You can go home again.

Brett Dolan started his baseball announcing career in the Midwest League.  Now, he is with the Houston Astros.  The Astros had an off day in Milwaukee on Thursday.  So, like any normal person, he went back to where it all started.

“This is my 17th year in baseball, but I’ll always remember this place,” Dolan said. “For me, this is where it all started. I was involved in everything and I thoroughly enjoyed it.”

After graduating from the University of Iowa in 1992 and working as a sportscaster/news director in Platteville, Wis., Dolan accepted his first broadcasting position with the then-Beloit Brewers in 1994.

Dolan was still green, but he knew what he wanted to do. He just didn’t know how much of it he would have to do.

“I was as inexperienced as one could possibly be at that time,” Dolan said. “I came into the Brewers organization not really knowing what would happen or what the expectations might be. Then, we had the transition to the Snappers and that was something new for me. It seemed like everything came at once.”

Including a Midwest League championship during the 1995 season that Dolan still reminisces about with former players like Ronnie Belliard.

“Whenever I see Ronnie Belliard, we always talk about Beloit and how we dominated that year,” a smiling Dolan said. “It was a special memory for everyone involved on that team.”

He also recalls the night where Kelly Wunsch set a minor-league record by striking out five batters [in an inning] in 1994 while playing for the Beloit Brewers.

“Every year I call him and tell him, ‘Happy anniversary,’” Dolan said. “We still have fun with that.”

A closing quote that touches on the neverending story.

“I’m a little surprised that baseball is still here without a new stadium,” Dolan said. “When I was here, we had a hard time turning profits, but we still did. A lot of people have invested a lot of time in this organization over the years. You want to see them make it.”

Head over and read it all.

So, you want to be an announcer?

Baseball America had this online last week, but I just got to it last night as I was playing catchup on my reading after the rainout.

I am going to leave this at the top. The starting lineups for the Rattlers in game one will be underneath this one once it gets posted.

Astros Announcers Take Hard Road To Majors

When things get a little slow on the road, Astros radio announcers Brett Dolan and Dave Raymond like to compare the paths that brought them to the major leagues.

It is a fitting game for the duo, as each of them labored through 12 years in the minors, making stops in cities like Sonoma, Calif., Beloit, Wis., and Brockton, Mass., before finally getting their big league broadcasting breaks.

Yet as they try and outdo each other with tales of the bizarre that could happen only in the minor leagues, it becomes evident that declaring a winner is neither possible, nor their goal. Briefly reliving a colorful past is enough.

A Rough Beginning

Raymond's career almost ended before it got started. He and a friend accepted a job out of college in 1995 as the broadcast team for the Southern Oregon A's (Northwest). However, the $500 a month salary turned out to be for both of them, and the free housing was a dump. After living out of his car for a few weeks, and getting shooed out of parking lots by police, Raymond quit before the season started, and left town with the team owner promising he would never work again. Ultimately, he landed a better gig with the Sonoma County Crushers of the independent Western League (now defunct).

Dolan's career got off to an equally shaky start. His first broadcasting gig was with Beloit in the Midwest League. When his paychecks dried up in the offseason, Dolan resorted to living out of the umpires clubhouse at the ballpark and giving plasma twice a week to help make ends meet.

"A lot of the people I was giving with were homeless. I said, 'I'm not homeless, I'm living in the umpires dressing room,' " Dolan recalls with a laugh. "I had a lot of closet space because of all the lockers, but there was no heat."

I am lucky -- in that my plasma donating days happened when I was working in the seedy world of Sports Information at a University of Wisconsin System School and that when I was starting with the Timber Rattlers I was also announcing for the Green Bay Gamblers to call somewhere in the vicinity of 200 games a year. Yep. Lucky.

But, seriously, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Go read it all.

Back in the Series again

From the files of the Midwest League Announcers Alumni Association...

Dallas-born Scott Franzke is living his dream as radio voice of the World Series-bound Philadelphia Phillies

Read the article for the "origin story". Again, it's like radiation and superheroes. But, if you're too lazy to click on that here is the takeaway part.

In 2006, he already had been offered a Triple-A job in Albuquerque and was about to interview with Triple-A Pawtucket when the Phillies offered him pregame and postgame work and a precious two innings of radio play-by-play.

How did that work out? In 2007, Franzke was bumped to six innings. In 2008, when the Phillies won the World Series, beating the Tampa Bay Rays, he was up to eight innings. It was Franzke's honor to hand over the other inning to Hall of Fame Phillies voice Harry Kalas coming over from television.

