Benjamin L. Wagner (born August 7, 1980) is an American sportscaster. As of 2024 he works as a

play-by-play In Broadcasting of sports events, sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as a sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real time (media), real-time live commentary of a game or event, traditionally delivered in the present t ...

announcer for the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

, after having performed the same role 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) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

from 2018 to 2023.

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 a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

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

Indiana State University Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana, United States. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified ...

, 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 Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

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. In the offseason, he worked in the radio booth for the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, calling the

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

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

Sportsnet Sportsnet is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language Discretionary service, discretionary sports broadcasting, sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture betw ...

on November 28, 2023 in a move that was unpopular with Blue Jays fans. He never got to work with a

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...

who was a former player during his six years, half of which he was never allowed to travel with the ballclub for away games. Critical of Sportsnet's decision, Howarth said, "That was embarrassing for me to see that happen to Ben and the audience across Canada." Wagner was announced as the newest on-air talent with the

on both television and radio three months later on February 23, 2024."Orioles announce 2024 broadcast team," Baltimore Orioles press release, Friday, February 23, 2024.
Retrieved February 23, 2024.

References

External links

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