weekend. He is relocating to Tampa, Florida to be closer to family and says two knee replacement surgeries await. He’s previously undergone two hip surgeries and back surgery. Congrats to Fred on a storied run in the Orioles radio booth.

WFAN overnight producer Russell Mafes has announced that he’s exiting the New York sports radio station after spending the past decade working for them. His last day will be June 9th. Mafes says he has accepted an opportunity with the Nassau County Police Department and will be leaving the sports media business.

Speaking of WFAN, while the station celebrates 30-years of broadcasting excellence, and has featured some of the true heavyweights of sports talk radio, the true architect of its creation is Jeff Smulyan. The CEO of Emmis Communications made a special guest appearance last week on Mike Francesa‘s show and talked about the history of the brand, how the station was launched, and why he felt sports talk as a format could work in the big apple. It was an interesting interview. To hear the conversation click here.

Staying in New York, congratulations to Steve Cohen, Steve Torre and their Mad Dog Radio morning show, The Morning Men, featuring Evan Cohen and Mike Babchik. The show held its special event, FALcon 2017 for its dedicated listeners this past Saturday at Rock and Reilly’s in New York City. The event was well attended and included on-site appearances by Ed Hendry of FOX News and Andrew Perloff of The Dan Patrick Show, the show’s update anchor Maria Marino,  plus a call-in from Chris “Mad Dog” Russo. To hear the show on demand click here.

The Oakland Raiders have found a broadcast home in Las Vegas. Despite being a few years away from relocating to the city, the team has announced their games will air in sin city on Beasley Media Group‘s local stations News-Talk KDWN and Country KCYE.

A job well done by the folks at 97.1 The Fan in Columbus. On Monday, the station was tipped off that something big was developing with the Ohio State basketball program. It was expected the school would announce head coach Thad Matta would be leaving after the season. Instead, the news became Matta leaving immediately, all of it captured in real-time by The Fan’s staff while other market brands were removed from local programming.

The Los Angeles Kings have named Alex Faust as their new television play-by-play announcer. Faust takes over for Bob Miller, who retired this past April after calling Kings games the past 44 years. He’ll join television color analyst Jim Fox on FOX Sports West starting with the 2017-18 season.

104.5 The Zone received some unexpected recognition during the NHL Stanley Cup Finals on NBC. During last Monday’s game, the catfish thrower was captured on television wearing a t-shirt of the station’s Midday 180 show. That act generated a ton of media attention, and the Midday 180 followed it up by creating a GoFundMe account to pay for the Catfish Thrower’s legal defense with all proceeds over his fine amount going directly to the Nashville Predators Foundation. Tennessee Titans All-Pro Taylor Lewan was one of the early contributors to the fund.

Cleveland and Detroit radio personality Matt Dery produced a podcast highlighting the top 10 NFL play by play announcers. Green Bay Packers announcer Wayne Larrivee was given top honors To hear the podcast click here.

Allen Smothers has signed on to host mornings for 100.3 The Team in South Carolina. The show can be heard throughout 13 counties in the Pee Dee and Grand Strand regions of the Palmetto State. For more information about the radio station click here.

The University of South Carolina Athletics and IMG have signed a multi-year deal with 107.5 The Game in Columbia, South Carolina which will keep the station in place as the official flagship station for Gamecock Sports.

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Charley Steiner Injured; Tim Neverett to Handle Dodgers Radio Play-by-Play

“This will be the first Opening Day that I will have missed since 1976, when I wore a younger man’s clothes.”

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photo of Charley Steiner
Courtesy: Los Angeles Dodgers

As the Los Angeles Dodgers get set to take on the St. Louis Cardinals in their first home game on Thursday, team play-by-play voice Charley Steiner has revealed he will not be doing games at the beginning of the season due to a severe back injury.

Through the Dodgers, Steiner posted a statement which said, “Over the winter, I landed on the Injured List with three compound fractures in my back. (I don’t recommend it.) With the start of the baseball season upon us, the Dodgers are ready to go – but I’m not. This will be the first Opening Day that I will have missed since 1976, when I wore a younger man’s clothes. I look forward to returning to the mic later this season. In the meantime, go Dodgers!”

