Former Pelicans Voice Tyler Maun Broadcasts the World Baseball Classic

April 11, 2023 by Sam Weiderhaft

“Hey, that was a lot of fun, do you guys have more events?”

That was a message that broadcaster Tyler Maun sent to the WBSC (World Baseball Softball Confederation) a year after broadcasting the Premier 12 baseball tournament in 2015. Two weeks later, he was on a flight to Korea to broadcast the Women’s Baseball World Cup.

Now in 2023, after many stops in between, Maun has just completed his broadcasting assignment of the Pool A games in the World Baseball Classic. This year’s tournament became the most popular edition in its 5^th showcase.

It was Maun’s voice that welcomed fans to the 2023 event, as he was on the call for the very first game- Cuba vs. The Netherlands from Taichung, Taiwan on FS1 on March 7^th.

“That was incredible,” Maun said. “I’ve been a World Baseball Classic fan since 2006, since it launched. That was a surreal, life-circle kind of moment. It was such an honor.”

In 2006, my college friends and I went to California to attend the first ever @WBCBaseball, a tradition we continued through 2009, '13, and '17.

Tomorrow, I'll broadcast the first WBC game in seven years, and I don't really have words to explain just how much that means to me. pic.twitter.com/1xAvfwwQzv

— Tyler Maun (@TylerMaun) March 7, 2023

Maun, the Pelicans broadcaster from 2009-2011, has been to games at each edition of the event since the first year in 2006. It started as a spring break trip for him and his college friends and has continued ever since. This time, Maun was behind the mic for all 10 of the Pool A games. This group included The Netherlands, Panama, Chinese Taipei, and the two advancing teams of Italy and Cuba.

His international baseball journey started in his second year with the Pelicans, when he was hired by MLB International to help launch the Australian Baseball League. Maun worked as the media director for the Sydney Blue Sox and was the only American that came from Minor League Baseball to work in the league.

“That got my foot in the door with international baseball,” Maun said. “It’s something I was always interested in, but I don’t think I ever realized just how deep my interest ran until that year.”

After working in Sydney, Maun finished with the Pelicans in 2011 before broadcasting for the Altoona Curve in 2012. Maun continued his work with the ABL, doing his job remotely for five more seasons.

The Premier 12 tournament, described by Maun as a step below the World Baseball Classic, became Maun’s first international assignment in 2015. He followed with the 2016 Women’s Baseball World Cup, the 2016 and 2018 U-23 Baseball World Cups, the 2017 U-18 Baseball World Cup, the 2018 U-15 Women’s Baseball World Cup, and U-23 Baseball World Cup in the same year. Maun has also worked for Minor League Baseball since 2014, hosting podcasts and writing stories.

“There were things that I’m sure I learned in a Tuesday night route somewhere in Winston-Salem that helps build who you are as a broadcaster,” Maun explained. “In Myrtle Beach, I learned how to lean into my own voice. It’s all about reps and learning who you are in the booth.”

With his experience now stretching internationally, Maun reached out to Jim Small, the President of the World Baseball Classic. Initially, Maun was intrigued by the stories of some international prospects and met with Small in New York. After that meeting, Maun had heard rumblings of the return of the World Baseball Classic with qualifiers happening in 2022. He reached back out to Small to check in on the broadcast situation.

“Jim knew that I had done some broadcast work with WBSC,” Maun said. “He was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll put you in touch with people and we’ll see what we can get done.’”

Maun, along with color analyst and former MLB pitcher Ryan Rowland-Smith, were placed on the broadcast for the qualifying rounds in Germany and Panama in late 2022. This led to his assignment to the Pool A games in Taiwan for the World Baseball Classic.

“It was the best experience of my professional life,” Maun stated. “It’s a core memory for me.”

Pool A was arguably the most exciting pool, with all five teams finishing at 2-2 through pool play. Cuba won the pool, with Italy also advancing based off allowing the fewest runs per defensive out recorded. This caused for some dramatic moments in the early part of the tournament, including Maun’s favorite call, Yu Chang’s grand slam for Chinese Taipei against The Netherlands.

