Newman makes history with YouTube game

During the Rangers’ matchup with the A’s on Tuesday night from Globe Life Field, Melanie Newman became just the second woman ever to do play-by-play for a nationally broadcast MLB game.

Newman joined Suzyn Waldman, who called nationally televised games for The Baseball Network during the 1994-95 seasons.

Newman is currently the play-by-play announcer for the Baltimore Orioles on MASN and one of just four women to hold the position for MLB broadcasts. She previously worked for the Rangers’ Double-A affiliate, the Frisco RoughRiders, doing sideline coverage and play-by-play on FOX Sports Southwest in 2018.

Newman will be joined on the broadcast by former A’s infielder Yonder Alonso, former Rangers manager Buck Showalter and on-field reporter Brett Dolan.

The game will stream exclusively on YouTube and on YouTubeTV’s unique MLB Game of the Week Live channel for subscribers. Specific elements of the broadcast will be optimized for social engagement.

Here are a few of the features for tonight’s game, per the press release:

• YouTube Player of the Game: New for the 2021 season, fans watching on mobile devices and computers can vote for the game’s standout player, who will receive a trophy during the postgame show

• Live Chat: Follow along with in-game commentary from over 40 sports-focused YouTube creators

• In-game Polls: Best hitter in franchise history? Which team was more dominant? In-game polls keep fans engaged and connected with the broadcast booth throughout the game

• YouTube TV Replay: Fans watching on YouTube TV with a membership will also have the ability to re-watch key plays tied to the exact moment they are watching, as well as check out real-time stats from the game