Gary F. Thorne (born June 9, 1948) is an American
sportscaster. He was the lead
play-by-play
In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...
announcer for
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...
games on
MASN from 2007 to 2020. He has also worked for
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
and
ABC, including
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...
,
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...
,
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...
, and the
Frozen Four hockey tournament. He also works for
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...
(WWE), where he is the narrator for the ''
WrestleMania Rewind'' program on its
WWE Network streaming video service.
Biography
Background
After graduating from the
University of Maine
The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a public land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the flagship university of the University of Maine System. It is classifie ...
in 1970,
University of Maine School of Law in 1973, and
Georgetown Law School
The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and t ...
in 1976 (while paying tuition as a sportscaster/
disc jockey
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobil ...
), Thorne became
Penobscot County
Penobscot County is a county in the U.S. state of Maine, named for the Penobscot Nation on Wabanakik. As of the 2020 census, the population was 152,199. Its county seat is Bangor. The county was established on February 15, 1816, from part ...
assistant
district attorney
In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a ...
and joined the bar of the
U.S. Supreme Court. Thorne eventually found courtrooms dull compared to broadcasting.
Thorne's son-in-law, Damian DiGiulian, is a former
assistant coach
A sports coach is a person coaching in sport, involved in the direction, instruction and training of a sports team or athlete.
History
The original sense of the word ''coach'' is that of a horse-drawn carriage, deriving ultimately from the Hung ...
for the
University of Vermont
The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is among the oldest universities in the Unite ...
hockey team; Maine (Thorne's
alma mater) and Vermont are rivals in the
Hockey East
The Hockey East Association, also known as Hockey East, is a college ice hockey conference which operates entirely in New England. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference.
Hockey East came into existence in 1984 fo ...
conference of
Division I hockey. DiGiulian is now a color commentator for
ESPNU
ESPNU is an American multinational digital cable and satellite sports television channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Disney Media Networks division of The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and the He ...
's college hockey broadcasts.
Broadcasting career
Baseball
In , Thorne began a four-year stint as a radio announcer for the
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major lea ...
. He was present in the booth at
Shea Stadium, along with
Bob Murphy Robert, Rob, Bob or Bobby Murphy may refer to:
Sports Ice hockey
* Robert Ronald Murphy or Ron Murphy (1933–2014), Canadian ice hockey player
* Bob Murphy (ice hockey) (born 1951), Canadian retired professional ice hockey player
* Rob Murphy (ic ...
, for the sixth game of the
1986 World Series between the
Mets and
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
. Thorne was one of the first to criticize the Red Sox for leaving ill-fated Red Sox first baseman
Bill Buckner
William Joseph Buckner (December 14, 1949 – May 27, 2019) was an American first baseman and left fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for five teams from through , most notably the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red ...
in the 10th inning of the game over
Dave Stapleton.
Thorne served as the TV play-by-play announcer for the
Mid-Atlantic Sports Network's
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...
games from
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...
to
2019. He is known for his signature calls of "Goodbye! Home run!" and "Mercy!" Thorne closed his Orioles broadcasts with "Adieu" if the Orioles lost or "Adieu-Adieu" if they won.
The Orioles removed Thorne from the broadcast booth in the midst of a contract disagreement during the
2020 season, with the team invoking the right not to pick up his contract through the schedule changes brought about by
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...
. Thorne was let go by MASN entirely on January 23, 2021.
From July 16–18, 2021, Thorne filled in for
Gary Cohen
Gary Cohen (born ) is an American sportscaster, best known as a radio and television play-by-play announcer for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball.
Cohen currently calls Mets broadcasts for SNY and WPIX and Seton Hall basketbal ...
on play-by-play for the
SNY broadcast of the
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major lea ...
' series against the
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...
.
On September 23, 2022, Thorne filled in for
Wayne Randazzo on radio for a
WCBS broadcast of game between the
Mets and the
Athletics
Athletics may refer to:
Sports
* Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking
** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport
* Athletics (physical culture), competi ...
