Thursday, March 13

It’s National Ghostwriters Week, so Ben hired me to write this introduction for him. I shall remain anonymous. Welcome to The Baseball Traveler Newsletter. Let’s talk about Minor League Baseball.

Birmingham is known as The Magic City, and for 32 years it was Curt Bloom’s job to cast a spell over the airwaves. Bloom, the longest-tenured broadcaster in Birmingham Barons history, announced at the end of last month that it “was time to get off the bus and let someone else take their turn” as the voice of one of Minor League Baseball’s most storied franchises.

I spoke with Bloom in his broadcast booth at Birmingham’s Regions Field in 2023, during what turned out to be his penultimate campaign. The quotes contained in this article, lightly edited for clarity, are from that conversation (previously featured in an episode of “The Show Before the Show” podcast). 

"I was blessed growing up in New York, in Westchester County," said Bloom. "I was nine years old and I wanted to be the Yankees center fielder. The next best thing would be, 'I want to be the Yankees broadcaster.' I would go to bed at night with a transistor radio, listen to Phil Rizzuto and Bill White and Frank Messer. I just knew athletically it was never going to happen for me, and I carved out a path. It’s a very big blessing to know when you’re nine years old what you want to do, and it was just carving that out and continuing to do it."

Following stints with the Bakersfield Blaze, Prince William Cannons and Huntsville Stars, Bloom was hired by the Barons in advance of the 1992 season. The Southern League stalwart was then, and remains now, the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox.

"I’ve always answered it this way: 'The job seeks you,'" he said. "It was just that the Birmingham Barons had an opening, and I had some sales experience, and the brand-new general manager at the time, Bill Hardekopf, wanted someone who could sell. … It could have been the Tulsa club. It could have been Frisco, it could have been Rochester. I didn’t go, 'That’s where I want to go.' They were the ones that said, 'OK, everything you’re presenting to us is good enough. We’d like to offer you the job.'"

It may have been a circumstantial and somewhat arbitrary decision, but Birmingham proved to be the right choice. Over the course of his Barons tenure, Bloom called the action for four championship-winning teams, including the improbable 2024 squad. He was behind the mic for every iteration of the Rickwood Classic, the annual Rickwood Field throwback game that set the stage for 2024’s Willie Mays-focused MLB game between the Cardinals and Giants. The Barons played at suburban Hoover Met Stadium for the first two decades of his career, with Regions Field opening in downtown Birmingham in 2013.

Bloom was inducted into the Barons Hall of Fame that same year, joining the likes of Mays, Satchell Paige and many other luminaries. Five years later he received enshrinement in the Southern League Hall of Fame as well. 

And, of course, Bloom was the voice of the Barons for the unforgettable 1994 season, in which a longshot prospect by the name of Michael Jordan patrolled Birmingham’s outfield. The NBA superstar’s presence on the roster, under the guidance of rookie skipper Terry Francona, drew massive attention and Bloom was at the center of it all. Maybe that’s why he ended up in Birmingham.

"I rubbed a crystal ball, said 'I bet one day we’re gonna get Michael Jordan,'" he remarked facetiously. "I didn’t win a contest. It wasn’t like, 'Alright, send your tape in and you can be the announcer for Jordan.' I just happened to be here. … I’ll never forget those first couple weeks, never ever believing he’d get to the finish line, doubting him like everybody else did. That’s a great thing that I learned: The more you doubt, the more he tries to prove you wrong.

"The bottom line for any broadcaster, any year, any day, is build trust," he concluded. "I built trust with [Jordan] and he built trust with me."

Whether it’s Michael Jordan, an unheralded late-round Draft pick or anyone in between, Bloom said that building relationships was the most memorable and worthwhile aspect of his job.

"That’s what I’m really proud of, that I can walk into a lot of places. 'Hey CB, how you doing?'" he said. "[In 2022] when I did that Chicago [White Sox] game, a good part of that locker room was like, 'Hey, man, you got here!'"

Indeed, Bloom received a call to The Show in July of 2022, filling in for White Sox broadcaster Darrin Jackson. That was a career highlight, to be sure, but Bloom doesn’t look at it as a culmination. In announcing the end of his run with the Barons, he wrote, "I am not sure of my next step yet."

In the meantime, he’ll remain a familiar presence in the Birmingham sports scene, calling University of Auburn basketball and Vestavia Hills football.

As for what has brought him this far, and what compels him to continue, Bloom had a simple answer.

"One word: passion," he said. "I’ve got a lot of energy. I’m ready to go. … To be a broadcaster and to do all these other things, you’ve got to start with passion. And I’ve been blessed that the greatest feedback I get is when someone says, 'Man, you really sounded like you had a lot of fun.'"

This is Josh Jackson, just waiting for a reason to call Ben out. You know me as the host of Ghosts of the Minors, the segment on The Show Before The Show podcast that challenges you to spot the actual historical Minor League Baseball team or player hidden among two phonies.

Last week, we hopped around with Bunny Mick. This week, I ask which of these stylish clubs really suited up in the Minors of yesteryear?

1. The Susanna Hatmakers
2. The Marietta Tieweavers
3. The Cynthiana Cobblers

For the answer, tune into the next Ghosts of the Minors!

Over the past several months I’ve dedicated a lot of time and space to new Minor League Baseball alternate identities. In fact, the previous edition of this newsletter was largely dedicated to just this. I’m running out of creative ways to say that I have more to share, but yes: I have more to share. 

Delmarva Shorebirds (Single-A BAL): Delmarva Wild Ponies
Delmarva is a portmanteau for Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, but their new alternate identity is simply Marva-lous. Wild Ponies is a nod to a the approximately 150 feral equines that reside on Assateague Island, a 38-mile strip of land split between Maryland and Virginia. The Wild Ponies take the field May 17th; the primary logo features a “Saltwater cowboy escorting a wild pony to shore. READ MORE

FREDERICKSBURG NATIONALS (Single-A WSH): FREDERICKSBURG FROGS
The Fredericksburg Frogs, an all-Black amateur team, debuted in 1919 and played into the 1940s. The FredNats are now paying tribute, playing as the Frogs on five festive Fridays this season. Photographs of the original Frogs are scarce, so the Fred Nats created their own logos and uniforms. My colleague Joe Trezza has the story. READ MORE 

ROUND ROCK EXPRESS (Triple-A TEX): ROUND ROCK RYAN EXPRESS 34s
The Express are named after their owner Nolan Ryan, whose nickname was the Ryan Express. This alternate identity makes the connection even more explicit, as it incorporates Ryan’s name and uniform number into the mix. “Speed checked by radar,” reads the sleeve patch. “108 MPH.” ROUND ROCK'S VIDEO ANNOUNCEMENT

And there ya have it, another newsletter in the books. Thank you for reading, and please get in touch anytime. 

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