Curve fans will remember Wilson
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By Jarrod Prugar
For the Mirror
When the Richmond Flying Squirrels come to Altoona, a familiar voice can be heard calling games for the Flying Squirrels. That voice is Trey Wilson.
Wilson was the director of communications and broadcasting for the Curve from 2015-2018 and was on the call for the 2017 Eastern League Championship victory at PNG Field.
That victory was unexpected as Trenton players had all but won the championship in their head and expressed as much to those on the field, but for the Curve it was all fuel to their fire during that series.
"It was pretty much written off that Trentonwas gonna win that championship," Wilson said. "They were one of the greatest teams in the history of this league and there were even some comments from some Trenton players about that they were going to win that championship."
Of course, that championship never came.
"The guys went out to Trenton and the pitching was just on a different level. Brandon Waddell and JT Brubaker dominated," Wilson said. "They went ahead and took care of business on that first night. Mitch Keller was great. We got to them early and Jin-De JHang had that big swing to put the Curve in front and they never looked back. That celebration was a lot of fun."
Broadcasting games on the Curve Radio Network was only a small piece of what Wilson did on a daily basis for Altoona.
"I had a hand in a lot of things when I was here. Whether it was running social media or doing some graphic design, helping out with some marketing tests, editing and writing the program for every home series," Wilson said. "I definitely spent a lot of hours, late nights in this ballpark well beyond when the game ended. I'd get here early in the morning, and leave several hours after the game ended every night and try to enjoy that process along the way."
Wilson's minor league broadcasting career began with the Bluefield Blue Jays, the Rookie League affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, before moving on Lansing, Mich. with the Lansing Lugnuts, the Single-A affiliate for Toronto Blue Jays.
It was after that year in Lansing that Wilson got the opportunity to come to Altoona and work with former broadcaster and current manager of baseball information for the San Francisco Giants, Mike Passanisi.
"I got an opportunity to come here to work with Passanisi was incredible. Mike taught me so much," Wilson said. "I'm grateful for the relationship that we forged in 2015 here and we still get to carry that on … he taught me so much and by the time he was gone, I had a pretty good grasp of how to run a media department and I was still growing as a broadcaster."
Following the 2018 season, Wilson left to take a position as "The Voice of the Flying Squirrels' where he has been ever since. Wilson has been able to apply many of the skills and work he did in Altoona to his work with the Flying Squirrels.
"The experience that I got here helped me get set up for being able to handle a lot of different areas and help build a diverse set of skills that if that helped me out what I need to kind of crossover and other departments in Richmond," Wilson said.
As the director of communications for the Flying Squirrel Wilson wears many hats just as he did for the Curve, though now, he has a much bigger staff to help him on a daily basis.
"The bulk of my job is running the public relations communications department," Wilson said. "I oversee our website. I help deal with all of our PR inquiries as they come in and I also am in charge of our baseball operations so I handle all the travel, the buses, the hotels, the team. And of course, the baseball information that puts together game notes every day plus calling the games, doing our podcast and interview segments and things like that."
With Richmond, Wilson makes the annual trek back to Altoona every summer and visits a lot of his favorite local eateries while in town. His time with the Curve might have only been for four seasons, it made a large impact on his career as a broadcaster and in minor league baseball.
"I really enjoyed all the people that we had on the teams and the people I got to work with in the front office," Wilson said. "The years that I was here, we had some great personalities in the clubhouse, not to mention some really talented players."
His time in Altoona also helped provide him some of the top moments of his career so far.
"The number one moment I will never forget in Altoona is that 2017 Championship, getting to be on the call for that one that's still to this day, it's in conversation, probably the top two or three highlights of my career that I've gotten to have so far," Wilson said.