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Jessica Mendoza debuts as ESPN Radio game analyst tonight

Jessica Mendoza (R) made her ESPN Radio game analyst debut with Jon “Boog” Sciambi Thursday night at the Cubs-Brewers game in Milwaukee. (Photo courtesy of Jessica Mendoza)

Two years after Jessica Mendoza made history by becoming the first female Major League Baseball television analyst, the Olympic gold medalist will experience another first.

Tonight, Mendoza will provide analysis for her first ESPN Radio broadcast when she joins Jon “Boog” Sciambi for the Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee Brewers matchup (coverage starts at 7 p.m. ET).

Mendoza’s Sunday Night Baseball teammate Buster Olney was also assigned to his first ESPN Radio broadcast as an analyst in August. The SNB reporter, who’s also a senior writer for ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine, debuted as a radio game analyst alongside Adam Amin.

Hours before Mendoza and Sciambi don their headsets, Olney reflected on what he learned from his radio game analyst debut:

“I learned that like a running back who is waiting for his offensive line to open lanes, you have to be patient and wait for the play-by-play commentator to finish the description of what happened,” Olney told Front Row. “On TV, you can step in sooner because the viewers can mostly see what has occurred, but with a radio broadcast, the listeners need the play-by-play person to paint the picture and set the context. I stepped in too soon on a couple of occasions, but by the seventh inning, I had the rhythm figured out!”

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