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Eric Nadel | |
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 Nadel in 2006 | |
| Born | May 16, 1951 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Brown University |
| Sports commentary career | |
| Team | Texas Rangers (1979–present) |
| Genre | Play-by-play |
| Sport | Baseball |
Eric Nadel (born May 16, 1951) [1] is an American sports announcer on radio broadcasts for the Texas Rangers baseball organization. In 2014, he was honored with the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting excellence by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
Nadel grew up in Brooklyn, New York, as a fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers, though it was listening to a New York Yankees broadcast from Mel Allen and Red Barber that first sparked his interest in sportscasting when he was eight years old. [2] He developed his skills at Brown University (class of 1972), announcing hockey and football games on radio station WBRU. [2] He had minor league hockey play-by-play stints in Muskegon, Oklahoma City, and Dallas, and was also the radio voice of the Dallas Diamonds of the Women's Professional Basketball League.
The Rangers hired Nadel in 1979, [2] and he called games on television and radio in his first three seasons. Beginning in 1982, he began a 13-year run with Mark Holtz as the radio team on WBAP, returning to the television booth for one year in 1984. Nadel became the team's lead radio voice when Holtz moved to television in 1995. [3] Since becoming the primary play-by-play voice for the Rangers, Nadel has worked alongside Brad Sham, Vince Cotroneo, and Victor Rojas.
In May 2006, Nadel announced that he had signed a "lifetime contract" with the Rangers, allowing him to continue on their broadcast team until he chooses to retire. He later said that he hopes to outlive his contract. [4] Beginning in 2009, he was partnered with longtime ESPN and former Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs announcer Dave Barnett, who also did Rangers games on television with Brad Sham in the late 80s and early 90s. After Barnett moved to television, former MLB pitcher Steve Busby was Nadel's partner. Since July 2012 after Busby replaced Barnett on television, Nadel has been joined by Matt Hicks in the radio booth. Rangers games are now primarily on 105.3 The Fan, which has been the Rangers' flagship station since the 2015 season. At the conclusion of the 2018 season, Nadel joined a handful of broadcasters to call Major League Baseball games for 40 years, with the added distinction of calling all of them for one franchise. Among Nadel's most memorable calls was the 5000th strikeout of Nolan Ryan's career on August 22, 1989. His main home run call is "That ball is history!" [5] Both he and Public Address (PA) announcer Chuck Morgan have been affectionately referred to as "the Voice[s] of the Texas Rangers".
The arrival of Rubén Sierra in Texas motivated Nadel to learn Spanish. Nadel is now a fluent Spanish speaker, having taken part in Spanish-language game broadcasts in a number of Latin American countries.
Nadel took a leave of absence through the first 109 games of the 2023 season, in order to seek treatment for anxiety, depression, and insomnia. [3] [6] He returned to the booth in August, and called the Rangers' first World Series win that November. [3] [7]
"Sborz kicks and fires - he struck him out looking! It's over! It's over! The Rangers have won the World Series! Ranger fans, you're not dreaming - the Rangers are the World Series champions! After 52 years in Texas, 63 years of the franchise, the wait is over, and the celebration has begun! ... May the ghosts of 2011 be forever erased!"
- Eric Nadel's call of the final out of the 2023 World Series
In 1991, Nadel was inducted into the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame. He has received the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Texas Sportscaster of the Year Award seven times (1999, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011) and won the Associated Press award for Best Play-by-Play in Texas three times. On August 11, 2012, Nadel became the 15th member inducted into the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame.
On December 11, 2013, Nadel was selected as the 2014 recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award, presented annually for excellence in broadcasting by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. [1] Nadel received the award at a ceremony at Doubleday Field on Saturday, July 26, 2014, as part of the Hall of Fame 2014 weekend festivities.
In recognition of his achievements, Nadel's high school alma mater, Midwood High School at Brooklyn College, has created the Eric Nadel Memorial Award for Athletic Improvement and Character. It will be awarded annually to a deserving student athlete.
On January 21, 2023, Eric was awarded the Shalom Award by the Temple Shalom Brotherhood in recognition of his many years of community service and humanitarian work.
