Baseball broadcaster in industry for decades advises younger generation to find audience

The “Voice of Yankee Stadium” for over 15 years was the voice of the Gonzaga University Thursday evening, when Paul Olden reminisced on his years being the name behind the broadcasting announcements for the Spokane Indians and the Yankees.

Before his official career as a baseball broadcaster, Olden worked for the Dodgers handing out programs but was interested in broadcasting from a young age.

After he turned in the money he collected, he would practice announcing, Olden explained at a Northwest Passages/The Black Lens event Thursday.

He was interviewed by The Black Lens interim editor April Eberhardt and Spokesman-Review executive editor Rob Curley.

After years of trying to find his way in the industry and sending audition tapes to a variety of baseball teams, including the White Sox, Olden came to Spokane at 26 years old to broadcast for the Indians after accidentally sending a tape meant for a hiring director in Portland.

The tape addressed to the director in Spokane went to someone in Portland.

While the director in Portland tossed the tape, the Spokane director decided to give him a chance, so Olden moved up north with excitement for snowy winters and the opportunity to work with the baseball team. He had not heard much about the city before moving, but he knew it must have been good because some of his favorite Dodgers players came through Spokane.

As a broadcaster for baseball games, he creates scripts where he can fill in the blanks, he said. One of his most memorable moments was when a player made a milestone of a hit, and Olden was the only broadcaster who did not have a generic call for this home run.

During the offseason, he worked for KXLY, where he kickstarted his television career in sports, weather and other topics the station needed.

“I pride myself on being versatile,” Olden said.

He knew he wanted to be involved with broadcasting baseball and did not have a backup plan even though it is unusual for 15-year-olds to know what they wanted to do in life.

But Olden said when a person finds something they are passionate about, it is easy to stick with it for years, or decades in his case.

Olden is 70 years old now, and despite being in the broadcasting industry for so long, he still loves baseball the same way he did when he started out.

“My relationship with the game is still very strong,” he said.

But Olden also advises young people going into a new career to learn how to write and not to take no for an answer, noting it is easier now to be seen through YouTube or TikTok.

“If you can generate an audience, someone’s going to pay attention and pay you,” he said.