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Up North Lowdown, Ep. 19: The hype man

Photos, clockwise from top: A roadside "sold out" sign for a farm stand advertising fresh cherries in Grand Traverse County. (Photo: Ellie Katz/IPR News) Connor Miller has been the on-field host for the Traverse City Pit Spitters for the past five years. He is moving on from the role at the end of this season. (Photo: Joe Beyer/IPR News) A person sits in a canoe on a Traverse City road after heavy rains flooded the area in May of 2020. (File photo: Gretchen Carr/IPR News)
Photos, clockwise from top:
A roadside "sold out" sign for a farm stand advertising fresh cherries in Grand Traverse County. (Photo: Ellie Katz/IPR News)
Connor Miller has been the on-field host for the Traverse City Pit Spitters for the past five years. (Photo: Joe Beyer/IPR News)
A person sits in a canoe on a Traverse City road after heavy rains flooded the area in May of 2020. (File photo: Gretchen Carr/IPR News)

This week, we meet the hype man for the Traverse City Pit Spitters, in his final season with the team. Also, cherry farmers try to adapt to a changing marketplace.

 Up North Lowdown - Interlochen Public Radio, NPR Network

Connor Miller wears a Pit Spitters jersey at work, but he's not swinging a bat.

Instead, he's making baseball fans put their foreheads on the end of the bat, spin around a whole bunch, and then try to stay steady on their feet.

As the on-field host for Traverse City's Northwoods League baseball team, Miller's job is to coordinate the games and moments of entertainment that unfold on the field between innings.

He's pretty good at it. And after five years, he's moving on. Arts and culture commentator Joe Beyer tells us about Miller, and the serious work it takes to make everything look fun and easy.

We'll also hear about how cherry growers are adapting to a changing marketplace — branching out into different products, selling to the public instead of to processors and even going into the consulting business.

And you'll meet our new climate reporter, Izzy Ross, who drops by to tell us about a couple of the stories she reported this week.

Thanks for listening!

Ed Ronco is IPR's news director.
Max Copeland is the local weekday host of All Things Considered on Interlochen Public Radio and the producer of The Up North Lowdown, IPR’s weekly news podcast.