Jenny Cavnar makes history with A’s, will be first woman in MLB to handle primary play-by-play duties

Veteran baseball broadcaster Jenny Cavnar is the new primary play-by-play announcer for the Oakland Athletics, hired by NBC Sports California.

The company made the announcement Tuesday. Cavnar becomes the first woman to handle primary play-by-play duties in major league history — set to be the voice for most of the A’s games during the upcoming 2024 season.

She has covered baseball for 17 of her 20 years in the media business, most recently calling Colorado Rockies games the past 12 years as a backup play-by-play announcer while also hosting pregame and postgame shows and regional coverage.

She became the first woman in a quarter-century to handle play-by-play for an MLB game in 2018. She is a graduate of Colorado State University and former college lacrosse player.

“It is a dream come true to join the broadcast team for the Oakland A’s and their rich baseball history,” Cavnar said in a statement.

The landmark news arrives one day after Jen Pawol was among 24 minor league umpires assigned full-time as fill-ins at big league spring training.

Pawol is set to work her first major league exhibition game on Feb. 24 when Houston plays Washington at West Palm Beach, Florida, breaking the umpiring gender barrier. She also was promoted to a minor league crew chief and is on the verge of a regular season big league debut.