Professional baseball teams all over Ohio have been getting their rosters set for the new season. With Opening Day fast approaching, the Akron RubberDucks had a hole in their lineup – but not someone who takes the field.
“Our previous public address announcer had told us, ‘Hey, I'm not going to be able to do every game. I got a new job,’” said Jim Pfander, president and general manager. “It was really important for us to have a consistent voice.”
In this minor league ballpark, foul balls are sponsored by Luigi’s, a historic, local Italian restaurant. Mascots dressed as empty beer cups and chip bags race across the field in between innings.
“That’s really what minor league baseball is about. It's, you know, you're entertained,” Pfander said. “It's about how much fun that we can fit into the ballpark in a short amount of time.”
Amid all of these fun, albeit silly, elements of the game, minor league announcers can be a little more relaxed than those in the majors, Pfander said. But, they still have many responsibilities.
“We really treat the public address announcers kind of as the ringleader,” Pfander said. “It’s so important because they're directing traffic, they're the ones setting the tone for the game.”
Pfander and Vice President of Entertainment Christina Gunter brainstormed ways to find a voice for the team’s 69 home games. They turned to social media, asking anyone interested to send in a demo.
The clips came flying in within a day. By the deadline, the team had received more than two hundred auditions, Pfander said.
“We were completely blown away by the response that we got,” Pfander said. “It was a really fun experience to see everybody really kind of like jump out of the woodwork and say, 'Hey, I think I can do this. Let me throw my hat in the ring for this.'”
Finalists thrown a curveball: improvisation
The team narrowed down the auditions to the top 15 finalists. One of the finalists, Mitch Spinell, said he saw the call for auditions and decided to step up to the plate.
“It also, I thought, could help me get some experience just being at the games, because I've always wanted to be a play-by-play announcer, especially in the sport of baseball, and I figured that could be a step into the organization that could lead to something down the road,” Spinell said.
The team invited Spinell and the other 14 finalists to the announcer’s booth at the ballpark to try out in front of Pfander and other RubberDucks staff.
One by one, the candidates announced a starting lineup. Then, they improvised play-by-play commentary of a mascot race.
"That was the hardest part," Spinell said. "Everything scripted was relatively easy for me."
One candidate, Dave Kammerman, stood out above the rest, Pfander said.
“He's not just a great voice. He's got a lot of personality. He can really get folks excited,” Pfander said.
Kammerman is no stranger to the mic. He’s currently the PA announcer for the Cleveland Charge, the Cavaliers' NBA developmental G League team.
Last year, he announced for the Lake County Captains, the Guardians’ High-A affiliate that won a championship.
“I was like, ‘Man, that's kind of cool. You know, we won a championship there at High A and hey, I'll get the call up maybe to Double-A. We'll see what happens,’” Kammerman said.
Police officer turned PA announcer
Announcers need to do more than just read scripts; they need to think on their feet if something comes out of left field, Pfander said. Kammerman's ability to ad lib is what solidified his spot on the team, he said.
“A lot of what we do is, you can prepare for the best, but there are times where you're going to have to be able to ad lib on the fly. And I thought Dave did a great job,” Pfander said.
Kammerman enjoyed the improvisation portion of the audition, he said. He had to narrate a race between people dressed as a plastic fork, empty cup and bag of chips, he said.
“‘Come on, fork, he’s falling behind. He's running like a spoon,’” Kammerman recalled saying. “You know, you just got to have fun with it … you know, a lot of people think that our job as a PA announcer is just showing up and talking loudly into a mic, and there's so much more to it.”
By day, Kammerman is a Berea police officer. He’s been on the force for 25 years and is retiring in a month.
He started announcing college games several years ago and realized a big passion for it, he said.
“When you try and get the crowd into it, and they do, and they stand up, and the place is jumping, and, you know, you just feel that energy in the arena,” Kammerman said, “It's like no other feeling. It’s really awesome.”
Kammerman hopes to make a second career out of announcing, he said. He even has goals of working his way up to the baseball or basketball major leagues.
"It's funny that it's come this late in my life," Kammerman said. "I don't take any of it for granted. I know that there are guys and women that have gone to school for this, that are mired in internships just to get a chance to be where I'm at. So I am, I feel, very blessed."
As for Mitch Spinell, one of the other finalists, he’s fine with not getting the call for the RubberDucks, he said.
Now that Kammerman got the call-up to Akron, the Lake County Captains need a new announcer. Spinell is auditioning there this week.
You can hear Kammerman at the RubberDucks Home Opener April 8 against the Altoona Curve.
