During the Covid summer of 2020, Andrew Mild started live-streaming local Babe Ruth League baseball games so homebound fans could follow their teams. Fans have since returned to ballparks but Mild continues serving fans who can’t make it to ballparks. Now, though, he’s doing it professionally. An STAA member, Mild is the new voice of the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the Atlantic League.
“It came about after I saw the note about the Blue Crabs opening in an STAA Job Leads+ email. I emailed the organization. After a few interviews I was offered the job,” Mild grins.
He adds, “The Atlantic League is one of the best independent leagues and the Blue Crabs have some pretty amazing fans.”
Strong resume
Though he graduated just last year from Butler University, Mild has already built an impressive baseball resume. In addition to three years of broadcasting Crown Point Babe Ruth games, Mild spent the summer of 2021 as the No. 2 voice of the Windy City Thunderbolts and last summer as the head of media for the inaugural season of the Lake County Corn Dogs.
Through all of his experiences, streaming the Babe Ruth games in 2020 remains an especially fond memory for Mild. “I had done games at CPBR beforehand and that’s where my baseball journey began. When COVID hit, I knew the broadcasts were going to be needed more than ever. I wanted to provide them for family members who couldn’t attend in person because of the disease. In a way, I wanted to help protect people from having to go out in public and go against the protocols being established to prevent any further spread.”
Always improving
Mild joined STAA in November upon the recommendation of Big Ten Network broadcaster and fellow STAA member Connor Onion. “I wanted to figure out how I could be better,” he recalls. “Little tips and tricks from fellow broadcasters I would have never thought of [have been helpful]. Broadcasting is not the easiest profession. There are so many things that could happen. Seeing how people deal with issues that I might run across makes me breath a little easier.”
Mild’s STAA membership has helped him address several job market questions. “What should my reel look like? What’s the difference between a good inning and a great inning? It can be hard to differentiate those sorts of things, but also finding sort of a formula to a good reel, and calls you should use, helped me organize everything and provide it to the Blue Crabs.”
“I know there are going to be some long days at the park, but I love baseball so much it doesn’t affect me,” Mild smiles.