René Cárdenas, the First Spanish-Language Announcer for the Dodgers and a Broadcasting Trailblazer, Passes Away

René Cárdenas, Pioneering Spanish Broadcast Announcer, Dies at 96

René Cárdenas, a trailblazer in Spanish-language radio broadcasting for Major League Baseball, passed away on Sunday in Houston at the age of 96. Cárdenas is remembered for his role as the first radio announcer to bring Major League Baseball games to Spanish-speaking audiences while with the Dodgers, and for helping establish similar broadcasts for two other teams.

The Dodgers confirmed his death on Sunday evening, highlighting his extensive tenure with the team, which spanned 21 years across two periods beginning in 1958. He also made his mark as the inaugural Spanish-language announcer for the Houston Astros starting in 1962.

Over the course of 38 seasons, Cárdenas called games for the Dodgers, Astros, and Texas Rangers, laying the groundwork for future Spanish-language broadcasters, including Jaime Jarrín. Jarrín joined the Dodgers’ broadcast team in 1959 and held the role for 64 seasons.

“He was indisputably one of the pioneers of Spanish-language baseball radio broadcasting, and he opened the door for other broadcasters to reach the major leagues,” Jarrín told The Times in Spanish on Monday morning. “He was a total professional, truly.”

Born on February 6, 1930, in Managua, Nicaragua, Cárdenas hailed from a prominent family in the country. His grandfather, Adan Cárdenas, served as president from 1883 to 1887 and is credited with introducing baseball to Nicaragua in the late 19th century. By high school, Cárdenas had already begun contributing to La Prensa, the leading newspaper in Nicaragua, while broadcasting games for Radio Mundial, Managua’s top-ranked station.

“He had a very original style,” recalled Edgard Tijerino, a Nicaraguan sports journalist. “It was a way of broadcasting that nobody here in Nicaragua had. The people of my generation remember him with fondness and still value the work he did.”

When the Dodgers relocated from Brooklyn ahead of the 1958 season, they partnered with KWKW-AM, Los Angeles’s only Spanish-language radio station at the time. Cárdenas was appointed as the lead announcer, with Jarrín learning the ropes that first season. This partnership paved the way for the first Spanish broadcast of the World Series in 1959 and the All-Star Game in 1961.

Prior to the 1962 season, Cárdenas transitioned to become the lead announcer for Houston’s new team, then known as the Colt .45s. He covered the team through its first 14 seasons as it transitioned into the Astrodome and became known as the Astros in 1965.

In the late 1970s, Cárdenas returned to Nicaragua but was forced to flee due to political unrest tied to the Sandinista National Liberation Front, which culminated in conflict near his home. “They were fighting around my house every night. We used to go under the bed every single night for months,” he recounted to The Times in 1995. “We were in a war without being soldiers.”

Cárdenas became a U.S. citizen in 1963, though he lost his house, life savings, and valuable items from his broadcasting career during this tumultuous time.

Following a stint with the Texas Rangers, Cárdenas returned to the Dodgers for the 1982 season. By then, Jarrín had established himself as the primary announcer, especially during the sensational “Fernandomania” era. Despite this shift, Cárdenas expressed his desire to return to baseball, indicating he was willing to come back as the second announcer just to be part of the game again.

“René said, ‘I don’t care, I’ll come back as the No. 2 with Jaime. I just want to come back to the game of baseball,’” Jarrín explained. “It was during that time that we established a close-knit friendship and we were well-received by the community as a broadcast duo.”

Cárdenas continued to work with the Dodgers until 1998, later returning to Houston where he wrote for various outlets and resumed broadcasting Astros games in 2007, creating a landmark as the only MLB team with a standalone Spanish-language broadcast.

A nominee for the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Ford C. Frick Award multiple times, including last year, Cárdenas was acknowledged in the Nicaragua Baseball Hall of Fame, the Broadcasters Wing of the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame, and the Astros’ team hall of fame.

Reflecting on his Hall of Fame prospects, Jarrín noted, “I think what hindered him was that he didn’t fully establish himself with the Dodgers. He was away for many years. So that lack of continuity may have hindered him, possibly. Because professionally, he is deserving of being in the Hall. I would love it if he got inducted posthumously because he was a broadcasting pioneer and a true professional.”