Jenny Cavnar on Oakland A’s, Future of Televised Baseball, Blazing Trails

On the latest episode of the Clubhouse Chatter podcast, Jenny Cavnar, play-by-play voice for the Oakland A’s, joins the show to discuss her whirlwind start to the season, balancing the on-the-field and off-the-field stories with the A’s, and what has helped Oakland get off to a surprising start in 2024.

When she was named as the play-by-play voice for the A’s in mid-February, Cavnar became the first woman in MLB history to serve as a team’s primary play-by-play voice. It’s certainly not the first time Cavnar has written her name in the TV history books as, in April of 2018, she became the first woman since 1993 to provide play-by-play on an MLB telecast when she was behind the microphone for a clash between the Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres.

Yes, Cavnar is a trailblazer, but she sees what she is doing now as a way to help open doors for more female broadcasters in the future.

“Yeah, it’s crazy to hear that word (trailblazer) and your name. It just doesn’t feel right,” Cavnar told me. “I’m very humbled by this opportunity to live out a dream, but I think I’m more humbled when I hear from that next generation and what they’re doing. I got a tweet the other day, I think from Tufts baseball, it was an all-female broadcast. There were five college-aged women in the booth calling a game and doing the production of the game. To me, that signified what we’re doing is important.”

During our talk, Cavnar told me what she believes is behind the early success of the A’s this season, including the dominance of Mason Miller and the back end of the bullpen. We also discuss how she balances some of the negativity surrounding the team with its upcoming move to Sacramento with what is going on on the field, as well as what she believes the future of televised baseball looks like.

“Through all of this, however it shakes out, I know it’s a business. I know people need to make money, but I hope the local broadcaster is not affected in terms of all of it,” Cavnar said of the changes happening with televised baseball.

You can hear our conversation by clicking on the link below, or watch our video interview here. Additionally, make sure you are subscribed to the Clubhouse Chatter podcast, part of Just Baseball’s family of podcasts, on your favorite podcast platform.