Steven Potter
Announcer Phil Dawson provides much of the off-field entertainment from the Mallards’ press box.
Some of the best seats in the house for a Madison Mallards baseball game aren’t along the baseline or even in the VIP sections. Perched three stories up, facing home base, you can see the entire field and stadium from the press box.
Home to the announcers and scorekeepers and other behind-the-scenes staff, the press box is the command center for most of the off-field magic that goes on during the game. From the outside, it looks like a trailer home on stilts; inside it feels like a hollowed-out school bus.
Crammed with computers and cameras, it is not a large space. There’s a shallow desk facing large picture windows with a mix of old, worn-out plastic chairs and broken stools occupied by various staff wearing the Mallards’ bright green and yellow shirts and caps.
“This is it,” says Phil Dawson sarcastically, raising his arms and nearly hitting someone squeezing in behind him. “This is our world for the next couple hours.”
Dawson’s upbeat voice is what you hear nearly constantly over the game’s nine innings. He announces the team lineups, who’s up to bat next and everything in-between, including the game’s numerous promotions, vendors, sponsors and in-game activities like the kids’ races and couples caught on the “kiss cam.”
“I keep fans in the game and tell them what’s going on out there,” says Dawson, 34, host of the Lucas and Dawson radio show on Big 1070 during the day. “It’s all part of the entertainment of baseball.”
Dawson works from four different scripts. Depending on what happens on the field, he’s got what are called “situational” or “fit-in” ads for it. A player gets walked? There’s an ad for that. Broken bat or wild pitch? There are ads for that too.
“It’s pretty frickin’ intense,” says Dawson. “I do a commercial or two, then it’s back to the ball game. At least I don’t have to write anything.” He also doesn’t have to mess with too many knobs or buttons. “I just have to mute and un-mute myself, that’s it,” he says, adding that he’s never had formal voice training but sings “a ton of karaoke.”
The play-by-play action for those listening at home or online through 106.7 FM/1670 AM is handled by Max Baker, who sits in a separate room. “My biggest challenge is timing bathroom breaks,” he says.
Also in the press box are a webcast producer and director, camera operators, scoreboard operators, stats keepers, DJ Kevin Swenson — who plays snippets of songs from Wilco and Shakira throughout the game — and an organist who plays a small keyboard.
The atmosphere is jovial, but it can occasionally be a dangerous place. Around the fourth inning on July 26, a foul ball flies over the safety net and in through an open window, nearly hitting a scorekeeper. “That happens three or four times a season,” says Macy Kludt, a manager who oversees the inner workings of the press box. “Somehow, it always misses our equipment.”
Shortly after, a couple of plates of plain brats and hot dogs appear. No explanation for the lack of condiments is offered.
As the game stretches on, the staff senses the end is near and they get a little punchy. Dawson stands up and begins dancing around while Swenson starts singing to songs he’s just played. They know they’re almost free for the night.
The game ends, and as the staff begins to pack up, Dawson thanks the fans for showing up and announces that an on-field interview with the Mallards’ MVP is about to take place.
“Another one in the books,” says Dawson, excited to be done. “See ya guys for the next one.”
Average home game attendance: Almost 6,000
Number of home games this year: 36
Speakers throughout the stadium: 21
Clinched Northwoods League playoff spot: Aug. 5
First playoff game: Aug. 15, location tbd
