Meet the Press

With Opening Day upon us, Dr Pepper Ballpark and the RoughRiders have a new voice, and a great cast of supporting characters.

They thought it would be a good idea to get to know the people that you hear over the airways, tweet you back and bring mass amounts of ‘Riders information out to the masses.

ALEX VISPOLI —Manager of Broadcasting and Media Development

I like going to baseball games.

That seems pretty obvious considering my line of work, but I probably like them a little more than I should.

When you are present at 140 baseball games over a 152-day period, you cherish those 12 precious off-days like every bite of an expensive Texas steak.  Most of the time, you try to find a level of normalcy that evades you when seemingly half of your life is spent on a bus and the other half at a baseball game.  Whether that time is spent catching a movie   or just milling about Barnes & Noble, the point is to get away from the sport that takes over your life for five months at a time during the year.

There have been a few instances where I must have missed that memo.  One July, the team I was broadcasting for in Winston-Salem, North Carolina was wrapping up a four-week stretch of games without a day off with another one on the near horizon.  Instead of using that glorious off-day to find some semblance of a normal life, I called another baseball game.

A friend of mine is the Syracuse radio broadcaster and his team was in nearby Charlotte.  He invited me down to call the game with him and, because I like going to baseball games, I said yes and drove two hours down to Fort Mill, South Carolina (because the Charlotte Knights don’t actually play in Charlotte or in North Carolina for that matter) with my scorebook and collection of colored pens and highlighters (don’t worry, we’ll touch on that later this season) in tow.

I have been called somewhat insane for using an off-day to broadcast a baseball game and for how I have spent my All-Star break over the past two years.  Instead of getting away from baseball for three days, I visited Citi Field in New York to take in a couple of Mets games with some family (and no, I am not a Mets fan, thank goodness).

There’s just something about the atmosphere of a baseball game that I enjoy.  From the competition on the field to the sights and sounds of a ballpark that just seem right to me.  I am at peace when sitting or standing in the broadcast booth talking baseball.  They say that a bad day at the ballpark beats a good day at the office, and I can’t help but agree with the cliché.

So now that you are aware of my baseball-obsessive tendencies, time for an introduction to the person behind the voice you will be hearing from for the next five months on the radio/television/internet.

Me and my brother, young Kevin Vispoli, at a Mets game in 2010.

I am originally from Andover, Massachusetts and grew up going to Red Sox, Patriots and Celtics games (while I rooted for the Bruins, they were the red-headed stepchild of my favorite childhood sports teams).  This season will be my sixth broadcasting affiliated minor league baseball, as I have also worked for the Salem Avalanche (2007, Astros Advanced-A), Lynchburg Hillcats (2008, Pirates Advanced-A), Dayton Dragons (2009, Reds Single-A) and Winston-Salem Dash (2010-2011, White Sox Advanced-A).

I saw Elvis Andrus as an 18-year-old in the Carolina League with the Braves organization and am looking forward to following 19-year-old Jurickson Profar this season for the ’Riders.  There’s a nice pseudo-symmetry to that, something you often get when you go to a baseball game.

Take my word for it, I’ve been to plenty.

GEOFF ARNOLD — Media Relations Administrator

Geoff behind the plate.