Benjamin L. "Ben" Wagner (born August 7, 1980) is an American sportscaster. Since March 2018, he has worked as the

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 ...

radio announcer for the

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 ...

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), ...

(MLB).

Early life

Wagner was born in New Paris, Indiana. As a child, he was a fan of 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 ...

. He was hired for his first on-air role in November 1997, with WAWC-FM in

Syracuse, Indiana Syracuse is a town in Turkey Creek Township, Kosciusko County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 3,079 at the 2020 census. Syracuse is the location of Lake Syracuse and the nearby, larger Lake Wawasee, in addition to several othe ...

. Wagner attended

Indiana State University Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified among "D/PU: Doctor ...

, where he worked for WISU-FM calling both men's and women's college baseball games, and graduated in December 2003 with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in radio-TV/film. While attending the university, he met his wife, Megan.

Career

In 2004, Wagner began working as the play-by-play announcer and director of media and public relations for the Class-A

Lakewood BlueClaws The Jersey Shore BlueClaws (formerly Lakewood BlueClaws) are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. They are located in Lakewood, New Jersey, and are named for their locat ...

. In the offseason, he worked in the radio booth for the

University of Maryland Eastern Shore University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) is a public historically black land-grant research university in Princess Anne, Maryland. It is part of the University System of Maryland. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High ...

, calling the

Hawks Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. This subfamily ...

basketball games. On March 19, 2007, Wagner was hired as the play-by-play radio announcer for the Triple-A

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen ...

. He remained in that role with the Bisons until March 27, 2018, when it was announced that he would replace the retiring

Jerry Howarth Jerry Howarth (born March 12, 1946) is an American Canadian former sports commentator, best known as the radio play-by-play voice of the Toronto Blue Jays from 1981 through the 2017 season. Howarth had shared the play-by-play duties with his la ...

as the lead radio play-by-play announcer for the Bisons' parent club, the Toronto Blue Jays.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner, Ben 1980 births Living people American radio sports announcers College baseball announcers in the United States College basketball announcers in the United States Indiana State University alumni Major League Baseball broadcasters People from Elkhart County, Indiana Sportspeople from Indiana Toronto Blue Jays announcers