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Anatomy of a Broadcaster – Boog Sciambi

Andy Masur
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Anatomy of a Broadcaster – Boog Sciambi

In the sports broadcasting industry, if you say “I saw Boog today”, nobody looks at you funny. They know immediately who you are talking about. 

Jon “Boog” Sciambi is one of the more recognizable people in the world of play-by-play. He currently serves as the voice of the Chicago Cubs on the Marquee Sports Network. Sciambi is also the voice of Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN Radio. He’ll add World Series duties on ESPN Radio this fall. 

Sciambi grew up in Philadelphia as a huge Phillies fan. Strange that he got a job with the Cubs, because it was a Cubs/Phillies game in 1976 that he got his first exposure to the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field. When Sciambi was six years old, he was visiting his grandparents and got to watch the game on TV. 

The Cubs took a 12-1 lead after three innings. He wasn’t leaving and in fact predicted the Phillies would come back and win it. He was right, thanks to his favorite player Mike Schmidt hitting four home runs in the game for an 18-16 extra inning win. 

As is the case with some of us that get into baseball broadcasting, our first choice would be to play the sport. Sciambi went to Boston College with that intent, but that dream ended when he was cut from the team as a freshman. He started bar tending and dabbling in radio, with a weekly talk show with two of his good friends, who we’ll talk more about in a bit. 

ROAD TO MARQUEE/CUBS

On January 4, 2021, Marquee Sports Network named Sciambi as the play-by-play announcer for its Cubs telecasts. 

“When you look at the signature franchises in baseball, you’re talking about the Yankees, the Dodgers, the Red Sox, and the Cubs,” Sciambi said at the time in a Marquee Sports Network release. “Chicago has always been one of the special places to go broadcast the game. Baseball matters there.” It was quite a road in getting there. 

Sciambi got his first real taste of broadcasting at BC’s 1000-watt FM radio station. He would host a weekly talk show with fellow classmates, Joe Tessitore and Bob Wischusen, both of whom have their success stories in the industry.

In 1996, Sciambi, worked for the Boise Hawks, an Angels’ farm club in a short-season A league. One day, he decided to ask broadcaster Dave O’Brien to review his play-by-play. 

“A few days after I gave him the tape, he stares at me for a second, holds up the tape and says ‘When you gave me this tape, I thought it would stink. It didn’t.’” Sciambi told the Sports Broadcast Journal in 2019. 

Sciambi’s first break in Major League Baseball was getting into the play-by-play chair for the then Florida Marlins from 1997-2004. While in Miami, he hosted talk shows in the city on 790 The Ticket and WQAM. He left the former in 2008 to focus on his new main job, with the Atlanta Braves. 

Boog joined the Braves broadcast team on SportSouth and FSN South in 2007. He was paired with Joe Simpson. Late in the 2009 season Sciambi announced he was leaving the Braves to join ESPN’s Major League Baseball and college basketball coverage full-time. Sciambi is the network as the play-by-play voice for MLB on ESPN Radio, while continuing the same role for college basketball and MLB on ESPN, which he had done since 2005. 

At ESPN, Sciambi served as one of the play-by-play voices of Wednesday Night Baseball telecasts for the network beginning with the 2014 season. Sciambi had contributed to ESPN Radio’s World Series coverage as the on-site studio host since 2007 and provided post-game, on-field interviews for SportsCenter. Additionally, he had done play-by-play for both the College and Little League World Series and in 2020, served as a play-by-play commentator for ESPN’s KBO League coverage. It was announced last season, that Sciambi would take over the broadcasts of the World Series on ESPN Radio, starting with this year’s Fall Classic. 

Sciambi was also tabbed to replace Matt Vasgersian as the play-by-play voice of MLB: The Show video game series, starting with MLB The Show 22. He’s paired with Chris Singleton who used to be part of the Chicago White Sox’s broadcast. 

Sciambi said that he recorded over 200 hours of audio to get in all the player names, types of plays, and other sorts of commentary that might typically be in a game broadcast.

PLAY-BY-PLAY

While Sciambi excels at every sport he does, I think his voice best lends itself to baseball. He’s smooth and polished, but not to the extreme that it sounds forced in any way. Sciambi’s style is all his own. That’s a compliment. 

There are many voices out there today that sound the same, like machines, very ‘announcer-y’. Fake effected voices are a dime a dozen, but ones like Sciambi’s are in a class of their own. He doesn’t try to sound like anyone else. In fact, I’ve had multiple conversations with him over the years and the way he talks off air is the way he talks on air. 

Sciambi has a booming voice that he controls very well. He’s very conversational in between the action, but rises to the occasion when the play warrants excitement, enthusiasm or disappointment. Then there’s his sense of humor. I love the fact that Sciambi isn’t afraid to poke a little fun at himself. Self-deprecation goes a long way with a viewer, especially if a mistake gets made. Everyone is human, so own it right?

