Shannon Drayer is an American sports journalist who covers the Seattle Mariners for Seattle Sports (710 AM) radio in Seattle, Washington.

Career

Drayer interviews Seattle Mariners player Dee Gordon after a game in Oakland in 2018.

In 1997, Drayer was working as a barista at a Starbucks coffee shop when a customer encouraged her to submit a tape for a sports radio contest at KJR, a Seattle sports radio station.[1] As one of the finalists, Drayer started getting fill-in spots covering Washington Huskies men's basketball, the Seattle SuperSonics, the Seattle Seahawks, and the Mariners for KJR for four years.[2]

In 2003, KOMO hired Drayer to cover the Mariners for their radio station full-time.[1] She worked there for six years before being hired by KIRO, her current employer.[3] Since 2009, Drayer has served as a clubhouse reporter, interviewing players and coaches before and after games for the radio station. She wrote a Mariners blog for KIRO's website and contributes to Seattle Sports' website.[4]

Role as female sports reporter covering male athletes

Drayer said in an interview that while she loved baseball, she knew she could not play or manage because she was a woman. She initially dismissed journalism as a career because when she was in college in the late 1980s, "pretty much the only women who were working in sportscasting were ex- beauty queens and basketball players."[2] When she was hired by KOMO, Drayer became one of the first American female sports journalists to travel with a team on their airplane.[5][6] Drayer has said her gender was not an issue in the clubhouse and that as long as she did her job as a reporter professionally, she was treated the same as male colleagues.[7] Generally, players have treated her with respect, opening doors for her and ensuring she has a chance to ask her questions, she said.[5] She credited Mariners broadcaster Dave Niehaus and players Jamie Moyer and Ichiro Suzuki as being particularly helpful in her career.[6]

Personal

Drayer played trumpet in the Husky Marching Band.[8] After receiving a degree in drama from the University of Washington,[1] she spent a year in New York pursuing an acting career before moving back to Seattle.[2] Her family includes her mother and father, two siblings, a stepmother, and two step-siblings. She also has two nieces and two nephews.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ a b c Moore, Jim (September 26, 2003). "Go 2 Guy: Clubhouse reporter lives dream". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Archived from the original on 30 November 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  2. ^ a b c Sarris, Eno (December 17, 2010). "Media eInterviews: Shannon Drayer". FanGraphs. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  3. ^ Baker, Geoff (January 21, 2009). "Shannon Drayer hired by KIRO". Seattle Times. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  4. ^ "Mariners Insider, Seattle Sports". Seattle Sports. Retrieved 2024-11-14.
  5. ^ a b Castle, George. Baseball and the Media: How Fans Lose in Today's Coverage of the Game. University of Nebraska Press. pp. 159, 221. ISBN 978-0803264694. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  6. ^ a b Salyer, Sharon (2018-03-10). "The Mariners Insider tells all: Working with Niehaus, Piniella and Ichiro". HeraldNet.com. Retrieved 2024-11-14.
  7. ^ Stewart, Megan (March 22, 2012). "Female reporters in the clubhouse, Part 2". Seattle Times. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  8. ^ "Shannon Drayer interview". Husky Marching Band Alumni Newsletter. Summer 2007. Archived from the original on 30 November 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
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