John Sadak is in his first season as the play-by-play broadcaster for the Reds Television Network. Prior to this year, Sadak was a play-by-play announcer with Westwood One radio, CBS Sports Network, and the New York Mets on WCBS Radio. Sadak’s broadcast work includes the play-by-play of NFL football, NBA, MLB, college football, basketball, baseball, soccer, lacrosse, ice hockey, volleyball, water polo, field hockey, and lacrosse. Sadak’s work has aired on essentially every national network in the country. He spent nearly a decade as the voice of Princeton Tigers men’s basketball, Delaware Fighting Blue Hens women’s basketball, and the Wilmington Blue Rocks. Beginning in 2015, Sadak’s Westwood One work expanded to include the NCAA basketball tournament and the NFL on Westwood One. In 2019, Sadak filled in calling Chicago Bulls games for NBC Sports Chicago and New York Mets games on WCBS Radio. Sadak has been honored by Baseball America, Ballpark Digest, the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association, Delaware Press Association, Philadelphia Press Association, New Jersey Associated Press Broadcasters Association, Communicator Awards, Society of Professional Journalists and College Broadcasters Incorporated. In 2013, he was named Broadcaster of the Year by Ballpark Digest for his work with the RailRiders’ radio/TV broadcasts. He was twice named Delaware Sportscaster of the Year according to the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. Sadak is a two-time Rowan University graduate and a New York City native. The Brick Memorial High School alumnus lives in the Pike Creek area of Wilmington, DE.
Chris Welsh is in his 29th season as Reds TV analyst following a 5-year Major League career with the Padres, Expos, Rangers and Reds. Chris went 21-31 with a 4.45 ERA, 8 complete games and 3 shutouts in 122 career appearances, including 75 starts. From 1993-2009 Chris and partner George Grande worked together for the 17 seasons as the longest-running TV duo in Reds history. He is a graduate of Cincinnati’s St. Xavier High School and earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Florida, where his baseball coach was Hall of Famer Robin Roberts. In addition to his television work, Chris is active in several local charities. He serves on the Board of the Powell Crosley Jr. Amateur Baseball Fund, which oversees the Kid Glove Games. He is a partner in Champions Baseball Academy and a featured speaker at many local venues. Chris created and operates baseballrulesacademy.com, an interactive website designed to teach the rules of baseball by use of video lessons and quizzes.
Hall of Famer Barry Larkin is in his first season on the Reds Television Network broadcast team and will share with veteran Chris Welsh the color analyst duties. Larkin previously worked as an analyst for Major League Baseball broadcasts on MLB Network and ESPN. The Cincinnati native spent his entire 19-year Major League career with the Reds. He was a 12-time National League All-Star, voted in five times as a starter. He won the 1995 NL MVP Award, a World Series championship in 1990, nine Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Awards and three Rawlings Gold Glove Awards for defensive excellence. For his career, he hit .295 and had nine seasons where he batted at least .300. “The Captain” hit 198 home runs and finished with 960 RBI in 2,180 career games. Larkin was the first shortstop in Major League history to produce 30 home runs and 30 steals in the same season. He was inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame in 2008 and into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown in 2012. Following his retirement as a player, Larkin joined the front office of the Washington Nationals then went on to TV analyst roles at MLB Network and ESPN. In 2015, he rejoined the Reds organization as a roving minor league infield instructor.
