CHATHAM — Seconds before they hit the airwaves, a few mere moments before they flip the switch and call out the first pitch on this early summer evening in the Cape Cod Baseball League, Guy Benson and Dan D’Uva tune out. They put down their pens and scorecards, shift their attention away from their laptops and lineup, lock eyes, shake hands and wish each other a good game.

It’s a symbolic gesture, they say, more habit than superstition, and a ritual the two 20-year-olds have been practicing since becoming a broadcasting tandem as freshmen at New Jersey based Ridgewood High School . It’s also an ardent reminder there’s a job to do, that all their worries and concerns must be put on hold, because, as Benson explains, “once you push that button, there’s no turning back.”

But Benson and D’Uva, now in their third year calling Chatham A’s baseball games, are nothing if not decisive. They know a live broadcast demands a meticulous attention to detail, and that any bout of mental lethargy or dip in energy can prove costly. That’s why when they go live, they’re in their glory.

On the diamond, the A’s are hosting the defending Cape League champion Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox in front of a bucolic backdrop, plush with an azure sky and a sunset so piercing it’s hard to view even with sunglasses.

Much like the college stars who’ve crossed the Bourne Bridge to showcase their prodigious talent in the famed 121-year Cape League, Benson and D’Uva are also here to hone their skills in hopes of one day making it to the majors.

Four years ago, however, these hopeful broadcasters were forced to find summer work elsewhere. Today, their broadcasts reach countless living rooms and home offices across the country. It’s all thanks to the league’s alliance with Teamline, a subsidiary of TRZ Communications, which allows those with phone or internet access to log onto a team’s Website, tune in to the radio-like show and follow their favorite team – free of charge.

Once a glint in the eye of TRZ CEO Tom Zawistowski, a former sports information director, Teamline has carved out a niche market. It hosts 40,000 annual events (more than ESPN, ABC and Fox combined) and claims 500 teams as its subscribers, primarily on the amateur and Division Three level, according to TRZ Marketing Director Michael Wilt.

Despite Teamline’s standing as a proficient purveyor of sporting events, sound quality remains a pressing issue, since many of the company’s men behind the mic aren’t technologically savvy, says Wilt. After all, why should Cape League announcers fuss with elaborate production equipment when a cell phone can serve as a microphone.

Try telling that to Benson and D’Uva and they’ll shake their heads in disgusted disapproval, much like a coach reacting to his player getting picked off the base paths. 

“If it doesn’t sound like it would appear on a New York Yankees or New York Mets radio broadcast, if it’s not as real to life as possible, then we can’t have it,” said D’Uva.

You don’t have to take his word for it, though. One glance at their sophisticated audio board and frequency monitoring computers – which would initially have you believe Benson and D’Uva were sound technicians in a recording studio, not play-by-play men – is proof of their notoriously high standard.

Theirs is a program replete with a pre and post-game show, noteworthy guests, and entertaining musical interludes. They even feature promos by legendary broadcasters Ian Eagle, Bob Sheppard, Jim Nantz and this year’s World Series and Super Bowl announcer Joe Buck, who proclaims, “You’re listening to the Chatham A’s baseball network, with the tremendous voices of Guy Benson and Dan D’Uva.”

The ability to simultaneously play the technician and announcer role has certainly paid off for Benson and D’Uva. When they first started in 2003, their show averaged 73 listeners per night (25 by phone, 48 by Web cast), a close second to the Orleans Cardinals announcers, who reached an average of 77 a game.

The following summer, after word of Teamline spread, the Guy and Dan show soared to the number-one spot, drawing some 275 internet and 76 phone listeners per night, compared to the 232 web and 55 phone league average. What’s more, during a few home games last year, over 1,000 people dialed up to hear Benson and D’Uva’s ebullient voices.

“Of all the college summer teams we work with, Guy and Dan’s show is the one that stands out,” said Wilt. “They’ve embraced the technology and made it their own. When we talk to perspective clients, we tell them to listen to the Chatham games, because it shows the high quality that’s capable of being produced. That’s all a credit to the extraordinary job Guy and Dan do.”

