PRESS RELEASE – Spenser Smith, a Pacific Northwest native, is the Portland Pickles first play-by-play broadcaster. Smith, born and raised in Walla Walla, Washington, will be the “Voice of the Pickles” for the team’s inaugural 2016 season.
“We were very impressed with Spenser’s baseball play-by-play ability the first time we heard his work,” said Pickles President & CEO Ken Wilson, a former Major League Baseball broadcaster. “Spenser has a great future and we all look forward to him assisting our fans in preparing for our first season.”
Smith, 23, spent the 2015 season as the Broadcasting and Media Relations Assistant for the Lancaster (Calif.) JetHawks, a single-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. His other career stops include Palm Springs, Calif., where he called games for the California Winter League, and his hometown of Walla Walla, as the broadcaster for the West Coast League’s Walla Walla Sweets during the summer of 2014.
“I’m very thankful for this opportunity to broadcast games in one of the most fascinating cities in America,” Smith said. “For the past five years, the city of Portland has not had a baseball team to call its own, and I couldn’t be more excited to help bring the game back to a place that has sorely missed it.”
In addition to his broadcasting duties, Smith will assist the Pickles front office staff with day-to-day operations, including sales, in the months leading up to opening night.
“No one will want to miss out on this first season of Pickles baseball,” Smith says. “Each night at Walker Stadium will offer something special, and I’m looking forward to helping folks find their way to exciting and fun-filled summer nights at the ballpark.”
Smith will provide play-by-play broadcasts for all 60 games, home and away, this summer. Portland’s season opens on June 3 in Medford, and the Pickles will play their first-ever home game on June 10 against the Marysville Gold Sox.