Former ‘Voice of North Shore Spirit’ publishes first book

The former “Voice of the North Shore Spirit” is now adding the written word to his repertoire.Sports broadcaster John Leahy, who called North Shore Spirit games from Lynn’s Fraser Field from 2005 through 2007, recently published his first book “Living a King’s Life” based on his two seasons with the Kalamazoo Kings.Leahy, who is currently broadcasting games for Florence Freedom in Kentucky, said the book will be released Aug. 2 and advance copies are available now online at www.johnrleahy.com.”I composed a diary of the 2009 season (with the Kalamazoo Kings) from my perspective in the broadcast booth,” he said. “It is a day-by-day chronicle – the road trips, the hotel, the clubhouse, the weather and I sprinkled in some stories. I talk about how I prepare for a game and it gives the reader a sense of what we do.”Leahy prides himself on covering every North Shore Spirit game in his three seasons, not missing a single pitch. He said it’s possible he would write a book about his time with the Spirit in the future.”My time at the North Shore Spirit was the most special time I’ve had in pro baseball for many reasons,” he said. “(Former North Shore Spirit owner) Nick Lopardo gave me a chance to show what I could do – getting paid to do it was just a bonus.”Leahy, who stays in close contact with many of the people he met in Lynn through the Spirit, said the players, management and fans became family.”The bonds I created in Lynn have lasted through to this day,” he said. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to capture that anywhere else I go. We worked together as a team, as a family and socially. It was the most incredible broadcasting experience I’ve ever had.”Leahy covered the final game in Spirit history, a 6-4 loss to the Nashua Pride in game 3 of the 2007 Can-Am League championship series. The Somerville native, who is a 1989 graduate of the University of Massachusetts Boston, said one of the hardest things he has ever had to do in his broadcasting career was calling the final out of that game.”Nelson Teilon flying out to deep center field with the tying runs on to end the game, the series and the five-year existence of the Spirit,” Leahy said. “That loss was very upsetting to me. I knew it was the last game and the Spirit weren’t coming back. I was overwhelmed with disappointment and a huge sense of loss but I had to be professional and broadcast. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do in my broadcasting career. It took a while for the pain and numbness to go away.”When he’s not on the road during baseball season, Leahy lives in Blackstone, Mass. where he is the voice of Merrimack College ice hockey.Leahy, who has 15 years of calling play by play, started his career in 1995 broadcasting high school games in Stoughton. After graduating from the Connecticut School of Broadcasting in 1995, he started covering high school hockey on local access television and went to other sports as well. Leahy estimates he has broadcast approximately 1,000 high school games during his career. In 2003 and 2004, he covered Yawkey League baseball for Comcast in the greater Boston area and worked alongside hall of fame sports producer Arlen Showstack.While working for Comcast, he had the opportunity to cover the North Shore Spirit in the 2003 and 2004 playoff seasons, which led to his hiring as the Spirit radio announcer in 2005.