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Jenny Cavnar leaves Rockies for A’s to become first female primary play-by-play voice in MLB history

Jenny Cavnar is making Major League Baseball history — again.

Cavnar, a longtime member of the Rockies’ TV broadcast team, is leaving the organization to become the play-by-play announcer for the Oakland Athletics. The move makes the Smoky Hill High School and CSU alum the first female primary play-by-play voice in MLB history.

Prior to Tuesday’s announcement by NBC Sports California, Cavnar spent 12 years with the Rockies. During that time, she served on the broadcast in various capacities while emerging as a trailblazer for female sportscasters.

“I’m really excited, but it’s bittersweet, too,” Cavnar said. “Colorado is home and the Rockies gave me an amazing decade. The Rockies gave me amazing opportunities and I’m so grateful. I’m so grateful to (producer) Alison Vigil for pushing me in this direction. And I’m thankful to all of the guys (on the broadcast team) — (Ryan Spilborghs), Cory (Sullivan), Jeff (Huson) and Drew (Goodman) — for giving me their help in making this an attainable dream.

“Now, the fact that I’m really going to go do it is really an exciting next chapter for me. It’s a pretty big one.”

In 2015, Cavnar became the first woman to do radio color commentary for a National League game when she was in the KOA 850 booth for a Rockies game against the Diamondbacks in Phoenix.

Three years later, she became the first woman since 1993 to do play-by-play for a big-league TV broadcast when she called a Rockies-Padres game at Coors Field. Then in 2021, Cavnar became the first woman to be named Colorado Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sports Media Association.

After interviewing with the A’s and auditioning for them during winter meetings, Cavnar will start next week in Oakland, but will keep her home in Colorado. Her husband, Steve Spurgen, is a Denver firefighter and the couple has two young kids.

“Most of my schedule will be the road games,” Cavnar said. “I will do 95 games.”

Cavnar, the daughter of Colorado High School Baseball Hall of Fame coach Steve Cavnar, has seen her national profile rise over the past few years while also taking on more play-by-play jobs outside of baseball. She routinely hosts and contributes to shows on MLB Network Radio, and also did play-by-play for men’s and women’s college basketball on FS1 and Pac 12 Networks.

Prior to her work with the Rockies, Cavnar spent five seasons as a reporter/anchor for the Padres and about five years as a sideline reporter/show contributor covering San Diego State athletics.

The A’s will play their 2024 season at the Oakland Coliseum before a planned relocation to Las Vegas. Before that move becomes official in 2028, when a stadium in Las Vegas is expected to be ready, the franchise’s location will be in limbo for the 2025-27 seasons.

For now, Cavnar isn’t worried about all those moving pieces. She’s “just excited for the opportunity to call games.”

“There is, obviously, a lot of things happening off the field with the franchise that are so out of everyone’s control,” Cavnar said. “I’m just excited to dive into the team that they have on the field and the stories that are there to be told.”

Goodman, the Rockies’ longtime TV play-by-play announcer, said he’s “thrilled” for Cavnar’s new opportunity.

“She has worked her tail off at her craft, and most importantly she is a tremendous person and teammate,” Goodman said. “I’m really happy for her and her whole family.”

Rockies manager Bud Black said he’s confident Cavnar will hit the ground running in Oakland after watching her morph from an analyst into a bonafide play-by-play announcer.

“I worked with Jenny in 2007 when she was first hired by the Padres, and I have seen her grow into an excellent on-air talent,” Black said. “I am so looking forward to watching her call A’s games.”

With Cavnar’s departure, the Rockies’ broadcast team has a major hole to fill. Spring training begins this week with pitchers and catchers reporting to Salt River Fields in Arizona, but the club has still yet to announce its TV broadcast plans for 2024 after AT&T SportsNet was shuttered at the end of last year. An announcement on the Rockies’ TV plans for this year is expected to come soon.

Denver Post reporter Patrick Saunders contributed to this report.

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