Better Know A Broadcaster: Dan Hasty
With baseball paused for the foreseeable future, Baseball America has decided to introduce you to some of the men and women who work as broadcasters for each club.
What Is Your Name?
Dan Hasty
Which Team Do You Work For?
West Michigan Whitecaps, where I started in 2015 after leaving the flagship radio station for the Detroit Tigers, Pistons, Red Wings and Lions—I served as pregame, halftime and postgame show host for two seasons from 2014-2015.
Which Other Baseball Teams Have You Broadcasted For?
Great Lakes Loons (Midwest League, 2007-2008), Wilson Tobs (Coastal Plain League, 2009), and Traverse City Beach Bums (Frontier League, 2011).
What Other Sports Have You Broadcasted?
I’ve done high school football and hockey, but my main secondary sport is basketball, which is ironic because I wasn’t really invested into basketball until 2017. In 2016, I picked up some high school hoops and created a demo. One year later, I was doing Division II college hoops play-by-play at Saginaw Valley State University and a year later in Division I at University of Detroit Mercy. I’m extremely grateful it’s gone as well as it has.
Who Is Your Favorite MLB Broadcaster Of All Time?
Former Detroit Tigers radio voice Ernie Harwell, which is poetic since I work for West Michigan—a Tigers affiliate. When I got cut from the varsity baseball team in 2002, I was crushed. Unbeknownst to me, my mom wrote to Ernie to explain the situation and that I had always been interested in play-by-play. A few weeks later, I was out getting our mail and in the stack was a latter addressed to me from Ernie. It is framed and one of my most valued possessions.
Where Is Your Favorite Road City?
In baseball, I have a few. Fort Wayne is a tremendous ballpark experience. Wisconsin and Lansing are immensely enjoyable as well.
What Is Your Career Highlight?
The first ones that come to mind was hosting an NFL pregame, halftime and postgame show for two seasons with the Detroit Lions, being a part of a Midwest League Championship team in my very first season and enjoying an expanding role with the Detroit Tigers—one that started with some fill-in work in spring training and now includes hosting the team’s official podcast, “Road to Detroit,” which can be found on all major platforms.
What Unseen Parts Of The Job Do You Feel People Should Know About?
The toughest thing is that you’re constantly away for long stretches at a time. Many times throughout the summer, even with as much fun as you’re having, you’ll start to miss your family more than you realize. On the flip side, it really makes you appreciate the time you’re lucky enough to get with them.
What’s Your Best Story From The Road?
Oh, man. Get comfy and please enjoy my tale of A Stranded Suitcase in South Bend.
We’re in South Bend, Ind. It’s Opening Day 2018. On every road trip we’ve ever gone on, we always go to the hotel first before the stadium. On this particular trip, we went to the stadium first. Our normal bus driver was unable to get us to South Bend, so we ended up with a substitute who got us to the ballpark a little late. it left no time to have dinner before the game, which we went on to lose, 1–0.
After the game, we arrived at our hotel around 9 p.m. Because I’ve never had to grab my luggage after a ballgame, I forgot that my suitcase was still on the bus. I simply went up to my room, started working on my prep for the following day and ordered delivery from a local pizza joint at around 2 a.m.
I realized that I never got my suitcase from underneath the bus, but I simply got some toiletries from the front desk and figured I could get the suitcase in the morning once everyone was awake. At 3:30 a.m., my hotel room phone started ringing. It was the South Bend Police Department asking me if I had lost a suitcase. It dawned on me right then and there that our substitute bus driver must have put all of the luggage in a pile on the curb once we got to the hotel.
Being at the front of the bus, I walked into the hotel before he started that process and never saw. Worst part was, he never took the suitcase that was sitting stranded or placed it back under the bus. Instead, he closed up the bus and drove away, leaving any unattended luggage (my suitcase) simply sitting on the sidewalk in front of the hotel.
Back to the phone call with South Bend police … The officer asked if I could meet him in the hotel lobby because my suitcase was recovered as part of a “robbery–stabbing investigation“ that occurred three blocks away from the hotel.
Once I met with police in the lobby, I checked the suitcase they had recovered. It was mine, and not a single thing was missing. The officers went on to tell me exactly how things played out.
As I assumed, our bus driver left my suitcase on the sidewalk in front of the hotel and drove away. About 20 minutes later, a homeless man saw the unattended bag and walked away with it. Once he got a few blocks from the hotel, he opened it up down a dark alley to see what valuables he could find. Unless he was a size 15 shoe, there weren’t any.
It was at this time that a young man delivering a food order just happened to walk by. Frustrated, the homeless man attempted to rob the young man in the alley. The young man was carrying a knife for protection. A struggle ensued, resulting in the young man stabbing the homeless man in the leg out of self-defense to free himself and call the police.
Once officers arrived, they noticed a suitcase not far from where the incident occurred. The police officer looked at the luggage tag and read “Dan Hasty“ … to which the young man replied “Dan Hasty? I delivered a pizza to his hotel room a few hours ago! I can tell you where he is!”
For as much as I love that story, something tells me if that suitcase could talk, the suitcase would tell it even better.
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