With Yadier Molina’s help, Polo Ascencio and Bengie Molina share Cardinals gospel in Spanish
By Luis Nolla
St. Louis – Throughout the history of the franchise, Cardinals fans have seen and heard legendary baseball broadcasters. Joe and Jack Buck, Mike Shannon, Harry Caray are just some of the greats who have done play-by-play for the team.
They are among the few who have been recognized as the voice of the Cardinals. Now, if you look a couple feet to the left from the FOX Sports Midwest and the KMOX booths you will find the two new voices of the Cardinals. Their names are Polo Ascencio and Bengie Molina, and they are the first broadcasters to be recognized as the Spanish voices of the Cardinals. Behind this project, which started in 2016, is one of St. Louis’ most important names in baseball, Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina.
“You can say that he is like the Godfather of this broadcast,” Ascencio said when talking about how Yadier is a vital part of the project and helped them turn an idea into a reality. “Yadier Molina is bigger than baseball. He is much bigger than being a future Hall of Famer. He is much bigger than being a nine-time Gold Glove winner.”
Yadier’s involvement in the creation of the broadcast doesn’t surprise Ascencio because this is a celebration of the Hispanic community and baseball fans in St. Louis.
“What Yadier Molina does in St. Louis is not measured in terms of numbers or hits. It is not measured in terms of money,” Ascencio said.
He assured that “the greatest baseball idol in St. Louis right now, maybe the greatest in many years, or in Cardinals’ history” would be behind this project, even if his brother Bengie or Ascencio were not involved.
Meanwhile, Bengie, the oldest of the Molina brothers, said that when Yadier puts his name on a project he is in it for the long-haul.
“He doesn’t do two-year projects. He does 10, 20-year projects with the goal of leaving them to his kids, family members and to our followers,” Bengie Molina said.
Having a player like Yadier backing the development of the broadcast in Spanish is very important. According to Polo “when Yadier Molina supports a project, other players will support it as well.”
As a matter of fact, this has been the experience with the voices of Cardenales en Español. From day one Cardinal players have embraced Ascencio and Bengie. “A lot of the players like to communicate with us in Spanish, because they know it will help them,” Ascencio said.
A recent example of this is Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong, who has had much interaction with the duo of Spanish speaking broadcasters.
“He came to me and said, ‘I want you to interview me in Spanish,’” Ascencio said. “I was surprised, because when have you ever seen a player wanting to be interviewed? Usually you ask them, and they say, ‘I don’t have the time.’ They tell you to wait outside for them and they never show up.”
In fact, DeJong’s interviews with Ascencio and Bengie drew big-time attention during DeJong’s at bat in this year’s All-Star Game.
Sportscaster Joe Buck referred to the interviews when saying that DeJong “is teaching Yairo Muñoz of the Cardinals, English and Muñoz is teaching DeJong Spanish. He will even go on the Spanish broadcast of the Cardinals and do interviews in Spanish. Bengie Molina is part of that broadcast team with Polo Ascencio calling the games in Spanish.”
Baseball fans and the general public in St. Louis have welcomed Ascencio and Bengie with open arms.
“This is bigger than St. Louis. It’s bigger than the Cardinals. Is way bigger than Polo and Bengie. It’s bigger than Yadier Molina and the 11 championships. This is the most winningest franchise in the National League,” Ascencio said. “The one with the most tradition. The one that everybody knows.
“Everyone knows the birds on the bat. Like it or not, it is an iconic uniform. This project is very important to the Cardinals. This moment that Bengie Molina and Polo Ascencio are living and achieving here in St. Louis goes way beyond baseball, and this is what a lot of people don’t understand.”
Ascencio, a native of Tijuana, Mexico, has been welcomed in St. Louis as though he went to high school there.
“The fans have received me in a big way – with love, friendship and open arms,” he said. “There has never been a negative reaction and, I can’t lie, it has surprised me. But, in the same token it doesn’t surprise me the more I learn about the city of St. Louis and the Cardinal fanbase.”
Even non-Spanish speakers listen to Cardenales en Español. According to Ascencio, people come up to them and say, “I don’t listen to Spanish. I don’t speak Spanish, but we listen to you guys.”
One of the things that the broadcast has done is offer a platform for the family members of Latino players.
“We are doing this also for the Hispanic players and their families because they don’t understand English,” Bengie said. “When we do Sunday Night Baseball, we know that it will be seen in Latin America. There you have the Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Venezuelans, Columbians, etc. …
“There is a lot of baseball players in the league that have family members that don’t speak English. What happens? They can go to the app, MLB at bat, and listen to the game in their language.
“That’s the difference. … This is what sparked my interest. Helping them. Having the privilege of doing the games for them.”
For Ascencio and Bengie, this is just the beginning of something big. Yes, it seems like it could be a very long shot for Cardenales en Español to dethrone the KMOX radio broadcast of the games, but no one knows, because like Ascencio says, “Cardinals baseball is more enjoyable in Spanish.”
“The celebration of Hispanics around the major leagues is very important,” Ascencio said. “The celebration of the Hispanics in St. Louis is much more important than in any other city because of what people live through, hear and feel in this area of the country.”
Featured Image: Polo Ascencio Instagram