Better Know A Broadcaster: Garett Mansfield

What Is Your Name?

Garett Mansfield

Which Team Do You Work For?

Altoona Curve (Double-A, Pittsburgh Pirates; 2018-present)

Which Other Baseball Teams Have You Broadcasted For?

Beloit Snappers (2017), El Paso Chihuahuas (2016), Chugiak-Eagle River Chinooks (Alaska Baseball League; 2014-15)

What Other Sports Have You Broadcasted?

Football, basketball, volleyball, soccer, hockey

Who Is Your Favorite MLB Broadcaster Of All Time?

All Time: Tom Hamilton. I grew up in Northwest Ohio and my house never had cable or internet so all I had was the radio. I listened to the Indians every night and grew closer to the game because of that experience. I don’t know if anyone calls a better walk-off home run.

Right now: Jim Powell. To be honest, I’m not the type that listens to many broadcasters. That helps me with authenticity to my own broadcast. I might tune in to an inning or two of a day game, regardless of who is playing, while I work on game notes. A couple of years ago, someone gave me a recommendation to listen to a Braves game and it’s something that I still do whenever I can. Jim is so smooth and he is “the guy” on one of the biggest radio networks in baseball.

Where Is Your Favorite Road City?

It’s a toss-up between Richmond, Va. and Portland, Maine. The annual trip to Portland is like the summer vacation that MiLB employees don’t get to take. The historic Old Port district has a lot of shops and unique places to eat. The ballpark is really charming and there is a great donut/coffee shop within walking distance. As for Richmond, the food is incredible. Whether I’m in the mood for BBQ, a large breakfast or just need a Cookout fix, Richmond always delivers and then some.

What Is Your Career Highlight?

Aug. 31, 2016. I was working for El Paso and the Chihuahuas trimmed their magic number for the division title to one after a win over Las Vegas. After the final out, our production team put the Albuquerque-Salt Lake game on the video board. If Salt Lake won, the Chihuahuas clinched the division.

I went about my normal postgame routine and ran the box scores to both clubhouses. By the time I got to the home side, the clubhouse was completely empty. I walked up the tunnel toward the dugout and found the entire team near the dugout and a couple hundred fans still in the stands watching the game on the videoboard. A few moments went by before Salt Lake finished off the win to seal the division for El Paso. The party was on.

During the clubhouse portion of the celebration, I was trying to wrangle up a few players for interviews with the local media. However, I got dragged into the chaos (probably because my clothes were still dry) and got drenched with who-knows-what.

Just beyond midnight, a few straggling staff members and I finally decided to head home for the night. Before we could leave the ballpark, we noticed a handful of players were still partying on the field and were throwing soft-toss to each other in shallow left field, launching baseballs deep into the El Paso night. They saw us watching them and shouted for us to join them. We all obliged and even took a few hacks ourselves.

That was right at the tail-end of my first season in the Minors and it is one I’ll never forget. That team went on to win the PCL championship on the road in Oklahoma City.

What Unseen Parts Of The Job Do You Feel People Should Know About?

Most MiLB broadcasters are doing the game notes. It’s not “busy work,” It’s recording history.

I take a lot of pride in my notes and put a lot of time and effort into them because not only do I rely on them during a game, but the other team’s broadcaster and the reporters do, too. I’ve even found that some of that info will find its way into the Pirates media guide the following year. Hopefully that is a reflection that Altoona has been doing it right for quite some time.

A wide set of skills is important with these jobs and most MiLB broadcasters are “one-man-bands”. I perform a variety of “skilled tasks” such as creating graphics, editing video, managing the website, writing press releases, interviewing players and coaches.

There are also several administrative responsibilities that I also do like coordinating travel, scheduling interviews, staffing the press box, submitting roster moves and providing content for the game program. And that’s just scratching the surface without mentioning the offseason preparations with other departments. The more things you’re able to do, the more ways you’re able to help the organization and the more valuable you are to them.

The biggest unseen part of the job for me is the time commitment. I often work 14-hour days on a normal gameday and am often one of the first to the ballpark and one of the last to leave. I travel with the team all season so I’m away from my wife a lot. I couldn’t ask her to be more supportive than she already is and she often watches the game in the booth while we’re home.

What’s Your Best Story From The Road?

The way the travel is set up in our league, we visit New Hampshire and Portland on the same road trip once per season. During my first season with the Curve, I was the No. 2 and Trey Wilson (now with Richmond) was the No. 1. The 2018 trip was in August and he decided to take me along for the eight-day road trip. We left Altoona after a night game and traveled all night to Manchester, N.H. In typical minor league fashion, our rooms weren’t ready when we arrived.

After we got in a glorified nap, we spent the off day in Boston. I had never been to Boston, or any of the states on the trip for that matter, but there I was. Like most of my travels, I wouldn’t have been there if it wasn’t for baseball. We walked parts of the Freedom Trail and even did a tour at Fenway. Keep in mind that we walked the same route the entire day. When we got back to the hotel, Trey checked his step counter and reported he took 15,000 steps that day. When I checked my step counter, it read over 20,000 steps. Trey is 6-foot-4 and I’m 5-foot-6.

After I got a good lay of the land in Manchester and Portland the year before, I decided I would venture out a bit further when the team went back in 2019. I rented a car in Manchester to do some sight-seeing during the off day. The rental car company had a vehicle that they needed to get to Canada so they asked if I’d be OK driving that to Portland, since that was the next stage of the trip. I said sure.

I didn’t realize it would be a giant Chevy Suburban. So I had this huge, FBI-agent-like rig for a few days until we got to Portland, where I returned the rental. Fast-forward about a month later to a three-game series at Richmond. The Flying Squirrels were in Portland a week after the Curve so Trey and I were comparing our visits. I told him about the Suburban they gave me in Manchester and he asked if it had Canadian plates on it. As oddly specific as his question was, I told him it certainly did. Then he pulled out his phone to show me a picture of the car he rented in Portland. It was the same car. What are the odds?