As you probably know, Kalas, who had become "a grandfather figure," died in the broadcast booth just before a Phillies game at the Washington Nationals in April. Philadelphia mourned the death of an icon. Franzke worked every inning of every game for the Phillies this season. After all, who could replace Kalas?

Soon after the Phillies beat the Dodgers on Wednesday night to earn another trip to the World Series, Franzke and his wife, Lori, whom he met at SMU, watched the celebration from the radio booth.

"Do you realize how lucky you are?" Lori asked her husband.

He just nodded his head.

Good luck to Scott and the Phillies.

One other playoff series of note

Two members of the Midwest League Announcers Alumni Association are squaring off --well, their teams are squaring off -- in the International League Championship series.

Mike Vander Woude is announcing for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and Neil Solondz is announcing for Durham.

I've known Mike since before he was the voice of the Dayton Dragons from 2000-2007. Neil was in Quad City -- when they were the Quad City River Bandits -- in 2000.

Have a good call tonight, guys.

Some Sugar

Sugar is the name of a movie that was filmed in various Midwest League Stadiums last season.

It gets a story at MiLB.com.

With the notable exception of "Bull Durham," very few baseball movies have dealt specifically with the experience of playing in the Minor Leagues. Fewer still have attempted to portray what it is like to be a Latin American competing in the United States for the first time.

This makes "Sugar" far from an ordinary baseball movie. The film, which opens in New York and Los Angeles on April 3 and nationwide on April 24, tells the story of Dominican pitcher Miguel Santos as he journeys to the United States in order to play his first professional season. After Spring Training, the 19-year-old is assigned to the Bridgeport Swing (in reality, the Swing of the Quad Cities, who have since changed their name to the River Bandits).

It goes without saying that Bridgeport, Iowa is a long way from San Pedro De Macoris. This extreme cultural transition lies at the heart of "Sugar," and it accounts for much of the film's narrative momentum and emotional resonance.

Want to see the trailer? I thought so...


Did you get a glimpse of the Timber Rattler uniform? I wonder if it gets a credit on the imdb.com page for the movie.

It has been mentioned before that former Burlington Bees radio announcer Randy Wehofer is in the movie as...well, it's not a stretch.

Wehofer, who plays the role of Jack Jeffries in the film. Jeffries is -- surprise -- a broadcaster.

"If I'm unconvincing in this role, then it's not just my acting career that's at stake. I'm going to be have to rethink my whole career," said Wehofer.

Wehofer is featured throughout the film, as his play-by-play narration often serves as an effective way to introduce the scene in question. As much as he enjoyed the experience, it certainly wasn't something he ever expected to happen.

"I got a random call from Ryan and Anna early in the 2007 season, because they wanted to do research on what was just an idea at that point," recalled Wehofer. "I invited them to Burlington and helped them facilitate interviews for the next three days. The players they talked to were always cooperative. They would tell them their stories, and answer all their questions.

"On their last day in town, Ryan and Anna came up to the booth to thank me for the help, and I said 'Hey, if you need a radio guy for the movie, let me know.' I was just being flip, but Anna said, 'We'll keep that in mind.'"

Ben Hill catches up with Randy for an post over at Ben's Biz Blog.

Wehofer's dedication to his role was so extreme that he spent the last decade preparing for it. He logged nine seasons as the broadcaster for the Midwest League's Burlington Bees before moving on to the Iowa Cubs prior to the 2008 campaign. In perhaps the greatest coup in Ben's Biz Blog history, I was able to land an exclusive interview with Wehofer.

So, without further ado, a glimpse into the mind of one of Iowa's most buzzed-about actors:

Ben's Biz: You bring a method actor's intensity to your role as play-by-play announcer Jack Jeffries. Did this make you difficult to deal with on the set? Any Christian Bale-style freakouts?

Randy Wehofer: Working in minor league baseball for 10 years, I've grown very accustomed to a specialized and pampered lifestyle and while on set, I demanded that things worked exactly like a real game. I was especially pleased when the guy who played the visiting manager changed his lineup five minutes before shooting the scene and didn't tell anyone so we could scramble in the press box to figure out who was coming to the plate. When we shot the road scenes, they were sure to bring me a cold hot dog in the fourth inning when I couldn't possibly have time to eat it or enjoy it. I really appreciated the way the crew went out of its way to keep me in my comfort zone.

Randy makes all members of the Midwest League Announcers Alumni Association proud. Well, I would guess. I'm not a member because I'm still in the Midwest League.

