Celebrating NGWSD: The Voice of Camden Yards Echoing Around the World?

On a winter day in 2012, cool air blew through the open window press box at Oriole Park. Snow carpeted the field below. Fifteen secret listeners sat in the nearly empty ballpark, waiting to hear a perfect audition from the future voice of Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The stakes were high and the setting was tense, but none of it phased Adrienne Roberson. On that cold day at the ballpark, Adrienne began paving her path to becoming the first female public address announcer in Orioles history.

After being named a finalist in those 2012 auditions, Adrienne became the backup announcer for the Orioles and made guest appearances during Mother’s Day weekend celebrations. In 2021, she was named the new full-time public address announcer and voice of Oriole Park, becoming one of four female PA announcers in Major League Baseball. Little did she know, her voice would soon not just echo through Oriole Park at Camden Yards, but across the world as part of baseball’s biggest video game: “MLB The Show.”

“It was such an exciting phone call to get,” Adrienne recalled. “I was on the moon and the stars. It was an amazing moment.”

Two years ago, Sony reached out to Adrienne with the opportunity to announce in “MLB The Show 25.” While continuing to announce every home game at Oriole Park, Adrienne recorded her voice for hours each day, announcing the names of thousands of players across professional baseball. She remembers working hard to say each name correctly and giving extra enthusiasm to each player. Even if it took several tries to get certain names right, she didn’t mind. This is what she had worked for and exactly where she wanted to be.

When Adrienne was a little girl, she had a big dream: to use her powerful voice to bring joy. When she discovered public address announcing, she realized that was where her love for reading, baseball, and talking could work together, but she quickly realized the road to breaking into the industry wouldn’t be easy.

Her dad even told her, “You know, there’s not that many of you out there.” She wasn’t deterred.

Adrienne knew what she wanted to do, and she wasn’t going to let anything stop her – even if she had to break a glass ceiling along the way. As one of the few female public address announcers in Major League Baseball, Adrienne has become the example that she didn’t have as a child, and she knows the impact her visibility has on young girls with dreams of working in sports – girls just like her many years ago.

“I never struck out to be one of the first,” said Adrienne. “Growing up, I loved reading and I loved sports, and it came together. It wasn’t like I was running to hit that wall. I just kept going for it. I’m glad that I laid the groundwork and that young girls are learning too, but I want to stress that anybody can do it. Don’t shut the door on yourself. Go out there and be you, study hard, and go for your dreams.”

Adrienne’s passion is part of what makes coming to a baseball game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards so special. Beginning this March, fans across the world can experience the true feel of Oriole Park at Camden Yards when they turn on the The Show. But more importantly, young girls will hear a voice that sounds like theirs and know they can do it, too.

“People all over the United States who haven’t been to the stadium before get to play the game and hear the real sound, what the Orioles sound like,” said Adrienne. “They can feel the action, be in the stadium.” She’s also looking forward to fans experiencing a new female voice featured in the game. “Adding that sound, we’re there. There are other women and now there’s the ‘female sound’ in the game. I’m so excited to be a part of it. And I’m excited for the kids to experience that.”

On this National Girls and Women in Sports Day, Adrienne Roberson looks forward to the day that she no longer needs to be described as “one of the few women announcers in MLB.” She envisions a world where she is joined by many other women in sports who are recognized for their hard work and talent above all else.

“National Girls and Women in Sports Day shows women and girls growing up what they can do, where they can be, and go for it,” said Adrienne. “To be able to do this, other girls can see that we can do this role, too. This is a job that’s out there for women. There are no doors and there are no ceilings, we can go where we want to go.”