Emma Tiedemann keeps living dream with Triple-A broadcast debut at Polar Park

WORCESTER — Emma Tiedemann was working recently when she suddenly came eye-to-eye with a 4-year-old girl.

Tiedemann is the play-by-play broadcaster for the Portland Sea Dogs, the Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, and the team was playing in Hartford, Connecticut. She was calling the game when a father lifted his young daughter so she could look through the window and into the broadcast booth.

While Tiedemann was focused on the game, the moment meant something as she looked into the little girl’s eyes.

Tiedemann admits she doesn’t like to talk about herself, or her accomplishments, but she understands there’s another little girl somewhere out there with a similar passion for the game.

“It’s taken me a little while to come to the realization that I am in a position that I can help, or have little girls look up and say, ‘Oh, I can do that.’ It’s those little moments that hit me and I realize this is bigger than me,” Tiedemann said. “Even though I love my job, and I love where I’m at, but it’s those moments that really hit home for me.”

This weekend, Tiedemann became the first female broadcaster to call play-by-play games for the Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. She’s been the Sea Dogs’ broadcaster since 2020.

“It means so much,” Tiedemann said of her weekend call-up to Worcester. “It means my hard work has paid off and all the years grinding it out at the lower levels has paid off. It’s nice to have my Triple-A debut with the organization I’ve seen with so many players I’m familiar with in the clubhouse.”

Tiedemann has developed quite a solid background

Prior to her current position in Portland, she also served as the director of broadcasting and media relations for the Lexington Legends where she called back-to-back South Atlantic League championships. Since joining the Red Sox organization, she has showcased her passion, knowledge and love of the game.

“They’ve been awesome,” Tiedemann said of the Red Sox organization. “It’s been cool to have a more normal season (after COVID-19) and actually get to interact with our coordinators and people within the front office, meaning Chaim Bloom and seeing Brian Abraham. It’s really a family-type atmosphere.”

WooSox president Dr. Charles Steinberg and Tiedemann spent time together after Friday’s game to discuss the history and future of broadcasting in baseball. The WooSox are proud of Tiedemann’s accomplishments to this point and believe she has a bright future in this game.

“It’s a milestone, maybe a double milestone, because she’s the first female in this franchise’s history," Steinberg said, "but it’s a reminder that there’s nothing gender specific about baseball, or the love of baseball, or the ability to describe baseball. You just have to love it.”

Tiedemann does.

She first started broadcasting high school basketball when she was 15 years old in Dallas. She was comfortable calling basketball games since she also played the sport. She then added baseball and volleyball to her broadcasting resume. She attended the University of Missouri and while earning a bachelor’s degree in secondary education and a minor in history, Tiedemann served as the school’s football broadcaster.

Eventually, she decided to focus on baseball and wanted to improve her broadcasting skills and knowledge of the game, so she called games in 2014 for the Mat-Su Miners, a summer collegiate team in Palmer, Alaska. It was then she decided what she wanted to do with her career.

“Fell in love with the fact that you work every single day," Tiedemann said. "You get on the bus a see a different part of the state of Alaska at the time, and see the guys develop over the season.

“I would also have talks with my manager after almost every game and we would break down the sport," she added. "It made me fall in love with the sport. It made me fall in love with what working in baseball is like, so it all just clicked for me. I just wanted to stick with baseball, and I’ve been doing it ever since.”

Red Sox organization's broadcast depth runs deep

Between radio and NESN, the WooSox have six broadcasters behind the mic, including Tyler Murray, Jim Cain, Mike Antonellis, Jay Burnham, Cooper Boardman and Tim Quitadamo. The crew rotates between the two media, and the WooSox have one of the best game broadcasts in Minor League Baseball. Since Murray and Boardman were unavailable this weekend while attending family weddings, and Burnham was at Tulane broadcasting UMass football, WooSox VP of Communications Bill Wanless made the call to ask Tiedemann if she could come to Polar Park.

Ironically, Antonellis served as the voice of the Sea Dogs for 15 seasons before joining the PawSox in 2020. Tiedemann then was hired in Portland, and the two have formed a working relationship, so it was only natural for Tiedemann to be given an opportunity this weekend in Worcester.

She worked the radio broadcast Friday night and Sunday afternoon with Quitadamo, before joining Cain on NESN Saturday.

“It’s important for people to realize that dreams are valid,” Steinberg said. “We don’t know whether Emma knew when she was a little girl that she could be a professional play-by-play announcer, or that she could go from Double A to Triple A, and there’s no reason she can’t go to the major leagues, so when any person gets that break it shows dreams can come true.”

WooSox manager Chad Tracy is a baseball lifer. He’s been around the pro game since he was born, and now the 37-year-old has a 7-year-old daughter, Avery. She became popular around Polar Park this summer with players and fans for her spunk and love of the game.

So having Tiedemann working WooSox games this weekend is just another example this game is for everyone.

“You want to be able to look at your daughter the same way you look at your son and be able to tell her, ‘You can be whatever you want to be, and you can do whatever you want to do.’ That’s fantastic,” Tracy said of Tiedemann’s Triple-A debut.

And the Triple-A success stories continue

The list of PawSox/WooSox broadcasters to reach the next level is impressive. Past PawSox and current WooSox broadcasters realize they’re on the doorstep of a major league job. Working for the Triple A affiliate of the Red Sox is a golden ticket.

Most recently, Josh Maurer added his name to an already impressive list of PawSox, and now WooSox broadcasters to earn a play-by-play position in either the majors or NFL.

The alumni include: Gary Cohen (New York Mets), Don Orsillo (Red Sox, Padres), Andy Freed (Tampa Bay Rays), Dave Jageler (Washington Nationals), Dave Flemming (San Francisco Giants), Dan Hoard (Cincinnati Bengals), Aaron Goldsmith (Seattle Mariners), Bob Socci (New England Patriots), Jeff Levering (Milwaukee Brewers), Will Flemming (Red Sox), Mike Monaco (ESPN, NESN, Chicago Blackhawks) and Maurer (Milwaukee Brewers).

Tiedemann could be next, and that’s her goal.

“I can’t even think about that,” she said with a smile. “It would be a dream come true. You can talk about Mike Antonellis, and everybody who has come up through Minor League Baseball and what grind it is and everything besides the broadcast you have to do. To be able to eventually put on a headset, look down and call a major league game would be a Cloud 9 that I would never come down from.”

The minor league season will wrap up at the end of this month, and many personnel are looking forward to the offseason. Not Tiedemann. She wishes she could call games every day of the year. It’s an indication of her passion for the game.

“I love the sport of baseball, but I also love play-by-play,” she said. “Those two things are just so beautiful to me that could marry them and have such a fun product to put out to listeners.”

Fans are listening and looking at Tiedemann as the future of baseball broadcasting.

—Contact Joe McDonald at JMcDonald2@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoeyMacHockey.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Emma Tiedemann keeps living dream with Triple-A broadcast debut at Polar Park