Meet the first female duo to broadcast Red Sox game
This story was excerpted from Ian Browne’s Red Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
BOSTON -- At some point on Monday night, Emma Tiedemann and Rylee Pay are going to look below them and all around them and take in the excitement that surrounds them, and deservedly so.
But before they can savor becoming the first female duo to broadcast a Red Sox game at historic Fenway Park alongside regular NESN announcers Dave O’Brien and Kevin Youkilis, they will have to deal with emotions and nerves, which they both acknowledge could be overpowering.
Asked what she expects to feel when that first pitch comes across home plate for Monday’s 7:10 p.m. ET game between the Red Sox and the Blue Jays, Tiedemann chuckled and said, “Nauseating, probably.”
Anyone who has reached or gotten close to a lifelong dream can surely relate.
“Kind of that surreal moment, a lot like the players are feeling [after a callup],” said Pay. “You’re so excited for this moment because it’s something you’ve dreamt about so much. Hopefully, just keep a steady heart rate and take it all in and enjoy that it’s Fenway Park and calling it alongside Emma. I think it will be really fun.”
Tiedemann and Pay are the regular broadcasting crew for Double-A Portland, so Monday’s opportunity is similar to a pair of top prospects getting called up for the day.
They will work alongside O’Brien and Youkilis as part of a four-person booth for all nine innings. But for three innings in the middle, Tiedemann and Pay will take command of the action.
“First of all, you have two good announcers in the Red Sox system, so it makes sense,” said O’Brien. “They’re both really good and I think people are going to enjoy them a lot. You have more women covering games and on broadcast teams than ever before. I think it’s going to be great for our viewers and I think they’re going to do a terrific job.”
Tiedemann and Pay are thankful for the trailblazers who have made an opportunity like this possible, including Yankees announcer Suzyn Waldman, Orioles broadcaster Melanie Newman and Jenny Cavnar, who was hired by the A’s earlier this year as the first woman to be a primary play-by-play voice in MLB history.
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For Tiedemann and Pay, the best part of their daily job is walking up to the broadcasting booth at 6 p.m. But for anyone who works in the Minor Leagues, it is all hands on deck, and the two of them are involved in a variety of tasks for media relations and game presentation in the hours leading up to their call of the game.
On Monday, the day will be all about the art of broadcasting.
For Tiedemann, this dream has been a long time coming. She became interested in broadcasting through her grandfather Bill Mercer, who was a news and sports announcer and called Rangers and White Sox games during part of his illustrious career.
“Growing up, I always heard his stories of going to the baseball field or football field, whatever sport he was calling. And I always grew up playing sports,” said Tiedemann. “So when he had an extra headset one day for me, calling a women's basketball game while I was in high school, I tried it. And I fell in love with it.”
Tiedemann landed her first gig calling games in the Alaska Baseball League back in 2014. Her journey also included stops with the St. Paul Saints and the Lexington Legends before she wound up in Portland in 2020.
Her vision for the future is clear, and a little bit old-school.
“I just want to be a radio voice of a [Major League] team one day,” said Tiedemann. “I want to do play by play. I'm not good enough like Suzyn to be on color full-time, and I don't want to do TV like Melanie. I just want to call radio.”
Pay, who landed her job in Portland just before she graduated from UNLV in the spring of 2023 but got plenty of broadcasting experience (including in the Cape Cod League) during her college years, has other ideas.
“I think I lean a little bit more towards the TV side,” said Pay. “I think it would be cool to do something like Melanie does where she gets to do some pre- and postgame stuff and sit down and then still do play by play, too. So I'm open to whatever. Any way that gets you to the big leagues one day, I think, would be awesome.”