I like how Sciambi is able to simplify some of the more complicated details of the new stats and numbers in the game of baseball. He is able to explain them in terms that even those who don’t follow closely can understand. For example, on a Tuesday night broadcast from Cincinnati, Boog was talking about the importance of Exit Velocity. He started by saying something to the effect of “I know this frustrates some people to hear about how hard a ball is hit. But, last year in the Major Leagues, if you hit the ball 95 miles an hour or above you hit .488, that’s why exit velocity matters.” His broadcast isn’t riddled with analytics, but there’s enough there to keep the interested parties happy without driving those that aren’t away. 

I’m a big fan of Sciambi’s work. I’ve known him for a while and he’s as good a person as he is a broadcaster. 

DID YOU KNOW?

Sciambi is passionate about raising awareness for and supporting people who live with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or ALS. His friend, Tim Sheehy, died of ALS in 2007. Sciambi is on the board of directors of Project Main St., which works to improve the quality of life for those affected by the disease. The organization, which has raised over $1 million, hosts an annual Tim Sheehy Gala and Softball Classic support their mission.  

Remember that I told you, Sciambi’s favorite Phillies player growing up was Mike Schmidt? How about this? The night that the Cubs announced Sciambi had taken the job as their broadcaster, he got a call from an unfamiliar number, and low and behold, it was Schmidt himself. 

Sciambi’s nickname, “Boog,” was given to him owing to his physical resemblance to former major league player Boog Powell. 

Pac-12 Media Deal Expected to Put Less Than 50% of Games on TV

BSM Staff
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With the can being kicked down the road for this long with the Pac-12 Conference and a new media rights deal, it appears the clock is running out on the conference being able to feature more than half of its slate of football games on linear television when the new deal begins.

The big five networks are seeing their available inventory to air Pac-12 games disappear, and that’s brought on an outlook that any new deal will see a streaming giant get the majority of the games according to CBS’s Dennis Dodd.

With two less member schools following the departure of UCLA and USC to the Big Ten, the Pac-12 will likely be bringing in less TV money on the next new rights deal, but the hope is that the conference will see the annual figure somewhere around the same $31.6 million number the Big 12 reached in its new media rights deal.

But there’s a belief that networks like ION and CW could potentially come in and help get the Pac-12 over that 50% number. ION is owned by Scripps, which recently launched a sports division that has media rights in mind. Meanwhile CW is owned by Nexstar Media Group, with their largest sports property being LIV Golf.

Hans Olsen: I Wouldn’t Leave Daily Radio Show For National Play-by-Play Job

BSM Staff
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Hans Olsen has made his home in Salt Lake City over the last 16 years, and he’s not leaving home anytime soon.

Olsen recently was announced as the new radio analyst for BYU football. He told the Salt Lake Tribune that it’s an opportunity he’s clamored for and that it still hasn’t fully sunk in yet. Olsen said he still thinks about that surreal moment he got the phone call from play-by-play voice Greg Wrubell offering him the job.

“Yeah, flooring. I mean, I sat there silent. And I got really emotional about it,” Olsen said. “And I was like, ‘Wow, what an incredible honor’. And then you start to think, am I capable? Am I ready? You go through all these different emotions and then you just come down to having a lot of gratitude for the opportunity.”

Olsen co-hosts Hans and Scotty G., which airs daily from 12-3 mountain time on KSL Sports Zone. He’s worked with Scott Garrard since 2014 and been in sports radio in Utah since 2006.

Hans was asked if he had ever been approached with potential opportunities to call games nationally. His answer revealed that his heart is in Salt Lake and his radio show.

“Yes, but there was no way that I was going to be leaving my daily show. Period, couldn’t do it,” Olsen said. “And whether it was a national opportunity, or whatever the case might be, I wasn’t going to leave it.”

“To leave this market, where my family is growing and where I’ve got so many roots. I can’t leave here for at least 10 years,” he added. “And so I kept thinking, how can I stay and still do the in-game stuff? Then Greg called and the timing was perfect.”

Olsen played football at BYU from 1996-2000. He also played three years with the Indianapolis Colts.

Chris Russo Roasts Stephen A. Smith For Short Stephen Colbert Segment

BSM Staff
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ESPN First Take host Stephen A. Smith made an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert this week, and Chris “Mad Dog” Russo couldn’t stand it.

Stephen A. had a brief hit with Colbert promoting his new book Straight Shooter: A Memoir of Second Chances and First Takes. Russo said he was over the incessant promotion of Smith’s book.

“Enough with the book! You saw yourself headlined in the New York Times, that should’ve covered it,” Russo said. “And now he’s gonna go back and forth back and forth on this dopey book with Colbert?!”

Russo added that for Smith, it was ridiculous to even show his face on the show considering how short his appearance was.

