BOSTON — Double-A Portland broadcaster Emma Tiedemann’s journey to Fenway Park began at age 15.
“My grandfather was a broadcaster. And he one day had an extra headset and I happened to be there scoring a women’s basketball game for him,” Tiedemann said Monday here at Fenway. “And the rest is history as they say.”
Tiedemann and her Portland broadcast partner Rylee Pay will be in the NESN booth for Monday’s Red Sox-Blue Jays game. They will work alongside play-by-play announcer Dave O’Brien and color analyst Kevin Youkilis. Tiedemann and Pay also will call three innings in the middle of the game together without O’Brien and Youkilis.
Tiedemann grew up in the Dallas area. Her grandfather Bill Mercer called Texas Rangers game.
“There are watch parties in Texas and Las Vegas,” Tiedemann said about the excitement of family and friends.
Pay attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
“In Portland we’ve got a pretty sizable (watch party). The guest list keeps growing,” Tiedemann said. “So there are watch parties across the country going on right now.”
Tiedemann’s youngest fan will be here though. Tiedemann gave birth to daughter Lucy earlier this year.
“Lucy actually will be in the ballpark. My husband is going to bring her,” Tiedemann said. “I don’t know if she’ll make it to the press box but she will be onsite, which will be very special.”
Tiedemann and Pay met with reporters here at Fenway Park at about 5:45 p.m.
“This is the first media scrum I’ve ever done,” Tiedemann said. “We’re usually on your side of things so this is a little bit weird. But it will all be normal again when we put on a headset and then weird again when we look out at Fenway Park.”
Tiedemann and Pay were here watching the first game of this doubleheader, which Toronto won 4-1.
“I think this has been the longest day of my life just waiting until 7:10,” Tiedemann said. “Especially watching the game beforehand, knowing we couldn’t call that one but we’re going to do this one. So it will all be worth it once we settle in with NESN.”
NESN contacted them a few weeks ago via email about the possibility of broadcasting the Red Sox’ women’s celebration game.
Tiedemann named Yankees broadcast legend Suzyn Waldman as an announcer who she always has admired. Waldman sent her a text today and asked Tiedemann to send pictures and keep her updated on the day.
”I’ve really honed in on baseball, in particular, spending a season in Palmer, Alaska with the Mat-Su Miners,” Tiedemann said. “I’ve loved the day in, day out grind of calling a game every single day, hopping on a bus, not knowing what the next day is going to bring but watching your team develop over months of the season.”
Pay has family in the Washington D.C. area. She mentioned Melanie Newman as an announcer she admires. Newman calls Orioles games.
“I think I’ve always felt the magic of baseball,” Pay said. “It was always something I clung to at an early age and knew I wanted to work in sports. Began interning pretty early in college in the Northwoods League (summer collegiate league) and then the Cape Cod Baseball League as well up here in New England. And you just feel that magic about it. Baseball was always the constant for me and play-by-play came after that having a lot of really awesome intern partners and broadcast partners that believed in me and told me to trust my baseball eyes and run with it from there.”
