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You have a lot of melodrama in you, Luke. This is a (bleeping) baseball game, not World War III.
You rose to the occasion, Luke. You were really close to perfection. So happy for you.
Just a sampling of the daily text messages that aspiring play-by-play man Luke Brennaman receives from his baseball hall-of-fame broadcasting grandfather, who even Luke affectionately calls Marty. The texts are equal parts educational, entertaining, critical and complimentary – and 100 percent Marty Brennaman.
Luke Brennaman has gone all in on being a Brennaman. And so Marty and Luke’s dad, broadcaster Thom Brennaman, have gone all in on helping the third member of their family try to reach his goal of becoming a big-league broadcaster someday.
That journey continues Monday night in Miami, where 20-year-old Luke will call the national championship game between the Indiana Hoosiers and Miami Hurricanes for IU’s student radio station. Luke, a Mariemont High graduate, is a junior in IU's broadcasting program. He is the student radio station's co-sports director and also does work for the student television station.
Marty and Thom will be intently tuned into WIUX-FM 99.1, excited to hear the next step in Luke's journey to potentially making the Brennamans just the second family to have at least three generations of big-league baseball broadcasters. The family of Chicago Cubs legend Harry Caray has had four generations of major-league broadcasters.
The national championship game will be a broadcasting milestone for the Brennamans. Luke will do what his father once did for Fox back in the BCS days and call a national championship game. No other father and son have broadcast a national college football championship game, Thom believes. Thom, who now calls college games for the CW Network and hosts the morning drive talk show on 700 WLW, called three BCS title games.
Let's go ahead and get this out of the way: Luke isn't counting on the family name to get him to the big leagues. His biggest champions are also his biggest critics, starting with Marty, who also pulls no punches with his grandson.
"Maybe down the road the last name will make a difference," Marty told me in an interview last summer. "But I told Luke, ‘Don’t think that’s going to allow you to skate into a situation. It boils down to what kind of talent you got.’ "
Marty continued: "He has a great passion for being good. He’s very professional. He works at it. He has talent."
Marty constantly texts Luke during IU football broadcasts, even calls him at halftime or immediately after the broadcast to give feedback. The "you rose to the occasion" text came right after Luke finished calling Indiana's Rose Bowl win against Alabama.
"You get that text, and it’s like, ‘Wow, this is livin’ right here,’ ” Luke said.
Luke is confident like Marty and Thom. Thom worries about Luke staying humble. Marty's texts help take care of that.
Marty invented brutal honesty in broadcasting during his 46 years calling Cincinnati Reds games on radio, and those texts weren't always so glowing last summer. Luke had landed an unpaid job calling games in the Cape Cod Baseball League, a collegiate wooden-bat summer league. It's not just for college baseball players, but also aspiring broadcasters.
When Luke landed the job, which typically goes to college seniors, he realized big-time broadcasting could actually be in his future. Marty and Thom realized it, too, and changed their approach. They've never pushed Luke to pursue broadcasting, but the Cape Cod League job made Marty and Thom have serious conversations with Luke about what it really takes.
"They were always, 'Do as much as you can, but figure out if you like it,' " Luke said. "Early in my sophomore year, I decided I really like this, but wondered when am I going to get good at it? They did such a good job of guiding me and letting me figure it out on my own."
Luke added: "The feedback was always, ‘You did great.’ Then I got the Cape Cod League job. The critique went from 'we're glad you're doing it' to Marty saying: 'What the (bleep) does "on the bump mean"? Never say that again.' "
Luke came home from IU after spring semester for three weeks before heading off to New England to call 44 games in 55 days for the Harwich Mariners. Those three weeks were better than any college course.
"My dad told me, 'If you’re going to call baseball, you have to know baseball. Do you know how the infield fly works? Well, you better or else you’re going to get eaten alive.’ He said, 'You’re not ready.' He was feeling the magnitude of this. I bought a book called 'The Baseball Thesaurus' and I bought in."
Boy, did he ever.
Luke and Thom started calling games in the family's Terrace Park living room each night. Luke had to be there at 6 p.m. They'd turn on random games on MLB's television package, mute the TV, call the game radio style and "annoy the hell out of my mom," Luke said. Luke was play-by-play. Thom was color analyst. If the game went to commercial, they'd click to a different game and keep going.
