We've heard one or both of their voices calling baseball on the radio in Buffalo since 2007. Ben Wagner and Pat Malacaro are both spending 2021 around their respective teams, but the odd circumstances enveloping the Buffalo Bisons and parent Toronto Blue Jays have thrown major curveballs to both.
They're away from the microphone and not by choice. Maybe things will change in the coming weeks but, for now, they're the silent voices of summer.
Wagner, the Herd's play-by-play man from 2007-2017, isn't doing the Blue Jays' games because parent company Sportsnet shocked the baseball establishment by making the Jays the only MLB team to drop radio announcers for this pandemic season and use a television simulcast for its broadcasts.
Malacaro, the South Buffalo-born broadcast intern who eventually took over as the Bisons' lead voice in 2018 upon Wagner's departure, isn't doing the Herd's games because the club isn't producing a broadcast while the team is playing in Trenton, N.J.
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In 2020, Malacaro was furloughed by the Bisons when the minor-league schedule was canceled and Wagner called 64 Jays games off a monitor in Sportsnet's Toronto studios. They both figured they would join their colleagues at both levels in the eventual return to normalcy in 2021. It hasn't happened.
"I feel terrible for Ben and we've had a lot of conversations," Malacaro said Friday night in Sahlen Field. "And I feel like we're in a similar situation. He's watching all the Jays games. And he's not calling them. I'm watching all the Bisons games. I'm not calling them. It's not what either of us expected.
"As much as we've been friends over the years, I think it's been a little bit something we've been able to kind of lean on each other. Last year when we were going through everything and he was calling games and I wasn't, I would talk to him about certain things, too."
The Blue Jays have a radio legacy since their 1977 birth that features legendary voices Tom Cheek and Jerry Howarth, and the team was shocked to learn of Sportsnet's plans. Multiple former players had been interviewed to join Wagner in the booth after the surprising decision to drop longtime announcer Mike Wilner following last season and that process was nearly complete.
The network pivoted a week before the first spring training broadcast in a clear money-saving grab and has spent the season getting roasted by fans and the Toronto media for the move. Wagner served as a sideline reporter alongside television voices Buck Martinez and Pat Tabler while the team played games in Dunedin, Fla., but has been in limbo since doing some radio talk show appearances.
"I took it very personally. That was their decision, but to their credit they told me not to take it personally," Wagner said as he visited his old ballpark during the Blue Jays' current homestand. "Many other people told me not to take it personally in the building as well as my colleagues from other teams. It took some time to understand it and get over that hurdle."
Wagner pressed ahead, taking the time to build his portfolio with the TV work. It was a big adjustment.
"I took it as a personal challenge, like everything really these last couple of years," he said. "Last year we're on monitors and I'm trying to use them to get better at pitch identification. The TV work is something I'm trying to show versatility for the network where I can pivot off being a traditional radio guy."
Sometimes, Wagner could even contribute when not on the air at a specific moment. He recalled one game in Dunedin where Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Cavan Biggio were both out with injuries when he noticed Gurriel wearing turf shoes and Biggio in spikes, so he passed that tip on to the production truck for use in the broadcast that Biggio was able to play.
"On radio, you'd have a story where you might talk over an entire at-bat or even an entire inning," he said. "Something that player is working on or something even human interest. Well now, you had to condense it to 25 seconds. So when you're used to having the whole inning to talk? Yeah, it's a much more concise delivery and way of storytelling. And you know I love to talk."
No trips to Trenton
Malacaro's furlough from baseball resulted in him doing some radio/streaming play-by-play work for Canisius College on basketball, soccer and lacrosse games. Radio guys need reps just like players after all.
The Bisons announced a schedule for 2021 and there was a countdown to opening day that suddenly went away. The Blue Jays still couldn't get into Canada and opted to come here. Then they arranged for the Bisons to go to New Jersey. Many Triple-A radio guys aren't traveling and there's an announcer, Gregg Caserta, already in place in Trenton.
Ben Wagner, right, play-by-play radio announcer for the Toronto Blue Jays, and Pat Malacaro, play-by-play radio announcer of the Buffalo Bisons, are pictured at Sahlen Field on Saturday, July 3, 2021.
Malacaro is doing the Bisons' media relations and statistical work and posting game highlights on the fly to the team's social media feeds, as MLB has given minor-league clips more tools to do that efficiently during games.
If the Blue Jays leave town and the Bisons return from Trenton, Malacaro is ready to reclaim his post in the Sahlen Field booth. The team is obligated by MLB to at least do an Internet broadcast, even if it can't reestablish commercial radio coverage until 2022.
"I'm always a glass half-full person," Malacaro said. "I thought the whole time, 'All right. The border is gonna open at some point this summer, whether it's June 21, August 25 or somewhere in between, I still think it will happen.
"It won't be a perfect situation if the Bisons return. I think everyone recognizes that. But if we get three homestands after what we've had here for these Jays games, it will be tough for the players but I think it will pay off. If we got 17 games, 20 games, I think everybody would be happy with that."
Wagner feels the pain of everyone in the minors for the last 2020 season and for his friend's odd circumstance while in his former chair.
"Pat is on the outside, looking in so many ways. Connected to it, but you're not part of it," said Wagner, who has stayed with Malacaro during his trip into town. "The Bisons are doing a tremendous job promoting, amplifying the players and the moments that you'd love to see on a Friday night in downtown Buffalo. Unfortunately, it's happening in the middle of New Jersey. That's a massive disconnect for the tremendous fan base of Bisons baseball."
A trip to the old home
Wagner knows all about Buffalo fans. An Indiana native who came to Buffalo from Class A ball in 2007 and had the difficult task of replacing the ultra-popular Jim Rosenhaus, Wagner quickly built a following of his own. He has enjoyed his trip to Buffalo to reconnect with many old friends at the ballpark and had to see MLB games in person here before it was too late.
"I really wanted to experience this. This is significant having Major League Baseball in Buffalo," he said. "I thought it would be an awesome experience and so far it hasn't disappointed. Having a chance to come back here and also witness what's happening here stirs up a lot of emotions.
"It's great to see so many familiar faces and be welcomed back. It's incredibly humbling to be remembered. When you're walking through the concourse and you don't realize probably how much people are relying on you to be their eyes and ears as a resource for the Bisons until you've come back after that void, that to me was pretty overwhelming. It made it really, really gratifying coming back."
Wagner said he has no idea what will happen with radio broadcasts if the Blue Jays return to Toronto, or what Sportsnet will do with them in 2022. He's got two years left on his contract, too.
"I felt really confident about this potentially being my job for the next 30 years," Wagner said. "I really did. I still have that confidence. But there's a lot of uncertainty now to it."
"I'm confident he's coming back to the big leagues very soon," Malacaro said. "It's just a matter of when does that happen? It's going to happen."
