Dooley Ingrained as Rock Cats Radio Announcer
By Ken Lipshez | Sport Correspondent at June 15, 2024 | 9:30 am | Print
Fifteen years have passed since a young man from Rhode Island, with a pioneering spirit made his way to New Britain to turn the first spade of dirt in his quest to build the dream of a lifetime.
Jeff Dooley ventured out into the unknown to satisfy his desire to broadcast baseball play-by-play on the radio. In the New Britain Rock Cats, he saw the untapped potential of a demographically superb market, but the broadcast arrangements were a year-to-year proposition.
In the mid 1980s, when the Rock Cats were the Red Sox, the importance of broadcasting was so shallow that it was handled by students at the Central Connecticut State University radio station.
In the mid 90s, the broadcasting was done by Jim Lucas and his intrepid partner Don Wardlow, who gained national attention as the first blind broadcaster in baseball history.
A degree of fame came their way but certainly not fortune. In order to ply their craft, they requested payment from advertisers only when the team won. Given those circumstances, those familiar with the New Britain Red Sox in those days wouldn’t be surprised that Lucas, Wardlow, his seeing-eye dog Gizmo and the rest of their entourage shared a city flat.
For Dooley, there would be no gimmicks. What you hear is what you get. Gradually, the lad from Lincoln, R.I., by way of Standish, Maine, where he recreated St. Joseph’s College Monks games from atop the home dugout, dropped his eastern New England accent, refined his craft and earned the respect of a city and a region.
“I visited the ballpark in 1997 and fell in love with it,” said Dooley, who along with his wife Marne is raising a family in West Hartford. “The team didn’t have full-time radio. I talked to [Britsox GM] Gerry Berthiaume. I told him I was doing basketball at Bryant College. I told him that this team should be on the radio. The club should have more media attention.”
With his foot firmly in the door, Dooley pursued the multiple facets of the challenge with resolve. He made a deal with Southington station WNTY and hit the pavement to gain financial support.
“It was exciting. It was my little baby. It was something I was able to put together and watch grow,” he said. “Looking back at that first year, I was just glad to be a part of something.”
And the 1998 Rock Cats didn’t let him down. Future major leaguers dotted the roster.
Center fielder Torii Hunter and catcher A.J. Pierzynski would become major league all-stars. Doug Mientkiewicz, the 1998 Eastern League MVP, would secure the final out for the Boston Red Sox’ first world championship in 86 years and carve out a solid career. Others – southpaw reliever J.C. Romero, shortstop Christian Guzman, Chad Allen, Jacque Jones, Chad Moeller, Mike Lincoln and Joe Mays – would all play in “the show.”
Dooley dreams of doing the same someday, but the competition is incredibly tough, particularly when the list of major league radio broadcasters includes so many former players. His legacy in New Britain would indicate that he can’t – and won’t – be silenced.
“I just keep moving forward trying to improve,” he said, his humble nature coming through with every word. “I’ve had some good feedback the last couple years from major league broadcasters from big markets. I hope at some point to get a chance to do that.”
But his love for the Rock Cats, his adopted home and the region run strong and deep.
“I didn’t think I’d be here for 15 years, but if you have to be in the minors, it’s a great place to be,” Dooley noted. “It’s all about getting a commitment from ownership and the Rock Cats’ ownership puts an emphasis on radio.”
When original owner Joe Buzas sold the team to a group headed by New Britain attorney Coleman Levy and former New York Yankees legal counsel Bill Dowling, the seed Dooley planted sprouted deep roots in the fertile soil of their ambitious marketing campaign. Crowds multiplied.
In 2004, he began spending winters broadcasting University of Hartford men’s basketball with legendary Celtic guard/coach/ambassador K.C. Jones.
Dooley became engaged in community functions and emceed charity affairs. People became familiar with him. The only figure in town more synonymous with the Rock Cats’ brand was the omnipresent mascot, Rocky.
An array of aspiring broadcasters has served apprenticeships with him. At the other end of the operation, he worked alongside nationally known UConn sports voice Joe D’Ambrosio and veteran baseball/political commentator Dan Lovallo and absorbed their knowledge.
With the advent of the internet, Dooley rides the crest of the wave. Rock Cats broadcasts, once heard only in pockets of the greater New Britain area, can now be heard anywhere in the world. While his spot on the dial changes with the fluctuating rhythm that guides the domain of local radio, Dooley and the Rock Cats remain a constant.
“We’ve seen this come a long way, and the whole change in the media scene. We used to just be in Connecticut and now you can hear the games in Australia and free on www.rockcats.com,” said Dooley, the brother-in-law of acclaimed Boston Red Sox television broadcaster Don Orsillo. “It’s cool how things have formed. I think [team management] realized there was something there. I’m thrilled that it’s worked.”
Dooley’s broadcasts can be heard locally on Fox Sports Radio AM 1410 (Hartford), WMRD-AM 1150 (Middletown/New Britain) and WLIS-AM 1420 (Old Saybrook). Every Rock Cats game is streamed live on the internet on www.foxsportsradio1410.com. A link is also available on the team’s website.
