Minor League Baseball

Minor League Broadcaster Accomplishes Rare 'Double Play' with San Francisco Giants, Affiliate

Congratulations are in order for Joe Ritzo, who called games for both the San Francisco and San Jose Giants on Wednesday.
Brady Farkas|
San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Jordan Hicks (12) delivers a pitch against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the second inning at Oracle Park on May 14.
San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Jordan Hicks (12) delivers a pitch against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the second inning at Oracle Park on May 14. | D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

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San Francisco Giants

Congratulations are in order for broadcaster Joe Ritzo, who accomplished the rare broadcasting doubleheader on Wednesday.

Ritzo, who is the regular play-by-play broadcaster for the Low-A San Jose Giants, broadcasted a major league game for the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park and then turned around and called the San Jose Giants game later that night. The San Jose Giants were playing in Stockton, which is more than two hours away from San Francisco.

Ritzo makes regular appearances in the San Francisco Giants' broadcast each season as well, with the following coming from the team website:

Joe Ritzo enters his third season in the KNBR radio booth. Ritzo initially joined the Giants in 2017 on spring training broadcasts before making his regular season debut in a fill-in role during the 2019 season. In addition to calling games for the San Francisco Giants, Ritzo continues as a play-by-play broadcaster for the San Jose Giants. He’s served as a broadcaster for the Giants minor league affiliate, working on both radio and television, since his start with the organization at the age of 19.

On the major league side, the Giants suffered a tough loss against the Arizona Diamondbacks, losing 8-7. With that loss, they are 25-19 and third in the National League West. Eugenio Suarez hit his 13th homer of the season for Arizona while outfielder Jung Hoo Lee homered for San Francisco. Jordan Hicks suffered the loss for San Francisco, going just two innings and giving up five earned runs.

Ryan Thompson earned the win in relief for Arizona.

On the minor league side, the Giants beat the Stockton Ports 2-0 to improve to 20-15 and in second place in the Cal League's Northern Division.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is the senior writer for “Minor League Baseball on SI’’ and the host of “The Payoff Pitch’’ podcast, which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. Follow Brady on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady.

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