Friday, December 19, 2008
The 42-year-old Neverett had been a part-time announcer for Colorado.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Tim Neverett is taking over one of baseball’s most storied announcing positions.
Neverett, who previously worked as a part-time Colorado Rockies announcer on FSN Rocky Mountain telecasts, will replace Lanny Frattare as one of the Pirates’ two play-by-play broadcasters on radio and TV.
The 42-year-old Neverett, who has called more than 1,000 games on the minor league and college level, will join holdover Greg Brown in calling Pirates games on their radio network and FSN Pittsburgh.
Bob Walk, Steve Blass and John Wehner return as analysts.
“It is an ideal opportunity for me professionally and personally,” Neverett said Thursday.
Frattare was a Pirates announcer from 1975-2008, a 33-year tenure that was the longest in club history.
The Pirates said shortly after the season ended that he had retired, but the 60-year-old Frattare began seeking work shortly after the announcement was made.
The Pirates’ announcing job has the deepest roots in major league baseball.
The team was the first to have a play-by-play announcer in Harold Arlin in 1921, and the role has since been held by longtime voices such as Bob Prince, Rosey Rowswell, Jim Woods and Milo Hamilton.
Prince, the Pirates’ primary announcer for 28 seasons through 1975, was chosen as the Ford C. Frick award winner for broadcasting by the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1986.
Pirates president Frank Coonelly said Neverett was chosen from a pool of 200 candidates.
“Tim’s ability, combined with his work ethic, passion for baseball and desire to make a positive impact in the community, made him the ideal addition to our broadcast team,” Coonelly said.
Neverett has been a pre- and post-game studio host for Rockies games, has called major college football and basketball games for the Versus network and The Mtn sports channel and Triple-A games for the Padres and Dodgers.
He also called baseball, softball, basketball, soccer and hockey games during four Olympics for the multinational feed that was seen in 100 countries.
He also was a talk show host for ESPN’s radio affiliate in Denver and the Sporting News Radio Network.
The 42-year-old Neverett’s first job was as a play-by-play announcer at age 19 for the Pirates’ former Double-A Affiliate in Nashua, N.H.
He also played baseball for four seasons at Emerson College in Boston.