Better Know A Broadcaster: Joe Weil

Baseball America has decided to introduce you to some of the men and women who work as broadcasters in baseball.

What Is Your Name?

Joe Weil

Which Team Do You Work For?

Trenton Thunder

Which Other Baseball Teams Have You Broadcasted For?

Winston-Salem Dash (high Class A, White Sox) and the Falmouth Commodores (Cape Cod League)

What Other Sports Have You Broadcasted?

Basketball, soccer, football and softball

Who Is Your Favorite MLB Broadcaster Of All Time?

My favorite broadcaster is Jon Miller. I wanted to become a baseball broadcaster after watching him on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball as a kid. His voice and humor made every game so much fun to watch.

Where Is Your Favorite Road City?

Myrtle Beach is the easy choice for the Carolina League, but I happen to think Kinston, N.C., is awesome, too. Mother Earth Lodge in Kinston is my favorite road hotel because it has mini golf, and they leave out delicious cookies, popcorn and lemonade in the lobby. Plus, it has a retro look and very cool interior designs in each room. On top of that, I’m a big fan of the restaurants in the city.

What Is Your Career Highlight?

My career highlight came at the end of last season. On our final road trip, Dash manager Justin Jirschele told me to come down to the clubhouse for a team meeting. During the meeting, he talked to the team about how everyone has to work hard to get through a baseball season. Then, he said, ” … and there’s someone I want to highlight here who has consistently put their head down and worked,” before stopping and pointing at me, saying, “and that’s the 2019 Carolina League Broadcaster of the Year.”

To be surprised with that great news (which was voted upon by my amazing peers), all while having the whole team there to congratulate me, meant the world to me. I loved being with that team every day, and I hope each player and coach makes the majors.

What made it even more special was that Brian Boesch, my predecessor at the Dash and a two-time winner of this award, was working as the Carolina League’s Media Coordinator that season and was responsible for relaying the news to Jirschele (who he had as a player with the Dash in 2014 & 2015). Long story short, I’ve consistently been lucky to be surrounded by great people, especially those two.

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

Just about everyone has touched on all the hats you have to wear when you are the broadcaster of a team. During my time with the Dash, I was in charge of social media, public relations, marketing agreements and email marketing. I also had to be mascot for certain events, pull tarp, do public speaking, etc.

But what I also think falls under this category is how important it is for us to develop relationships with the players and coaches. The thing I miss the most right now is the simple pleasure of finishing all my media relations work and going down to batting practice to talk to the guys.

When you’re at BP, you need to be respectful, but it gives you an opportunity to chat with the players and gain all sorts of insight that are important for filling a three-hour broadcast. I’d say above almost everything else, establishing a rapport with the team is the most essential part of being a broadcaster.

What’s Your Best Story From The Road?

I wrote about this at the beginning of the quarantine, but I was incredibly fortunate to have Omar Vizquel as my manager in 2018. When I sent him the story, he loved it but wished I included his favorite memory. So here it is:

On May 28, the Dash were playing a day game against the Potomac Nationals at Pfitzner Stadium. And for the first and only time that year, Omar got ejected. It was in the first inning, so he essentially had the whole game to sit out. Anyways, in the fifth inning, a visitor comes barging into the press box at Pfitzner Stadium. It’s Omar, of course … smiling as he is holding a plate of funnel cake.

Mind you, the press box there was not big, so there wasn’t a whole lot of room for him. Regardless, he stood behind my broadcast partner Jake Eisenberg and I while hooting and hollering for a couple of innings as we were on the air.

And as I was hoping to grit my way through the sixth without laughing, Omar began trying to feed me his funnel cake. And I lost it: