ST. LOUIS — Before Albert PujolsBefore he can get out of the on deck circle, Busch Stadium fans are up and ready to cheer him on. By the time he approaches the batter’s box, the applause is nearly deafening. The stadium becomes eerily silent when Pujols approaches home plate.
Busch Stadium is at a standstill when Pujols bats. Side conversations are lost in the shuffle. The exception is those who use their phones to record. Cellphone usage is very low. Fans and stadium employees pause and converge as one collective unit, holding their breath in hopes they’ll witness history.
In their booths, CardinalsBroadcasters cannot take part in this hush. It’s their job to find the words.
The broadcasters of play-by-play are charged with bringing the game alive and they have to deliver the best moments. Dramatic moments are plentiful throughout the Cardinals season. Like Pujols’ last season, this Cardinals season will be the final for the franchise icon Yadier Molina. Paul GoldschmidtThe favorite to win the National League MVP award is Nolan ArenadoHis voting might not be far behind. The Cardinals are one of baseball’s best teams in the second half and look destined for the postseason. On top of it all is Pujols’ chase for 700 career home runs, a storyline that has not only electrified the city of St. Louis but also thoroughly captivated the sport.
For Dan McLaughlin, the longtime play-by-play voice of the Cardinals’ television broadcasts, there’s significant meaning in conveying just how special this season has been.
“I think it’s really important that we capture this with the fans because I truly believe we’re never ever going to see this again with one single team in the history of baseball,” McLaughlin said.
From left to right, the Cardinals broadcast team: Ben Boyd and Michael Langston, Bengie Molina. Ricky Horton. Jim Jackson. John Rooney. Polo Ascencio. Mike Claiborne. Donny Jackson. (Courtesy of: St. Louis Cardinals).
McLaughlin is a St. Louis native and is currently in his 25th season with Cardinals. McLaughlin called his first major league game at age 23. His infectious enthusiasm and passionate charisma have made him a beloved Cardinals fan for the past two decades. But McLaughlin has taken that standard to new heights this year as he narrates the final season of Pujols’ career. With every booming home run off Pujols’ bat, there has been an equally booming home run call from McLaughlin.
“Well, I’m a baseball fan first and foremost,” McLaughlin said. “And I’m doing my hometown team. And I’m watching a player I don’t think we’ll ever, ever see his likes ever again. So I get as excited, I think, as the people sitting in the seats, or those watching at home.”
As McLaughlin starts to list off some of his favorite Pujols moments — a go-ahead home run in his final at-bat against the CubsA pinch-hit grand Slam against the RockiesAugust 18, career home run number. 697 on September 11 to move into fourth place all-time MLB’s leaderboard — he pauses and extends his arm.
“I’ve got goosebumps right now,” he smiles. “I’ve had the time of my life doing this. I’m having just as much fun as the fans are, believe me.”
UN. BE. LIEVABLE. Albert challenges the Cubs, and he makes them pay. Homer No. 695!!!!!
TV: Bally Sports Midwest
Stream: https://t.co/QBjr9fl3cH#STLCards pic.twitter.com/W5s8LDf4ZC— Bally Sports Midwest (@BallySportsMW) September 4, 2022
McLaughlin enjoys documenting the season but McLaughlin knows that his words carry a responsibility.
“I don’t want to screw it up,” he said. “I just want to make sure that I capture the moment properly and convey the excitement, but I’d rather it come from what I’m feeling inside. I’ve never scripted a call and I never will. Whatever comes out of me, I think that’s part of the excitement too. You’re so enthralled in the moment. Hopefully, it all comes out in a coherent way that makes sense but also conveys excitement.”
John Rooney, radio play-by–play broadcaster, echoes many of the same in the booth right next to him. Rooney has been a pivotal voice for KMOX, the Cardinals’ flagship radio station for 17 years, and has 51 years of sports broadcasting under his belt. He’s called his fair share of history, like when Mark McGwire broke Roger Maris’ single-season home run record in 1998, and when Cal Ripken Jr. surpassed Lou Gehrig’s ironman record en route to 2,632 consecutive games. Rooney called the 325th career start for Molina as well as pitcher earlier in the week. Adam WainwrightThis set the record for the most consecutive starts by a single battery. Earlier in the month, he called Pujols’ 697th career homer in Pittsburgh, when the 42-year-old passed Alex Rodriguez on MLB’s home run leaderboard.
Good morning. He did it. #stlcards
🎙John Rooney, KMOX
H/T: @VanHicklesteinpic.twitter.com/jOAEoBmmGC— Tom Ackerman (@Ackerman1120) September 12, 2022
Rooney is very familiar with telling baseball history. With the way this Cardinals season is trending, he’s prepared to tell more.
“The best reality programming is sports,” Rooney said. “You don’t know what’s going to happen, you don’t know how it’s going to play out, you don’t know what’s around the corner. No one could have predicted Albert’s second half of the season, nor could they have really predicted what we’ve seen since the trade deadline. It’s important to show up to the ballpark on time, be prepared for each game, and take it one at a moment. But I like to be surprised or excited about a moment when it happens, and try to capture the enthusiasm of what’s going on.”
McLaughlin was also a non-scriptwriter. Rooney is no different. Rooney is dependent on many unpredicted details, making it impossible to try. Rooney is a radio broadcaster and must set the scene. He paints a picture for listeners that they are unable or unwilling to see.
“Any radio broadcaster wants those fans to want to be in the ballpark with them,” Rooney said. “And that’s the way I’ve tried to call a ballgame, trying to describe what I see and what’s in front of me. I try to capture what’s in the ballpark. That’s the challenge of the job. You’ll tell them that you’ll see beautiful green grass in the park and so on and so forth, but when the actual moment happens, the flight of the ball, the fans standing, how quiet they are before each pitch. Trying to capture all of that, you just take in what one feels and what one senses is in the ballpark, and then try to be ready for the play when it happens.”
