Fireflies play-by-play man Kevin Fitzgerald wears many hats

In his brief broadcasting career, Kevin Fitzgerald has called Syracuse football and basketball games (as a student at the school), the Cape Cod League (summer college baseball), two minor league seasons in West Virginia and Indiana, and even a lacrosse game matching the nation’s two No. 1- and No. 2-ranked teams.

That lacrosse contest, Syracuse-Virginia in the Orange’s Carrier Dome, drew 15,000 fans – or, Fitzgerald noted wryly, twice the capacity for brand-new Spirit Communications Park, where he is the play-by-play radio voice for the Columbia Fireflies’ inaugural season.

So while the 24-year-old is … well, only 24, he’s already comfortable in that role over a season that runs 140 games (70 home, 70 away, all aired on WGCV, 620 AM and 105.1 FM) and will take him to Greenville, Charleston and other cities and towns that call the South Atlantic League home.

Minor league baseball, after a 12-year hiatus, is all but brand new to Columbia. For Fitzgerald, it’s a spring and summer of business as usual.

“I just always knew I wanted to do play-by-play,” he said.

Of course, with the Fireflies, as with almost every minor league team, there’s so much more involved. His title, director of broadcasting and media relations, sounds high-level, but truthfully, Fitzgerald’s “staff” is largely him and on-air partner Brendan Glasheen, the team’s assistant director for broadcasting/media relations.

Before games, “I’m at the (batting) cage grabbing stories from the guys, asking about ‘hey, I noticed you’re opening your stance more,’ talking to the coaches,” he said. “From 2 p.m.-4 p.m., I’ll get those stories, grab the lineups and build the broadcast for the game.”

Also pregame, he’ll compile and print statistics, distribute game notes in the press box, handle reporters’ interview requests – and, in the event of rain, even help pull the field tarp. Fitzgerald needs a lot of hooks to hang all those hats.

“Then at 7:05 (p.m., when home games start), that’s the easy part of the job,” he said. “The fun part, using all that content and research – that comes naturally.”

Fitzgerald’s route to Columbia came much the same way. He first heard about what became his current job two years ago while working for the Fort Wayne (Ind.) Tincaps and team media relations director John Nolan, a friend from Syracuse.

“He said, ‘Hey, would you like to be our assistant this year – and by the way, keep in mind the ownership group is moving a new Mets affiliate to Columbia, S.C.,’ ” Fitzgerald recalled. “He said, ‘If all goes well here, there could be a potential opening there.’”

Fitzgerald laughed. “I grew up a Mets fan, so that sounded good to me.”

Again, those Syracuse roots didn’t hurt, either.. His alma mater produced such on-air talent as ESPN’s Mike Tirico, Sean McDonough and Carter Blackburn and NBC baseball icon Bob Costas. “They all got started at WAER, the student station (as did Fitzgerald), so I sort of learned from the best.”

The Fireflies opened their season last week in Charleston, where Fitzgerald called two tough walk-off losses before Columbia rang up a no-hitter, using three pitchers. “The first no-hitter I’ve called or even witnessed first-hand,” he said. “That was a very, very special night.”

The Fireflies then moved on to Rome, Ga., before returning for this weekend’s home-opening series vs. the Greenville Drive – the team, by the way, that was the Capital City Bombers before moving in 2004.

A minor league radio booth is “a place to tell stories,” Fitzgerald said. “We’ve got 25 players, three coaches, a strength coach, trainer; our role is to get their story out there.” So often he’ll talk about players from Colorado and South America, about a player born in Ireland (P.J. Conlon). He’ll talk about third-baseman David Thompson, who also played football at Miami.

The Fireflies booth, Fitzgerald admits, is also “a place for me to develop my career.” Minor leagues are a way station to the majors for the best – be they players or play-by-play announcers – but as with those on the field, Fitzgerald at 24 has plenty of time to get there.

The Fireflies have plans in the works to televise their home games (60 of the 70 are all but definite) via Time Warner Cable, and the stadium has an in-house, state-of-the-art facility with five cameras. As with radio, Fitzgerald and Glasheen will share PBP and analyst duties, yet another opportunity to groom themselves for bigger things.

“We’ll be the rare Class A team with TV and radio,” Fitzgerald said.

For the short term, the Fireflies’ season (and Fitzgerald’s) is a chance to watch a team build a local following, and players build toward their futures. The Fireflies’ voice is learning, too: “how major league teams track their players, scout them, where they send players next,” Fitzgerald said, “how teams develop talent, how the organization runs itself.”

With those lessons also will come memories, such as last weekend’s no-hitter. “That was sort of redemption for the guys out of the bullpen, who struggled on opening night,” he said. Fitzgerald paused, and laughed.

“It was fun, and that’s what it’s about,” he said. “Sports are supposed to be fun” – in this case, 140 nights’ worth.

This story was originally published April 15, 2016 at 4:09 PM with the headline "Fireflies play-by-play man Kevin Fitzgerald wears many hats."