MATT
SWIERAD
DIRECTOR OF BROADCASTING & TEAM TRAVEL COORDINATOR
2006
will be Matt Swierad's ninth season as the radio play-by-play "voice"
of the Charlotte Knights. Swierad, a native of North Smithfield, RI, has called
over 2,000 games in a career than now spans 16-years in professional baseball.
He is also the longest tenured Knights broadcaster in club history. Swierad
first joined the Knights in 1998 following four seasons as Director of Broadcasting
for the Hickory Crawdads of the Class-A South Atlantic League.
Last season Swierad received his first "call-up" to the Major Leagues with the San Diego Padres, filling-in for Hall of Fame broadcaster Jerry Coleman at Petco Park. He did the play-by-play for the Padres-Reds series in San Diego when Coleman was in Cooperstown, NY for his induction into the broadcasters wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Swierad was also the International Leagues' All-Star Broadcaster for the Triple-A All Star Game in Sacramento, CA.
Swierad's career in professional baseball began with the old Gastonia (NC) Rangers of the South Atlantic League in 1991. Following two seasons with the Rangers, he spent the 1993 season with the Hagerstown (MD) Suns, before moving on to Hickory in 1994.
The 1990 graduate of Jacksonville (FLA) University is also the basketball radio play-by-play "Voice" of the Charlotte 49ers in the Atlantic-10 Conference and does the occasional television play-by-play for ESPN Regional Television and Fox Sports Net. Swierad has also handled broadcasts for Jacksonville University, University of South Florida, UT Chattanooga, C-USA, The Southern Conference, The Big South Conference and the Sun Belt Conference .
Swierad, 38, resides in Statesville, NC with his wife Amanda and their dogs Dauber (named after former Knight Brian Daubach) and Lillie.