Ironman 'Voice of the Blue Claws' captures minor league baseball, one story at a time
LAKEWOOD – As the grounds crew removed the tarp at ShoreTown Ballpark prior to Tuesday night’s series opener with the Asheville Tourists, Jersey Shore BlueClaws play-by-play man Greg Giombarrese was in his element, spinning yarns from his 14 seasons behind the microphone as he held court in the press box.
Like the doubleheader last season in which two of the Phillies’ top pitching prospects, Mick Abel and Andrew Painter, combined to throw 13 shutout innings, with 19 strikeouts, contrasted with the night BlueClaws centerfielder Mickey Moniak lost a routine flyball in the fog a few years earlier, allowing the two winning runs to score.
There was a description of the long home run Mets’ minor leaguer Ronny Mauricio cracked in 2021 that sailed well beyond the centerfield fence. And a respectful recollection about how the best opposing pitcher he’d seen at the Jersey Shore was a 2012 appearance by Greensboro’s Jose Fernandez, who the next year was the National League Rookie of the Year for the Miami Marlins but died tragically in a boating accident in 2016.
Anyone who listens to Giombarrese’s calls understands this is what you get on a nightly basis, the Jackson Township resident's voice providing a detailed account of the action, while telling the stories surrounding every player and coach who has passed through over the years.
“He is as good or better than anyone out there. I listen to some major league guys who don’t hold a candle to him,” said Tony Graham, the long-time Asbury Park Press sportswriter and broadcaster who’s been Giombarrese’s partner in the booth on home games since 2014. “He’s the complete package, with vivid play-by-play. He’s a tremendous interviewer and has a broad knowledge of the BlueClaws, minor league and major league baseball.”
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Giombaresse, 39 - the "Voice of the BlueClaws" - learned his craft at Fordham’s WFUV, the starting point for some of the industry’s best-known talent. He recently called his 1,000th home game, making him one of the longest tenured announcers with the same team in the minors, having come to the BlueClaws in 2009 after doing broadcasts as an intern in 2007.
“It’s so effortless, and it’s wonderful to watch a friend, a colleague in their element doing something extraordinarily well,” BlueClaws’ president Joe Ricciutti said.
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BlueClaws President Joe Ricciutti on why Greg Giombarrese is 'a great steward'
There have been more than a few memorable moments on the field, with the BlueClaws winning the South Atlantic League championship in each of Giombarrese’s first two seasons (2009-10). But the most special recollections of all revolve around the daily interactions within the organization, with Giombarrese also serving as the Director of Communications.
“There’s nothing like sitting up there and calling a game with a big crowd, a dramatic win, but ultimately it’s about the people,” he said.
“My first year here we had Anthony Gose - who is still kicking around as a pitcher - as our centerfielder, and he was quite a character. We had Travis D’Arnaud, who is still going. Our manager was Dusty Wathan, who’s the Phillies’ third base coach, and we had one of the all-time great guys in Greg Legg, who was the hitting coach at the time and was Mr. Phillies, having been with the organization for 30-plus years and always had a smile on his face.”
While his day ended within an hour of the BlueClaws’ 2-1 loss, it began at 9 a.m. when Giombarrese arrived in the team’s offices at the ballpark.
A little over an hour later he was joining his colleagues on the field to pull the tarp off the field after overnight rains, while spending part of the afternoon preparing for that evening’s broadcast.
“Having been here for so long, he understands the cadence of this operation and he’s a great steward of that” Ricciutti said. “He’s always thinking about how we can do things better."
It’s all part of the unique lure of being part of a major league farm system, where wearing many hats is a necessity.
“Anybody who says taking the tarp off the field never gets old is lying,” Giombarrese said. “But while the tarp specifically is not part of the charm of minor league baseball, the overall beauty of it is that we can kind of push the envelope and be unique. Like on Saturday we can make the players wear these crazy tie-dye jerseys with bears on them because it’s Grateful Dead night. That sort of thing.
“We can run a character race with pork roll, egg and cheese, and a character race with three eyeballs and we have been doing them for 15 years. And when we survey the fans on what your favorite on-field promotion is - it's pork roll, egg and cheese every time. We can just entertain because that’s what we’re here to do. Entertain with baseball in the background, as opposed to the other way around.”
Greg Giombarrese tells the story of Phillies prospects
While there’s a lot going on off the field at ShoreTown Ballpark, the fact remains that the BlueClaws always have a few of the Phillies’ top prospects on the roster.
And that’s the part Giombarrese spends hours each day focusing on, telling the story of the game, and the stories within the game.
“It’s a real pleasure when you hear from parents and family members who are listening or watching,” Giombarrese said. “Last week we were playing and our pitcher Matt Osterberg, who is from Wisconsin - his family goes on a camping vacation each summer. So I got a photo in the third inning and they had 50 people there with the RV with a TV setup watching and listening from a campground in Appleton, Wisconsin. So we talked about that on the broadcast.”
It’s all part of the homespun charm of minor league baseball. And few in the business match the job of capturing it one story at a time than Giombarrese does.
Stephen Edelson is a USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey sports columnist who has been covering athletics in the state and at the Jersey Shore for over 35 years. Contact him at: @SteveEdelsonAPP; sedelson@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Greg Giombarrese as Jersey Shore Blue Claws broadcaster lifts minor leagues
