SIDNEY — Longtime radio announcer for the Cincinnati Reds Marty Brennaman will be the keynote speaker for Lehman Catholic High School’s annual foundation dinner to be held on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2016. The evening will begin with the celebration of the Catholic Mass in the school’s St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Chapel at 5 p.m. A social hour will held at 5:30 p.m., followed by dinner at 6:30 p.m.
In keeping with the Cincinnati theme, dinner will feature barbeque from the Montgomery Inn.
Brennaman’s signature statement after a Reds victory — “And this one belongs to the Reds!” — has echoed through the broadcast booth for what seems like a lifetime of baseball games. Indeed, the 2015 baseball season marked 51 years behind the microphone for the popular broadcaster and 41 of those years have been with the Reds.
A native of Portsmouth, Virginia, Brennaman began his broadcasting career at WGHP-TV in High Point, North Carolina, after graduating from the University of North Carolina with a communications degree in 1965. He followed this with stints in Salisbury, North Carolina, and Norfolk, Virginia. In 1970, he received his first sports play-by-play opportunity, as the radio voice of the Virginia Squires of the American Basketball Association. He added baseball to his résumé in 1971, calling the action for the baseball Triple-A Tidewater Mets.
Brennaman joined the Reds radio team in 1974 and for 31 seasons (1974-2004) shared the 700 WLW Radio booth with Reds Hall of Fame pitcher Joe Nuxhall.
Brennaman has won numerous broadcast awards, having been named Ohio Sportscaster of the Year 16 times, most recently in 2009. He won the Virginia Sportscaster of the Year Award four times while broadcasting basketball games for the Virginia Squires, baseball games for the New York Mets’ Class AAA affiliate in Norfolk, and football games for both Virginia Tech and William & Mary. He has also broadcast games for the NCAA’s men’s basketball tournament, including 15 regional tournaments and 11 Final Fours.
On July 23, 2000, Brennaman received the Ford C. Frick Award in ceremonies at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. The award is presented each year by the Hall of Fame to a broadcaster “for major contributions to the game of baseball.” Brennaman, Red Barber (WSAI 1934-38), and Russ Hodges (WFBE 1932) are the only Reds announcers ever to receive this prestigious broadcasting award.
Brennaman is a member of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame and the National Radio Hall of Fame, in addition to the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.
In 2009 he was selected by the American Sportscasters Association as one of the Top 50 broadcasters of all time.
His most recent awards came in 2013 when he received the Tom Hammond Lifetime Achievement Award for Sports Broadcasting, presented by the Bluegrass Sports Commission in Lexington, Kentucky, and was inducted into the Hampton Roads (Virginia) Sports Hall of Fame.
Brennaman and his wife Amanda have two daughters, Dawn and Ashley, and a son, Thom, who is also a Reds broadcaster. They have five grandchildren, Dylan and Cal Venerus, Ella Mae and Luke Brennaman and Aidan Shirley.
The Lehman Foundation Dinner is an annual event that serves as an opportunity to express gratitude and thanks to all who support Lehman High School. It is held in the Schlater Family Gym at Lehman Catholic High School in Sidney. The keynote address by Brennaman will begin at 8 p.m. Also speaking on this year’s program will be the Rev. Ethan Moore, a 2003 Lehman graduate who was ordained a priest in May 2015.
Tickets for this inspiring evening are $150 and can be reserved by contacting Melissa Bennett in the Lehman Development Office. Call 937-498-1161 or email [email protected].
