WTOP celebrates National Hispanic Heritage Month this Sept. 15 through Oct. 15, with stories spotlighting the contributions, culture and accomplishments of Hispanic communities across the D.C. region.
In an early May game between the Washington Nationals and the Toronto Blue Jays, infielder Luis Garcia Jr. crushed a towering hit to center field for a three-run home run. As the ball flew out of the field, a booming voice began narrating its flight out of the field in Spanish from the right side of the press box at Nationals Park.
“Se va, se va, se va, se fue la fruta,” Luciano Rodríguez shouted, before letting out a prolonged home run yell. Loosely translated to “Going, going, going, the fruit has gone,” the veteran broadcaster said he blended the passion known in soccer goal calls with the typical baseball call to develop his signature home run call.
“Everybody calls the home run the same way,” he said. “Americans, they call the same way, ‘The ball is going, going, gone.’ Spanish is the same, ‘La pelota se va, se va.’ I had to change something here.”
Rodríguez, alongside color commentator and producer Gustavo Salazar, was part of the Nationals’ return to Spanish-language radio broadcasts this season after an 11-year hiatus. The duo explained to WTOP how they contributed to the team’s comeback to Spanish-speaking radio listeners and what’s to come in the future.
Béisbol en Español
From its inception in 2005 until 2011, the Nationals provided Spanish language play-by-play of its games. Since 2012, the team continued on without it, even as the U.S. Census reported the D.C. region has over 1.8 million people who identify as Hispanic or Latino.
Last year, a local baseball fan co-wrote an opinion piece on the topic for The Hill and told WTOP offering Spanish play-by-play would benefit the Nationals.
During the offseason, the ballclub made a deal with Costa Media to broadcast all 162 Nationals games, along with pre- and post-game shows and player interviews, on its radio stations: DC 87.7 FM and La Pantera 100.7 FM/1220 AM.
Salazar, who originates from Bolivia and is a Montgomery County, Maryland, resident, jumped at the chance to contribute to the Nationals’ return to the Latin market. He’s previously worked as an NFL Spanish-speaking broadcaster for the Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Ravens from 2018-2022 and has radio experience calling baseball and soccer games.
Meanwhile, Rodríguez was semiretired following a more than 40-year career in radio. The Venezuelan became the first Spanish-language color commentator for the Baltimore Orioles in 1993 and worked calling various sports throughout his career, either on D.C.-based Spanish radio stations or nationwide on SiriusXM. He even held both play-by-play and color analysis duties for Washington’s Spanish broadcasts in 2009.
He received a call in January asking if he was interested in coming back to the booth to call Nationals games. Rodríguez held jumped at the chance, even if he had to audition for the role, calling the opportunity “a new beginning.”
“The last 10 years, I was playing tennis every morning, playing music in the evening,” he said. “I got surprised when they called me, saying, ‘Wow, I have to begin again.'”
Salazar told WTOP that the duo met each other for the first time in February, and he only knew of Rodríguez from stories from other radio colleagues. Once they got into the booth together for the first time, Rodríguez’s baseball knowledge shined, but it gave Salazar a lane to be a new voice for listeners.
“Little things like (explaining batting averages) we do to kind of grow the audience and include them into our broadcast,” Salazar said. “It’s just something that we got to do consistently. It’s not like we just did it in the beginning of the season. We do it all the time because you never know who’s listening for the first time.”
Before games, Rodríguez goes through his thick score book, taping in roster sheets on each page and laying out his scripts for advertisements and segues. Both men like to arrive into the broadcast booth at least 90 minutes before the preshow to go over their notes, calling it “the sanctuary.”
Both Rodríguez and Salazar said they have built good rapport as the season progressed. The duo give each other high-fives during home runs, with Rodríguez saying their personalities allowed for their chemistry to grow.
At the end of the Nationals regular season finale, the pair thanked their listeners and the club for allowing them to be part of the return of Spanish broadcasts of “this emotional game”
“I’m very happy,” Rodríguez told WTOP on calling Nationals games. “I belong over here.”
‘Reacciones y el futuro’
Before the Nationals faced off against the Kansas City Royals on Sept. 25, the broadcasting duo spoke to a Spanish class at Montgomery College during batting practice. During the lesson, Nationals TV play-by-play announcer Bob Carpenter jokingly shouted at the group, saying the broadcast booths “used to be quieter before you two came along.”
“Just having them in the ballpark, here all the time, is great for the fans. It’s great for the team and I hope this is the start of a long, long relationship,” Carpenter told WTOP, adding that it was “long overdue” to have Spanish play-by-play again for Nationals games.
Salazar said the franchise has welcomed the pair with open arms, allowing them to go down during batting practice to talk to the players and manager Davy Martinez, and letting them know when their broadcasts are being transmitted in Latin American countries.
Rodríguez said he tries to stay humble but interactions with fans makes his smile to be on the broadcast.
“Sometimes I’m taking the elevator, (and) probably a couple of old guys say, ‘Oh, you’re the Spanish guy!'” he said.
¡El primer jonrón en la carrera de James Wood!@LasMayores // @jwood_29 pic.twitter.com/xvjoC5Vuut
— Los Nacionales (@losnacionales) July 7, 2024
The question remains if the Spanish play-by-play calls will return next season. A Nationals spokesperson told WTOP that it doesn’t have its 2025 broadcast plans finalized at this time.
José Villafañe, the founding partner of Costa Media, said in a statement to WTOP that it was “our responsibility” to bring Spanish-language broadcasts back to D.C. and the company looks forward to the future of its relationship with the Nationals.
“Our broadcast team (Luciano and Gustavo) did an amazing job and we are proud of our first year production of the games,” Villafañe said.
Regardless of its future, Salazar said he is already preparing for year two. After focusing on handling a 162-game schedule in the season, Salazar said he has plans of expanding their coverage next season to include more social media posts and possibly a podcast.
“We enjoyed what we’re doing, and it’s really the steppingstone of just get bigger,” Salazar said. “I see this as one of those positions that I could do for the next 30 years of my life.”
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