John Joseph Block (born March 1, 1978) is a radio and TV play-by-play announcer who calls games for the Pittsburgh Pirates on AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh and

KDKA-FM KDKA-FM (93.7 MHz, "93.7 The Fan") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to serve Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. through licensee Audacy License, LLC and broadcasts a sports radio format Format may refer t ...

, joining the team in 2016 after 4 years with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Broadcasting career

Block works with Pirates play-by-play announcer Greg Brown and color analysts

Michael McKenry Michael Charles McKenry (born March 4, 1985), nicknamed "The Fort", is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Colorado Rockies, and St. Louis Cardinals. High schoo ...

Bob Walk Robert Vernon Walk (born November 26, 1956), nicknamed "The Whirly Bird", is an American former professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies (), Atlanta Braves (–), and Pittsburgh Pirate ...

and

John Wehner John Paul Wehner (pronounced "Way-ner") (born June 29, 1967) is an American former utility player in Major League Baseball (MLB) and a current broadcaster for the Pittsburgh Pirates. His nickname is "Rock". Career A Pittsburgh native and graduate ...

to complete the Pirates five-person broadcast team. Block previously worked with veteran broadcaster and 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), ...

catcher Bob Uecker. He called minor league games for the

Great Falls White Sox Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

Jacksonville Suns The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. They are located in Jacksonville, Florida, and are named for shrimp caught in the area. The team pla ...

Billings Mustangs The Billings Mustangs are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. They are located in Billings, Montana, and have played their home games at Dehler ...

, and select games for the final two seasons of the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

. Block served as a post-game host for the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

on the radio. He was the radio studio host and backup announcer for the

New Orleans Hornets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

and handled play-by-play for various regional networks for college football and basketball before the Brewers hired him. On January 30, 201
he was hired to serve as play-by-play announcer for the Pittsburgh Pirates
replacing

Tim Neverett Timothy Joseph Neverett (born March 19, 1966) is an American sportscaster who currently works as a television and radio play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously worked as a play-by-play a ...

who left to become the radio play-by-play voice for the

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 eigh ...

. Neverett replaced Dave O'Brien who switched over to TV for the Red Sox after

Don Orsillo Don Orsillo (born December 16, 1968) is the play-by-play announcer for the San Diego Padres on Bally Sports San Diego and for the MLB on TBS. Orsillo was the television voice of the Boston Red Sox on NESN from 2001 to 2015. He was then hired b ...

left the team to join the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

Personal life

Block grew up in

Roseville, Michigan Roseville is a city in Macomb County in the U.S. state of Michigan, and is a part of the Metro Detroit area. The population was 47,299 at the 2010 census. Until 1958, Roseville was a part of Erin Township. History The first permanent post ...

. He then went to Chippewa Valley High School in Clinton Twp, MI. He graduated from Michigan State University of 1999 and resided on the east side of

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

with his wife, Bethany, when he was with the Brewers from 2012–2015. His wife is from the Pittsburgh area and they will reside in the Pittsburgh area for the upcoming season. Also an avid Softball player Joe once played for the Ashers Market 1996 Championship team in nearby Mt Clemens, once lacing a game altering triple off of the defending champ Yankees team. Possibly most known for High School classmate Zach Lange coming to one of Paul Opalewski's epic bashes and in hot pursuit shouting out the now infamous line "Which one's Joe"?

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20131008055009/http://joeblock.com/bio.html * http://www.linkedin.com/in/j0ebl0ck * http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20111223&content_id=26230806&c_id=mil * http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/team/broadcasters.jsp?c_id=mil * http://m.pirates.mlb.com/news/article/163247532/pirates-hire-broadcaster-joe-block 1978 births Living people American radio sports announcers College basketball announcers in the United States College football announcers Major League Baseball broadcasters Michigan State University alumni Milwaukee Brewers announcers Minor League Baseball broadcasters Montreal Expos announcers National Basketball Association broadcasters New Orleans Hornets announcers People from Roseville, Michigan Pittsburgh Pirates announcers {{US-radio-bio-stub

Broadcasting career

Personal life

See also

References

External links