MAKE A JOYFUL VOICE
The voice matters.
As the story of the 2026 season reveals itself through baseball on the radio I will follow the narrative and chase radio calls based on where the most compelling storylines are happening. But I can tell I will be tempted to listen to the best booths no matter the standings, without regard to the outstanding individual performances. All broadcast booths are not created equal. I have an early hypothesis there is a strong correlation between the way a team’s roster is built, the competence of its front office, and how much the owner spends as a strong predictor of the quality of its radio presentation.
Let’s take two games in February as a first test of this theory. It’s science, people.
Last week, Angels owner Arte Moreno said stuff to a reporter that neatly represent the malpractice he’s committed with the team and the public trust of its fans, wasting generational and all-time talents Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani while he had them.
“The number one thing fans want is affordability,” Moreno said. “They want affordability. They want safety, and they want a good experience when they come to the ballpark. Believe it or not, winning is not in their top five.”
Angels fans don’t want to win, Moreno thinks surveys show. If it were so, he is giving them what they want. It is not what they want.
On Wednesday, the Angels played the San Diego Padres in Peoria Stadium in the suburbs of Phoenix. The game was not aired on KLAA 830, but it was streamed. None of the Angels spring games will be telecast as the team struggles to figure out what to do in the wake of the financial collapse of its regional sports network.
On the stream were Trent Rush and Wes Clements. This pair represents a contempt for Angels fans. Rush is a radio personality, according to his LinkedIn profile where you can also see he is a Radio and Television News Association of Southern California Golden Mike Award winner for Best Radio Sports Reporting (Division B). I have not won one of those.
Clements has 2,689 at bats in the minor leagues during seven seasons from 1980-89. He played a couple years in the Mexican League. He is in the University of Arizona Hall of Fame and while playing there he was a contributing member of a team that won the College World Series. He spent a portion of his on-air time Wednesday cracking on the University of Texas and bragging about a series win his Wildcats earned in Austin more than 40 years ago.
This is not the Angels first-line radio crew. Spring training is not just for players on the field to get a chance to show their talents. But a Major League team did put these two on the air. It was not much of a game. Chris Cortez, touted by Rush as among the Angels top prospects, came in and failed to record an out while giving up four earned runs. He did face a series of bombers in the Padres lineup in Rodriguez, Tatis Jr., Castellanos, and Reyes.
The Angels lost 3-7.
On Thursday, the Cleveland Guardians also lost against a superior lineup for the Seattle Mariners. This game, too, was played in Peoria Stadium. Here, though, the radio broadcast was stellar. Quality shows itself quickly. It does not take long to know you are dealing with a solid broadcast team. Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus are top shelf. I am not suggesting I have any particular insight – plenty know it's a good broadcast. My point is that as soon as I tuned in, I was aware this was a great call.
Hamilton has done Cleveland games for 37 years. Last year he was presented the Ford C. Frick Award by the National Baseball Hall of Fame in recognition of excellence in baseball broadcasting.
Progressive Field
I went to a Guardians game in 2019 and got this cap. The franchise changed its name in 2021 and I didn’t want to buy any of the previous mascot gear.
“The main goal for any broadcaster is can we, with our words in the description and the way we set things up, can we make you feel like you’re at the ballpark? Can you see the game on the radio? Tom Hamilton has done that as well as anybody,” Rick Rizzs, the Mariners broadcaster, told the Plain Dealer last July.
Rosenhaus is no slouch. He’s been on the air with Hamilton for 15 years and before that he called the AAA Buffalo Bisons for 11 years. He began his broadcasting odyssey with what was then Cleveland’s Single-A team in Kinston, North Carolina. Long commitment to a goal through very challenging beginnings does not guarantee a good outcome, but it sure means something.
Rosenhaus and Hamilton have a conversational chemistry and they are serious about calling a game. They have distinctive voices. They shared useful insight into the game in front of them and the season ahead.
The Guardians lost 8-7, but they had the tying run on in the ninth. The American League Central has been a tangle the last few years. Perhaps the parity a few seasons ago came from mediocrity top to bottom, but that is less so now with top talent on the mound in Detroit, emerging or arrived superstars afield in Kansas City, or amazing luck or pluck in Cleveland the last 30 games of last year’s regular season. It’s a good bet the division will again entertain in 2026.
I cannot wait to hear more from the Guardians booth as the games that count begin and the story of this season begins to reveal itself.
Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus have voices to give life to the story.