As recent news has shown, the professional baseball team, the San Francisco Giants has officially split up with famous PA announcer (Public Address Announcer), Renel Brooks. For those who don’t know, a PA announcer is someone who entertains audiences to enhance performances, as well as having to prepare their scripts and attend to their duties.
Renel Brooks was born in Oakland, California in 1958. Renel’s childhood was all about baseball because her parents liked the sport which was popular back then as it is now. As soon as Renel entered her first days of high school, she noticed and struggled with the frequent racism within the school. Conflict erupted between individuals espousing racist ideologies and members of the African American community within the school Because of this, her grades dropped due to stress, and hid it from her parents, so she wouldn’t seem like a disappointment. After college, she got a job at KCBS and enjoyed her time learning about radio and wanted a career in it. Renel’s run at KISQ went well and she immediately got recruited by the S.F. Giants in the year 2000, as the Giants PA Announcer, Renel Brooks became an iconic figure because of her dynamic voice. Daniel Brown of The Athletic described Renel’s vocal style as “soaring, energetic and often stealthily strategic”, adding that she has “that reliably bouncy, relentlessly spirited Renel Brooks-Moon voice that sounds a lot like baseball in San Francisco.”
Unfortunately, Renel Brooks’ contract as a PA announcer for the Giants expired in December 2023. She was an icon, an inspirational voice for generations of people and fans, and an ambassador for the Giants. Renel was also working for the Giants for 24 straight seasons and was forced out of the club barely before completing her 25th.
According to followers, the Giants president and CEO, Larry Baur made one of the biggest and most unexpected changes in the SF Giants’ history. Larry kept the reasons they were releasing Renel in the dark, but he did say in a recent interview, “As you know, we will have a new public address announcer, as Renel Brooks-Moon will not be returning, after 24 years in the booth.” Fans are truly sorrowful for the news and also are heartbroken that Baur furthermore mentioned, “We’re going to start our search for a new P.A. announcer soon and understands the process will require time because she’s a legend. Very, very tough shoes to fill. In the meantime, we’ll have rotating voices in the P.A. booth.”
“As a Bay Area native, it has been the honor of my lifetime to serve on the mic and in the community for the Giants for 24 years,” Renel, the 65-year-old woman said in the news release. Even though it might appear that they separated on friendly and nice terms, there seemed to be some controversy with her contract, and the two sides of the incident had substantial decisions about lengthening the contract which resulted in the Giants and Renel Brooks-Moon splitting up legally and mutually. In addition, even though Renel surely didn’t want to leave, she still kept a pleasant face and voiced delightful things on her way out.
Renel Brooks-Moon, a 39-year-old had a job as a San Francisco Giants PA announcer until 65 years old to finally be let go as one of the greatest public address announcers of all baseball history and as being one of the first black people, if not woman, to become a PA announcer. She will always be remembered as a kind person who was always loved and kept the fans adored.
Sources
https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/annkillion/article/giants-laud-pa-announcer-renel-brooks-moon-don-t-19361661.php
