Eric Nadel, a Rangers announcer for the last 34 years, will be part of the franchise’s lore forever.
The team announced Tuesday that Nadel will be the 15th member of the Texas Rangers Baseball Hall of Fame. He will be officially inducted before the Aug. 11 home game against the Detroit Tigers.
Nadel will join Johnny Oates, Tom Vandergriff, Mark Holtz and Tom Grieve as members of the team’s Hall of Fame selected in a non-playing capacity. The players enshrined are Charlie Hough, Nolan Ryan, Jim Sundberg, Buddy Bell, Ferguson Jenkins, John Wetteland, Rusty Greer, Toby Harrah, Ruben Sierra and Kenny Rogers.
“Those are the real stars,” said Nadel, who calls games for ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM and has spent the vast majority of his tenure with the team doing radio broadcasts. “I don’t think of myself in that light, but I appreciate the fact that the Rangers have a genuine appreciation for what a broadcaster brings to the team.”
Kansas City’s Denny Matthews, who is in his 44th season calling Royals games, is the only active broadcaster with a longer tenure with an American League team. Nadel, who was a minor league hockey announcer before being hired by the Rangers, has been a finalist for the Ford C. Frick award given by the Baseball Hall of Fame the last two years.
“He truly is the voice of the Rangers,” Ryan said, adding how important it is for a team’s fan base to be able to build a relationship with the play-by-play man. “He truly has a passion for what he does. He does his homework, he’s very prepared and he is emotionally involved with what happens with the Texas Rangers on a day-to-day basis.”