"I got addicted to it," Luke said. "We'd call four straight innings and get dinner. Then I'd tell my dad, 'Come on, give me three more innings.' "
They took the show on the road to Great American Ball Park. Thom, the former long-time TV play-by-play voice of the Reds, arranged with the team to use an empty TV/radio booth for him and Luke to do a practice broadcast. They called two Reds games from the ballpark and recorded them.
Luke learned nuances, such as referring to a pitch count by saying "2-and-1" rather than "2 balls and 1 strike" – little things to make the broadcast more concise.
Luke believes he wouldn't have made it through the summer without those sessions with dad. Marty and Thom listened to all of Luke's Cape Cod broadcasts. Marty and his wife, Amanda, visited Luke in New England.
One of Marty's big lessons is not getting overly excited about meaningless plays early in a game. That's where the "World War III" text came in, when Marty heard Luke get too excited about an inconsequential walk. Marty was as tough on Luke as he was on some of those Reds players and managers.
"I called my dad and said, 'If Marty keeps telling me not to say stuff, I may have to go on the air and not speak,' " Luke said, laughing.
Luke doesn't necessarily look to emulate Marty or Thom on air. He's studied his dad much more than he has Marty. Growing up, it was only natural to watch the Reds on TV in the living room and not listen much on the radio. Luke loves his dad's style, and several times a week goes on YouTube and rewatches clips from Thom's days calling the NFL and college football for Fox and Reds games.
Luke also makes sure to watch his dad call ACC football and basketball games on The CW.
"I’ve loved my dad’s ability to be a critical of a manager," Luke said. "He’s only able to do that because he knows the game so well. The one thing I’ve taken from both my dad and Marty: I love how they were both so confident in everything they said on the air. That is something my dad ingrained me."
How we lookin', son.
Contact columnist Jason Williams at [email protected]
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Marty Brennaman's texts inspire grandson at Indiana University
Continue reading...
You rose to the occasion, Luke. You were really close to perfection. So happy for you.
Just a sampling of the daily text messages that aspiring play-by-play man Luke Brennaman receives from his baseball hall-of-fame broadcasting grandfather, who even Luke affectionately calls Marty. The texts are equal parts educational, entertaining, critical and complimentary – and 100 percent Marty Brennaman.
Luke Brennaman has gone all in on being a Brennaman. And so Marty and Luke’s dad, broadcaster Thom Brennaman, have gone all in on helping the third member of their family try to reach his goal of becoming a big-league broadcaster someday.
That journey continues Monday night in Miami, where 20-year-old Luke will call the national championship game between the Indiana Hoosiers and Miami Hurricanes for IU’s student radio station. Luke, a Mariemont High graduate, is a junior in IU's broadcasting program. He is the student radio station's co-sports director and also does work for the student television station.
Marty and Thom will be intently tuned into WIUX-FM 99.1, excited to hear the next step in Luke's journey to potentially making the Brennamans just the second family to have at least three generations of big-league baseball broadcasters. The family of Chicago Cubs legend Harry Caray has had four generations of major-league broadcasters.
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Luke Brennaman will be part of broadcasting milestone
The national championship game will be a broadcasting milestone for the Brennamans. Luke will do what his father once did for Fox back in the BCS days and call a national championship game. No other father and son have broadcast a national college football championship game, Thom believes. Thom, who now calls college games for the CW Network and hosts the morning drive talk show on 700 WLW, called three BCS title games.
Let's go ahead and get this out of the way: Luke isn't counting on the family name to get him to the big leagues. His biggest champions are also his biggest critics, starting with Marty, who also pulls no punches with his grandson.
"Maybe down the road the last name will make a difference," Marty told me in an interview last summer. "But I told Luke, ‘Don’t think that’s going to allow you to skate into a situation. It boils down to what kind of talent you got.’ "
Marty continued: "He has a great passion for being good. He’s very professional. He works at it. He has talent."
Marty constantly texts Luke during IU football broadcasts, even calls him at halftime or immediately after the broadcast to give feedback. The "you rose to the occasion" text came right after Luke finished calling Indiana's Rose Bowl win against Alabama.
