Beloved MLB employee Hilgefort dies in plane crash

Susanne Hilgefort, one of Major League Baseball’s longest-tenured employees and a key figure in the leaps forward for modern baseball broadcasting, was one of three passengers, along with her husband — Michael Mydlarz — who died in a small plane crash on Saturday near Albany, N.Y. She was 48.

“Susanne was a warm and caring person who lived life to the fullest,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said. “She was an avid world traveler who loved spending time outdoors. When indoors at 245 Park, Susanne always brought joy to those around her with her enormous smile, energy and positive outlook day in and day out. She made a lasting contribution to our game and will be sorely missed.”

Hilgefort, who was MLB’s senior director of broadcasting business affairs, was a fixture in MLB’s broadcasting department for decades. She graduated from Tufts University in 1989 after majoring in political science and immediately began her career as a training coordinator for Christian Dior. A life spent in baseball began in January 1994, when she was hired as manager of production and programming for The Baseball Network, then a new TV broadcasting joint venture between MLB, ABC and NBC.

That network launched with the 1994 All-Star Game in Pittsburgh, and it ended in Atlanta when Bob Costas made this call of the final out in Game 6 of the ’95 World Series: “Left-center field … Grissom, on the run … the team of the ’90s has its World championship!” It was the last call for that network, and Hilgefort transitioned to the …

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