Orioles Talent
Tom Davis, Guest Host of Orioles Xtra
Baltimore native Tom Davis enters his 37th year as a local sportscaster and begins his second year on the Orioles broadcast team as host of Orioles pre- and post-game shows on WHFS-FM. He will also do some work on television as a co-host of "O's Xtra," MASN's pre- and post-game shows. Davis previously spent 17 seasons as a host on Orioles telecasts on Home Team Sports (HTS) from 1984-2000.
A five-time winner of the Maryland Sportscaster of the Year Award, Davis began his career as a weekend sportscaster for WBAL-TV in the early '70s. He also worked at WBAL Radio, had two stints at WCBM-AM and spent 17 years as a sportscaster for the "Rouse & Company Show" on WQSR-FM.
Tom's national sports broadcasting experience includes work with NBC-TV and NBC Radio, where he covered the NFL, 1987 Gator Bowl and the 1988 Summer Olympics. He also did play-by-play for a number of college football bowl games for the Mutual Radio Network and was a sideline reporter for ABC-TV's coverage of the USFL in 1983-84.
Davis served as play-by-play announcer for the first game played at M&T Bank Stadium on August 8, 1998, an exhibition game between the Baltimore Ravens and Chicago Bears. He lists one of his greatest thrills as calling Cal Ripken's 400th career home run in 1999.
In addition to his work on Orioles broadcasts, Davis serves as a sports update anchor on Baltimore's ESPN Radio 1300 AM on weekday mornings and co-hosts a sports talk show each Saturday afternoon on the station. He also produces and hosts "Touchdown Baltimore" and "Take Me Out To The Ballgame," shows that profile the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles and air on MASN weekly during the teams' respective seasons.
A graduate of Calvert Hall College High School, Davis received a BS degree in Marketing from the University of Baltimore in 1971. He lives in Baltimore County with his wife Bonnie and is the father of two adult children, Malinda and Tad. He also has a stepdaughter, Mandi, and a grandson, Hunter.
Rick Dempsey, Color Analyst/ Co-Host of Orioles Xtra
Former Orioles catcher and 1983 World Series MVP Rick Dempsey is in his second year as a member of the Orioles broadcast team after five years on the club's coaching staff. He will team with Jim Hunter to host the "O's Xtra" pre- and post-game shows on MASN, and will also serve as an analyst on a selection of game broadcasts.
This season marks Dempsey's 41st year working in professional baseball. He played for 24 major league seasons with six teams, including 11 1/2 with the Orioles. Dempsey is tied for 8th all-time in seasons played and is one of only three catchers, along with Tim McCarver and Carlton Fisk, to play in four decades. He played on three World Series teams and won two championships, including 1983 when he was named the World Series MVP in the Orioles' 4-games-to-1 triumph over Philadelphia.
Rick batted .233 with 96 home runs and 471 RBI in his career, which began with the Minnesota Twins in 1969. He was traded to the New York Yankees in 1973 and, in 1976, to the Orioles as part of a 10-player swap that also brought the O's Tippy Martinez and Scott McGregor...He became the Orioles' regular catcher in 1977 and for 10 years was the Orioles' primary backstop, catching a club-record 1,222 games. After leaving the Orioles, Dempsey played for Cleveland (1987), Los Angeles (1988-90) and Milwaukee (1991) before returning to the Orioles for his final season in '92. He ranks 14th all-time with 1,633 games caught and had a .988 career fielding percentage.
Dempsey began his post-playing career as a manager in the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets' farm systems, compiling a winning record in three of five seasons. He was a member of the Dodgers' major league coaching staff from 1999-2000 before returning to the Orioles as an analyst for Comcast SportsNet in 2001. From 2002-2006, he served as a first base coach, third base coach and bullpen coach on the Orioles coaching staff.
Rick and his wife, Joani, live in Westlake Village, a suburb of Los Angeles. They have two sons, John, who was a catcher in the St. Louis Cardinals farm system, and Christian. Rick's younger brother Pat was a minor league catcher for several teams, including the Orioles. His nephew, Gregg Zaun, is a former Orioles catcher now with Toronto. The son of an actor, Rick entertained crowds as a player during rain delays with his impersonations of Babe Ruth. He was elected to the Orioles Hall of Fame in 1997.
Jim Hunter, Play-by-Play / Host of Orioles Xtra
Veteran broadcaster Jim Hunter is in his 12th year as a member of the Orioles broadcast team. Jim will work exclusively on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network again in 2008. He will host "O's Xtra," MASN's Orioles pre-game and post game shows, sharing the studio with Orioles Hall of Famer Rick Dempsey. Jim will also call games on MASN with Buck Martinez or Jim Palmer. Hunter was originally named as the Orioles' radio announcer on February 5, 1997 and brings to the booth 30 years of diversified broadcasting experience that ranges from Major League Baseball to the NFL to the Olympic Games.