“He was on for two and a half minutes!” Mad Dog said. “It can’t be worth it, Steve, to travel 12 hours for two and a half minutes and then blow up this show. We need you here! We need you here!”

Stephen A. has said publicly that he would love to host a late night talk show. Ideally, he said taking over on ABC for Jimmy Kimmel would be the move, but Smith doesn’t see himself staying exclusively in sports media.

Mike Tirico: I Thought LIV vs PGA Would be Bigger Part of Masters Coverage

BSM Staff
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Mike Tirico: I Thought LIV vs PGA Would be Bigger Part of Masters Coverage

Golf’s first major, The Masters, tees off Thursday morning at Augusta National, and in addition to the field of PGA Tour players who qualified, a group of LIV Golf players will also be taking part in the tournament.

The whole LIV against PGA debate has raged on for more than a year, and while a back-and-forth akin to AEW vs. WWE has gone on in the media from players on both circuits, NBC’s Mike Tirico told Dan Patrick on Wednesday that it’s been business as usual otherwise ahead of the weekend.

“I thought it would be more from just the field for the week, and I think it’s been diffused pretty quickly,” said Tirico, who is leading SiriusXM’s coverage from Augusta National. “I think the guys got here, and it feels different.”

Tirico noted that LIV players were not treated as second-class citizens at the annual champions dinner on Tuesday night, and so far all reports indicated the six LIV players who attended the dinner got along with their PGA counterparts.

Tirico seemed to think The Masters being the first major has helped set a different tone.

“Maybe if the U.S. Open or the PGA was first, it might be a little more knife’s edge and a little more tension,” he said. “But I think nobody wants to be the guy who is at The Masters and made it about LIV versus the PGA Tour and not The Masters tournament. It just doesn’t feel like the place to do it.”

Mike also mentioned that LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman has been absent from Augusta this week. With Norman not being a former tournament champion, he wasn’t invited to the champions dinner, and it sounded like there was no real reason for Norman to even be at the tournament at all, even if it was to support the LIV contingent.

WWE Should Expect ‘Robust Interest’ In Next Rights Deal, CNBC Reporter Says

BSM Staff
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With the merger of WWE and UFC into a brand new company, the media rights contracts for both entities have gone under the microscope. Both WWE and UFC are scheduled to begin talks for television rights in the coming months, and with a joint effort, one CNBC reporter claims the offers could be “robust”.

“It will be a publicly traded company that is about to embark on a very lucrative media rights deal,” CNBC’s Alex Sherman said of the new company during an appearance on the Sports Media with Richard Deitsch podcast. “The media rights for both WWE and UFC are coming up for renewal, and Endeavor will basically try to put its money where its mouth is. They said yesterday in the press conference that they are great at doing media rights deals. So we’ll see. They’ll have the chance to prove this. In the coming months, they may show the investment world that they are great at doing this, and that will prove their valuation correct.”

When asked about potentially interested parties, Sherman agreed with the insinuation from Deitsch that it would be helpful for WWE and UFC for tech companies like Amazon and Apple to be interested in the rights to drive the price higher, with companies like FOX and NBC remaining committed to continuing their deals.

“I don’t know exactly who’s interested in this…I do think you’re on solid ground by saying that FOX and NBC Universal are both interested. It’s been a good partnership with particularly NBC because NBC also owns the streaming rights to WWE…Ari Emanuel — who’s going to be the CEO of the new company — alluded to the fact that they want to explore a direct-to-consumer thing also.

“So maybe they will slice-and-dice the rights where there’s some exclusive content that’s also on this new direct-to-consumer thing that they embed in addition to the broadcast cable rights…If they’re really going to maximize the value, the more bidders there are, the more they can maximize it, so maybe they feel like this will be another robust auction.”

The “robust auction” is a nod to phrasing utilized by WWE CEO Nick Khan, who uttered the comments while discussing interest in the company from potential buyers.

Inside the NFL Looking For New Home

BSM Staff
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Inside the NFL Looking For New Home

CBS Sports is ending its relationship with Inside the NFL. John Ourand of Sports Business Journal reports that network executives told the show’s staff that it will not be returning to Paramount+ in the fall.

Inside the NFL has been on the air since 1977. While it started out on HBO, it moved to Showtime in 2008. In 2021, CBS moved it from the premium cable channel to Paramount+.

The show will be on the move again. The NFL is already looking for a new home.

“As one of the longest-running sports shows on TV, we thank HBO and Showtime/CBS for providing a home for Inside the NFL for more than 40 years,” a spokesperson for the league told Ourand. “We’re excited for the continued evolution of this iconic program with a new partner as we look ahead to the 2023 NFL season.”

For Paramount+, the move does not signal anything other than wanting to move on from the show. The streamer remains committed to live sports including the NFL, college football, and the UEFA Champions League.

