There are many stories of minor leaguers, including Red Sox rookie Ceddanne Rafaela last summer, missing that first life-changing call from their manager, letting them know that they were headed to the Majors.

The call for Double-A broadcasters Emma Tiedemann and Rylee Pay came in the form of an email, which they initially thought was about one of the many top prospects in Portland this season.

“A lot of what we do is media-related, so usually coordinating interviews for players. We thought it would be an interview for one of our players,” Pay told the Herald at Fenway Park on Monday afternoon.

After spending the summer watching dazzling talents get promoted to and from Double-A, it was Tiedemann’s and Pay’s turn to move on up, albeit temporarily (for now). On Monday night, they became the first female duo to ever broadcast a Red Sox game.

Hours before, they stood by the home dugout and told the Herald that it felt surreal.

“Coming to the realization that the next time we call a game in Portland, we’re going to have big-league experience, it was a pretty cool feeling,” Tiedemann said.

Technically speaking, she got her first big-league broadcasting experience on her very first trip to Fenway years ago.

“(Fenway organist) Josh Kantor showed us around, and he was like, ‘Let’s pop in the WEEI booth,’ and Sean McDonough and Joe Castiglione were in there,” Tiedemann recalled. “Joe was so gracious, and said, ‘How about you come in the third inning, we’ll talk Sea Dogs?’ I immediately was freaking out. … Sat in for an inning and talked about how Triston Casas was doing in Portland, while looking down at this beautiful ballpark. It honestly doesn’t get any better than that.”

One’s planned debut, especially in a historic moment for one of MLB’s most decorated clubs, is an entirely different animal. A dream come true.

“Hasn’t really sunk in yet, I think it will when (we) sit down and put on a headset,” Pay said.

“It kind of hit me yesterday. We had a day game in Portland (on Sunday) and all of the ushers and fans and our clubhouse, the coaches, the coaching staff, everybody coming up to us and talking, ‘Tomorrow’s the day!’” Tiedemann said. “I’ve been with the organization since 2020. Fans, season ticket holders, ushers, concession workers, they know how long I’ve been doing this and how long I’ve wanted to make this step.”

“What I enjoy so much about baseball is the community and the people and the culture,” Pay agreed. “(Players) are just as excited for us because we’re so excited when they get to move up. It’s pretty cool, and something that you don’t think about, switching the roles in that way.”

“Just to see them have countdowns, there’s a watch party with everybody tonight, it just means the world, knowing that a small pocket of people in Portland are going to be together watching the Red Sox game for us,” Tiedemann said.

Other loved ones will be watching from afar, including Tiedemann’s grandfather, Bill Mercer, a broadcasting legend in Texas. He, too, honed his craft in the Minor Leagues before becoming part of the Texas Rangers’ inaugural broadcast booth in 1972. One of Tiedemann’s favorite stories of Mercer’s was about Fenway.

“He would always say that Fenway Park was his favorite ballpark, and I came to learn that it was because he received a death threat here!” she said with a laugh. “He thought, ‘Wow, I must be famous enough and good enough at this that I’m receiving death threats, so I must have really made it in this business.”

Now 98 years old, Mercer keeps up with his granddaughter and his former MLB team. Often simultaneously.

“He’ll listen to the Sea Dogs games in his hearing aids, and then he’ll watch the Texas Rangers,” Tiedemann said. “And he called me one night, so excited, because we had a home run at Portland and the Rangers had a home run at the same time. He was like, ‘The audio was synced up perfectly. It finally worked!’”

The night before her debut, Tiedemann called her grandfather to talk shop.

“It’s a pretty cool full-circle moment. We called the Cotton Bowl about 50 years apart from each other as well, so it seems that I’m just about 50 years behind him on most things,” she said. “He’ll be watching with my parents. Hopefully he won’t try and text me critiques in-game like he does in Portland sometimes. But I’m sure I’ll get a text.”

The duo also heard from several other women around the sports broadcasting world, including Orioles and MLB Network talent Melanie Newman, who made history as one-half of the first all-female booth in Double-A Portland. Legendary Yankees radio voice Suzyn Waldman reached out, too.

“I got a lot of messages from Suzyn,” Emma said, tearing up. “I’m not gonna cry, but I did get emotional with Suzyn. It was really cool.”

Another cool feeling? Knowing that her daughter – she became a mother in February – will grow up in a world where women are a visible and ever-growing presence in sports broadcasting.

“You don’t really think about it, but the emotion builds up for so many years and then one day it comes out,” Tiedemann said.

“It was actually something that I thought about this morning,” Pay said. “There weren’t many women (doing this) when I was growing up, but I remember watching the Orioles and seeing Melanie Newman on TV one day and thinking to myself, this won’t be abnormal one day.”

“It’s something that you work for every day when you show up at the ballpark, whether you’re pulling tarp that day, rolling hot dogs, whatever a minor league day provides for you, this is always in the back of your mind, knowing that it’ll all be worth it one day,” Tiedemann said. “And today is that day.”