But for Benson and D’Uva, it’s not really about the professional-grade jingles and high-priced headphones. The sound quality and presentation matter, but not as much as what’s being said and how. For them, it’s about reaching the apex of sports journalism, a quest they began long ago in the confines of D’Uva’s basement. 

Arrested Development 

For Benson, it didn’t take long to answer the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” That seductive siren beckoned well before he hit double digits.

“I decided I wanted to be a sportscaster in third grade,” said Benson. “I was listening to a Yankees game, and it dawned on me that someone is being paid to describe the action. I thought, this is the best job I’ve ever heard of, how does one get this job?”

He learned the answer was hard work, moxie, and the right partner.

Enter D’Uva, who spent a portion of his formative years playing Capra behind a camcorder at youth football games. The two met in an eighth grade print journalism class, where they realized they shared the same dream. As freshmen, they built RHS-TV Sports – a public access station covering 13 towns with one camera – into a minor empire.

“The first year we had a VHS camera and two microphones from Radio Shack,” recalled D’Uva. “It was very low tech.”

But by the time they graduated, RHS-TV – now the Ridgewood Sports Network – was a well-oiled machine, boasting five cameras, instant replay capability, teleprompters, sideline reporters, and was broadcasting to 48 towns in Northern New Jersey.

Not bad for a pair of precocious kids who used to lock themselves in D’Uva’s basement and turn off the sound on their TV so that they could call games themselves. And when there wasn’t a televised game to cover, the two broadcast junkies made due. “I don’t play [sports] videogames,” said Benson, “But I have announced them.”

Still, the road to sports casting stardom has had its ups and downs. Benson and D’Uva have received their share of hate mail and criticisms. But even threats from a six-foot-three, 230 pound Montclair , N.J. athletic director couldn’t shut them down.

That beast of a man was Winthrop “Windy” McGriff, who, for reasons unknown, tried to ban Benson and D’Uva’s football broadcast.

“He was yelling and screaming at us to get out,” recalled D’Uva. “And finally I said ‘Mr. McGriff, I’m not leaving this press box until you have a police officer drag me out in handcuffs.’”

“The end of that story is we wound up interviewing the guy at halftime,” said Benson. “And he turned out to be a pretty pleasant interview.”

Throughout their high school years, Benson and D’Uva gained notoriety by lending their voices to any game they could find: football, lacrosse, hockey, softball, even gymnastics, though all remained a distant second to their first love, baseball.

Now college juniors, they’re reaching an even wider audience. D’Uva is the assistant sports director for WJPZ FM at Syracuse University , while Benson attends the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University , and is the co-sports director of WNUR, the biggest student run radio station in the nation.

When they left the Garden State , Benson and D’Uva didn’t know they’d ever get the chance to work together again, at least not on an amateur level. But as luck would have it, they reunited when Benson (who sometimes served as the A’s guest public address announcer while he and his family vacationed in Chatham ), was hired for the Teamline job and instantly requested D’Uva as his co-host.

“Even though we’ve never said it aloud, that there’s no particular issue that’s so important it’s worth risking or ruining the relationship we have,” said D’Uva, with Benson nodding in agreement. “We have our disagreements, but if we hated each other, you would not enjoy our broadcasts.” 

45 Days and 45 Nights 

If there’s one thing Benson and D’Uva have learned from working in Chatham , it’s how to carefully cram fragile sound equipment into a 1993 Nissan Altima.

Beginning last year, they took their gear on the road, and are the only Cape League announcers to work both home and away games.

That meant the Chatham Athletic Association had to shell out an additional $1,800 per season to cover the cost of road broadcasts. But CAA President Peter Troy sold ad space to Chatham summer resident and Monster.com CEO Jeff Taylor, which covers the cost to broadcast all 45 of the A’s regular season games.

