Padres fill announcer position

The position of ballpark announcer for the San Diego Padres has been filled by a man moving up from a Double A team in New Hampshire, the team announced today.

Alex Miniak, announcer for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, was given the job during the seventh-inning stretch of Saturday's game against the San Francisco Giants.

He beat out two finalists: marine biologist Sam Chin of San Diego and Todd Leitz of Los Angeles, a former news reporter at KNX.

Immediately after the announcement, Miniak got to work, team officials said.

"Alex has the iconic voice that we were looking for and we're excited to welcome him into the Padres family,'' team Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Wayne Partello said. "This was not an easy decision. There

was a tremendous pool of talent, and the final three, especially, were all impressive. But in the end, Alex has the right voice to take us into the next era of Petco Park.''

Miniak, who will replace longtime announcer Frank Anthony, was one of 800 potential announcers that was narrowed down to 50, 30, and then 10 with the help of an online fan vote, before the final three were considered.

Team officials said Miniak plans to relocate to San Diego. He had been employed as a senior account executive at Gigunda Group, a New Hampshire marketing and strategy agency, in addition to his gig with the Double A team in New Hampshire.

"We want to thank everyone who tried out for sharing their time and enthusiasm with us over the past few months,'' team President and CEO Mike Dee said. ''Our intent for this process was to offer a true open casting call, with

the possibility of discovering talent in even the least expected of places. In finding Alex, we accomplished that goal.''