Sugar opens April 24.

He'll get more games there

The Beloit Snappers do not have a lot of games on the radio, but there were enough for Jason Lamar to get a job elsewhere.

The River City Rascals, presented by Progress West Healthcare, are pleased to announce the addition of Jason Lamar to the organization as the new Director of Broadcasting and Media Relations. Lamar will serve as the team's lead play-by-play announcer for all 96 regular season games in 2009.

Lamar joins the Rascals after spending the previous 18 months at ESPN Radio 1380 in the Rockford, Illinois area. Serving as the Sports Director his final six months, Lamar's duties included co-hosting a daily talk show, performing sportscenter updates, and various play-by-play for the station. Lamar was also the lead announcer for the Beloit Snappers, the Minnesota Twins low "A" affiliate.

This is intersting

The Kane County Cougars have announced the co-headliners for their 2009 Winter Banquet.

The Cougars are pleased to announce that former Cougar radio voices and current Major League broadcasters Dave Wills and Scott Franzke will serve as co-headliners at the Cougars' 2009 Winter Banquet and Silent Auction, sponsored by Provena Mercy Medical Center.

The annual event will be held on Friday evening, January 30 at Pipers Banquets in Aurora, at the corner of Church and Butterfield Roads. Cocktails and the start of the silent auction begins at 5:30 pm and precedes dinner at 7 pm. The speakers program begins at 8 pm.

Both Wills and Franzke made early strides in their broadcasting career as radio voices of the Cougars. Wills was the inaugural broadcaster for the Cougars in 1991 and steadily advanced in his career after leaving Kane County, spending time with the White Sox before joining the Tampa Bay Rays in 2005.

Similar to Wills, Franzke honed his craft at Elfstrom Stadium, spending three seasons (1999-2001) with the Cougars and broadcasting Kane County's lone championship team -- the 2001 squad which included up-and-coming Major League talent such as Miguel Cabrera and Adrian Gonzalez.

Franzke is currently a broadcaster with the Phillies, which were crowned World Series champions this past fall.

Wills is an announcer for the Rays, the opponents of the Phillies in the '08 World Series.

Master of Ceremonies

A member of the MWL Broadcaster Alumni Association has a pretty sweet gig at the upcoming Winter Meetings in Las Vegas.

Minor League Baseball has chosen Iowa Cubs broadcaster Randy Wehofer to be the Master of Ceremonies for the Opening Session and the Awards Luncheon at the Baseball Winter Meetings in Las Vegas on Monday. This will be Wehofer's second time hosting these events, but his first as a representative of the I-Cubs. He also filled this role at the 2006 Baseball Winter Meetings in Orlando.

Randy was in Burlington from 1999 through 2007 and he'll do a great job.

Also, you may want to make some plans for April. That is when Randy -- or, Randolph -- Wehofer makes his film debut.

In 2007, he was cast in the part of radio broadcaster "Jack Jeffries" in the baseball movie Sugar that was filmed in Iowa and is due out in theatres in April of next year.

Here is the official website for Sugar. Here is the imdb.com entry for Sugar.

Ex-Midwest League Announcers in the playoffs

Meet Dave Wills of the Tampa Bay Rays

Wills' baseball broadcasting career began with the Kane County Cougars in 1991. He moved up to the Sox as a host and occasional fill-in for John Rooney in 1995 (along with winter work calling University of Illinois at Chicago basketball), and moved to the booth of the then-Devil Rays in 2005. Working with broadcaster Andy Freed, Wills is living a dream. The only way it could be better is if Tampa Bay made it to the World Series.

Meet Scott Franzke of the Philadelphia Phillies.

...spent three years [1999-2001] as the voice of the "Kane County Cougars," a Class A affiliate of the Florida Marlins in Geneva, Il just outside of Chicago.

Phillies? Cougars? 1999-2001? I know this guy. Do you think I could get tickets for today's Game Four at Miller Park?

Good luck, Dave

And so another member of the Midwest League Announcer Alumni Association is added to the club.

Whitecaps' radio announcer Skoczen steps down

Just like an inspiring Class A professional baseball player hoping to move up in the minor league system and eventually to the Major Leagues, West Michigan Whitecaps play-by-play radio announcer Dave Skoczen inspires to do the same.

That's why after eight seasons announcing at the Single-A level, the past four with the Whitecaps, Skoczen, 30, has decided to leave the organization to pursue his dreams.

