Houston Sports - Rene Cardenas

Rene Cardenas

Born: February 6, 1930

Sport: Baseball - Announcer (38 MLB seasons, first-ever Spanish MLB broadcaster, 4-time Ford C. Frick finalist)

This past week a truly legendary pioneer in his field passed away at the age of 96.  Although he had an impact for numerous different major league teams, many Houstonians will always remember him most for his time with the Astros.  And yet, for as much as can be credited to Rene Cardenas, it doesn't seem that enough people know his name.  As the first Spanish broadcaster in MLB history he is responsible for expanding the influence of the game, and that included spreading the sounds of baseball beyond the borders of the US.  In honor of his passing let's take a look at the story of his life in the hopes of spreading awareness of an unheralded voice that brought the sport that he loved to millions.

Cardenas announced games for the first 14 years of MLB play in Houston

Born in Managua, Nicaragua, Rene Cardenas was from a well-known family.  His grandfather, Dr. Adan Cardenas, had been president of the nation and had been instrumental in introducing the sport of baseball there.  Young Rene didn't follow in the footsteps of his Uncle Adolfo, who was good enough to play for the national baseball team, but despite his thin frame he excelled at describing the action.  Before he was even out of high school, Cardenas was already announcing games on the most popular radio station in the city, Radio Mundial, while also writing for the top newspaper in Nicaragua, La Prensa.  The 16-year-old became popular quickly with his unique, excitable style.  Cardenas married young, but despite the couple having a daughter together that first relationship soon ended in divorce and in 1951 Cardenas relocated to the United States.  Some time later, Rene was asked to act as the master of ceremonies for a beauty pageant in Los Angeles and he made a point of introducing one contestant as his future wife.  He was right - Jilma and Rene were soon married and remained together for the rest of their lives, having one son together.  Jilma was a perfect partner, a fan of baseball who had literally damaged her vocal cords cheering for the Nicaragua national team during a tournament in 1950.  A year after their wedding, Cardenas was hired by the Los Angeles Dodgers who were in the process of moving to California from Brooklyn, and for the first time in major league history a team put together a Spanish-language broadcast for their games.

Rene Cardenas was a pioneer as soon as the first game took place, and he quickly began adding milestones to his young career in America.  In 1959 the Dodgers reached the World Series and he therefore became part of the first Spanish team to announce the Fall Classic to his home audience.  Two years later, Cardenas added the first Spanish broadcast of the All Star Game to his resume.  After three seasons with the Dodgers, he was contacted by a new expansion team.  Known as the Colt .45s, Houston's new professional team wanted to include the city's significant Spanish-speaking population in their outreach, and hiring Cardenas was the perfect way to do it.  His partner, Jamie Jarrin, stayed in LA to become the team's number one broadcaster while Cardenas launched his career into a new direction.  Starting in 1961, he was the voice of the team (later known as the Astros) to millions of Hispanic fans for 14 years, and even became a US citizen in 1963.  By 1966 he had created and led the first international radio network for an MLB team throughout the Caribbean and Latin America, which helped expand the popularity of the franchise among a huge talent pool that the Astros hoped to influence.  In 1975, however, the Astros made the decision to discontinue their regular broadcasts in Spanish, and Cardenas was let go.  After considering his options with Jilma, the couple decided to return to Nicaragua.

Although Rene Cardenas had hoped to enjoy a comfortable retirement in his home country, it was not to be.  Socialist revolutionaries had gained strength and challenged the power of the ruling family, a US-backed dictatorship, and when their forces reached the city of Managua, Jilma begged her husband to flee.  Only 4 years removed from leaving the United States, Cardenas returned to Texas after leaving everything behind to be seized - money, land, and mementos obtained from a career in broadcasting.  He made his home in Houston, never returning to Nicaragua, and restarted his broadcasting career.  The Texas Rangers hired Cardenas in 1981 to be their first Spanish announcer, and the following year he returned to the Dodgers for his second stint with the team.  This time he remained for nearly two decades until 1998, working alongside the man he had originally mentored, Jamie Jarrin.  After surving a battle with colon cancer, Cardenas once again entered a semi-retirement after leaving Los Angeles.  In spite of his animosity towards the government of Nicaragua, the country honored him for his contributions to helping grow the sport by inducting him into the Nicaragua Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000.  After spending a few years writing for La Prensa once again as well as the Astros website, Cardenas was a 2002 inductee to the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Hall of Fame.  Cardenas returned to broadcasting for the Astros for two final seasons in 2007-08.  During his last year Cardenas added one final item to his impressive resume when he appeared on televised broadcasts 15 times, the first time he had a chance to do so.  Both Los Angeles and Houston have honored him, with the Dodgers adding him to their Walk of Fame and the Astros placing him in both their Media Wall of Honor as well as the team Hall of Fame.  Although he always hoped to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, each of his four appearances as a finalist on the ballot came up short.  Cardenas said that being inducted after his death would be "no fun", but his impact and legacy almost demand that he will one day receive that honor.  After a brief bout with cancer, this time affecting both his liver and pancreas, Cardenas passed away last Sunday.  His impact is obvious from the 22 MLB teams that today have Spanish-language broadcasts of their games.

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