.
National work
In , Thorne was named a backup play-by-play announcer (behind
Al Michaels
Alan Richard Michaels (born November 12, 1944) is an American television sportscaster currently working as the play-by-play announcer for '' Thursday Night Football'' on Prime Video and in an emeritus role for NBC Sports. He has worked on n ...
and replacing
Gary Bender
Gary Nedrow Bender (born September 1, 1940) is a retired American sportscaster and 2008 inductee into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame. He officially retired, April 13, 2011, from Fox Sports Arizona after 18 years calling the NBA's Phoenix Sun ...
in this particular capacity) for
ABC's
coverage
Coverage may refer to:
Filmmaking
* Coverage (lens), the size of the image a lens can produce
* Camera coverage, the amount of footage shot and different camera setups used in filming a scene
* Script coverage, a short summary of a script, writ ...
of ''
Thursday Night Baseball
''Thursday Night Baseball'' is the de facto branding used for live game telecasts of Major League Baseball on Thursday nights.
History ''USA Network Thursday Night Baseball'' (1979–1983)
From 1979 to 1983, the USA Network broadcast Major Lea ...
'' telecasts with
Joe Morgan. Thorne also served as a field reporter for the
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the Worl ...
and covered the
World Series Trophy
The Commissioner's Trophy is a trophy presented each year by the Commissioner of Baseball to Major League Baseball’s (MLB) World Series champion. Recent trophy designs contain flags representing each team in North America's top two league ...
presentation for ABC. Like his ABC Sports colleagues,
Al Michaels
Alan Richard Michaels (born November 12, 1944) is an American television sportscaster currently working as the play-by-play announcer for '' Thursday Night Football'' on Prime Video and in an emeritus role for NBC Sports. He has worked on n ...
,
Jim Palmer,
Tim McCarver, and Joe Morgan, Thorne was at
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...
's
Candlestick Park when the
Loma Prieta earthquake hit on October 17, .
In , Thorne called the first two games of the
American League Division Series
In Major League Baseball, the American League Division Series (ALDS) determines which two teams from the American League will advance to the American League Championship Series. The Division Series consists of two best-of-five series, featuring ea ...
between the
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...
and
Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion ...
on
NBC/
The Baseball Network with
Tommy Hutton.
From until , Thorne served as the play-by-play man for the
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the Worl ...
produced by
MLB International, airing in over 200 countries around the world, as well as on the
Armerican Forces Network. During this time frame, Thorne worked alongside
Ken Singleton
Kenneth Wayne Singleton (born June 10, 1947) is an American former professional baseball player and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder and designated hitter from to , most prominently as a member ...
. Likewise, it was Thorne who was on the call for MLB International when
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major lea ...
third baseman
Robin Ventura hit a "
Grand Slam Single
The Grand Slam Single was a baseball play that ended Game 5 of the 1999 National League Championship Series, contested between the rival New York Mets and Atlanta Braves, on October 17, 1999, at Shea Stadium in New York City. Mets player Robin Ven ...
" to end Game 5 of the
1999 National League Championship Series against the
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in ...
after 15 innings.
In , Thorne was named the lead play-by-play announcer for
ESPN Radio's ''
Sunday Night Baseball
''Sunday Night Baseball'' is an exclusive weekly telecast of a Major League Baseball game that airs Sunday nights at 7:00 p.m. EDT on ESPN during the regular season.
The games are preceded most weeks by the studio show '' Baseball Tonight: ...
'' coverage. He teamed with color commentator
Dave Campbell to call a majority of the network's ''Sunday Night'' games, although occasionally other commitments would cause him to miss a broadcast, with other ESPN announcers (such as
Dan Shulman
Daniel Shulman is a Canadian sportscaster with Sportsnet as well as the American network ESPN.
Shulman serves as a play-by-play announcer for select Toronto Blue Jays telecasts on Sportsnet and during 2018 and 2020 he hosted the baseball-th ...
