Cincy Radio: Tommy Thrall Added To Reds Radio Team

There was no grand announcement during the final homestand of the season, but Tommy Thrall was informed Thursday that he will return next year as the radio play-by-play guy alongside Jeff Brantley.

It wasn’t necessarily a secret, reports cincinnati.com.   Marty Brennaman openly talked about Thrall taking over throughout the season.

Marty Brennaman

But it all sunk in for Thrall when Marty and Brantley talked about him during their emotional nine-minute close in the postgame show. Marty said he hoped fans would accept Thrall like they accepted him 46 years ago. Brantley told Marty that he would do his best with Thrall to make him proud.

“As big of a deal as that was for Marty (Thursday), it was an incredible day for him, I didn’t even dream my name would even be brought up,” Thrall said. “As far as Marty is concerned in his career, I feel like I’m insignificant for him in the grand picture of everything that he’s accomplished. There are so many people that have been around him longer. It was pretty crazy. Hard to wrap your head around it.”

Thrall, 35, joined the Cincinnati Reds’ broadcasting team this season. He called games when Marty was off, and he hosted the postgame show all year. He spent the past seven seasons calling games at Double-A Pensacola.

It was essentially a season-long audition, and Thrall knew it was a possibility that he could be the broadcaster following Marty.