PORTLAND, Maine — Everyone involved in professional baseball has a pre-game routine, from players warming up hours before first pitch to team staff making sure the concession stands are ready for fans to the broadcast team preparing for that night's call.
Portland Sea Dogs radio announcers Emma Tiedemann and Rylee Pay will have to adjust their routines Monday night because they'll be on the NESN broadcast for the Boston Red Sox game. It's part of the club's Women's Celebration night, which falls on National Women's Equality Day.
The organization has had recent success in developing talent on the field at Hadlock Field in recent years, and now the broadcast team will make its own major league debut.
That call-up looked a little different, though.
“It just started with an email. NESN reached out to Rylee and I. Originally, we thought they just wanted to interview some more players," Sea Dogs' play-by-play broadcaster Emma Tiedemann said. "[We were] asked if it was something we’d be interested in, and we said, 'Of course! We will be there tomorrow, if you want us.'”
It's another chapter in the duo's historic career in professional baseball.
Tiedemann has been calling Sea Dogs games for five seasons, joining the small number women broadcasters in all of professional baseball. She said there are just three women broadcasters in the minor leagues, which has more than 100 teams.
When Rylee Pay joined the team last season, the duo became just the second pair of all-women announcers in professional baseball.
“[Tiedemann] was a big reason why I wanted to take this job—and the opportunity move from Las Vegas to Maine," Pay said. “It’s been such a really special experience to learn from somebody that sounds like you, a female voice, who has also already navigated all the things you want to accomplish as well.”
When the Red Sox take on the Blue Jays Monday night in Game 2 of their double-header, Tiedemann and Pay will be in the booth with NESN announcers Dave O'Brien and former Red Sox and Sea Dogs star player Kevin Youkilis.
Then, during the middle three innings, the pair from Portland will take over play-by-play like you'd hear during any other Sea Dogs game.
“Everyone’s dream is to call a major league game, but Fenway has a special magic to it," Tiedemann added. "And to call a game for an organization that I’ve spent the last five years of my life, seeing these players progress through, and to now call a game with them achieving their dreams while I’m achieving a little bit of mine, I think is going to make it really special that we all kind of made it together."
The two admit there will definitely be some nerves Monday night, but they're glad to go through the experience together. It will also be nice, they said, to know Sea Dogs' employees and other loyal supporters will be watching from Maine.
Tiedemann and Pay are used to telling the stories of the Sea Dogs players during games, but they've also been the subject of countless interviews and articles as they continue to encourage the next generation of girls and young women to pursue their dreams in whatever career they want to pursue.
“I think it's just that visual of seeing a woman do it and knowing that if there's somebody that is doing it that you can do it too," Pay said.
Tiedemann said since coming to Portland, she's seen plenty of fans bring their daughters to the broadcast booth to show them, "Look, you can do this, too!"
"At the very end of the day, it [Monday's broadcast] hopefully shows little girls that they can do whatever they want in the world, and it doesn’t matter who has that job now. If they want it in the future, it can be theirs," she added.
As far as their day-to-day job, the duo has had quite the season to observe from their broadcast booth. From top-prospects moving through the Red Sox organization with stops in Portland to multiple winning streaks, the two have noticed a different vibe surrounding the team this season.
“A lot of emphasis this season, led by the players, has been winning, which is saying a lot in a league that is really all about developmental and individual development as well," Tiedemann said.
They've also seen the players bond off the field with a goal of building their chemistry, while winning games in Portland, before they move up the ranks and look to win a World Series in Boston.
The Sea Dogs snapped a three-game losing streak Thursday night with a 3-1 win over the Somerset Patriots. The two squads will close out their series this weekend with games Friday and Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.
On Friday, the team re-brands as the Maine Lobster Bakes.
Don't worry, though, Tiedemann and Pay won't miss a second of action in Portland. The Sea Dogs are off Monday before a two-week road trip.
The regular season ends Sept. 15.