On a Sunday evening in the heart of Oklahoma, the New Orleans Zephyrs are coming up to bat against the Oklahoma City Dodgers. The heat index is 105°, the skies are clear and the heat is relentless, but the fans are happy and the players are ready for a Sunday ballgame.In the broadcast booth is Alex Freedman, St. Louis native and 2002 graduate of Clayton High School, setting up for game three of a four-game series against the two teams. Coming into the game, the Dodgers sit at 58-42, and the Zephyrs sit at 46-53.
As first pitch nears at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, Freedman reflects on his time growing up in St. Louis.
“I can remember from a very young age the [Cardinals] games always being on TV, or the radio, or going to the games,” said Freedman.
Yet, the exposure and impact the Cardinals had on him as a child had little effect in deciding his future.
While baseball was his sport of choice growing up, Freedman spent his time at Northwestern University focusing on other interests.
Freedman's first interest was reporting. Growing up, KSDK NewsChannel 5 was always on at home, in part thanks to his mother Ava Ehrlich, Senior Executive Content Producer of the news station.However, he ultimately decided against news gathering as a job.
Despite calling various sports for fun, announcing games was never a realistic career choice until closer to graduation.
“I worked part-time for a TV production company, and a couple people who worked there – one of which had done play-by-play earlier in his career, the other had worked in major league front offices, like in the marketing side – were aware of what I did, and heard my stuff, and thought at least I had a decent idea of what I was doing.
“They said, ‘There’s a lot of minor league baseball teams out there. You should try doing it professionally.’”
And so, Freedman followed their advice. With the start of the 2007 season, he found himself working with the High Desert Mavericks, then the Single-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. Freedman called High Desert Mavericks games until the end of the 2010 season, following an ownership change that eliminated his job.
Freedman spent the 2011 season away from broadcasting, focusing on determining his next step.
His personal off-season did not last long, however. Prior to the 2012 season, Freedman accepted a position with the Oklahoma City Redhawks as the Director of Broadcasting and Media Relations. Freedman's duties consist of releasing general game information, roster information, game notes, game recaps, and interacting with the players and coaching staff on a regular basis.
Freedman replaced J.P. Shadrick, who took a job with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Near the end of the 2014 season, the former owners of the RedHawks, Mandalay Sports Entertainment, announced plans to sell the team. On September 17, 2014, The Los Angeles Dodgers became the sixth major league affiliation in the Oklahoma City's franchise history.
Initially known as the 89ers, Oklahoma City's minor league play dates back to 1962. For ten years until 1972, the 89ers major league affiliation were the Houston Colt .45s, and again with the Houston Astros from 2011 to 2014. Previous affiliations include the Cleveland Indians from 1973 to 1975, the Philadelphia Phillies from 1976 to 1982, and the Texas Rangers from 1982 to 2010.
RedHawks owner Peter Guber acquired half of the team with the Dodgers acquisition, and as Freedman says, the changes on the field and the changes behind the scenes are two very different things.
"Everyone who's with the players ... they're all employees of the major league parent club, and we're not. We're usually owned by a completely separate company and enter what's called a Player Development Contract."
Major league teams sign two-year or four-year Player Development Contract agreements with minor league teams to keep or change team affiliations. For the Dodgers, their shortest agreement came with the Houston Astros in 2011, lasting only three seasons. Until their sale after the 2014 season, the Oklahoma City RedHawks carried baseball tradition for the state despite the major league affiliation.
And with its sale came a richer future.
Still, the love of the game did not change for Freedman with Freedman’s new highly touted team. The travel schedule is still sometimes grueling, with early flights, late-night bus rides and constant movement filling up Freedman's schedule. Couple that with the player and coach interaction, something Freedman describes as, "Not doing my job if I don't [interact]". Freedman admits as romantic as the notion is of working in baseball, and despite his love for the sport, it is still beyond a full-time job.
Just like with the behind-the-scenes happenings with the Dodgers, the new face of the team has brought new challenges and terrific memories.
Photos: Tour Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.
In fact, Freedman's most memorable call of his career comes from the end of last season.
September 1, 2015.
The Oklahoma City Dodgers faced the Iowa Cubs in a doubleheader during the last week of the regular season. Coming into the first game, the Dodgers lead the Cubs by three and a half games. The division title was on the line, and both teams came ready to claim it.
"The the first game ends up going 19 innings, and it's very clear as this game is going on ... that whoever lost that game probably was not going to recover for the remainder of the regular season [that rest of the week]. And I felt like the drama's building and building, that whoever won this game was probably going to win the division.
"And then the Dodgers win it on a walk-off homerun at the bottom of the 19th inning."
Without a doubt, Freedman said, the walk-off homerun against the Iowa Cubs that night was the biggest play he's been witness to in his time as a broadcaster.
"Not only just was it a homerun that ended the game in the 19th inning, but it was so important in terms of the playoff implications."
The Dodgers beat the Cubs 6-4 in game one of the doubleheader, and beat the Cubs again in game two, 3-1.
Just one day later, the Oklahoma City Dodgers won the title of the Pacific Coast League American Division.
With big plays comes big responsibility, especially with game-winning calls.
"You have to strike that balance of getting excited at the right time. You don't want to ever get too high or too low, although of course you have to get excited at the right time. It's really just appropriately based on the moment.
"Even your homerun calls are going to be different. Say it's a solo homerun and you're down by seven runs in the eighth inning, as opposed to that walk-off homerun."
During his time in the minors, Freedman also has a long list of some of the best players he's seen make it to the majors.
George Springer and Dallas Keuchel are two of his more notable players in Oklahoma City. Both Springer and Keuchel were called up to the Houston Astros, the latter of whom won the 2015 Cy Young Award.
Freedman has no hesitation about his most memorable player.
"Kris Bryant," Freedman said. "Probably the best player I've seen in person in a AAA game, without a doubt. His success is not surprising whatsoever."
While Freedman said his mind toys with the 'what if's' in his future calling major league baseball, he also believes he is a realist. The possibilities of getting called up to a major league team is far from a pipe dream, but he would rather not fret about it.
"The problem is, there's only 30 teams. The spots don't come open very often, and when they do, you have to have 1,000 things go your way. It can't be 999, it has to be all 1,000."
Still he’s had a taste of the big leagues.
During Oklahoma City's stint with the Astros, Freedman filled in to call two Spring Training games, one against the Cardinals. He said he knows he can perform at the major league level, but he's also reminded his career began only shortly before graduating college.
"It's not like my life has been poured into this one thing, that if doesn't happen, I'm gonna feel like my life is incomplete."
Ever the pragmatist, he adds, "It'd be awesome if it happens and I hope it does one day, but there's a lot of things in this whole process that are going to be out of my control."
Seeing his colleagues advance to the majors makes Freedman happy, regardless of the situation.
One of his former colleagues from the High Desert Mavericks, Jeff Levering, now announces for the Milwaukee Brewers.
"If it's not going to happen to you, it's at least going to someone you know who's going to do a good job, and someone who should be doing that job."
Freedman looks back down to his notes, then to the time, and continues to prep for the game. First pitch is only half an hour away. Fans fill the seats while Freedman and his colleagues get the ball rolling for the rest to hear. Still, no matter how the game winds up, the Dodgers broadcast booth is the best seat in the house.
Freedman's ready to go.
"And you're listening to OKC Dodgers Radio."
You can catch Freedman's play-by-plays on 1340 AM The Game, or through MiLB.TV. Follow Freedman on Twitter at @azfreedman.