Hunter, 49, came to Baltimore from CBS Radio Sports, where he had been since 1982. He had been a member of the network's "Game of the Week" announcing team since 1986. He broadcast the American League Championship Series, teaming with Hall of Famer Johnny Bench from 1990-92, and with the Orioles' first radio voice, Ernie Harwell, in 1993. In 1995, he called the National League Division Series and the NLCS, teaming with Jerry Coleman. In 1996, he called the National League Division Series in which the Atlanta Braves beat the St. Louis Cardinals in a thrilling 7-game series. In addition, Hunter hosted "Inside Pitch," the CBS Radio Sunday Night Baseball pre-game show.
During the off-season, Jim makes several appearances in the community on behalf of the ballclub as well as helping various charities. He is an active part of the Johns Hopkins Pediatric Oncology Friends Committee, which annually raises money for cancer research for children.
When Jim began his career at CBS in '82, he served as the Saturday evening anchor of Sports Central USA. He was later assigned to host Sportsbreak, a daily feature heard on CBS Radio from 1984-87. It was in 1987 that Jim was named full weekend anchor of Sports Central USA.
Jim's experience is varied and all-inclusive. In 1992 from Albertville, France and again in 1994 from Lillehammer, Norway, Hunter served as a studio anchor for CBS Radio's network coverage of the Winter Olympic Games. Also, he was the host for the NFL Preview and NFL pre-game and halftime reports. Jim has covered 12 Super Bowls. He began his broadcasting career in 1978 at WJLK Radio in Asbury Park, NJ.
A native of New Jersey, Hunter is a 1973 graduate of St. Benedict School and a 1977 graduate of St. John Vianney High School in Holmdel, NJ. He was inducted into his high school's athletic Hall of Fame in 1994. He attended Brookdale Community College and is a 1982 graduate of Seton Hall University in South Orange, NJ with a BA in Communication Arts.
His peers have recognized Hunter for his accomplishments on several occasions. In 2002, he was named Maryland Sportscaster of the Year by The National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. He also received the prestigious Radio/TV Media Excellence Award from the New Jersey Sportswriters Association in 1998.
Hunter resides in Fallston, MD with his wife Bonnie. They have three children. Jimmy (23) is a graduate of York College, PA and is working in the television field. Jeff (21) is a junior at York College and Allie (17) is a junior at Fallston High School, and a member of the school's state championship field hockey team. They also have two faithful dogs, Bobby and Sadie.
Buck Martinez, Color Analyst
Buck Martinez returns for his sixth season as an Orioles television analyst, bringing a wealth of baseball experience to the broadcast booth. He will team with Gary Thorne or Jim Hunter to provide color commentary for Orioles games.
In addition to his Orioles duties, Martinez is in his fourth year as a co-host on "MLB This Morning," a news-magazine style baseball show that airs weekday mornings on XM Satellite Radio, and will continue his work as an analyst on ESPN's Wednesday night national MLB telecasts in 2008.
Martinez' extensive resume includes over 31 years as a player and manager in the American League and over 23 years of experience in baseball broadcasting on television and radio. Beginning in 1967 when he was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies, Martinez spent 23 years as a catcher in professional baseball with the Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers and Toronto Blue Jays organizations. He appeared in the postseason with Kansas City in 1976, batting .333 in the 5-game ALCS against the New York Yankees, and wrote two books about his experiences with the Blue Jays, "From Worst to First" (1985) and "The Last Out" (1986).
Martinez, 59, also served as manager for Toronto in 2001 and part of the 2002 season, compiling a 100-115 record. In 2006, he managed the United States team in the inaugural World Baseball Classic, a 16-team international tournament that featured some of the best players in the world competing for their home countries.
Martinez' first experience with broadcasting came in 1982, when he covered the American League Championship Series, the World Series and the All-Star Game for the Telemedia Radio Network. His television broadcast career began in 1987 as a color commentator for the Toronto Blue Jays on The Sports Network. He began working with ESPN radio and television in 1992, a position he held through the 2002 season. In 1995, Martinez was awarded a Sports EMMY Award for his work on ESPN's coverage of Cal Ripken's 2,131st consecutive game.
A California native, Martinez attended Sacramento City College, Sacramento State University, and Central Missouri State University. He and his wife, Arlene, reside in Clearwater, FL. They have one son, Casey, a 47th round pick by Toronto in the 2000 First Year Player Draft.
Jim Palmer, Color Analyst
The greatest pitcher in Orioles history, Jim won 268 games in a 19-year career, all of it with Baltimore. He won three Cy Young Awards in a 4-year span ('73, '75, '76) and his 2.86 ERA is 4th on the all-time list among pitchers with 3,000 or more innings pitched.
Jim won 20 games in a season eight times, one of only six who pitched exclusively in the 20th century to accomplish the feat. He put that string together in a 9-year stretch, 1970-78, during which he went 176-97 with a 2.54 ERA.
In 1966, at age 20, he became the youngest pitcher ever to throw a World Series shutout, and in 1983 he became the only hurler to have won a World Series game in each of three decades. He was the winning pitcher in the Orioles' first four pennant-clinching games and was 8-3 in 17 post-season appearances. He was a six-time All-Star and was the AL's starting pitcher four times.
Jim was elected to baseball's Hall of Fame on the first ballot in January 1990. He is in his 15th season as an analyst on Orioles televised games, and has also worked for ABC-TV and ESPN.
