An Interview with Kevin DiDomenico, the new Voice of the Reno Aces

Mar 23, 2023 - 1:02 PM

The Reno Aces will have a new voice as the club embarks on its Pacific Coast League Championship defense for the 2023 season, following the announcement of Kevin DiDomenico as the franchise’s third broadcaster in team history today. DiDomenico will serve as the club’s Content Creator & Voice of the Reno Aces for the 2023 season, where he will be the lead play-by-play voice for all 150 Reno Aces games heard on RenoAces.com, MiLB.tv, Nevada Sports Net, and Bally’s Sports Plus App, in addition to creating additional team-related content that will be available on the Aces’ social media platforms and website.

“This position garnered significant national interest, and we were fortunate to have many extremely talented applicants, but during the process, Kevin’s voice, professionalism, and unique skillset separated him from the rest,” said Reno Aces General Manager & COO Chris Phillips. “We are thrilled to have him on the team as his voice will leave lasting memories in the future chapters of Reno Aces’ history.”

DiDomenico joins the Aces after serving as Director of Broadcasting for the Salem Red Sox in 2021 and 2022. He also called Virginia Tech baseball for four seasons and began his professional baseball broadcasting career with the Appalachian League Pulaski Yankees in 2019. During the baseball off-season, he has served as a play-by-play announcer with ESPN+ and the ACC Network, broadcasting various sports, including basketball, football, soccer, wrestling, and volleyball. A native of Sterling, Va., DiDomenico earned a Bachelor of Arts, Sports Media & Analytics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech).

I recently sat down for an interview with Kevin, where we discussed a number of topics. I’ve edited the interview for clarity, length, and readability. In the future, these interviews will be available as both a written article and a video, but for now you’ll have to settle for just the article.

C. Wesley Baier So to get things started, what were your childhood memories of baseball? Which team(s) did you follow? Was it a case of just where you grew up that impacted the teams you follow(ed)?

Kevin DiDomenico Yeah, I grew up in Washington, DC, so I was a Nationals fan. When they came here in 2005, I went to the very first game! I went to probably 15 games a year with my dad, who’s from Chicago, and is a Cubs fan. So I’m also a Chicago sports fan. Chicago and Washington are my two sports towns. I really gravitated toward the Nats at a really young age, because they’re my hometown team. When I was seven or eight, I started listening to Charlie and Dave, Charlie Slowes and Dave Jagaler, the radio guys. I took an interest right away in what they did, and how they explained the game. I still think to this day that they’re some of the best in the business. So those two guys kind of..

CWB: Not to interrupt, but that actually gets into my next question, which was “what got you into broadcasting?”

KDD: It was those two guys! When I was 10 years old, I submitted a CD with my own play-by-play of a Nationals game for a children’s contest they had in September of 2010. I won the contest, and the chance to broadcast an inning with Charlie and Dave, who were my heroes at the time. That was a really special moment and from there on, I just dove into the whole thing. So when people ask “when did you start?” From an early age I would be sitting in front of the TV, just calling games with the sound off, and my mom honestly thought there was an issue “why is he just talking to the TV?!?”

CWB: That’s adorable and hilarious. So what attracted you to working for the Aces?

KDD I talked to a lot of different teams, doing a lot of different jobs around the country. Reno stood out in the sense that they are trying to do something different, and that’s bringing as much content as possible to their fans. On top of the fact that I’m going to call 150 games, play-by-play, home and away, I’ll be able to get different content to the fans, whether it’s different interview formats, mic’ing up the players, getting an inside look at the players and coaching staff. Rather than diving really deep into the media relations side of things, I’ll still be the point of contact for other teams and handle a lot of that side of things, but that’s not going to be the main focus of my job. My job is to find those special moments, and kind of reinvent how this job is, bringing as much video and audio content to the fans as possible, which I think they’ll enjoy.

CWB That sounds fantastic, and I think a lot of fans can get on board with that. What are your thoughts on the pitch clock? How do you think the pitch clock will impact baseball?

KDD There’s a lot of things that it affects. If you go to get chicken tenders in the second, you may miss three innings now. That’s how it’s gonna be. From the fan aspect, if I’m going to a game, and I want to sit down, relax, and enjoy watching baseball, you know, I don’t know if I like the pitch clock. I like the momentum to slowly build, and be able to actually relax and watch the game, and not necessarily miss three innings when I’m getting food or taking a bathroom break. Now that IS going to happen, depending on how the lines are.

As a broadcaster, I like it. It changes the pace of the game, and how you tell the stories during a game. There’s more action, and who doesn’t like more action, right? So yeah, I love it and I enjoy it, but again, it’s going to take some getting used to as a fan. I think the one big thing is like big moments in the playoffs. When you think back to last year, that Bryce Harper homerun where Joe Davis had a great call, that moment doesn’t happen like that. It’s going to be much quicker and the broadcaster doesn’t have a chance to build that up. I mean, maybe if it’s an eight or nine pitch at-bat, but I think the moments won’t build up as much with the pitch clock. I think in playoff baseball, that’s maybe the most special thing you can have. Other than that, for the greater good, it’s changing for the greater good. I think it’s gonna be more entertaining for the fan, and for us in the booth. So I think it’s good overall, but again, if I’m going to a game, and I want to sit down and watch a pitch, talk to someone... you know, it’s baseball. It has that rocking chair aspect of things, especially when you’re calling it. You take a step back, a pitch comes in, and then you have that familiar cadence.

