La Vida Voices: Francisco Romero

Soul singer James Brown was known by many as the hardest working man in show business. Francisco Romero, who calls games for the Houston Astros and the University Arizona football and basketball teams, just might be counted among the hardest working announcers in the Spanish-language sports business.

The journey from Nogales, Mexico, to the broadcast booth reveals the persistence and work ethic of Romero. His story is the embodiment of the Mexican American dream. The son of a miner from Arizona, he is the product of the border and the working-class aspirations of parents who sacrificed for their kids to attain success in their career paths.

Baseball was the cultural and familial connection for Romero. Listening to Vin Scully didn’t just make him a Dodgers’ fan. It also gave him his first English lessons. Little did he imagine as he and his brother played ball as youngsters that one day he would be the voice that other Latino fans would be listening to as they tuned in to Arizona Diamondback, Milwaukee Brewers, and, now, Houston Astros games.

Romero visited La Vida Baseball Live to talk baseball and share his journey.

La Vida Baseball: You have had quite a journey from Mexico to the broadcast booth. How did you get involved in broadcasting?

Francisco Romero: A long story short; this is my journey. I crossed the border at 12 years old, was born in Nogales, Mexico. … My dad’s a U.S. citizen, so we went to live in Tucson. And then I went to Pueblo High School, where I was inducted into the (school’s) hall of fame a couple years ago. Then I went to the University of Arizona and started working with elected officials with my mind being in maybe running for office at one point in time or something like that. But I really liked it and also focusing on environmental racism. Right after college, I started working in the public health industry, but then the D- backs came into the picture in 1996. … The second year of the D-backs, the main broadcaster came from Mexico and didn’t have his visa ready, so they asked me to go and call some games. So I did, and then I stayed on the production side of it. That was back in 1999 and 2000, and I started teaching English to the kids who stayed for spring training. But, at the same time, I was hired by the Tucson Sidewinders as the director of Hispanic marketing and broadcaster.

At that same time, I started broadcasting Arizona basketball games and football games, and then, after that, I got hired by the Brewers to do all their home weekend games at home on Telemundo. Then the Twins also hired me to broadcast some of their home games while they were trying the Spanish. And so, by that time, I had already done D-backs, Brewers, Twins. Then the Reds hired me, but, at the same time, when NBC bought Telemundo, I went to work full-time at Telemundo as a sportscaster. So my main job was as a sportscaster. Check this out, at one time I was doing my regular job at Telemundo, news at 5:00 and 10:00, but I was doing Arizona football, Arizona basketball, Brewers, Twins, and the Arizona Cardinals. I was on the half-time report on the Arizona Cardinals. At the same time I got married, so I was very, very, very busy.

Then, in 2008, the position opened for the Astros. I applied for it, and I was blessed enough to get hired by the Houston Astros. Ever since 2008, I’ve been doing Houston Astros baseball games, and, in the winter, I go back and do Arizona football and basketball.

LVB: You’ve announced for several major league teams. What has been the biggest key for your success to land you where you are as an Astros Spanish Language broadcaster?

FR: Looking back since I was a kid, it’s the vision. I remember when I was 12 years old, and I crossed the border from Nogales to Tucson, and one thing that I wanted to do before I died, I told myself, is touch the grass from a baseball field. That’s what I told myself at 12 years old because I would watch games on TV, and the grass looked so green. I could just imagine the smell of it. So I said, before I die, I’m gonna go to a major-league ballpark and touch the grass for at least one time. I get to do that every day now. I get to go to the ballpark and touch the field where I work. I think it’s being a visionary, looking at what you want to do and then take the necessary steps to do it.

LVB: Family is a big theme of what we cover at La Vida Baseball. As a broadcaster you get to see another side of players, including how they interact with family. Share about how you family members visit your booth.

FR: Yes, yes. [José] Altuve’s dad has been here. That was great. His eyes were watery. [Carlos] Correa’s dad has been here. [Roberto] Osuna’s dad has also been with us. It’s pretty neat that we get to know their families and the stories behind the scenes. … It’s amazing, what these guys go through all their lives to get to accomplish the goal of playing Major League Baseball. The most important thing is how focused they are. Sometimes we criticize players, but the reality is they put a lot of hard work into it.

LVB: You covered the Astros when they won the World Series. Did you have a World Series ring and how did it feel to put it on?

FR: It’s pretty neat. I really cherish it. Look, I get the chills just to think about it. It was very special, especially because my dad came when they gave me the ring. That ring signifies a lot because baseball, to work in baseball … it’s not a job. It’s a lifestyle.

What that ring to me is, first of all, my wife, Larissa, and my daughter, Isabella, who’ve been here with the journey. My wife has given up a lot of her dreams to follow my dream. You have to appreciate that. Having the ring, it encompasses all that, from my parents bringing me to the United States for a better life to my wife and daughter sacrificing a lot of their dreams to follow mine. Which I hope it’s also their dream come true. … So that’s what the ring signifies. Also, the appreciation for the organization to hire me, to believe in me, to believe that I could deliver a broadcast that will get people excited about the game.

LVB: You initially learned some of your English by listening to baseball games thanks to Vin Scully. Share that story.

FR: When I got to Tucson at 12 years old, we were in love with … (Fernando) Valenzuela and the Dodgers. Who wasn’t? We, my brother and I, Raul, we were trying to hear the Dodgers, and we couldn’t because we couldn’t find the Spanish station.

We tried to find Jaime [Jarrín], and we couldn’t. One day, we’re playing ball, and then my brother calls me and goes, “Hey, Poncho [Francisco’s nickname], come here. … “What?” I go, “The Dodgers?” I go, “You’re lying.” He goes, “Yes, come here.” We start hearing the radio, and we hear the names of Steve Garvey, Ron Cey, Bill [Russell] …

So we figured out where the dial was: It was 1400 KTUC in Tucson. The next day, at the same time, we tune it in, and we started hearing from the very beginning the song that the Dodgers play before the games. From there on, we started hearing Vin Scully. … We didn’t know who Vin Scully was at that time …and so we started hearing Vin Scully for the whole year.

By the time we got to school in September, I kind of knew English, and it was because of Vin Scully, hearing him.

AB: As a broadcaster, what has been your favorite game that you have called? Also, if you could put together your announcing “dream team” who would be on that team with you?

FR: It’s been a few calls. It’s the very first call I made while working for the Diamondbacks. It was my very first broadcast. There’s been other ones, like the Mike Fiers no-hitter. The World Series was pretty neat. It’s not just one. I want to say it’s a combination of the whole experience because … it’s your whole career.

[Fiers’ no-hitter] sticks out because it was pretty neat. It was pretty electric. The team was playing good, Correa had just gotten up, the trade was just made. … It was because of the electricity at the stadium. It was against the Dodgers, and Fiers was on fire. It was pretty cool. I guess that feeling, the feeling of being there for that moment, and the house was packed. Minute Maid Park was just rocking. It’s like, wow, these fans are great, and you feed from that energy. That was pretty special just because of the feeling I had.

Picking my dream team is hard. Alex Treviño is great with his insights, because he was Fernando’s catcher as well as Nolan Ryan’s along with Mike Scott’s and other Astros pitchers. But my dream team would be Vin Scully, Jaime Jarrín and yours truly.