“I don’t try to script anything,” Rooney added. “If I did, it would really sound phony.”
Rooney values authenticity. His calls are full of life and passion, but not for mere effect. It’s imperative to how he describes the moment, especially for those who are unable to see it.
“I think there are fans in all of us as home-team announcers,” Rooney said. “We want to see our team win, and we want to do as fair a job with everybody playing the game as you can. What happens when our guys accomplish something great? Yeah, it’s special. We want it to be special for the fans. If we don’t have fun calling it, the fans aren’t going to have fun hearing it, and I think they’ve had a pretty good time so far.”
Rooney isn’t the only radio broadcaster who works for the Cardinals. Polo Ascencio is the Cardinals’ first Spanish-language play-by-play broadcaster. He can be found down the hall. His seven-year tenure as a broadcaster has seen him contribute to the development of St. Louis baseball. Ascencio regularly reaches out and helps to unite the Spanish speaking population of Illinois and Missouri. His influence extends beyond the Midwest. With Molina and Pujols closing out their prolific careers, and his growing prominence as a Cardinals broadcaster, Ascencio’s audience now spans across borders, including into Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
Polo Ascencio, the Spanish-language broadcaster for Cardinals games, says: ‘When things come from the heart, nothing can beat it.’ (Courtesy: St. Louis Cardinals)
“I think what we do as Spanish broadcasters, it’s beyond baseball,” Ascencio said. “When I realized that the Cardinals had never done a baseball game in Spanish as part of their home broadcast, that’s the first time I felt a lot of emotion and a little nervous.”
Ascencio knows the work he is doing to represent the Latin community transcends baseball, but he doesn’t allow his mind to go there.
“I don’t think about it,” he said. “When I think about things, that’s when I don’t perform at my best. Every day I place so much pressure on my self to be perfect. At the end of the day, I am probably the most imperfect person that you could imagine. Trying to be perfect. Sometimes, I may mess up the moment. And it’s not my moment. I’m just here to recreate what I see and throw it out there.”
He will recognize, however, the effects his broadcasts can have on players and their families from time to time.
“Once in a while, I think about my family listening,” Ascencio said. “I think about the Latin players, where their family members are able to listen to their loved ones play in Spanish. And that is really cool.”
Ascencio is an experienced pro and his animated, spirited calling have even won the admiration of non-Spanish speakers. The language may not translate, but the emotion does, and it’s often contagious.
“We tell the story,” Ascencio says with a smile. “We are storytellers.”.
#698 de La Makina detrás de micrófonos! Di lo que tengas que decir y deja que la gente respire, eso lo aprendí escuchando a Vin Scully y El Maestro @JaimeJarrin
Esta MAKINA no para @cardenales #STLCardenales
Gracias @BenBoydSTL!!! pic.twitter.com/VohHNKlxj9— Polingas Lingas (@poloascencio) September 17, 2022
Ascencio made this season even more significant when Pujols returned home to St. Louis. Ascencio’s calls have allowed fans across the globe to tune into history. He hasn’t scripted his call for home run No. He admits that he has thought it up 15 to 20 times. He hopes he can call it. The Cardinals’ Spanish broadcast does not travel during the regular season and only calls home games, something that Ascencio is hopeful will change.
Ascencio’s chance to call the milestone of the Latin community is something that makes him a rambunctious and upbeat broadcaster. When Ascencio is asked what it would be like to be called No. 700, Ascencio stops and looks out the window of his radio station. He takes several moments to reply. He is often overcome with emotion and needs to take a moment to respond.
“It will mean the sacrifice of all those people who look like me, sound like me, walk like me, was not in vain,” he said. “For me, to have my voice attached to the Cardinals, to that moment, not only for the Cardinals, not only for Albert, not only for the Dominican Republic … it would be something that I don’t even know how to describe. But it’s going to come from the heart. And when things come from the heart, nothing can beat it.”
Although the styles and techniques used by the Cardinals broadcast team are different, their underlying theme is to channel their emotion and make it relatable for the fans. They are professionals of course, but they’d be lying if they said they weren’t having fun in what has been a truly memorable and historic season.
John Rooney, Cardinals broadcaster, with his scorecard for the Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright record-breakers. (Courtesy of the St. Louis Cardinals.
“That’s what makes the job so much fun to do on a day-to-day basis,” Rooney said. “You come to the ballpark, you are going to see something different every day. And many times you’ll be disappointed by it because this game is human. But being a Cardinal broadcaster, we are delighted a lot more than we’re disappointed, that’s for sure. Coming to the park, you feel like you have a chance of winning every day.”
“It’s the greatest reality TV show that you could possibly have,” McLaughlin said, echoing his radio counterpart. “I don’t take it lightly, and I also understand that these calls more than likely will live on in a historic timeframe. So I’m doing the best I can. I’m having fun, and I hope the fans are enjoying it and having as much fun as I’m having.
“I’ve always believed this, that ultimately this is all about the fans. Entertainment is the ultimate goal. This is a perfect storm that makes this a thrilling time for Cardinal fans. But it’s been awesome. It’s been so much fun.”
There are only 14 regular-season remaining games. St. Louis has an eight-game advantage over St. Louis MilwaukeeThe No. The National League playoff picture shows the 3rd seed. A potential clinch scenario is emerging in the National League playoff picture. Pujols could be just two home runs away of 700. DodgersMLB’s most popular team.
Some of it can be credited to the voices behind microphones, who are responsible for bringing these moments to life. They are, as they’ve said, storytellers. And what a story they’ve had to tell.
(Top photo of Pujols by Jeff Roberson / Associated Press
