The Arizona Diamondbacks made an announcement on Thursday that their radio broadcasts will be available to listen to on FM radio, in addition to the broadcast on the traditional AM radio. But before you get too excited, it will not be Greg Schulte, Tom Candiotti, Mike Fetters or Jeff Mund that you hear and it won't even be English.
While the traditional English transmission will continue to be on Arizona Sports 620 (and sometimes on the News FM 92.3 when there are scheduling conflicts), it will be the Spanish language broadcast that will now be available both on AM and FM radio.
Said the team press release:
The Arizona Diamondbacks announced an addition to their broadcast lineup for 2012, as Spanish-speaking fans will now be able to catch all 162 regular-season D-backs games on José 106.9 FM, as well as their traditional broadcast partner ESPN Deportes 710 AM. The D-backs' final two Spring Training games, exhibition matches against the Milwaukee Brewers to be played at Chase Field, will also air on both AM and FM broadcast partners.
"We are very excited to be able to add Jose 106.9 FM as an additional place for D-backs fans to hear all of our games live in Spanish," said D-backs President & CEO Derrick Hall. "Our fans have enjoyed D-backs baseball on the radio in Spanish since our inception and the addition of the FM station with our great partners at Entravision reinforces our commitment to our Spanish-speaking fans."
Oscar Soria, who is one of the most respected baseball commentators in the Hispanic community after serving as a D-backs broadcaster for the past 12 seasons and for the Hermosillo Naranjeros of the Mexican Winter League for the past 23 seasons, will again team up with longtime partners Miguel Quintana and Richard Saenz in the broadcast booth to call the action in Spanish this season.
Now, while I personally can listen and understand to the Spanish broadcast, it is worth giving a listen even if cerveza is the only thing you know in the language.
Do you ever watch soccer on TV on ESPN in English. Most Americans would say it is boring. But if you take the same game and you put Spanish broadcasters in the booth, the game automatically becomes 12 times more exciting. It is a scientific fact (in my head at least).
So if you ever get that urge to become multicultural, simply turn the radio dial to AM 710 or FM 106.9 during a D-Backs game. You will find yourself getting excited even when nothing happens. That's what is great about sports in Spanish.
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