"You get that text, and it’s like, ‘Wow, this is livin’ right here,’ ” Luke said.
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Marty Brennaman calls 'em like he sees 'em, even with grandson
Luke is confident like Marty and Thom. Thom worries about Luke staying humble. Marty's texts help take care of that.
Marty invented brutal honesty in broadcasting during his 46 years calling Cincinnati Reds games on radio, and those texts weren't always so glowing last summer. Luke had landed an unpaid job calling games in the Cape Cod Baseball League, a collegiate wooden-bat summer league. It's not just for college baseball players, but also aspiring broadcasters.
When Luke landed the job, which typically goes to college seniors, he realized big-time broadcasting could actually be in his future. Marty and Thom realized it, too, and changed their approach. They've never pushed Luke to pursue broadcasting, but the Cape Cod League job made Marty and Thom have serious conversations with Luke about what it really takes.
"They were always, 'Do as much as you can, but figure out if you like it,' " Luke said. "Early in my sophomore year, I decided I really like this, but wondered when am I going to get good at it? They did such a good job of guiding me and letting me figure it out on my own."
Luke added: "The feedback was always, ‘You did great.’ Then I got the Cape Cod League job. The critique went from 'we're glad you're doing it' to Marty saying: 'What the (bleep) does "on the bump mean"? Never say that again.' "
Luke came home from IU after spring semester for three weeks before heading off to New England to call 44 games in 55 days for the Harwich Mariners. Those three weeks were better than any college course.
"My dad told me, 'If you’re going to call baseball, you have to know baseball. Do you know how the infield fly works? Well, you better or else you’re going to get eaten alive.’ He said, 'You’re not ready.' He was feeling the magnitude of this. I bought a book called 'The Baseball Thesaurus' and I bought in."
Boy, did he ever.
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Practice calling MLB games in living room key for Luke Brennaman
Luke and Thom started calling games in the family's Terrace Park living room each night. Luke had to be there at 6 p.m. They'd turn on random games on MLB's television package, mute the TV, call the game radio style and "annoy the hell out of my mom," Luke said. Luke was play-by-play. Thom was color analyst. If the game went to commercial, they'd click to a different game and keep going.
"I got addicted to it," Luke said. "We'd call four straight innings and get dinner. Then I'd tell my dad, 'Come on, give me three more innings.' "
They took the show on the road to Great American Ball Park. Thom, the former long-time TV play-by-play voice of the Reds, arranged with the team to use an empty TV/radio booth for him and Luke to do a practice broadcast. They called two Reds games from the ballpark and recorded them.
Luke learned nuances, such as referring to a pitch count by saying "2-and-1" rather than "2 balls and 1 strike" – little things to make the broadcast more concise.
Luke believes he wouldn't have made it through the summer without those sessions with dad. Marty and Thom listened to all of Luke's Cape Cod broadcasts. Marty and his wife, Amanda, visited Luke in New England.
One of Marty's big lessons is not getting overly excited about meaningless plays early in a game. That's where the "World War III" text came in, when Marty heard Luke get too excited about an inconsequential walk. Marty was as tough on Luke as he was on some of those Reds players and managers.
"I called my dad and said, 'If Marty keeps telling me not to say stuff, I may have to go on the air and not speak,' " Luke said, laughing.
Luke doesn't necessarily look to emulate Marty or Thom on air. He's studied his dad much more than he has Marty. Growing up, it was only natural to watch the Reds on TV in the living room and not listen much on the radio. Luke loves his dad's style, and several times a week goes on YouTube and rewatches clips from Thom's days calling the NFL and college football for Fox and Reds games.
Luke also makes sure to watch his dad call ACC football and basketball games on The CW.
"I’ve loved my dad’s ability to be a critical of a manager," Luke said. "He’s only able to do that because he knows the game so well. The one thing I’ve taken from both my dad and Marty: I love how they were both so confident in everything they said on the air. That is something my dad ingrained me."
How we lookin', son.
Contact columnist Jason Williams at [email protected]
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Marty Brennaman's texts inspire grandson at Indiana University
Continue reading...
