Andy Viano was named the first General Manager of the Schaumburg Boomers in September 2011 after spending the previous season in the same role with the Gary SouthShore RailCats.

Viano enters his eighth season in professional baseball in 2012, and is a staunch believer in family-first, community-focused and customer-service driven entertainment, a model that has made the RailCats one of the Midwest’s most successful professional franchises for more than 10 years.  As the Boomers set their sights on their inaugural season, Viano looks forward to introducing the Northwest suburbs to a new form family entertainment, building partnerships with the many regional businesses and affirming Schaumburg as the go-to suburban destination for Chicagoland families.

Before being named General Manager, Viano previously served as the RailCats' primary play-by-play broadcaster for every game on The Lakeshore, 89.1 FM, and online at www.railcatsbaseball.com and www.iBNSports.com, in addition to overseeing the day-to-day operation of the media relations department from 2008-10.  Viano’s role included overseeing the club’s online presence, writing and designing team content and publications, maintaining a strong Northwest Indiana presence through media and marketing, along with corporate and ticket sales.

A 2005 graduate of Valparaiso University, Viano broadcast RailCats home games from 2004-06 and had a variety of media relations duties, including official scoring, publication design, web updating and writing press releases.

During his stint with the RailCats, Viano also served as the Assistant Director of Media Relations at Valpo from 2005-06 before being named the Director of Sports Information at Manhattanville College in Purchase, N.Y. Viano served as the play-by-play voice of the Valiants' nationally-ranked men's hockey team and also worked as the primary media contact for all 17 of Manhattanville's NCAA Division III athletic teams.

A native of Downers Grove, Ill., Viano and his wife, Rachel, are proud to be back home in Chicagoland.