Nadel appeared as the Rangers' radio announcer in the film The Rookie in 2002.
Nadel is active in animal causes and was one of the founders of the first leash-free dog park in the DFW Metroplex at White Rock Lake in Dallas. He stages benefit concerts for non-profit organizations, including Focus on Teens and Cafe Momentum, and is an active advocate for mental health organizations such as NAMI and The Campaign to Change Direction. In 2018, The Intercept reported on Nadel's longtime advocacy for Wendell Lindsey, a Texas inmate who has maintained his innocence for a murder conviction in 1991. [4]
The Texas Rangers are an American professional baseball team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Rangers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. In 2020, the Rangers moved to the new Globe Life Field in Arlington after having played at Globe Life Park from 1994 to 2019. The team's name derives from a historic law enforcement agency.
Robert Allan Murphy was an American sportscaster who spent 50 years doing play-by-play of Major League Baseball games on television and radio. The Oklahoman was best known for announcing the New York Mets, from their inception in 1962 until his retirement in 2003. He was honored by the Baseball Hall of Fame with the Ford C. Frick Award in 1994.
Joseph John Castiglione is an American radio announcer for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball, an author and lecturer. Castiglione is the recipient of the 2024 Ford C. Frick Award, presented by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
Byrum Fred Saam Jr. was an American sportscaster. He was best known as the first full-time voice of baseball in Philadelphia.
Jon Miller is an American sportscaster, known primarily for his broadcasts of Major League Baseball. Since 1997, he has been employed as a play-by-play announcer for the San Francisco Giants. He was also a baseball announcer for ESPN from 1990 to 2010. Miller received the Ford C. Frick Award from the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2010.
Wilbur "Bill" King was an American sports announcer. In 2016, the National Baseball Hall of Fame named King recipient of the 2017 Ford C. Frick Award, the highest honor for American baseball broadcasters.
Steven Lee "Buzz" Busby is an American former starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Kansas City Royals. He batted and threw right-handed.
Robert Alfred Wolff was an American radio and television sportscaster.
Mark Holtz was an American sportscaster, best known for his broadcasts of Major League Baseball's Texas Rangers.
Dennis Matthews is an American sportscaster, best known as a play-by-play announcer for Major League Baseball's Kansas City Royals since the team's inception in 1969.
Josh Lewin is an American sportscaster who works as a play-by-play announcer for the UCLA Bruins football and basketball teams.
Victor Manuel Rojas is an American baseball executive and former broadcaster. He currently serves as the president and general manager of the Frisco RoughRiders. Rojas is best known for his time with the Los Angeles Angels as their play-by-play broadcaster from 2010 to 2020.
Brad Michael Sham is an American sportscaster who is known as the "Voice of the Dallas Cowboys". Sham is currently the play-by-play announcer on the Dallas Cowboys Radio Network.
Jerome Howard Doggett was an American sportscaster who called games for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball from 1956 to 1987.
Vince Cotroneo is a radio play-by-play announcer for the Oakland Athletics. He signed a two-year contract with the A's on January 13, 2006 to fill a void in the broadcast booth left by the sudden death of longtime lead announcer Bill King. Number-two announcer Ken Korach would slide into King's old number-one slot, with Cotroneo serving as the number-two man.
William A. Mercer is an American sportscaster, educator and author. Originally from Muskogee, Oklahoma, he has retired to Durham, North Carolina after a long residence in Richardson, Texas. In 2002, he was inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame.
David Lane Barnett is an American play-by-play broadcaster who calls Big 12 baseball games on Fox Sports 1 and football and men's basketball for the University of North Texas (UNT). He was formerly an ESPN personality and a radio and television play-by-play announcer for the Texas Rangers.
René Cárdenas is a Nicaraguan sports journalist and announcer. He became the first Spanish-language announcer to cover Major League Baseball (MLB), when he joined the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1958. He has also broadcast games for the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers and has announced boxing matches as well. While working for the Astros, Cárdenas developed the first international radio network, which broadcast games to Central and South America. He was the first Spanish-language radio announcer for each of the three MLB baseball teams that he covered.
Matt Hicks is a sports broadcaster who calls Texas Rangers games alongside Eric Nadel on the radio.
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