Gage Rogers ’25 Takes Turn as Durham Bulls Play-by-Play Announcer
By Dylan Howlett
1,250 Words | 5-minute Read
It began, as it often does for accomplished sports broadcasters, in anonymity — and with make-believe games. Gage Rogers ’25 would lean in toward the TV, his Xbox controller in hand as his favorite hockey team, the Carolina Hurricanes, filled a pixelated sheet of ice on the EA Sports NHL video game franchise. He would narrate aloud every pass, bodycheck and goal, trying to embody the voices and spirit of his broadcasting idols, John Forslund and Chuck Kaiton, the longtime play-by-play announcers for Hurricanes television and radio broadcasts, respectively. Rogers was drawn to their energy, their catchphrases, their capacity for encapsulating the plays that would nestle forever in the memories of fans. He dreamed of punctuating those moments with a flourish equal to that of Forslund’s signature catchphrase: “Hey, hey, whaddya say?!”
Rogers eventually graduated from Xbox calls to commentary for varsity boys and girls basketball at Durham Academy, where he announced more than a handful of games during the 2023–2024 season. He was one of seven DA Upper Schoolers who shadowed NBA broadcaster Nick Gallo ’06 at an Oklahoma City Thunder-Charlotte Hornets game in April. In the summer of 2023, Rogers heard about a summer internship with Post 50, the sports production company that provides the live broadcast of Durham Bulls games on local TV and at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The internship serves as a youth-based broadcasting program that allows students to gain valuable industry experience — operating cameras, coordinating graphics, engineering audio. Little of that appealed to Rogers, who saw himself in front of the camera rather than behind the scenes. He pushed aside his misgivings, attended the open house and secured internships in 2023 and 2024.
“If I hadn’t decided, ‘Let me just try this even though it’s not what I want to do,’” Rogers said, “then I wouldn’t have gotten this opportunity.”
That opportunity came this summer, when Post 50 agreed to produce a kids-only broadcast on which teenagers would oversee production, graphics, cameras — and play-by-play and color commentary. Rogers had never called a baseball game before he sat in the away team’s broadcast booth during a July game to tape three innings of himself announcing the game, which served as the audition among his intern group. He won the audition — along with three other interns — for the right to serve as play-by-play announcer Aug. 28 for the first half of the Bulls’ 14–8 win vs. the Buffalo Bisons.
How does an aspiring sports broadcaster prepare to call a Triple-A baseball game? Step inside the home team’s broadcast booth at the DBAP with play-by-play announcer Gage Rogers.
Play-by-Play Prep:
Rogers Readies for Debut
Pre-Game Preparations
- The day before the game, Rogers and the three other interns selected for the Aug. 28 broadcast meet to discuss their preparations. They shadow Bulls play-by-play announcer Patrick Kinas to pick up any last-minute intricacies of calling a baseball game. Now it is time to work. They dump statistics, anecdotes and biographical details for each player into a shared Google Doc.
- Rogers has a head start on Buffalo’s starting pitcher. Jake Bloss had made three Major League Baseball appearances earlier in the summer for the Houston Astros, Rogers’ favorite baseball team. He adds his firsthand observations from Bloss’ MLB cameo into the Google Doc. He is less than 24 hours from his professional broadcasting debut.
Game Day Arrival
- Wednesday, Aug. 28. Game day. Rogers arrives around 3:45 p.m., about three hours before first pitch. He and his fellow interns comb over their shared Google Doc and make necessary adjustments to each team’s roster. They speak once more with Kinas, who accompanies the young broadcasters to the press box and will remain with them throughout the game should they need any support.
- Rogers walks over to the pregame buffet for attending media members. He places a hot dog and some chicken nuggets on his plate. “But I barely ate anything,” he says afterward. “I was super nervous leading up to the game.”
Inside the Booth
- Rogers’ setup in his broadcast booth — which sits about halfway up the first base line at the top of the concourse — is standard for any sports telecast. A whiteboard with each team’s defensive alignment — and the players at each of the field’s nine positions — rests in front of him so he can easily blurt out the name of a fielder if the ball is hit their way. A monitor to his left shows a dedicated camera angle that’s trained on home plate, which allows Rogers to see the location of every pitch. A second monitor displays a feed of the game broadcast.
- Rogers and his partner wear headsets to communicate with producers. Each has a laptop with their Google Doc open for easy scrolling. A slew of papers — rosters, additional stat sheets, a media guide for the Bisons — sprawls across the table where they sit to call the game.
- It is a clear night, with late-summer temperatures hovering in the low 90s. Bulls starter Logan Workman throws his first pitch at 6:35 p.m. The game has begun — and so has Rogers’ call.
⬇ 1st Inning
Durham Bulls 0 | Buffalo Bisons 0
The Bulls’ first two hitters reach base safely. Up to the plate comes first baseman Austin Shenton. He has appeared in 18 games this season with Durham’s MLB affiliate, the Tampa Bay Rays. Rogers has already planned to share some of Stenton’s most glowing stats with the audience — and for good reason.
Rogers: “And the 1–2. That ball is lifted, deep right field. Tracking back on it and it is… GONE! Austin Shenton stays hot as he hits a three-run homer. And the Bulls lead 3–0.”
⬇ 2nd Inning
Durham Bulls 6 | Buffalo Bisons 3
With the Bulls up by three, their designated hitter for the evening, Jonathan Aranda, steps to the plate.
Rogers: “And it. Is. GONE! Aranda knocks that one out of the park. And just like that, it’s 7–3 Bulls.”
⬇ 4th Inning
Durham Bulls 8 | Buffalo Bisons 3
The Bulls’ lead has swelled to five runs — and they’ll soon add to their cushion thanks to catcher Logan Driscoll.
Rogers: “The 1–2. That ball is tapped — and it’ll get past the shortstop. And that’ll be an RBI single for Driscoll.”
⬆ 5th Inning
Durham Bulls 9 | Buffalo Bisons 3
The Bulls hold the Bisons to no runs in the top of the fifth inning. The time has come for Rogers to hand his headset to the intern who will handle play-by-play duties for the rest of the game.
“It was a really cool opportunity,” Rogers says later. “It was one of those opportunities, it just comes up out of nowhere.”
In the Audience: DBAP Concourse
Rogers’ father, Shane, attended that night’s Bulls game with more interest than a Wednesday in August would typically inspire. He packed his headphones to listen to the simulcast of the TV production: His son was making his first appearance as the play-by-play announcer for a professional sports broadcast.
In the bottom of the second inning, Shane walked to the concourse and removed his headphones. Speakers around the ballpark blared with the official TV broadcast and the sound of his son’s voice, which crescendoed when Aranda hit his solo home run in the second inning. Shane captured the moment with his iPhone camera. He opened the Messages app and wrote to his wife, Jen Rogers, the DA Upper School learning specialist.
“I’m walking through the concourse listening to our child!!!!” Shane Rogers wrote. “So wild.”
Hey, hey, whaddya say when a boy lives out his dream?