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Five women will make history next week as part of the first all-female on-air crew to cover a Major League Baseball game.
The New York Times reports Melanie Newman, Sarah Langs, Alanna Rizzo, Heidi Watney and Lauren Gardner will handle the entire broadcast for the July 20 matchup between the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays.
Newman, who already works as a play-by-play announcer for the Orioles, will be serving the same role during the all-female broadcast alongside Langs, an MLB.com writer, who will contribute as a color analyst.
Rizzo will serve as the on-field reporter while Watney and Gardner will anchor the pre and post-game coverage.
The live broadcast will be featured on YouTube as the MLB Game of the Week.
"It can't help but feel different," Rizzo told theTimes. "I've always had a male play-by-play voice in my ear during every game I've ever done. So, to do a game where those voices are Melanie and Sarah, that will be a unique feeling and a unique perspective of the game. It's exciting to be a part of something like this. … It's not an all-male game anymore, and we don't live in an all-male world."
Veteran sportscaster and New York Yankees radio color analyst Suzyn Waltman referred to the all-female broadcast team as a "big deal," while also acknowledging that she's "looking forward to when this is no longer a novelty event" via the New York Times.
Newman also added, "We also want to make sure that while we are getting all these firsts in there, that we also are not the last."