The Rangers in 2016 may be an injury-plagued outfit that limps to 94 losses as in 2014. Or, like in 2015, they may get hot late and ride to an AL West championship.
Regardless of what they do on the field, they’ll again be comfortable and successful behind the microphone. As play-by-play voice Eric Nadel prepares for his 38th season with the team, he’s added to his stable of hardware. Nadel this week was named 2015 Texas Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association on Monday.
It’s the eighth such award for Nadal, but first since 2011 which, coincidentally, was the last time the Rangers won the AL West before last year.
Nadel already has a spot in the Rangers' Hall of Fame, was the recipient of the 2014 Ford C. Frick Award, and his 38 consecutive years behind the mic for the Rangers is the sport’s second-longest running tenure behind only the remarkable 48 years of the Royals’ Denny Matthews. Nadel called his first Rangers’ game in 1979.
The team he broadcasts, of course, hasn’t been nearly as consistent. Or successful.
A native Texan who was born in Duncanville and graduated from UT-Arlington, Richie Whitt has been a mainstay in the Metroplex media since 1986. He’s held prominent roles on all media platforms including newspaper (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Observer), radio (105.3 The Fan) and TV (co-host on TXA 21 and numerous guest appearances, including NBC 5). He lives in McKinney with his wife, Sybil, and two very spoiled dogs.