“Dan and Guy are so good at what they do, it just made all the sense in the world to allow them to do the away games,” said Troy .

There’s many who, indirectly, applaud Troy ’s effort, such as Joe Cody, father to second-year A’s pitcher Chris Cody.

“Guy and Dan are a lot of fun to listen to, and they’re so knowledgeable for such young kids,” said Cody, a resident of Brewster , N.Y. “The show is great because I can clip my phone to my belt and work in the garden or fix dinner and still be able to listen to my son 250 miles away.”

There are others who praise the show, particularly those who are familiar with the elocutionary arts, like former Chatham public address announcer and current Cape League Commissioner Paul Galop.

“From the moment I first heard them, I was convinced I’d see these two on ESPN’s SportsCenter someday,” said Galop. “Guy and Dan are light years ahead of people their age, and there’s clearly nothing but a bright future for them. They’re exceptional and they truly set the standard for all other broadcasters in the Cape League .” 

John Garner, the Cape League ’s PR director and co-host of the Pixy 103 FM Cape League radio game of the week, echoed that sentiment, saying “Their age belies the fact they’re senior members, but Guy and Dan are the best in the league. They’re certainly the model of the Cape League ’s phone/internet broadcast.”

Not that talent is the only – or even the most important – ingredient.

“We are not extraordinary in any way, we just work very hard,” said Benson. “We may have the highest rated show on the Cape , but that doesn’t stop us from making it seem like we’re doing a nation-wide Super Bowl broadcast. That’s the attitude you always have to take, otherwise you slip into unprofessionalism.” 

Number One For A Reason 

Back at Veterans Field, the A’s are nursing a 1-0 late inning lead over their East Division rivals. The players appear tired, but Benson and D’Uva are as fresh as they were before the Field of Dreams-like lights illuminated the playing surface.

The average Teamline listener probably doesn’t know D’Uva has been up since 7 a.m. to help out with the Chatham A’s baseball camp for kids, nor that Benson has been running food at the Chatham Squire.

The parents and coaches of Cape League players – Teamline’s target audience – most likely have no clue how much hard work it takes for Benson and D’Uva to produce a polished broadcast. They don’t see the flurry of hand gestures and other non-verbal signals used to find a player’s name or his school on the occasionally incomplete stat sheet.

But finesse and precision are only half the battle. Benson and D’Uva are prepared for the outrageous stuff too. They don’t skip a beat when Y-D pitcher Daniel McCutchen saves himself from a sure injury by blocking a wildly swung bat.

It’s hard to imagine anyone who loves their job more than Benson and D’Uva. But they’re adamant that it’s not an easy one, and Benson is quick to debunk the popular myths about the business.

“There’s this idea that broadcast people are idiots, that we’re a bunch of bimbo talking heads, who look pretty, talk away, then go home and have a latté,” said Benson. “The misconception is that what we do is easy, and any old idiot lucky enough to land this job can do it.”

Not surprisingly, Benson and D’Uva have already dipped their toes in the deep end. Benson has interned for the Fox News Channel and D’Uva has the YES Network (station of the NY Yankees) inked on his resume.

But perhaps the underlying reason Benson and D’Uva have maintained their top standing in the Cape League, and received such gushing praise, is because they’re genuinely happy calling out the names of Josh Morris and Evan Longoria, not Derek Jeter and Mike Piazza. They’re not willing to overlook any steps in their mission to scale the sports casting summit.

“People spend a lot of money to come on vacation here, but we get to be here and we get to broadcast baseball,” said Benson, not smugly, but in wonder.

“Right now, I’d rather be broadcasting baseball games in Chatham than broadcasting games for the Mets or Yankees,” said D’Uva. “At some point it’ll be great to do this professionally. But right now I’m 20 years old, I’m enjoying my college years with great baseball players and in this great town.

“That, to me, is the coolest thing ever.” 

6/30/05 

by Eric Adler
eric@capecodchronicle.com