, who preceded Thorne as the primary Sunday night voice) filling in for him that week. Thorne has also worked on one of ESPN Radio's postseason
Division Series crews each year, and (as previously mentioned) called the
2008 All-Star Game for non-U.S. viewers via MLB International television.
Thorne officially replaced
Dave O'Brien on the MLB International broadcasts of the
All-Star Game,
ALCS
The American League Championship Series (ALCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the two winners of the American ...
(even-numbered years),
NLCS
The National League Championship Series (NLCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the winners of the two National ...
(odd-numbered years), and the
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the Worl ...
from
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
-
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...
alongside Rick Sutcliffe. Thorne and Sutcliffe were replaced in
2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...
by the #2
Fox broadcast team of
Matt Vasgersian and
John Smoltz.
Thorne's voice is heard in
Pepsi
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961.
History
Pepsi wa ...
commercials featuring
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...
'
Johnny Damon, the
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...
'
Joe Mauer
Joseph Patrick Mauer (born April 19, 1983) is an American former professional baseball catcher and first baseman, who spent his entire 15-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Minnesota Twins. A six-time All-Star, Mauer is the onl ...
and MLB umpire
Laz Díaz
Lazaro Antonio Díaz Sr. (born March 29, 1963) is an American umpire in Major League Baseball wearing number 63, a reference to his year of birth. He joined the American League's full-time staff in 1999, and has worked throughout both major leagu ...
. In addition, he announces various games of the
College World Series every year during the month of June. He also is a play-by-play TV announcer for the
Little League World Series
The Little League World Series is an annual baseball tournament for children—typically boys—aged 10 to 12 years old, held in the Eastern United States. Originally called the National Little League Tournament, it was later renamed for the Wor ...
on ESPN during the month of August. Thorne is also the play-by-play announcer of the video games ''
Major League Baseball 2K9
''Major League Baseball 2K9'', or ''MLB 2K9'' for short, is an MLB-licensed baseball simulation video game published by 2K Sports. The game was developed for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable and Wii. ...
'', ''
Major League Baseball 2K10
''Major League Baseball 2K10'' or, in short, ''MLB 2K10'', is an MLB licensed baseball simulation video game published by 2K Sports. ''MLB 2K10'' was available for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, ...
'', ''
Major League Baseball 2K11
''Major League Baseball 2K11'' or, in short, ''MLB 2K11'', is an MLB licensed baseball simulation video game published by 2K Sports. ''MLB 2K11'' is available for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Ni ...
'', ''
Major League Baseball 2K12'', and ''
Major League Baseball 2K13''.
From 2011 until 2016, Thorne served as
master of ceremonies for the
National Baseball Hall of Fame's induction ceremonies.
Hockey
In 1977, Thorne called hockey games for
Augusta, Maine radio and television stations. Thorne rose to prominence in Maine broadcasting, when he began calling play-by-play for the University of Maine's hockey games for Bangor
radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
WABI. As the voice of the Black Bears, he quickly became one of the most recognizable radio voices in the state.
Thorne was asked to call Maine hockey games during winter months until 1987 (simultaneously with his work for the Mets in the summer from 1985) when the lure of doing play-by-play in the NHL became too strong for Thorne to ignore. From
1987–
1993, Thorne served as the play-by-play voice of the
New Jersey Devils of the
NHL (before being replaced by
Mike Emrick) on
SportsChannel New York. Thorne missed several Mets games in the
1988 season due to
Devils
A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in many and various cultures and religious traditions.
Devil or Devils may also refer to:
* Satan
* Devil in Christianity
* Demon
* Folk devil
Art, entertainment, and media
Film and ...
playoff games. He was replaced after that Mets season by
Gary Cohen
Gary Cohen (born ) is an American sportscaster, best known as a radio and television play-by-play announcer for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball.
Cohen currently calls Mets broadcasts for SNY and WPIX and Seton Hall basketbal ...