“That was probably the most memorable call in my career,” Maun said.

This year’s classic was the most attended out of the four previous, bringing over one million people across all rounds, with an average attendance of just under 25,000. Maun mentioned how lively the fans were in Pool A and how they added to the experience.

“Those fans are what made it,” Maun said. “The fans in Taiwan are incredible baseball fans, but it had been 10 years since they had World Baseball Classic games there. That was really cool, to have those fans reintroduce themselves on the international stage.”

Maun has seen many different players throughout his career that now expands over a decade. During the first game, Maun recounted a story of watching Netherlands’ player Andrelton Simmons play for the Lynchburg Hillcats while he was calling games for the Pelicans. Simmons was one of many former players that Maun was able to see on the field again, with many of them being former Pelicans. Randall Delgado, a pitcher for Panama, was one of those players that Maun was able to catch up with after calling his games with Myrtle Beach in 2010.

“That was really cool, seeing guys you remember from a much different stage in their careers,” Maun said. “You share memories of the things you remember from back then and the stuff you’ve been through in your baseball lives since then.”

Following his games in Taiwan, Maun continued his old tradition of going to the WBC games with his college friends by meeting up with them in Miami for the closing rounds to watch as a fan. It was there, as Maun was walking around the concourse, that he met up with another former player he called. Ernesto Mejia, a former Pelican for parts of two years and a 2008 Carolina League All-Star was also enjoying the WBC games in the seats.

“I saw a guy get in line at the concession stand and I thought ‘I think I recognize that guy’”, Maun recounted. “I walked up and put my hand on his arm and said, ‘Are you Ernie?’ He was just as friendly as could be. I knew he had been in Japan for a while, so we were talking about that.”

BIG E!!!! pic.twitter.com/Kt1c8kpfvZ

— Tyler Maun (@TylerMaun) March 21, 2023

Being a part of the crowd, Maun was able to take in how special the atmosphere was in Miami for the closing games. He called the semifinal game between Mexico and Japan one of the best games he’s ever seen in his life. Japan hit a walk-off double in the bottom of the ninth to head to the championship game, and Maun celebrated with his newfound Japan friends in the seats.

“In our section, we were sitting next to four fans who had traveled from Japan to be there,” Maun said. “After the game, we’re high-fiving and screaming and having fun with them, taking selfies. None of us spoke the same language, we couldn’t have a conversation, but you just have those baseball moments and they’re amazing.”

SECTION 27 MOOD pic.twitter.com/S4XtqSwKeZ

— Tyler Maun (@TylerMaun) March 21, 2023

Up next was the highly anticipated final of USA vs. Japan. That game, which featured the matchup of MLB superstars and Los Angeles Angels teammates Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, was attended by over 36,000 fans at LoanDepot Park in Miami and watched by millions of people around the world.

“Miami did not disappoint,” Maun said. “To have Japan-US as the final, that was everything Major League Baseball could have asked for. To be able to share it with my friends and my fiancé, that was pretty incredible.”

As Maun completed a thrilling two weeks of baseball, he made sure to never forget what got him there. He hosted a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) after broadcasting the Pool A games and heard messages of support during his session.

“Somebody commented and said ‘All your old Minor League pals are proud of you’” Maun said. “Those are the people I most want to make proud. To be able to share some sort of success with anybody who helped me along the way is the greatest thrill that a broadcaster could ever have.”

Now, Maun looks ahead after the exposure he gained from the WBC. Along with his duties with MiLB, Maun also broadcasts many sports for the University of Denver.

“The hope is that this opens some doors for me,” Maun said. “Hopefully this summer I’ll get some opportunities with the baseball stuff having opened some doors. I feel like I’m in a very good spot.”

Maun will continue his rollercoaster of a year by getting married in September.

“It is a very big year; these last few years have turned things around from the pandemic quite well.”

There’s something that stands out in Tyler’s journey to the WBC, and that’s his ability to connect with other people. His connections in Minor League and international baseball, his connections to the fans at the WBC games, his connections to former players, and his connections to his audience. This tournament, and Tyler’s story, proves something that’s been known to be true: baseball brings people together.