All Yankees fans have dreamed for 13 years of celebrating the 28th title of the most winning franchise in all of professional sports in the United States, if that happens, one of the Yankees’ voices in Spanish, Rickie Ricardo , would become the first Hispanic broadcaster to win a championship ring in the NFL and MLB. In fact, only two human beings in the history of communications have achieved this: Bill King and Bob Sheppard.
King did it as the announcer for the Athletics and the Oakland Raiders, Sheppard as the voice of Yankee Stadium and the New York Giants in the NFL and Rickie was the narrator for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2018 when they won the Super Bowl LII and therefore only needs the Bombers to win a World Series to achieve the milestone.
“My goal is to be the first Latino announcer in the history of the sport to have a ring as an NFL and MLB announcer” Rickie told us in this interview.
His mother came to New Jersey from Cuba pregnant with Rickie, but despite not having been born on the island, Ricardo is very proud to be Cuban:
“Support all Hispanics, especially our Cuban brothers. Homeland and Life always.”
From the age of 18, Rickie began playing music on the radio in Florida and at 19 he left for New York and in a very short time, he already had the number one music program in the “Big Apple” on 107.5 FM, also in Miami on the HOT 105, being part of a group of young Hispanics who became known on music radio.
Ricardo was the founder of MEGA 94.9 in Miami and was also in the “Vacilón”, a show he did with Luis Jiménez for two years.
In 2005, Rickie began being a reporter, helping Felo Ramírez on Marlins broadcasts, a job he did for two years. However, Ricardo was part of a group of talents that was changing stations in the MEGA style and after passing through several cities, he arrived in Philadelphia, where his love for narrating baseball made him interested in the Phillies and joined Bill Kulik, known with the nickname “El Gringo Malo”, as the team’s narrator.
During the 2009 World Series, Ricardo was at Yankee Stadium, but in the opposite booth narrating the Phillies, however, when the Bombers were crowned champions, Rickie could not stand it and went to the Yankees clubhouse to see how the team of the loves of his father, who adored Mickey Mantle, celebrated the championship.
“I took two empty bottles of champagne from the Yankees clubhouse on the way back to the bus,” he told us with a laugh.
In 2011, Rickie was named broadcaster for the Philadelphia Eagles, an NFL team, and in 2014, his dream of becoming one of the Yankees’ voices alongside Francisco Rivera came true.
“It is the number one sports franchise in the entire world. Wherever you go on the planet, you see Yankee stuff. This is an honor and a privilege for me.”
About the team that the Bronx Bombers have, Ricardo gave us his opinion:
“I like that there are veterans who are tired of losing. They have been through the candlelight and want to win this title. I love starting pitchers and we have the best bullpen in baseball. They just need to stay healthy.”
To enjoy each Yankees game in Spanish in the voices of Rickie Ricardo and Francisco Rivera, with production by René Luna, you can do so through Radio WADO and on the MLB TV application.
Could it be that this is the year of the Bombers? This Rickie commanded to say to all his listeners:
“Don’t lose faith. That 28th championship is coming very soon.”
We wish to give thanks to the author of this article for this outstanding content
Rickie Ricardo could make history with NYY