We begin unveiling the winners of the 2008 Ballpark Digest awards with an interview with the winner of the Broadcaster of the Year: Paul Edmonds, the voice of the Winnipeg Goldeyes (independent; Northern League). Paul’s been the voice of the Goldeyes since 1995, and he may the best broadcaster you’ve never heard: working solo in the booth, Paul’s delivery is homey and represents his community in a way you rarely find on the air any longer.We begin unveiling the winners of the 2008 Ballpark Digest awards with an interview with the winner of the Broadcaster of the Year: Paul Edmonds, the voice of the Winnipeg Goldeyes (independent; Northern League). Paul’s been the voice of the Goldeyes since 1995, and he may the best broadcaster you’ve never heard: working solo in the booth, Paul’s delivery is homey and represents his community in a way you rarely find on the air any longer. You can hear many of Paul’s more notable calls at the Goldeyes website. The finalists for this award were J.P. Shadrick of the Jacksonville Suns (Class AA; Southern League), the New Orleans Zephyrs (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League) team of Ron Swoboda and Tim Grubbs, and Jesse Goldberg-Strassler of the Windy City Thunderbolts (independent; Frontier League).
We’ll be unveiling award winners daily through the end of the month. To say we were overwhelmed by the response to our call for entries is an understatement: we had over 100 submissions with over 250 pages of supporting documentation. The nominators ran the gamut from casual fans at all baseball levels to operators and front-office staff at levels ranging from Major League Baseball to summer-collegiate leagues. While we entered awards period with a good idea of leaders in various categories, we were delighted to see unexpected submissions that made us really think hard about who deserves recognition. In the end, all but one winner was an outside nominee — Paul, for instance, was nominated by a peer — which makes our awards truly a product of the baseball community. To all those who took the time to painstakingly document their qualifications, we truly thank you: it’s the baseball community that made these awards possible.Up tomorrow: Best New Hat Design, Best New Food Item.