Longtime Baltimore Orioles play-by-play announcer Gary Thorne will join the Cronkite School as a visiting professor this summer.
Gary Thorne, a lead play-by-play announcer for the Baltimore Orioles on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, will be joining Arizona State University as a visiting professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
The Emmy award-winning announcer will be teaching a one-of-a-kind, online play-by-play course to students enrolled in the Cronkite School’s sports journalism program from May 20 – July 18. Several students will be given the rare opportunity to announce games for the Cape Cod Baseball League, while others will apply new skills in their internships across the country.
The Cronkite School is the first in the nation to offer a sports journalism degree at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Students enrolled in the programs take courses in reporting and writing, data, multimedia, photography and strategic communications, among others.
“Gary Thorne is the quintessential play-by-play announcer,” Cronkite Dean Christopher Callahan said. “His outstanding work covering the Orioles for MASN, as well as his work on national baseball and hockey broadcasts, makes him the ideal professional to guide this unique experience for our students.”
Throne is heading into his 13th year calling Baltimore Orioles games and has worked in broadcast baseball for nearly 34 years, including World Series and MLB All-Star games. He has taught at the University of Maine and the University of Maine Law School.
MASN, the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, is a regional sports network owned by the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals. It televises every available game for both teams across a seven-state region from Pennsylvania to North Carolina on 30 cable and fiber optic providers. MASN also is available nationally via DirecTV and Dish Network.
The Cronkite School is one of the nation’s premier professional journalism programs and home to Arizona PBS. Sports journalism students have the opportunity to cover the Cactus League and other major league sports events and issues from news bureaus in Phoenix and Los Angeles and benefit from professional partnerships with the Pac-12 Networks, FOX Sports, ESPN, MLB.com, among others.