. Thorne spent the following season with the
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...
.
In March 2014, Thorne called several high school games in the Class AA
Minnesota State High School League boys hockey tournament for local independent TV station
KSTC-TV. When interviewed by
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
, Thorne expressed his enjoyment for being asked to announce. "It’s a great event, and I thought it would be great fun. I think that’s the word I used most often in the last three days, fun, because that’s how I think of this. It’s a wonderful event. It’s great to see the kids play. It’s great hockey. The talent level is extremely high. It’s an event with a capital E. And it’s great to be a part of it."
During the
2016–17 NHL season
The 2016–17 NHL season was the 100th season of operation (99th season of play) of the National Hockey League. Thirty teams were competing in an 82-game regular season from October 12, 2016, to April 9, 2017. The 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs began ...
, Thorne called 8 NHL away games for the
Los Angeles Kings, filling in for
Bob Miller, who abstained from all of the Kings' longer travels east after missing the latter part of the
2015–16 season due to health issues. (In addition to Thorne,
Ralph Strangis
Ralph Strangis is a 7-time Emmy Award winning NHL play-by-play broadcaster who began calling NHL hockey in 1990-91 with the Minnesota North Stars, working alongside Hall of Fame broadcaster Al Shaver. Strangis relocated to Dallas with the Stars ...
was also used as a substitute, and
Chris Cuthbert and
Jiggs McDonald are scheduled to substitute later in the season.)
National work
From
1992 to
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...
, Thorne called
NHL play-by-play for games on
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
,
ESPN2, and (beginning 1993 and again in 1999)
ABC, including many of the latter-round playoff games. He was almost always paired with color commentator
Bill Clement during these
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
-produced telecasts.
NBC enlisted Thorne to call the
hockey tournament with
John Davidson during the
2002 Winter Olympics
The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internationa ...
in
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...
. The duo were the commentators on EA Sports' ''
NHL 07
''NHL 07'' is an ice hockey video game, which was released in 2006. The game improved the series' gameplay with more realistic features, such as stickhandling and a wider variety of controller schemes. As NHL 07 was released on the Xbox 360, this ...
'' (
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generati ...
only), ''
NHL 08'' through ''
NHL 14
''NHL 14'' is an ice hockey video game developed by EA Canada and published by EA Sports. It is the 23rd installment of the ''NHL'' series and was released in September 2013. However, the game was released on September 7, 2013 for subscribers o ...
'' video games, as well as
ESPN Videogames' ''
ESPN NHL 2K5
''ESPN NHL 2K5'' is an ice hockey simulation made by ESPN Videogames (now 2K Games) and published on the Xbox and PlayStation 2 consoles. ESPN's Gary Thorne on play-by-play commentary and Bill Clement on color commentary calls all the action. Thi ...
''. The pair called the
Stanley Cup Finals
The Stanley Cup Finals in ice hockey (also known as the Stanley Cup Final among various media, french: Finale de la Coupe Stanley) is the National Hockey League's (NHL) championship series to determine the winner of the Stanley Cup, North America ...
for ESPN from
1993–
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...
, two of which from
2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...
to
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...
,
John Davidson joined them as a third man in the booth for big games.
In
2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...
, when ESPN dropped out of the bidding for NHL hockey games, Thorne began doing play-by-play for
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
and
college football on ESPN. He also picked up duties as the lead play-by-play announcer for the ''
Frozen Four'', again paired with color commentator Bill Clement and
Darren Pang
Darren Robert Pang (born February 17, 1964) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played his professional career with the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (1984–85 and 1987–89).
He is currently the lead ...
. The duo called every Stanley Cup win from through , except for ; Mike Emrick and John Davidson were the broadcast team for the clinching game of that Finals series (which was aired on
Fox). Davidson joins the pair for both Stanley Cup wins from through . He called the end of two long-running Stanley Cup droughts, in
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...
for the
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its ho ...
and
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
for the
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference, and are ...
