New Birmingham Barons announcer following in father's footsteps

Was legendary voice of the San Francisco Giants

The Birmingham Barons new Director of Broadcasting Doug Greenwald knew from when he was very young that he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father Hank, who became a Giant in the baseball broadcasting world.

“My dad started as a broadcaster with the San Francisco Giants in 1979,” when Doug was five years old, said Greenwald. “Candlestick Park was my home away from home. I was around some of the greats, including the legendary (Birmingham native Hall of Famer) Willie Mays, and I knew I wanted to be involved with baseball.”

“I at first dreamed of being a player, but when I realized that wasn’t going to happen, I turned my focus to broadcasting,” he said.

Greenwald said his dad was from Detroit and his legal name was Hal. But he wanted to be called Hank to honor the great Jewish Tigers’ slugger Hank Greenberg. Another Jewish legend and Hall of Famer, Al Rosen, who played for the Cleveland Indians in the 1940s/50s, was the general manager of the Giants for several years when Hank Greenwald started working for the club.

“I emulated my dad and studied what he did,” said Greenwald. “I would bring a tape recorder with me to the ballpark or when watching on TV and do my own broadcasts as a kid. A lot of people think I sound like my dad. He had a good sense of humor and a way of connecting with people on a personal level.”

Doug Greenwald would go on to earn a bachelor’s degree in Broadcasting from Boston University. He would earn some opportunities with single A minor league clubs in Burlington, Shreveport and Modesto before “getting established” in Fresno.

When Greenwald arrived there in 2004, the Fresno Grizzlies were the Triple-A affiliate for the Giants. In 2005, he won Minor League Baseball Broadcaster of the Year and was one step below his father’s beloved ballclub.

Doug’s father retired in 1996, but came back a few years later to do some limited packages for the Oakland A’s.

Then in 2009 while broadcasting for the Grizzlies, Doug Greenwald’s dream of following in his father’s footsteps with the Giants came into fruition.

“One of the Giants’ announcers was doing the national ESPN broadcast and the other’s wife had just had a baby,” he said. “So I was doing my first major league game with the team I grew up loving and I was doing it solo. To say that I was nervous would be an understatement. But I remembered what my dad taught me, and because I had been doing Fresno games for a few years, I knew several of the players on the Giants at that time,” he said. “It was like a dream!” Greenwald would go on to fill in for several more games over the years for the MLB club.

After the Covid year of 2020, in which the minor league baseball season was suspended, Fresno came back in 2021 but went down to single-A. The club struggled, and after a couple years, Greenwald sought out other opportunities.

He had met longtime Birmingham Barons Director of Broadcasting Curt Bloom 20 years ago. In 2014, Fresno had just played a series with the Round Rock Express, outside of Austin. Greenwald had some time off for the MLB All-Star break, and the Rickwood Classic was about to be played at Birmingham’s historic park.

“I contacted CB and said I wanted to come visit. Rickwood Field is the oldest ballpark in the nation and there is so much rich history there,” he said. “It wasn’t too far from Austin so I asked him if I could visit and call one batter. CB let me call a whole inning and was just the most gracious guy I’ve ever met. Calling that inning at Rickwood Field was one of the biggest thrills of my career!”

In 2019, Greenwald came back to Birmingham during the Grizzlies’ All-Star Break to visit Regions Field for the first time.

When a mutual friend in minor league baseball broadcasting mentioned that Bloom was about to announce his retirement, Greenwald texted him. Before he could hit send on the text, he got a call from Bloom.

“He and (Barons GM) Jonathan Nelson wanted a veteran broadcaster and CB put in a great word for me,” said Greenwald. “I’m beyond grateful for the opportunity to follow a legend of broadcasting and a friend.”

The Barons new director of broadcasting said he has enjoyed adjusting to the Magic City and learning more about Birmingham’s rich baseball history, tracing back to the 1885 Birmingham Coal Barons, and in 1921, the Negro League Birmingham Black Barons.

In 1948, while still in high school, Willie Mays started his Black Barons career. Another Birmingham-Giants connection, Jim Davenport, was pitching for the San Francisco Giants when Hank Greenwald started there in 1979.

“It’s just incredible, all of these connections,” he said. “That’s the great thing about this game and minor league baseball. You get to call games for and become friends with players, some of whom became major league legends and hall of famers. I love coming to the ballpark every day.”