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SALT LAKE CITY — With a signed baseball in one hand and a microphone trophy in the other, longtime Salt Lake Bees play-by-play announcer Steve Klauke couldn’t hold back the emotions prior to Tuesday’s game as the organization honored him.
Klauke, who was invited to throw out the first pitch, was recognized prior to the game for calling his 3,000th game with the Bees organization, missing only 10 games in his 20 years with the team.
“When I started doing this in April of 1994, I thought it was going to be a lot of fun. I didn’t know how long it was going to be,” Klauke said. “Here I am 3,000 games later and still doing it for the same franchise.”
Klauke credits his health for his ability to call so many games. He only missed one game due to sickness in the 20 year stretch, saying he got food poisoning at the ballpark in Vancouver.
Although much has changed over the years since Klauke began calling games for the Bess, he said he never gets tired of painting a picture of the game.
“To me it’s like a brand new play every day — a nine act play — you never know what’s going to happen,” Klauke said. “I’ve seen everything from a right fielder in Colorado Springs refusing to take his position because there was a 9-foot long snake slithering across right field to a game ending on a walkoff detached equipment call when the Tucson catcher used his mask to gather in the ball on a wild pitch, which is a violation.
There are days I get tired, but I'm never tired of doing this. It's a lot of fun and you never know what you're going to see the next day.
–Steve Klauke
“There are days I get tired, but I’m never tired of doing this,” he added. “It’s a lot of fun and you never know what you’re going to see the next day.”
Klauke said having a beautiful landscape in the background only adds to the broadcasting experience.
“This is the best view in all of baseball, with the Wasatch Front in the background, a gorgeous ballpark, bright, green grass; it’s just a beautiful place to play a game, watch a game and to broadcast a game,” he said.
Klauke was hired as the Salt Lake Buzz announcer in 1994 as the organization’s original broadcasting staff, and quickly became a recognizable broadcaster for Triple-A baseball and in the state of Utah.
“The entire Bees organization and Larry H. Miller Group of Companies congratulates Steve on this incredible milestone,” Bees General Manager Marc Amicone said in a statement. “We are lucky to have such a knowledgeable and dedicated person to bring the play-by- play action from our games to our fans via radio and television. He is an institution for Bees baseball.”
Klauke was recently inducted into the Utah Softball Hall of Fame for his broadcasting of several men’s fastpitch softball games. He was named Utah Sportscaster of the Year in 1995, among the many other awards he’s been given throughout his broadcasting career.
