Vince Cotroneo is a radio play-by-play announcer for the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

. He signed a two-year contract with the A's on January 13, 2006 to fill a void in the broadcast booth left by the sudden death of longtime lead announcer

Bill King Wilbur "Bill" King (October 6, 1927 – October 18, 2005) was an American sports announcer. In 2016, the National Baseball Hall of Fame named King recipient of the 2017 Ford C. Frick Award, the highest honor for American baseball broadcasters. ...

. Number-two announcer

Ken Korach Kenneth Louis Korach (born January 30, 1952) is an American sports commentator for the Oakland Athletics and published author. Early life and education Korach was born in Los Angeles in 1952. He went on to attend San Diego State University ...

would slide into King's old number-one slot, with Cotroneo serving as the number-two man.

Biography

Vince Cotroneo was born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, and was raised in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

. He attended the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

, graduating in 1983 with a degree in Radio and Television. He is the father of up and coming play-by-play baseball announcer Dominic Cotroneo, the voice of Arizona State baseball and hockey.

Minor-League Broadcasting Timeline

1984: Worked for the Class A Lynchburg Mets (

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 league ...

organization – now defunct). 1985–1987: Announcer for the Class AA

El Paso Diablos "El Paso Diablos" refers to two different professional baseball teams based in El Paso, Texas, in the United States. The most recent Diablos were a member of the South Division of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, whi ...

(formerly

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

organization). 1988: Spent one season with the AAA

Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in Des Moines, Iowa, and are named for their Major League Baseball (MLB) affiliate. The ...

(

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

organization), where he was named the National Association's Minor League Announcer of the Year. 1989–1990: Broadcaster for the

Tucson Toros The Tucson Toros were a professional baseball team based in Tucson, Arizona, in the United States. The original Toros were a Triple-A minor league baseball team in the Pacific Coast League from 1969 to 1997, where they won the PCL Championship in ...

, at the time a Triple-A affiliate of the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

. It was during this stint in the Pacific Coast League that he would meet his future Oakland broadcast partner,

, at the time working for the Las Vegas Stars.

Major-League Broadcasting Timeline

Cotroneo was hired by the Houston Astros in 1991, and remained with them through 1997, calling the action alongside Hall-of-Famer

Milo Hamilton Leland Milo Hamilton (September 2, 1927 – September 17, 2015) was an American sportscaster, best known for calling play-by-play for seven different Major League Baseball teams from 1953 to 2015. He received the Ford C. Frick Award from th ...

. In 1998, he moved upstate to Arlington, where he called the action for the Texas Rangers for six years, teaming with

Eric Nadel Eric Nadel (born May 16, 1951) is a sports announcer on radio broadcasts for the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers baseball organization. In 2014, he was honored with the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting excellence by the National Basebal ...

on the radio side. After the 2003 season, Rangers president Michael Cramer elected not to renew Cotroneo's contract. After spending two seasons out of baseball, Cotroneo submitted a sample of his work to A's Vice President of Broadcasting and Communications,

Ken Pries Ken or KEN may refer to: Entertainment * ''Ken'' (album), a 2017 album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer. * ''Ken'' (film), 1964 Japanese film. * ''Ken'' (magazine), a large-format political magazine. * Ken Masters, a main character in t ...

. In December, Pries interviewed Cotroneo, and the following month, made the decision to hire him.

Bibliography

''2006 Oakland Athletics Media Guide''. Pg. 409. Produced by the Oakland Athletics Public Relations Department.

References

External links

Athletics Nation: Meet Vince Cotroneo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cotroneo, Vince American radio sports announcers Houston Astros announcers Living people Major League Baseball broadcasters Minor League Baseball broadcasters Oakland Athletics announcers Sportspeople from Brooklyn Sportspeople from Orlando, Florida Texas Rangers (baseball) announcers University of Central Florida alumni Year of birth missing (living people)