Dorin Dickerson: I’ve Never Seen One Shining Moment

BSM Staff
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“One Shining Moment” is widely considered the culmination of the college basketball season, with many fans reminiscent of their team’s glory days. 93.7 The Fan’s Dorin Dickerson is not in that camp.

During a discussion about the longstanding video package on The Fan Morning Show, host Colin Dunlap shared his admiration for the usual close of the NCAA Tournament, and remembered the importance it played in his fandom growing up.

“You don’t even have to search for it,” Dunlap said. “It’s on social media. Someone retweeted it, someone reappropriated it, it’s right there. Somebody already had it there for you. Maybe you did a search and it took you five seconds…I did see a lot of people who said they have to stay up and watch One Shining Moment.

“If you just checked it out on the internet, and this is an ‘Old Man Yells at Cloud‘ stuff, the only was no other choice to stay up and see it live, and that was it. That’s what’s in your memory. I don’t wanna say it’s fallen off, but it has. You always have a way to see it. You can go to YouTube and just check it out. When I was coming up, it was after the game, you heard the music, and that was it.”

“I’ve never watched it,” Dickerson admitted. “I would probably watch it now because I’m more in tune to things outside the game, but growing up, I just wanted to watch the game. I didn’t pay attention to anything else. Not the announcers, never really paid attention to that. I pay attention to all of that now more, but I’ve never seen it because I never really cared.”

Dickerson continued by questioning why it was so important to Dunalp and co-host Chris Mack.

“They’re able to encapsulate what you just saw in the last month in two and a half minutes, and you can walk away and never say that they missed something,” Dunlap added. “You’re bleary-eyed…and you’re like ‘Oh that’s right, that kid from some obscure school, Southwest Missouri State, hit that shot that won the game’, and you think ‘Wow. That happened this tournament. I forgot. That feels like so long ago.'”

Mack simply said “It’s a time capsule”, adding that while the song is “corny”, it’s a strong tradition.

The 2023 version of One Shining Moment has garnered nearly 1 million views on Twitter from CBS Sports.

Richard Deitsch: NCAA Championship Ratings ‘Should Not be a Surprise’

BSM Staff
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Many have written about the dichotomy of the NCAA’s two Division I basketball tournaments this year. The women’s tournament set viewership records, while the men’s tournament concluded with the least-watched championship game in history.

Given the Final Four field for the men, Richard Deitsch says that even if the network isn’t happy, CBS probably was not surprised.

“The CBS Sports television executives charged with broadcasting the men’s NCAA basketball tournament have always been honest about the television realities of the tournament,” he wrote for The Athletic. “What makes the opening rounds great is when Cinderella advances. But at a certain point in the tournament, when it comes to historical television viewership, you want teams that are proven TV draws.”

Brand power rules the day, but some star power could have helped.

“Along with major upsets and one very unlikely finalist, the title game lacked any player projected in the lottery of this year’s NBA Draft,” Deitsch added. The combination of no team like Kentucky, North Carolina or Duke and no player basketball fans felt like they needed to see was a perfect storm. It may not be a sign of the NCAA Tournament’s overall popularity and value declining.

Deitsch noted that there is one bright spot for CBS.

“Look for CBS and Warner Bros. Discovery Sports to put out a big press release in April 2024 when the viewership numbers jump big from this year.”

Eli Manning Wants to Stay ‘Pretty True To What the Original Plan Was’ For ManningCast

BSM Staff
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Eli Manning Wants to Stay ‘Pretty True To What the Original Plan Was’ For ManningCast

The ManningCast will be entering its third season when the NFL starts up again in September. The alternate broadcast of Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli Manning has been a hit for ESPN so far, but in year three, it could be time for a refresh.

Eli Manning was on with Pat McAfee on Wednesday and said that the brothers don’t want to stray too far from their original vision.

“We’ve stayed pretty true to what the original plan was,” Manning said. “We wanted to make it feel like what it’s like to sit on the couch with Peyton and I and watch a football game. That’s still the idea. We’re gonna talk some Xs and Os, we’re gonna make fun of each other, and every now and then, Pat McAfee pops in in the living room and we start talking with him or we’re talking with Snoop Dogg.”

He added that the two still do game prep. It just looks considerably different than it used to. It is something the younger Manning has had an easier time with.

“I always tell Peyton ‘Hey, I’ll watch these games. You watch those and we can trade notes.’ I’ll leave Peyton like an eight-minute voice memo out of the notes, what I saw, ‘Hey if you want to watch it, here are four or five plays that are interesting.’ Peyton leaves me a 45-minute voice memo with the breakdown of the plays.”

While the ManningCast airs on ESPN, the show is produced by Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions, which provides a lot of programming to ESPN+. With creative control, Manning has insisted on limiting the number of games he and his brother do each season in order to keep their passion for the project high.

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