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Beth Mowins becomes first woman to call Cubs regular-season game

Beth Mowins made Chicago Cubs history on Saturday.

The longtime announcer hopped into the booth at Wrigley Field for the Cubs’ 3-2 win against the Pittsburgh Pirates as the Marquee Sports Network’s play-by-play announcer, which made her the first woman in Cubs history to call a regular season game.

Mowins, who worked with analyst Jim Deshaies, will return on Sunday for the final game of the Cubs’ series with Pittsburgh.

Mowins has been in the broadcasting game for decades. She started at ESPN in 1994, and has called countless professional and college sports throughout her time there. She started calling college football games in 2005, and became the first woman in 30 years to call a regular-season NFL game when she did so for the first time in 2017.

She was the first woman to call a nationally televised game while doing so, too.

Mowins has already worked a Cubs spring training game this season, though she did so remotely.

Now, with her official Cubs debut coming on Mother’s Day weekend, Mowins is even more appreciative — as she credits her mom for her even getting into sports broadcasting in the first place.

“I think it all starts on this Mothers’ Day weekend when I was little and I asked my mom if I could be a play-by-play announcer and she simply said, ‘Yes you can,’” she said on the Marquee Sports Network. “So from that day forward if there were any naysayers, I just said, ‘Well, you know what, my mom told me that I could so I’m going to go ahead and pursue that.’

“And I got great support and encouragement and all the tough love I needed from my three brothers growing up. It was just a case of I think sports, playing athletics really helped provide me with all the tools I would need to overcome any hindrances or hurdles along the way in my broadcasting career.”

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