.
Thorne was named to call the play-by-play of
Team USA's games in the
2010 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships for the
NHL Network alongside Dave Starman. However, shortly before the tournament started, he was replaced by
JP Dellacamera
John Paul "JP" Dellacamera (born January 11, 1952) is an American play-by-play sportscaster primarily for Major League Soccer with the Philadelphia Union, as well as major soccer tournaments and ice hockey.
Commentary career
Soccer
In the 19 ...
for personal reasons. He returned to NHL Network in 2011 to call Team USA's games in the
2011 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.
When ESPN/ABC regained the rights to the NHL for the
2021-22 season, many fans had pushed ESPN to bring back Thorne for their coverage. Thorne himself had expressed his interest in making a return to the network to call some of their games. In an interview with
Richard Deitsch of
The Athletic, he said “I’d love to talk to them about it.” However, when the network released their entire roster in the summer, Thorne was left off the roster, angering many fans.
Football
Thorne was the announcer for ABC's
coverage
Coverage may refer to:
Filmmaking
* Coverage (lens), the size of the image a lens can produce
* Camera coverage, the amount of footage shot and different camera setups used in filming a scene
* Script coverage, a short summary of a script, writ ...
of the
Capital One Bowl for
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...
and
2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...
.
In 2011, Thorne joined
CBS Sports Network
CBS Sports Network (a.k.a. CBSSN) is an American pay television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network (later College Sports Television also known ...
as a play-by-play man for college football and has been paired with
Randy Cross as color analyst.
PBA Bowling
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
replaced
Rob Stone the remaining (unrecorded) events for the
2011–12 season by Thorne, including
Pete Weber's record-breaking fifth U.S. Open championship.
WWE
On February 25, 2014, the
WWE Network debuted ''
WrestleMania Rewind'', a behind-the-scenes look at one of the matches that took place at the
WWE's annual
WrestleMania event. While
Pat Summerall
George Allen "Pat" Summerall (May 10, 1930 – April 16, 2013) was an American football player and television sportscaster who worked for CBS, Fox, and ESPN. In addition to football, he announced major golf and tennis events. Summerall ann ...
provided narration for the first episode, Thorne provides the narration for every episode beginning with episode #2 due to Summerall's death.
Controversies
Bobby Valentine
In September 2002, Thorne reportedly talked of dissension in the Mets clubhouse between manager
Bobby Valentine and the team's players. "There are a lot of guys down there (in the dugout) who don't like him," a
''New York Daily News'' columnist quotes Thorne as having said. "They don't like playing for him. And if there has ever been a Teflon manager, he's it. Nothing seems to stick. He's never responsible for anything." Valentine and the Mets parted ways after the 2002 season.
Curt Schilling
In April 2007, in reference to
Curt Schilling's famed bloody sock during the
2004 MLB playoffs, Thorne said during a broadcast of a
Red Sox–
Orioles game that Boston backup catcher
Doug Mirabelli admitted it was a hoax. "It was painted," Thorne said. "Doug Mirabelli confessed up to it after. It was all for PR." Thorne later said that Mirabelli had only been joking. "He said one thing, and I heard something else. I reported what I heard and what I honestly felt was said," Thorne said. "Having talked with him today, there's no doubt in my mind that's not what he said, that's not what he meant. He explained that it was in the context of the sarcasm and the jabbing that goes on in the clubhouse. "I took it as something serious, and it wasn't," Thorne said. Mirabelli confirmed the story, saying, "He knows that I believe 100 percent that I thought the sock had blood on it. It never crossed my mind that there wasn't blood on that sock. If he misinterpreted something said inside the clubhouse, it's unfortunate." Mirabelli said he spoke with Thorne in the Boston clubhouse about six months after the 2004 playoffs. "As he was walking away he asked, 'How about the bloody sock?' I said, 'Yeah, we got a lot of publicity out of that,' and that was all he can recall me saying," Mirabelli said. "He said he assumed what I meant was that the sock was fake and that it was just a publicity stunt. That by no means is what I meant. There was never a doubt in mind there was blood on the sock."
