Ryan James Lefebvre (; born February 12, 1971) is an American sportscaster, best known 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

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 ...

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

since 1999. In 2008, he became the primary announcer for Royals' television broadcasts on Bally Sports Kansas City. Lefebvre also provides play-by-play on the Royals Radio Network to give longtime Royals announcer Denny Matthews days off. Since the 2012 season, he has called most games. Lefebvre was named Most Valuable Player for the

Minnesota Golden Gophers The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college athletics, college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 21 (9 men's, 12 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and com ...

in 1993, and made first-team All Big Ten in 1991 and 1993 as an outfielder. In 1992, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Falmouth Commodores The Falmouth Commodores are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Falmouth, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Commodores play their home games at Arnie All ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

and was named a league all-star. Lefebvre spent one season in the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

minor league system with the Watertown Indians of the

New York–Penn League The New York–Penn League (NYPL) was a Minor League Baseball league that operated in the northeastern United States from 1939 to 2020. Classified as a Class A Short Season league, its season started in June, after major-league teams signed th ...

. Lefebvre had also broadcast TV and cable for the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

from 1995 to 1998. He is the son of former

player and manager Jim Lefebvre. In early 2006, Lefebvre made public his struggle with depressive illness. Lefebvre also wrote a book detailing his experiences, titled ''The Shame of Me: One Man's Journey to Depression and Back''. Ryan Lefebvre has spoken about the importance of his Catholic faith in overcoming depression and gaining a renewed perspective on life.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lefebvre, Ryan 1971 births Living people American Roman Catholics American sports announcers Falmouth Commodores players Kansas City Royals announcers Major League Baseball broadcasters Minnesota Golden Gophers baseball players Minnesota Twins announcers Sportspeople from Los Angeles