“Fire up the fountains. She’s gone!”
With that line to describe a first-inning homer by Nolan Arenado, Jenny Cavnar — who during Monday’s Rockies-Padres series opener became the first woman since Gayle Gardner in 1993 to call play-by-play for an MLB game — didn’t just punch a few holes in sports broadcasting’s glass ceiling.
She smashed through it.
The 12-year major league reporting veteran best known for hosting pre- and post-game shows on AT&T SportsNet in addition to past work as a Rockies radio commentator demonstrated knowledge and rhythm in the booth in her debut, even in a game that turned into a broadcaster’s nightmare when the Padres broke open a 13-5 blowout with a never-ending seventh inning.