Press Release

(March 5, 2009) Mick Gillispie, the voice of the Tennessee Smokies baseball, is prepping for the upcoming 2009 season by lending his talent to the Crimson Tide Sports Network. The lead broadcaster for the Smokies will expand on his featured role last season as a guest commentator for the University of Alabama and join Chris Stewart for the upcoming baseball season.

Gillispie, a native of Baltimore, Md., is a seasoned veteran in the broadcast booth. He is no stranger to the Crimson Tide Sports Network; he began his radio career in 1998 as a reporter on Tuscaloosa’s WUAL radio’s “All Things Considered” nightly news. More recently he called the action the past two seasons for the Alabama women’s basketball team. He’s also spent the past decade in minor league baseball, spending time in the booth with the Wilson Tobs (Coastal Plain League) in 2003, Salem Avalanche (Carolina League) in 2004, the Chattanooga Lookouts (Southern League) in 2006 and 2006, and of course, the Tennessee Smokies the past two seasons.

He will rejoin the Smokies for their season opener at the Jacksonville Suns on Thursday, April 9.

Gillispie graduated from the University of Alabama in 1999. While in school he worked at WVUA radio, hosting the station’s football pre-game show and serving as its sports director while broadcasing baseball and basketball games. Gillispie was awarded both the station’s Director of the Year and Densmore Awards for his efforts. His “Future Prospects Pre-Game Show” won national acclaim from College Broadcasters, Inc. in 2001