Jim lives in Baltimore and Palm Beach, FL. He has two daughters, Jamie Michelle and Kelly Christina.
Amber Theoharis, Sideline Reporter
Amber Theoharis returns to the Orioles' broadcast team on MASN this season as a sideline reporter, providing live in-game coverage and player interviews for MASN's pre and post-game shows O's Xtra. In addition to her television duties with MASN, Amber is the sports talk radio host of "The A List with Amber Theoharis" on the Orioles' flagship radio station, WHFS-FM, and is also a columnist for the Baltimore-based newspaper Press Box, where her weekly editorial The Broadside gives a female's view on sports.
This fall, the Baltimore area native will enter her 5th season covering the Baltimore Ravens as host of MASN's post-game show Ravens Xtra.
Prior to joining MASN, Amber was the weekend sports anchor and reporter at FOX45 in Baltimore, and also hosted Ravens Wired, a weekly NFL magazine show. Throughout her career Amber has held on-air positions at WSYX-TV in Columbus, OH; WNBC-TV in New York City; New 12 Long Island and WBOC-TV in Salisbury MD. She began her career behind the scenes at WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C.
An Emmy-award-winning sports journalist who was recently named Maryland Sportscaster of the Year by The National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association, Amber is a proud graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park.
Gary Thorne, Play-by-Play
Gary Thorne is one of the most recognizable voices in sports broadcasting, having covered Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, the Olympics, NCAA basketball, football and hockey during his illustrious 40-year broadcasting career. This year marks his 23rd season of play by play coverage of MLB and his second on Orioles' MASN broadcasts.
Thorne has broadcast seven World Series and eight All-Star Games for MLB International TV and 12 NHL seasons, including Stanley Cup playoffs and finals for ABC/ESPN. He broadcast New York Mets games on radio and TV for 13 seasons, including the 1986 World Series. This season is his 18th year of MLB coverage on ESPN and his second year broadcasting Orioles games on MASN.
Thorne has covered three Olympics with CBS and NBC and has received three Emmys, two for his work with Mets TV and one for his work broadcasting New Jersey Devils hockey.
Thorne's first appearance on ESPN was in July 1988 for the inaugural Triple-A All-Star Game. He served as the original host and moderator in 1988 for "The Sports Reporters," the network's Sunday morning roundtable program.
In 1989, Thorne served as the voice of the Chicago White Sox on WFLD-TV and was a back up play-by-play announcer (behind Al Michaels) on ABC's Thursday night MLB telecasts. From 1990 to 1993 he called two primary MLB games per week. Thorne also served as an on-the-field reporter for the World Series and covered the World Series Trophy presentation for ABC.
Thorne has also done play-by-play on SportsChannel America's National Hockey League telecasts (1988-92) and New Jersey Devils telecasts on SportsChannel New York (1987-92). Prior to that, he was the play-by-play commentator and director of broadcasting for the Maine Guides (1984), a Triple-A ball club which he co-owned from 1984-88. He also covered University of Maine hockey games for WBGW-AM and WABI-TV and radio from 1977-86.
Thorne is a 1970 graduate of the University of Maine with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business. He graduated from the University of Maine School of Law in 1973 and received a doctorate in law in 1976 from the Georgetown University Law Center. He is a former assistant district attorney in Bangor, Maine, member of the Army JAG Corps and was admitted to the Bar of the United States Supreme Court in March 1977.
Dave Johnson, Color Analyst
Former major league pitcher and Baltimore native Dave Johnson will serve as co-host of the Orioles' pre- and post-game shows on WHFS-FM, as well as serving as a color analyst on MASN's coverage.
Johnson spent all or parts of five seasons in the majors, including three seasons with the Orioles, 1989-91. In his second week with the O's, he earned American League "Player of the Week" honors with a pair of complete-game victories in early August. After helping the '89 "Why Not?" club stay in the pennant race to the final weekend of the season, Johnson led the 1990 Orioles with 13 wins and O's starters with a 4.10 ERA, while finishing second on the staff in starts and innings pitched. He went 21-24 with a 4.84 ERA and 7 complete games in 66 appearances for the Orioles.
After graduating from Overlea High School in eastern Baltimore County, Johnson drove a tractor-trailer for several years before enrolling at Baltimore Community College, leading the school to the 1982 Junior College World Series. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by Pittsburgh in 1982 and made his big league debut with the Pirates in 1987. He finished his playing career in 1993 with Detroit after compiling a 22-25 record and a 5.11 ERA.
His first experience in broadcasting came in 1996, when he served as color analyst for Home Team Sports' production of the 16-to-18 year old Babe Ruth World Series. He also spent two years as a post-game analyst for Comcast SportsNet before joining the Orioles' flagship stations last year.
Dave also currently serves as the co-host of The Tom Davis Show live on ESPN-1300 and MASN each Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. He currently runs Dave Johnson's Baseball Academy, providing baseball instruction to individuals, groups and summer camps. He lives in Kingsville, MD with his wife, Tera. Their oldest son, Steven, is a pitcher in the Los Angeles Dodgers' organization, and their youngest, Daniel, is a senior at Perry Hall High School.
