There will a familiar voice in the Hillsboro Hops (short season A; Northwest League) broadcast booth this season, as Rich Burk, a former Bevos broadcaster, is the team’s first play-by-play announcer.
All 76 of their regular season games plus playoffs will be broadcast on Fox Sports Radio AM620 Portland.
Burk brings more than two decades of broadcast experience to the Hops. From 1995 until 2010, he was the “Voice of Summer” in Portland, when he served as the primary radio and television play-by-play announcer for Portland’s baseball teams. He was the lead broadcaster for the Portland Rockies (short season A; Northwest League) for five of their six seasons of existence, beginning with their inaugural season of 1995. And from 2001-2010, he was play-by-play announcer for the Portland Beavers (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League). He has also filled in for three major league baseball teams: the San Diego Padres, Montreal Expos and Toronto Blue Jays. During his career, he has called nearly 1,750 professional baseball games on radio and television.
In 2009, Burk called the ESPN2 telecast of the Triple-A Baseball All-Star Game at PGE Park in Portland.
“This is an unprecedented opportunity,” said Burk. “A beautiful, brand-new ballpark in my own back yard. Fox Sports AM620 Portland is a great brand, and the radio station has a very strong signal. And I fully expect that the Hops are going to be very popular in Hillsboro, and indeed throughout the Portland area.” Burk has called action in major league baseball, minor league baseball, Pac-12 football and basketball, and more.
His voice has been heard on FSN, ROOT Sports, ESPN2, the Pac-12 Network, and on local radio in Portland.
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