Jeff Brantley is in his 15th season as a member of the Reds Radio and Reds Television Network broadcast teams. He was hired in October 2006. After he retired as a player following the 2001 season, Brantley joined ESPN as an in-game analyst and also as a studio analyst on the network’s popular Baseball Tonight show. In March 2006, he broadcast several telecasts of the inaugural World Baseball Classic. Brantley spent 14 seasons in the Major Leagues and enjoyed some of his best years while pitching for the Reds from 1994-1997, when he posted a 2.64 ERA and 88 saves. He is tied for sixth on the club’s all-time saves list. In 1996 he earned the Rolaids Relief Man Award after leading the National League with 44 saves. His 44 saves that season remains the Reds’ single-season record. Brantley also pitched for the Giants, Cardinals, Phillies and Rangers. He was an All-Star for San Francisco in 1990 and finished his career with 172 saves and a 3.39 ERA in 615 games. He is enshrined on the Giants’ Wall of Fame at AT&T Park. Brantley is a graduate of Mississippi State University, where he led the Bulldogs to a third-place finish at the College World Series. He was a 4-year letterwinner for MSU and was named first-team All-American in 1985. A member of the Mississippi State Hall of Fame, Brantley’s uniform number 8 was retired in 2000. In 2010 he was inducted into the State of Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and in February 2019 was a member of the inaugural class of the prestigious Ron Polk Ring of Honor along with Will Clark, the late David “Boo” Ferriss, the late C.R. “Dudy” Noble and Rafael Palmeiro. He has been involved in several youth baseball groups like Garth Brooks’ “Teammates for Kids” and an inner-city baseball program in Jackson, Mississippi. Jeff and wife Ashley have 2 children, Elizabeth and Mason. He has two other children, Emily and Murphy.
Jim Day is in his 20th season as a familiar face on voice on Reds Television Network broadcasts, returning this season as the dugout reporter. For the last 10 years, he split his time on the air between the sideline and lead play-by-play roles. In 2018 and 2019, Day split duties between Reds TV and Reds on Radio, covering radio play-by-play duties during the off days of Hall of Famer Marty Brennaman and Jeff Brantley while also working TV play-by-play in addition to his pre- and post-game show stints. For 17 seasons, he served as the main host of the Emmy Award-winning pre- and post-game shows, Reds Live. In 2019, he was nominated for the National Sports Media Association’s Sportscaster of the Year Award for Ohio. Day is an Emmy Award-winning reporter with 32 years’ experience in sports broadcasting. After graduating from Otterbein College, Day worked at WSYX-TV as an anchor/reporter in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio. Following a 3-year stay at WFTS-TV in Tampa, Day returned to his roots to work for FOX Sports Net Ohio. He has served in various roles for FOX Sports Ohio while covering every major sport for the network.
Tommy Thrall is in his third full season broadcasting for the Reds, his second as the full-time play-by-play announcer on rights holder 700 WLW Radio. The 16-year broadcasting veteran in 2018 called 3 Reds games in spring training and then 3 games near the end of the regular season. He broadcast 66 games on radio in 2019 and all 60 games of the 2020 season. Before joining the organization full-time in 2019, Thrall spent 7 years broadcasting radio and TV games for Class AA Pensacola. While in Pensacola, he also served as the play-by-play voice for football and basketball for the University of West Florida. Thrall began working in professional baseball as an intern for the Kansas City T-Bones while earning his degree from Northwest Missouri State University. He went on to work for Class A Myrtle Beach and Quad Cities before making the move to Pensacola. Thrall has filled various roles in broadcasting, including TV sports anchor and reporter on WEAR-TV in Pensacola, sports talk host on ESPN Pensacola and host of UWF’s weekly television coach’s show.
Brian Giesenschlag is in his 17th season covering the Reds, his eighth as co-host of the Emmy Award-winning Reds Live pre- and post-game shows on Reds Television Network . Before joining the Reds Live crew as co-host, Brian was the feature reporter for Reds Live while also working as a sports anchor at Cincinnati’s WXIX-TV (FOX). He also covers the NHL as co-host of FOX Sports Ohio’s Columbus Blue Jackets Live pre- and post-game shows. A native Texan and graduate of Baylor University, Brian worked at several television outlets in his home state before moving to Ohio. He and wife Julie live in Cincinnati with their children Zachary, Brock and Ava.
Sam LeCure is in his fourth season working on the Emmy Award-winning Reds Live pre- and post-game shows on the Reds Television Network. The righthanded pitcher made 250 Major League appearances, all for the Reds from 2010-2015 and including 10 starts, and finished his career with a 10-16 record and a 3.51 ERA. He contributed to National League Central Division championships in 2010 and 2012 and to a berth in the NL Wild Card game in 2013, the franchise’s best run of playoff appearances since the Big Red Machine dynasty of the 1970s. Since his retirement from baseball following the 2015 season, LeCure has taken volunteer trips to Indonesia and South Africa to help rebuild communities and help the local children.
