Gayle Gardner (born ca. 1950) is an American sportscaster….who worked for ESPN and NBC Sports beginning in 1987 until 1993….as Gardner is considered a pioneer in sports broadcasting by having been the first female sports anchor to appear weekly on a major network.
After being hired by ESPN in 1983, Gardner served as a SportsCenter anchor for three years…..then worked for NBC from 1987-1993. Among the assignments that she undertook included anchoring NBC’s New Year’s Day college football bowl game coverage, NFL Live!, Major League Baseball: An Inside Look, NBC’s 1988 and 1992 Summer Olympics coverage, the French Open, Wimbledon and NBC’s “Prudential Sports Updates”. In January, 1989, Gardner was a member of the NBC broadcast team for Super Bowl XXIII between San Francisco 49’ers vs. Cincinnati Bengals. On August 3, 1993, Gardner became the first woman to do televised play-by-play of a baseball game….when she called the action of a game between the Colorado Rockies and the Cincinnati Reds.
Gardner’s co- host on this 1985 SportsCenter were Chris Berman and Lou Palmer….as Palmer too is an American sportscaster…..who was an employee at ESPN from 1978….which was one year before the network launched on cable television, until the end of 1985…..as he covered many top sports events…..and was a SportsCenter anchor and reporter.
He was also one of the original studio anchors at WFAN, New York City, the nation’s first All Sports Radio Station…..as Lou currently lives in Wellington, Florida, a suburb of West Palm Beach….where he runs an Adult Amateur Baseball League founded 1992….which is now in its 26th year and 52nd season…..plus, he is also a Public Address Announcer for Florida State League games in Jupiter, Florida and Port St. Lucie, Florida….and works in several baseball tournaments for NABA (National Adult Baseball Association)….as well as an official scorer in spring training games for the St. Louis Cardinals since 1998.
Lou Plamer played college baseball at Seton Hall University and professionally in farm systems of the New York Giants and Chicago White Sox.
On this particular SportsCenter is the 3rd co-host, Chis Berman (born May 10, 1955), and nicknamed Boomer….who also is an American sportscaster that has been an anchor for SportsCenter on ESPN since 1979….after joining a month after its initial launch….as he hosted the network’s Sunday NFL Countdown program from 1985 to 2016. He has also anchored Monday Night Countdown, U.S. Open golf, the Stanley Cup Finals and other programming on ESPN and ABC Sports.
Chris Berman calls play-by-play on select Major League Baseball games for ESPN….which includes the Home Run Derby until 2017. A six-time honoree of the National Sports Media Association’s “National Sportscaster of the Year” award….Berman was instrumental in establishing ESPN’s lasting popularity during the network’s formative years…..who is still well known for his various “catch phrases” and quirky demeanor.
In January 2017, ESPN announced that Berman would be stepping down from several NFL-related roles at the network…..but would remain at the company.
