NEW YORK — She’s one of the first women to cover Major League Baseball, and as the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation sees it, her dedication and pioneering spirit have paved the way for many women in sports media.
On June 18 at Cipriani 42nd Street, pioneering New York Yankees announcer Suzyn Waldman will be honored by AWMF for her achievements with the Gracies Lifetime Achievement Award.
Waldman will receive the honor “in recognition of her extraordinary contributions to sports broadcasting for over four decades” at the 49th Annual Gracie Awards Luncheon.
“We are honored to recognize Suzyn Waldman’s pioneering contributions to the industry with the Gracies Lifetime Achievement Award,” says AWMF President Becky Brooks.
A Radio Hall of Fame inductee, Waldman is the first-ever voice to be heard on the world’s first all-Sports radio station, WFAN in New York; she delivered a 3pm live sports update on July 1, 1987 for the Emmis-owned station that had just changed from Country WHN. She is also recognized as the first female electronic beat reporter; the first woman to host NBA pre- and post-game shows; the first woman to do play-by-play on a nationally-televised Major League Baseball game; and in 2005, became the first woman full-time color commentator for a Major League club when she was paired with John Sterling to call New York Yankees games — twelve years after becoming a play-by-play announcer for the Yankees’ television coverage on WPIX-11. Sterling unexpectedly retired at the start of the 2024 season.
Waldman, aged 77, is a 1968 graduate of Simmons University in Boston, which in 2021 bestowed her with an honorary doctorate. She majored in Economics and, following her graduation, worked onstage in musical theater. She is also in remission from breast cancer, diagnosed in 1996.
AWMF also announced on Wednesday that Deborah Roberts will host the 2024 annual Gracie Awards Luncheon. Roberts is the Senior National Affairs Correspondent for ABC News and Co-Anchor of “20/20.” Event sponsors include Disney Entertainment and ESPN.