TrueBlueLA.com reports Tim Neverett will handle play-by-play duties while Steiner recovers. Neverett called the first two regular season games with Rick Monday as the Dodgers started the season in South Korea. Neverett and Monday did not travel with the team, however, they called those games in a studio back home.

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Ronnie Lane and Tom Krasniqi Put a Bow on The Ronnie & TKras Show After Nearly 10 Years

“Finally, Tampa Bay can sleep easy knowing this hideous show is finally over.”

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Photo of Ronnie Lane and Tom Krasniqi
Courtesy: iHeartMedia

After nearly 10 years, The Ronnie & TKras Show with Ronnie Lane and Tom Krasniqi came to an end today as the duo broadcast their final show on remote with many listeners, friends and co-workers on hand. Earlier this month, WDAE announced changes to its programming lineup which will take place starting tomorrow. Ronnie Lane will take on a new role as host of the Tampa Bay Rays pre-game show The Inside Pitch. Tom Krasniqi will continue on in afternoon drive with producer Chris Mathis for The Drive.

Their final show kicked off with station voice Jim Cutler saying, “…Finally, Tampa Bay can sleep easy knowing this hideous show is finally over.”

And with that went three very fast hours of looking back on a nearly decade-long run for Lane and Krasniqi. “It seems kind of surreal, doesn’t it?” said Lane.

Mathis had several special guests lined up for the final show and many others left voice messages which were played coming out of breaks. Tampa Bay Buccaneers General Manager Jason Licht and Chief Operating Officer Brian Ford took part in the final show. Tampa Bay Rays closer Pete Fairbanks also called in and, at first, identified himself as “Pete from St. Louis” before asking what the hosts thought of the Rays bullpen.

“I’m telling you man, when I hear all of these tributes it really brings a tear to my eye, Ronnie,” said Krasniqi. “It’s a surreal moment…It makes me feel so fortunate and blessed to be in this position sitting next to you all these years. This is one of those moments where I am almost speechless and just so incredibly overwhelmed by the support and the love that everyone has shown here today.”

Lane responded, “…Our time together is really coming to an end. I might get a little emotional before this show is over, but we have had a great time and been through many ups and downs…This business is crazy and for us to be able to do what we are doing and doing it on our terms…And for a company that believes in both of us to give us this opportunity to go in different directions with the same company is truly amazing…It doesn’t happen like this always in this business, usually it’s an ugly goodbye.”

As the show came to an end, Lane reminded everyone, “It has been a blast, but we’re not freakin’ leaving!”

“We’re not leaving folks,” ‘TKras’ said. “Thanks very much for being a part of our lives and thanks for having us as part of yours. Onward and upward. You are dismissed.”

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Tyler Murray Added to WEEI Red Sox Radio Bench

“Coming up on 13 seasons in [minor league baseball], it’s not lost on me how fortunate I am to have this opportunity.”

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Photo of Tyler Murray and logos for WEEI and the Boston Red Sox
Photo Credit: Ashley Green

The voice of the Worcester Red Sox, Tyler Murray, has been added to the Red Sox Radio play-by-play bench. WEEI made the announcement on their X account, saying, “On the heels of calling the Hockey East Tourney this weekend [and] adding to his excellent work [with the Worcester Red Sox], happy to announce that Tyler Murray will be helping to build our [Red Sox Network] bench this year! Tyler’s 1st series in the big leagues will be April 5-7 [with Will Flemming].

Murray, who has also called college hockey games on NESN plus college football and basketball games, said on X, “Coming up on 13 seasons in [minor league baseball], it’s not lost on me how fortunate I am to have this opportunity. Thank you to [WEEI brand manager Ken Laird] and [Audacy Boston Senior Vice President/Market Manager Mike Thomas], and to everyone who has reached out. Your support has honestly been overwhelming, and I couldn’t be more grateful.”

Murray’s first series will be the Red Sox taking on the Los Angeles Angels on the road, April 5-7.

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