The Arizona Diamondbacks announced their new television broadcast team will feature former D-backs manager and Emmy Award winner Bob Brenly as the analyst while current ESPN “Baseball Tonight” and “SportsCenter” host and veteran broadcaster Steve Berthiaume (@SBerthiaumeESPN) will handle play-by-play duties. The announcement was made by D-backs President and CEO Derrick Hall.
Brenly and Berthiaume will be introduced at a news conference at Chase Field on Nov. 5 so that Berthiaume may honor his commitment to ESPN through the World Series. The news conference is expected to be carried live on FOX Sports Arizona.
“We are ecstatic to be bringing in such a dynamic broadcast duo like Bob and Steve,” said Hall. “Not only are we able to reach back to our roots with someone who has played such a significant role in our franchise’s history, but we truly feel that Bob is the best analyst in the game today. With Steve, we believe that his ability to connect with our fans and his tremendous work on the national stage over the last several years makes him the perfect addition to the booth.”
The duo will appear on FOX Sports Arizona and its Emmy Award winning exclusive coverage of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Brenly returns to the D-backs following an eight-year stint as an analyst for Chicago Cubs games. He most recently served as an analyst for TBS during the postseason and has worked three World Series, two All-Star Games and numerous Division Series and League Championship Series in the booth.
Prior to his time with the Cubs, Brenly spent seven seasons with the D-backs, first as a broadcaster from 1998-2000 and then as the club’s manager from 2001-04, where he guided the franchise to its first World Championship in 2001. His .536 winning percentage is the highest in D-backs’ history and his 303 victories rank second on the all-time list.
Brenly, 58, played nine years in the Major Leagues with the San Francisco Giants and Toronto Blue Jays and was a career .247 hitter with 119 doubles, 91 homers and 333 RBI in 971 games.
He and his wife, Joan, have two children, Lacey and Michael. Michael recently completed his fifth year as a catcher in the Cubs’ Minor League system, where he played for Double-A Tennessee.
Berthiaume, 47, joins the D-backs following 12 years at ESPN, including the last six as co-host for the network’s signature show, “Baseball Tonight”. In addition to his work on the award-winning program, Berthiaume has served as a play-by-play announcer for Major League games in the network’s league-wide package as well as its College World Series Super Regional coverage.
Berthiaume graduated from Emerson College with a broadcast journalism degree and spent three years as a sports anchor at CNN in Atlanta prior to joining ESPN. He also worked for SNY, the network that was started by the New York Mets, as well as local television affiliates in Connecticut, Florida, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Virginia.
Berthiaume and his wife, fellow ESPN “SportsCenter” anchor Cindy Brunson, plan to make their home in the Valley.
