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Today: Altoona at Akron, 11 a.m.
Pitchers: Curve RHP Ascraft (1-2) vs. Ducks RHP Davenport (3-0)
Radio: HANK-FM 96.1
By Jarrod Prugar
For the Mirror
PITTSBURGH -- Many know John Wehner as one of the color analysts for Sportsnet Pittsburgh's Pittsburgh Pirates broadcasts.
Prior to his days as a broadcaster, he was the first Altoona Curve player to become a coach for the team.
Wehner was a member of the inaugural Curve roster before returning to the club in 2001 as a player-coach.
"When I was done playing, I actually got released here in 2001 and they asked me to go down there as a player-coach," Wehner said. "A bunch of guys got hurt so I ended up having to play more than coach, but I wanted to stay in the game in some capacity."
That opportunity morphed into a hitting coach position with the team where he was reunited with good friend and manager Dale Sveum.
"Dale Sveum was the manager and he's pretty much my best friend in baseball," Wehner said. "Getting a chance to work with him was fun. But I didn't know what route I wanted to go after I was done playing."
Wehner spent 2003 and 2004 with the Curve as their hitting coach before a run-in at a Pittsburgh Giant Eagle altered the course of his coaching career.
"Broadcasting just happened," Wehner said. "I literally ran into (Pirates color analyst) Bob Walk's son at the Giant Eagle and asked him about the opening because I didn't know anything about it. He got me an audition … that's kind of how I got into broadcasting. It's just one of those things where they brought me in, we did an audition and they hired me."
The rest, as they say. is history.
Wehner put a hold on his coaching career and elected to stay closer to his family by joining the booth, something he is proud of.
"I missed so much of their upbringing from playing," Wehner said. "I didn't want to miss the rest of their childhood."
In his playing career, he was a member of the 1997 World Series Champion Florida Marlins, and also boasts quite a fun resume from the final game at Three Rivers Stadium.
"That kind of game kind of was like how my career went," Wehner said. "The ups and downs. I made the last pirate error. I hit the last home run. I made the last Pirate out at Three Rivers Stadium. All that rollercoaster riding I've gotten throughout my career, it all happened at Three Rivers."
Just a few blocks away is where Wehner's job takes him to PNC Park where he's now in his 20th season with the organization on the broadcast side.
It's easy to tell, there's no place he'd rather be.
"I've been a pirate fan since the day I was born. I work for the Pirates and I'm Pittsburgh through and through," Wehner said. "To be able to work for the Pirates now for 35 years, it's a dream really."