Broadcaster Jim Day heads to spring training today to get his baseball announcing skills into shape.
The Fox Sports Ohio host was added to the Reds Radio Network team in December, after Jim Kelch's contract was not renewed. Day says he'll be doing Reds radio games daily from Arizona.
"I told them, 'Give me all the reps (repetitions) you can. I need it," he says. "They (Reds fans) will be sick of me by Opening Day."
Pitchers and catchers report Tuesday. Their first workout is Wednesday. The Reds Cactus League opening day is Friday, Feb. 23, in Goodyear against the Cleveland Indians. The game will air at 3:05 p.m. on WLW-AM (700).
Up to 18 of the 31 broadcasts will be heard on the Reds flagship station, depending on conflicts with University of Cincinnati and Xavier University tournament games. At least nine games will air on Fox Sports WSAI-AM (1360), and four games will be streamed on Reds.com (March 15-18).
Day will keep busy once Opening Day arrives March 29 against the Washington Nationals. He will do radio games with Marty Brennaman or Jeff Brantley this season, and TV games with Chris Welsh or Brantley. When he's not doing play-by-play, he'll resume his feature reporting role from the stands that he's done for 14 years on FSO's Reds telecasts. He'll do 60 games in the stands, mostly on the road, he says.
"I'm the only one working every day," he says.
The Columbus native has 29 years experience in sports broadcasting. The Otterbein College graduate worked as a WSYX-TV sports anchor-reporter in his home town, and at WFTS-TV in Tampa, before joining FSO.
Kelch was let go after eight seasons as the ball club prepares for the eventual retirement of Brennaman, 75, who enters his 45th season this year. He told the Enquirer in November: "They simply told me that with Marty nearing the finish line that they were going to go in another direction in setting up the person who was going to follow him, and I was not that person."