Career timeline
*1977–1986:
University of Maine
The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a public land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the flagship university of the University of Maine System. It is classifie ...
Hockey Play-by-Play
[MASN Online]
*1985–1988:
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major lea ...
Radio Play-by-Play
*1985–1993:
New Jersey Devils TV Play-by-Play
*1988–1992:
SportsChannel America's Hockey Play-by-Play
*1989:
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...
Play-by-Play
*1994–2002: New York Mets TV Play-by-Play
*2007–2020:
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...
Lead Play-by-Play on
MASN
*2007–2014: EA NHL head announcer in game.
*2009 ''
MLB 2K9'' head announcer in game
*2010 ''
MLB 2K10'' head announcer in game
*2011: ''
MLB 2K11'' head announcer in game
*2012: ''
MLB 2K12'' head announcer in game
*2013: ''
MLB 2K13'' head announcer in game
*2016:
Los Angeles Kings fill-in play-by-play announcer with Fox Sports West
*2017:
World Baseball Classic
The World Baseball Classic (WBC) is an international baseball tournament sanctioned from 2006 to 2013 by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and after 2013 by World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) in partnership with Major Leagu ...
Pool D Announcer
*2021:
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major lea ...
fill-in play by play announcer with
SportsNet New York
SportsNet New York (SNY) is an American regional sports network owned by Sterling Entertainment Enterprises, LLC, itself a joint venture between the Fred Wilpon (which owns a controlling 65% interest) Sterling Equities, Charter Communications ...
(SNY) and
WPIX
WPIX (channel 11) is a television station in New York City. Owned by Mission Broadcasting, it is operated under a local marketing agreement (LMA) by Nexstar Media Group, making it a ''de facto'' owned-and-operated station and flagship of ...
.
*2022:
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major lea ...
fill-in radio play by play announcer with Wayne Randazzo on
WCBS (AM)
At ESPN/ABC
*1989: ''
Major League Baseball on ABC'' Play-by-Play
*1990–1993, 1996–2000, 2003–2009: ''
ESPN Major League Baseball
''MLB on ESPN'' is an American presentation of live Major League Baseball (MLB) games on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN+. ESPN's MLB coverage debuted on April 9, 1990 with three Opening Day telecasts. ''ESPN Major League Baseball'' is guaranteed to rem ...
'' Play-by-Play
*1992–2004: ''
ESPN National Hockey Night'' Lead Play-by-Play
*1993–1994, 2000–2004: ''
NHL on ABC
The ''NHL on ABC'' is an American presentation of National Hockey League (NHL) games produced by ESPN on ABC (formerly known as ABC Sports), and televised on ABC in the United States.
The network first broadcast NHL games during the 1993 Stan ...
'' Lead Play-by-Play
*2004–2006: ''
ESPN College Football on ABC
''ESPN College Football on ABC'' is the branding used for broadcasts of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football games that are produced by ESPN, and televised on ABC in the Un ...
'' Play-by-Play
*2008–2009: ''
Major League Baseball on ESPN Radio'' Lead Play-by-Play.
References
External links
Gary Thorne's ESPN Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorne, Gary
1948 births
Living people
American radio sports announcers
American television sports announcers
Baltimore Orioles announcers
Bowling broadcasters
Chicago White Sox announcers
College basketball announcers in the United States
College football announcers
College hockey announcers in the United States
Georgetown University Law Center alumni
Los Angeles Kings announcers
Major League Baseball broadcasters
Mid-Atlantic Sports Network
National Football League announcers
National Hockey League broadcasters
New Jersey Devils announcers
New York Mets announcers
Olympic Games broadcasters
People from Bangor, Maine
Philadelphia Eagles announcers
University of Maine alumni
University of Maine School of Law alumni