Matt Swierad celebrates 3,500th game, 25th season as the voice of the Charlotte Knights
“I didn’t feel like I needed to leave. This became home,” Matt Swierad said.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - When Matt Swierad decided as a kid from New England that he wanted to grow up to do play-by-play, he always planned on getting to the big leagues.
In 2005, he got his chance as a fill-in announcer for the San Diego Padres. But outside of that weekend, he’s spent the last 25 years calling games for the Charlotte Knights.
Despite Charlotte being a AAA team, Swierad still feels like he made it to “The Show” getting to live out his dream of calling baseball games for a living.
“I didn’t feel like I needed to leave. This became home,” Swierad said. “This is as close as you can get to the big leagues if you’re not in the big leagues, so I’m just pretty fortunate that I get to experience it.”
In his 25th season, Swierad celebrated his 3,500th game with the team last week on the road. In the last quarter-century, he’s cultivated a special relationship with the baseball fans in our area who have tuned in to hear him call the Knights games every night.
“I realized with some of the letters and notes I’ve gotten from fans over the years, that I’d become the voice of their summer,” Swierad said. “I’ve never met them, but it apparently means something to them. That means a lot to me.”
He says there have been constant reminders that this relationship with the fans extends well beyond the foul lines.
“There was a family that had a little boy who was like 5 years old, and he would not to go sleep at night unless they turned the Knights game on the radio,” Swierad said. “I was basically his bedtime story.”
When he started this job 25 years ago, he had no idea he’d still be with the same team in 2023. But he says after all this time, this team and city have become home — a home he doesn’t want to leave any time soon.
“I didn’t feel like I needed to leave. This became home,” Swierad said. “This is as close as you can get to the big leagues if you’re not in the big leagues, so I’m just pretty fortunate that I get to experience it.”
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