Friday will be Skoczen's last day as a member of the Whitecaps' organization. He plans to pack-up his family (wife and two boys, 3 and 1) and head to California in the coming days.

"It wasn't an easy decision (to leave the Whitecaps) because this is one of the best places to work in the minor leagues," Skoczen said. "But how long do you stay here, career wise, when you're dreams and thoughts are to announce at the Triple-A and hopefully the Major League level?

Dave called me a couple of weeks ago....at 7:00am CDT, by the way. The discussion started out about the decision to give Burlington the Championship after the rainouts in South Bend. We talked for a while about the season and a few other things. Then, at the very end, he said something like: Oh, by the way, my last day is September 26. We are moving back to California.

To say I was speechless would be an understatement.

Dave has been great to work with over the last four seasons. He had good stories, odd questions, and was always helpful with information about the Whitecaps.

He was even helpful with the sales end of things because in the off-season Dave and I are both cold call warriors. If there was an idea to talk about or a possible client to discuss, he was always willing to call back...Not listen to the message that I left...but he would call back.

Good luck to you and the family, Dave.

It's hard not to feel sorry for you, though. You're still a fan of the Cleveland Browns. No one should have to go through that. Two Midwest League Championships don't quite make up for that.

That's a clincher

The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees put the ol' exclamation point on the end of their International League Championship series with the Durham Bulls. The final score in the clinching game was 20-2.

Former Dayton Dragon broadcaster Mike Vander Wood was behind the microphone for the Yankees. Former Timber Rattler pitching coach Rafael Chaves holds that same position for the Yankees.

Follow this link for the game story. You can click on the link at that page that reads Audio: Yankees win, Yankees win to hear Mike's call of the final out. If you know anything about Mike, you would know that he did not use that phrase.

The win puts the Yankees in the Bricktown Showdown in Oklahoma City on Tuesday, September 16 against the winner of the Pacific Coast League Finals. Right now, Sacramento leads Oklahoma City 2-1 in the best-of-five series. Game four is tonight.

You can catch the Bricktown Showdown on ESPN2. Game time is 7:00pm CDT

You know what's been a good series....

That International League Final between the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees and Durham Bulls. All three games have ended with a game winning hit. Last night it was Durham's turn.

After suffering two walk-off losses in the Governors' Cup Finals, the Durham Bulls returned the favor Thursday night.

Nathan Haynes ripped a one-out RBI double in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Bulls avoided elimination with a dramatic 3-2 win over the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

There is audio of Neil Solondz's, a former Quad City River Bandit radio announcer, call of the game winning double.

There is, indeed, a Game Four tonight. Former Dayton Dragon announcer Mike VanderWood is on the call for the Yankees tonight and Neil has the call for the Bulls.

Over in the in International League

There are still a couple of former Midwest League announcers, um, announcing in the playoffs.

Mike Vander Wood, who announced in Dayton from 2000 to 2007, is with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees.

Neil Solondz, who was with the Quad City River Bandits in 2000, is with the Durham Bulls.

Those teams are facing each other in the International League finals.

Scranton won Game One 8-7 on a game-winning hit in the bottom of the ninth by Eric Duncan.

Both members of the Midwest League Announcers Alumni Association have highlights at that second link.

To bring this series to more of a Rattler than Radio perspective. Rafael Chaves, who was the pitching coach for the Rattlers in 2000, is the pitching coach for the Yankees. Mike Birling, who was the general manager of the Ratters from 1996-1998, is the general manager of the Bulls.

MWL Announcer Alums

A couple of ex-Midwest League Announcers are in the playoffs with their new teams.

In the International League, Mike VanderWood -- formerly of the Dayton Dragons -- called the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees splitting the first two games of their first round playoff series in Pawtucket. Games 3, 4, and (if necessary) 5 are home games for the Yankees and game three is tonight.

Game one story. Game two story.

Meanwhile, Randy Wehofer -- formerly of the Burlington Bees -- has been helping to call the action as the Iowa Cubs have been playing the Oklahoma RedHawks in Des Moines for round one of the Pacific Coast League Playoffs. Those teams have also split their first two games. Games, 3, 4, and (if necessary) 5 are in Oklahoma City. Game three is tonight in Oklahoma.

Game one story. Game two story.

I mention this for two reasons.

#1.) It is good to see friends get into the playoffs. If there are two guys that deserve a little playoff success, those two guys would be Mike and Randy.

#2.) If the Yankees and Cubs make it through their respective league playoffs, they will meet in the 2009 Bricktown Showdown.

Good luck to both.