George Grande
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George Grande (pronounced like the English word "grand") is an American sportscaster who hosted the very first broadcast of SportsCenter on ESPN in 1979.
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[edit] Early life and career
He graduated from the University of Southern California in 1969, where he won the 1968 College World Series. While at USC, he played with 14 future Major Leaguers, including Hall of Famer Tom Seaver and slugger Dave Kingman.
Prior to joining ESPN, Grande served as a sportscaster on Connecticut TV station WTNH, Channel 8 based in New Haven.
[edit] ESPN
Grande was the second person to ever be seen on ESPN (when it launched on September 7, 1979), following Lee Leonard. In the early years of the network, he served as host of the Inside Baseball weekly magazine program that evolved into the current Baseball Tonight program on ESPN.
[edit] Major League Baseball play-by-play
Grande was a TV play-by-play announcer for Major League Baseball's New York Yankees in 1989 and 1990, for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1991 and 1992, and for the Cincinnati Reds from 1993 to 2009 for Fox Sports Net,[1] teaming with former player Chris Welsh to form the longest-running TV broadcasting partnership in team history. On October 4, 2009, Grande announced that he would step down after 17 seasons with the Reds, stating that he wanted to spend more time with his family.[2] However, he has returned for a small number of games in 2010 and is expected to do the same in 2011.
Grande has often served as master of ceremonies for the National Baseball Hall of Fame's annual inductions.
Grande is on the board of directors for USA Baseball.
[edit] References
- ^ FSN Ohio On-Air Talent
- ^ Sheldon, Mark (2009-10-04). "Grande exit for play-by-play veteran". MLB.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091004&content_id=7315620&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb. Retrieved 2009-10-04.
[edit] External links
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