(April 5, 2017) You never know who’s paying attention.
Dan Vaughan has happily spent the past three summers broadcasting baseball for the Gary SouthShore RailCats. Little did he know that, during that time, executives from another team within the league had their eye on him. When the Kansas City T-Bones had a sudden opening, they asked Vaughan if he wanted to move West. Now, Vaughan is the Director of Broadcasting and Media Relations for the American Association League team.
The RailCats have hired another STAA member, Jared Shlensky, to be Vaughn’s replacement.
Vaughan calls the move a crazy thing that happened out of the blue. “I was not looking, to be honest, except for steps up. But this was a classic case of being on someone’s radar over the years, and then things all came together one-two-three for this move.”
The new address puts Vaughn closer to his permanent home in Dallas. However, he says that alone was not enough to justify relocation. “I did not even pursue Cleburne in our league, or Grand Prairie — both shorter drives from Dallas.”
Vaughan’s resume is not typical of minor league baseball voices. He’s been broadcasting since 1992, including affiliated stops in Charleston, WV, Jacksonville, FL and Burlington, IA. Since 2012, he’s also broadcast each season in the Australian Baseball League.
One thing Vaughan credits with keeping his career alive in an industry that trends younger is his mastery of social media. “STAA gave me some great advice in 2012 about social media and the need to grasp that,” he says. “I worked hard to do just that and did some good stuff overseas and tried to improve the RailCats in that department. That will be a huge part of this new opportunity, along with the normal play-by-play which is the meat of the work.
“I am very excited for this,” Vaughan grins.
(Visit Dan’s STAA Talent Page).