CWB. Right. So how long do you think the adjustment period will be? I know in the minors it was about two months into the season that were the adjustment period, and there were basically no pitch clock violations after that. Do you think it’s gonna go similarly?

KDD Yeah. Last year I think players really adjusted within two or three weeks. I do not think it’s going to be a problem at all, especially when there’s games to win on the line. By the All-Star break I think it’ll be second nature, like the shot clock is to basketball,

CWB Yeah, I don’t see it being a problem either, especially since it’s been the rule all along, just not enforced. If you’re looking at games from the 1960s or 70s, they were two and a half hour games. You look at games with the pitch clock now, they’re inline with the length and pace of play of the game back then.

KDD Yes! It’s going back to a better form of baseball, like you said. Getting back to how it was played in the 50s/60s/70s, where you have that quick pace and cadence, I think it’s good for the game. I think it’s great for the game.

CWB This question is from our site editor, Jim. Do you have to run your ideas by the team? If you do, have you had any of your ideas shot down by the team? With your role as a Content Creator for the team, what exactly does that mean?

KDD They haven’t shot anything down! With my the staff throughout the whole interview process, I’ve probably run 20 or 20 ideas by them.. and no, none have gotten shot down. Sometimes, Vince who shares these ideas with our marketing director, he will kind of just be like, “Oh, maybe we could go a different direction with that. what do you think about this?” So one of my ideas was we do kind of, so we’re going to do base-to-base interviews with position players, and pole-to-pole with the pitchers. We practiced it, but I don’t know how it’s gonna work in terms of me getting tired. So we’ll see how that works. I think there’s lots of different things like that, that we’re trying to explore. Not only different interview formats, but stuff like the “this is SportsCenter” type commercials. Stuff like that, where we can have a lot of fun with it, and even more content for the fans. It doesn’t need to be all baseball content. We don’t need to talk numbers all the time. You know, “this guy’s seven for his last eighteen.. And in the last four games..” I think it’s important to look at these guys stories, but not only that, to have fun with them. You know, they’re human and there’s a lot of funny guys on that team, and I would hope we can show them having a good time, and having fun throughout the season. That’s what we’re there to do.

CWB What was it like working with the Red Sox organization, and how does it compare with your brief experience so far working with the Diamondbacks Organization?

KDD In terms of the Red Sox organization, they were awesome to work with. They welcomed me in with open arms. I got to know a lot of their beat writers, and people around the organization. I was on the Red Seat podcast a couple of times. So I love that organization. I got to know a lot of those players. As far as the Diamondbacks go, I’m still getting to know everyone, but so far, everyone’s super nice, and working with them is great. You know, Boston is obviously a huge market, but you still see that same attention to the Diamondbacks, and still a lot of people are interested in covering them. It’s awesome to be to be around people who are really just passionate about baseball, so I’ve gravitated toward that my whole life and you see the same thing with Arizona that you do in Boston.

CWB So what is your long term goal for your career? Where do you see yourself as a content creator and broadcaster 10 years from now?

Kevin DiDomenico Well, Wes... we don’t know. I don’t know where the industry is going to be in three years, and I don’t think anyone in the industry necessarily knows either. We don’t know how it’s going to evolve. What I’m trying to do right now is evolve with the industry, get as much experience as I can, in as many different facets as possible. My goal of where I want to be is, I’m a baseball guy. I want to and would love to be doing baseball on network television. If possible I want to be with the team, and really just tell the interesting stories of guys that need to be told. So wherever I can do that. I’ve said this before but I think play-by-play has an has an art to it on both TV and radio. So down the road I would love to be doing that at the highest level I can. The various streaming platforms have given so many opportunities for younger broadcasters to call games, and it’s nothing like it was 20 years ago, or even 10 years ago. I’d assume 10 years from now it won’t be the same either.

CWB Amarillo and Reno were both really good last year, with Reno making it all the way to the AAA championships. How good do you think the Reno team will be this year? What are your predictions?

KDD I think they’re gonna be really good. I think just as good if not better than last year. I think that’s because, like you said, Amarillo was really good last year. We’re going to return a lot of guys from the PCL championship team. Our pitching staff, I think it’s gonna be very good, because you have four guys going for one spot on the MLB staff, and the other three who are just as deserving of spot will end up in Reno. So I think they have a very good chance to make another run at the PCL championship. The Diamondbacks have so much depth, especially in the outfield.

CWB They really do have a lot of depth in the outfield. Jorge Barrosa, Wilderd Patino, the two Dominics (Fletcher and Canzone) will all likely be playing for the Aces

KDD The two Dominics! They are guys who’d be competing for a spot on most other team’s 25 man rosters. There’s a lot of talent aside from that. I’m excited man. I’ve been doing it for three years now, and I’m really thankful and humbled to be able to do it and meet so many great people along the way, while doing what I love.

We wrapped up the interview at this point, and I thanked Kevin for his time. I was very impressed and I’m looking forward to watching Kevin call games for the Aces this year, and checking out the content online he’ll be making. He recently conducted interviews with outfielder Alek Thomas and Josh Barfield, Arizona’s Director of Player Development over on the official Reno Aces Youtube Channel, go check them out!