Hazel Mae Barker (born April 7, 1970), known professionally as Hazel Mae, is a Filipino-Canadian sportscaster. She was the former lead

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄ� ...

for the New England Sports Network's

SportsDesk New England Sports Network, popularly known as NESN , is an American regional sports cable and satellite television network owned by a joint venture of Fenway Sports Group (which owns a controlling 80% interest, and is the owner of Boston Red ...

news program and most recently the anchor on

MLB Network The MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox C ...

. Mae worked for Sportsnet until 2004, when she left to work for NESN SportsDesk. Mae returned on November 14, 2011. Mae grew up in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

and began her sports broadcasting career hosting a sports update show on campus at

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

. Hazel Mae worked as a Field Level Reporter for TBS MLB Tuesday starting in 2022.

Broadcast career

Rogers Sportsnet

Hazel Mae anchored the morning edition of '' Sportsnetnews'' on

Rogers Sportsnet Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globemedia then was r ...

, one of Canada’s all-sports networks. In addition to her duties on Sportsnetnews, Mae was the host of JZone, a weekly magazine show dedicated to all things

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

, also owned by Rogers. Mae began her tenure at

providing sports updates to

radio affiliates throughout

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

. In 2002, she and two fellow Sportsnet co-workers posed in lingerie in Urban Male Magazine.

NESN

Mae subsequently moved to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, where she became the lead

for NESN's ''

'' from December, 2004, to June, 2008. She also hosted ''

The Ultimate Red Sox Show ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', NESN’s Red Sox week-in-review program and '' The Buzz'', the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

top-ten in-season show. On June 2, 2008, NESN announced Mae would be leaving the network at the end of the month and she made her final Sportsdesk broadcast on June 28. During her tenure at NESN, her popularity was reflected by her nomination to be considered for the first president of

Red Sox Nation Red Sox Nation is a term used for fans of the Boston Red Sox. The phrase was coined by ''Boston Globe'' feature writer Nathan Cobb in an October 20, 1986, article about split allegiances among fans in Connecticut during the 1986 World Series between ...

. The position eventually went to

Jerry Remy Gerald Peter Remy (November 8, 1952 – October 30, 2021) was an American professional baseball player and sports broadcaster. Remy played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a second baseman for ten seasons—three with the California Angels (1 ...

MLB Network

In August 2008, it was announced that Mae would become a host/reporter on

. Since 2009, she has appeared on ''Hot Stove'', ''

MLB Tonight ''MLB Tonight'' is the signature program that airs on MLB Network and is simulcast on MLB Network Radio. The show offers complete coverage of all Major League Baseball games from 6pm ET – 1am ET during the regular season, and gives news from al ...

'', ''30 Clubs in 30 Days'', and ''

Quick Pitch This is an alphabetical list of selected unofficial and specialized terms, phrases, and other jargon used in baseball, along with their definitions, including illustrative examples for many entries. ...

'' for the channel, as well as hosting the re-airing of Mark Buehrle’s perfect game. In 2011, she became host of a new program, ''The Rundown'', along with Matt Yaloff.

Return to Sportsnet

On September 19, 2011 it was announced that Hazel would leave MLB Network and return to Sportsnet. It was announced on-air during the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

game on November 3 that she debuted on November 14, as anchor of the 6pm edition of ''Sportsnet Connected''. Mae anchored the 6pm edition of the show until July 1, 2015, when the 6pm edition was replaced by '' Tim & Sid''. She currently works on Sportsnet broadcasts of Toronto Blue Jays games as their field-level reporter.

Personal life

She is married to former

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 (AL), ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

Kevin Barker.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mae, Hazel 1970 births Living people Television anchors from Boston Canadian expatriate journalists in the United States Canadian television sportscasters Filipino emigrants to Canada Journalists from Toronto Sports in Boston York University alumni MLB Network personalities Canadian women television journalists Major League Baseball broadcasters American women television journalists 21st-century American women