LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 14, 2013) – The Bluegrass Sports Commission has named Marty Brennaman and Alan Stein as recipients of the third annual Bluegrass Sports Awards.
Brennaman, who has been the voice of the Cincinnati Reds since 1974, has entertained and informed legions of baseball fans for generations, including a vast audience in Kentucky. He joined the Reds radio team at the start of the 1974 season and for 31 years shared the radio booth with Reds Hall of Fame pitcher Joe Nuxhall.
Just completing his 49th season as a broadcaster and 40th with the Reds, Brennaman was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000, receiving the Ford C. Frick Award. He is also a member of the National Sportscasters & Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame, the National Radio Hall of Fame and the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. He is extremely active in the community and has helped raise millions for charity through a variety of efforts, including an annual golf event bearing his name.
Brennaman becomes the second recipient of the Tom Hammond Sports Media Award after legendary broadcaster Dick Enberg took home the honor last year.
Stein will receive the Jim Host Sports Business Award. The lifelong Lexington resident is best known for bringing professional baseball to his hometown. In the late 1990s, Stein organized and led a group of investors to build the Lexington Legends’ ballpark without any public funding.
Currently founder, president and CEO of the SteinGroup LLC, a Lexington-based consulting and investment company, Stein retired in 2011 as president and chief operating officer of Ivy Walls Management Co., to whom he sold the Legends. In that role he expanded Ivy Walls’ portfolio to include multiple sports franchises and facilities across the country, including the Omaha Storm Chasers, Werner Park and the Southwest Michigan Devil Rays, among others.
Stein is a member of the Bluegrass Business Hall of Fame and the South Atlantic League of Professional Baseball Hall of Fame. He has also received numerous honors such as the Omaha (Neb.) Business Leader of the Year, the Lexington Optimist Club Award and the Volunteers of America Kentucky Man of the Year. Most recently, his industry saluted Stein as the National Baseball Executive of the Year. Stein also received the Lexington Forum Spirit Award. He has served in many capacities for dozens of community and non-profit organizations including his synagogue, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, and the Salvation Army.
Stein joins previous winners Jerry Carroll (Kentucky Speedway) and Ted Bassett (Keeneland) as the Jim Host Sports Business Award recipients.
Brennaman and Stein will be formally presented with their awards on Jan. 29, 2014, at the Bluegrass Sports Awards presented by Alltech at the Griffin Gate Marriott Resort & Spa in Lexington.
In addition to these awards, the evening will also include the naming of the Tom Hammond Kentucky Sports Media Award and the Jim Host Youth Sports Award. The BSC is seeking nominations for both online. The Lexington Herald-Leader will once again present its annual Sportsman of the Year Award live to cap off the evening.
The event will consist of a VIP reception with award winners and keynote speakers, a sit-down dinner and professionally produced awards program. Proceeds from the evening will benefit the BSC and its efforts to grow the economic impact sports tourism has on central Kentucky. Tables of 10 are available for purchase for $1,250. Individual tickets are also available for $125.
For more information or to purchase tickets, call 859-255-0336 or visit bluegrasssports.org.
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