Prospect Terre Haute Rex

New Voice Of Rex Ready For 2011 Season

Published on March 1, 2011 under Prospect League (Prospect)
Terre Haute Rex News Release


A lifelong baseball fan who has enjoyed a storied career in broadcasting, Mark Edwards is looking forward to stepping up to the microphone as the new public address announcer at Terre Haute Rex games in 2011.

The native of Illinois and die-hard Chicago Cubs fan spent time as a bat boy at Wrigley Field in the 1960s and said he is inspired by former Cubs field announcer Pat Pieper, who addressed the crowd with a megaphone from a box beside the visiting team's dugout and also functioned as the ball boy, tossing new baseballs to the home plate umpire.

"He was such a part of the experience," Edwards said of Pieper, adding that he wants to make fan interaction a major part of his work with the Rex. "They [the fans] want to know you, they want to have fun with you. I want to make them part of the experience."

Edwards is also looking forward to working with Jimmie "the Kidd" Baugh, a local radio disc jockey and the new music operations manager for the Rex. Edwards, like Baugh, got his start in radio and says that Baugh is talented and focused. "Jimmie's a good guy. He gets the 'show business' side as well," Edwards said. "It's going to be a partnership, he and I."

After graduating from Southern Illinois University, Edwards went to work for KMOX in St. Louis, which at the time was the flagship station for St. Louis Cardnials baseball. "I was the only Cubs fan in the house," Edwards said. While at the station, Edwards worked with such broadcasting legends as Jack Buck, Bob Costas and Art Fleming. "It was the granddaddy [of all sports talk radio stations] in that area of the country," he said.

Edwards has also worked in radio locally, including time at WZZQ and WBOW, where he hosted a daytime talk radio show for ten years. "I got a pretty good feel for the community and a pretty good feel for the people," Edwards said.

The current director of marketing at Indiana State University, Edwards is retiring from his fulltime position in June, which he says makes the timing of the opportunity with the Rex even better. He said he was drawn to the Rex from the beginning, supporting the idea of bringing competitive baseball back to Terre Haute, but he didn't expect such a huge outpouring of support as the team received in its inaugural season.

"[The Rex] seem to be very interested in interacting with the fans. Entertaining folks is serious business," Edwards said. "I never thought it would take off like it did."



Prospect League Stories from March 1, 2011


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central