"René Cárdenas, the first radio announcer to broadcast major league baseball games in Spanish to a domestic audience while with the Dodgers and who helped start Spanish-language broadcasts for two other teams, died Sunday in Houston. He was 96."
"The broadcasting pioneer also served as the Houston Astros' first Spanish-language announcer starting in 1962. Cárdenas called games for 38 seasons with the Dodgers, Astros and Texas Rangers and paved the way for Jaime Jarrín, who joined the broadcast team in 1959 and served as the Dodgers' broadcaster for 64 seasons."
""He was indisputably one of the pioneers of Spanish-language baseball radio broadcasts, and he opened the door for other broadcasters to reach the major leagues," Jarrín told The Times in Spanish Monday morning. "He was a total professional, truly.""
"But Cárdenas became more adept at describing the action and before he left high school, he was not only writing for La Prensa, Nicaragua's leading newspaper, but also broadcasting games for Radio Mundial, the capital city's top-ranked station. "He had a very original style," Edgard Tijerino, a Nicaraguan sports journalist, told The Times' Kevin Baxter in 1995."
René Cárdenas, born in Managua, Nicaragua, became a leading Spanish-language baseball radio announcer in the United States. He began broadcasting while still in high school and later wrote for La Prensa and worked at Radio Mundial. With the Dodgers, he became the first radio announcer to broadcast major league baseball games in Spanish to a domestic audience, starting in 1958 across two stints totaling 21 years. He also served as the Houston Astros’ first Spanish-language announcer beginning in 1962. Over 38 seasons, he called games for the Dodgers, Astros, and Texas Rangers, helping pave the way for Jaime Jarrín.
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