There’s no cheering in the press box, as any established sports reporter would tell you. But for what has transpired in the Giants’ Spanish radio booth recently, cheers are fully acceptable.
For the first time since 1998, the Giants’ Spanish broadcasters will call all 162 games and travel to all 81 road games this season— game-changing news for Spanish-speaking baseball fans, and a move that probably should have been made long ago.
Last season, the Giants broadcast 137 games in Spanish, up from 127 in 2023. It’ll be the full 162 the next three seasons, thanks to a new deal with Lazer Media that airs games on San Francisco’s KSFN (99.3 FM/1510 AM) and other Northern California stations.
“I think it shows the Giants are indeed committed to the Hispanic community,” Giants broadcaster Erwin Higueros said.
The same can’t be said for the Sacramento-bound A’s. Amaury Pi-Gonzalez and Manolo Hernandez-Douen, the long-time voices of A’s Spanish radio, were notified recently that they won’t be back in 2025. There was no announcement, no fanfare, and no public appreciation for their lengthy service.
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“The A’s will always be grateful for the contributions of Amaury and Manolo to our Spanish-language broadcast,” the A’s said in a statement on Thursday. “As we move forward with our interim relocation to West Sacramento, we will be taking our Spanish radio broadcasts in a new direction with a local station and local talent.”
Technically, Pi-Gonzalez and Hernandez-Douen weren’t considered team employees as they were employed by radio station KIQI (1010 AM), which the A’s paid to broadcast 69 games last season. However, Pi-Gonzalez said he was notified about the change from the A’s in a call from D’Aulaire Louwerse, the team’s coordinating producer of broadcasting.
“I just wanted to be treated fairly. This is kind of unfair,” said Pi-Gonzalez, the dean of local Spanish baseball broadcasts, having debuted with the 1977 A’s. “They kept telling me, ‘We’ll let you know, we’ll let you know.’ They finally called the day pitchers and catchers reported [to spring training] and said they’re going in a different direction. I’m from the old school. You treat people the way you want to be treated. I don’t think I’ve been treated fairly.”
That the well-respected broadcasters were alerted this late in the offseason put them in an employment hole. Had they been notified months ago, they would have had a better chance to land elsewhere.
Pi-Gonzalez said the Atlanta Braves reached out in December about a possible broadcasting gig, but he held out because he preferred to stick with the A’s and live in the Bay Area. Hernandez-Douen, who doubles as a sportswriter, plans to continue covering the A’s through Béisbol Por Gotas.
“I’d like to keep working,” Pi-Gonzalez said. “They say they’re going in a different direction, and that direction doesn’t include me. But baseball in Spanish is a big thing. They could make money if they work at it.”
In August 2023, at a time when fan uproar was peaking with A’s owner John Fisher’s relocation plans, Pi-Gonzalez wasn’t afraid to share his strong thoughts on the team getting pulled out of Oakland. In an interview with SFGate, he was quoted as saying, “If you tell the fans right now that Mr. Fisher is selling next week, there’ll be a parade in Oakland.”
The statement captured the fans’ sentiment, but Pi-Gonzalez wonders if his Fisher commentary is the reason he’ll no longer broadcast the A’s.
“I call it like I see it,” he said. “I’m not a homer by any means. I love the game. Otherwise, I wouldn’t want to come back.”
On the Giants’ side of the dial, Higueros expressed sorrow for his counterparts who had been fixtures in Oakland. In fact, Higueros calls Pi-Gonzalez a mentor — they were in the A’s booth together as far back as 1987, and Pi-Gonzalez brought Higueros to the Giants in 1998 when they became partners, the last time the team broadcast all 162 games.
“It hurts me because he deserves better,” Higueros said. “He’s a true professional in the complete sense of the word. I’m on the outside. I don’t know what priorities are for the A’s, and I don’t know what they’re thinking, but he deserves better.”
Pi-Gonzalez is 80, and Hernandez-Douen is 74, though age isn’t necessarily a factor in broadcasting. Jaime Jarrin and Vin Scully retired from their respective Dodger booths at 86 and 88. Bob Uecker, who died last month at 90, called Brewers games last season. Rafael Ramirez called Marlins games at 93.
“When you hear Amaury, you don’t think you’re hearing someone who’s 80. He sounds very good,” Higueros said. “With what we do, as long as you can see the baseball and talk, you can keep doing this.”
The Giants are joining three other teams in the National League West — the Dodgers, Padres, and Diamondbacks — that broadcast all 162 games in Spanish. Like last year, Fuentes, the popular former infielder, will broadcast home games. For the 81 road games, producer Carlos Orellana will fill in on air. Orellana also broadcasts one inning every home game.
Meantime, the A’s broadcast plans remain up in the air with the season opener fast approaching.
“I feel a little melancholy because I’ve been doing it so long,” Pi-Gonzalez said. “I’ve been blessed. I know the A’s have a following, and I believe I’ve been a good asset to them.”