René Cárdenas, pioneer in Spanish-language broadcasts of MLB games, dies at 96
HOUSTON (AP) — René Cárdenas, the first Spanish-language broadcaster for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros and Texas Rangers during a 60-year career, has died. He was 96. The Astros said Monday that Cárdenas died Sunday at his home in Houston.
Cárdenas joined the Dodgers when they moved to Los Angeles from Brooklyn in 1958. He was part of the first Spanish broadcast of the World Series in 1959 and the All-Star Game two years later. “We mourn the passing of René Cárdenas, who in 1958 with the Dodgers became the first full-time Spanish-language broadcaster in MLB history and would ultimately spend 21 years behind the mic for Los Angeles,” the Dodgers said Sunday in a social media post.
The expansion Houston Colt . 45s hired Cárdenas in 1961 for their inaugural season of 1962. He spent 14 seasons with a franchise that was renamed the Astros in 1965, when they moved into the Astrodome.
“With yesterday’s passing of Rene Cardenas, we lost a true legend and pioneer in broadcasting,” the Astros wrote Monday in a statement on social media. “As the franchise first Spanish broadcaster, Rene had a tremendous impact on the success of the Colt . 45s/Astros in Houston’s large Hispanic community and beyond.
We send our heartfelt condolences to Rene’s family and loved ones. ” Cárdenas returned to his native Nicaragua in 1975 before coming back to MLB in 1981, when he was the first Spanish broadcaster for the Rangers, according to retired Rangers public relations executive John Blake. A second stint with the Dodgers lasted nearly two decades starting in 1982.