You're never too old to live out a lifelong dream.
Mike "Doc" Emrick will get to fulfill one of his this summer. The legendary NHL announcer will step behind the microphone at PNC Park to call the first baseball game of his life when his beloved Pittsburgh Pirates host the Chicago Cubs on July 8. He'll work the MLB Network telecast of the game alongside fellow broadcasting legend Bob Costas.
The 69-year-old has called NHL hockey since 1982, and has become the voice of the sport for many in the United States. His passion for baseball, and specifically the Pirates, runs deep. A fan of the team since his childhood, Emrick had a dry run announcing Pirates baseball earlier this year while guesting on some of their spring training broadcasts in Florida.
Costas was the one who suggested Emrick join him in the booth, and he's expecting the long-time hockey voice to have little trouble adjusting his style to the slower pace of baseball.
"No matter how great a guy is, he'll be better on his 10th game than his first," Costas told Richard Sandomir of the New York Times. "But he's a lifelong baseball fan and follows the Pirates so closely, he’s not going to be asking, 'Which one is Andrew McCutchen?' And he's an obsessive preparer."
While Emrick will assuredly have a blast in the booth, he's tempering expectations ahead of his baseball debut.
"I just want to make sure that what I do is at least at MLB Network level - maybe the bottom of the bar they set, but I want to be halfway professional," he said.
"I don't have a home run call. Whatever happens, happens."
