Gary Thorne to teach play-by-play class for Cronkite School

MASN lead play-by-play announcer Gary Thorne, in his 13th year calling Baltimore Orioles games for the regional sports network, will teach a play-by-play course this summer as a visiting professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

Thorne will teach the one-of-a-kind course remotely from May 20 through July 8 to a select group of sports journalism majors at the Cronkite School.

Some of the students will be in Massachusetts announcing games for the Cape Cod Baseball League, the premier summer league for star college baseball players, while other students will be engaging in the course from internships around the country.

The remote course will not affect Thorne's schedule with the Orioles.

Cronkite School Dean Christopher Callahan noted that the school, which was the first in the nation to offer sports journalism degrees at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, has students interested in play-by-play careers.

"Gary Thorne is the quintessential play-by-play announcer," Callahan said. "His outstanding work covering the Orioles for MASN as well as his work on national baseball and hockey broadcasts make him the ideal professional to teach this unique experience for our students."

Callahan also noted Thorne's experience teaching previously at the University of Maine and the University of Maine Law School.

"Our students are tremendously fortunate to be able to learn from one of the best," he said.

MASN, the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, is a regional sports network owned by the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals. MASN televises every available game for both teams across a seven-state region from Pennsylvania to North Carolina on 30 cable and fiber optic providers. MASN also is available nationally via DirectTV and Dish Network.

The Cronkite School is one of the nation's premier professional journalism programs and home to Arizona PBS. Sports journalism students have the opportunity to cover the Cactus League and other major league sports events and issues from news bureaus in Phoenix and Los Angeles and benefit from professional partnerships with the Pac-12 Networks, FOX Sports, ESPN, MLB.com and others.