He’s growing on me, like a fungus

No, you silly, that’s not Matt I’m referring to.

It’s Rangers radio co-broadcaster Victor Rojas.  Or as Matt likes to call him, Victor “The Red.”

Matt and I became serious Ranger fans in the mid-90’s, at the tail end of the radio team of Brad Sham and Eric Nadel.  We’ve always enjoyed Eric and his incredibly vast (and, frankly, a bit frightening) knowledge of baseball lore, facts, and trivia.  But we kind of “grew up” in Ranger fandom on Eric and Vince Cotroneo.  When we owned our mini-plans, we would head out to the park, listening to all the pregame stuff on the radio, and while sitting at the games, I would have my headphones on to listen to the play-by-play.  No Rangers game was complete without those familiar voices sharing stories, laughs, and unforgettable catchphrases (our favorite, “It’s John Wetteland time!”).  We passed many a summer evening with those two gentlemen.

But a few years back, Vince’s was out and Victor was in.  And though it’s been a long adjustment period, I realized last night that I actually enjoy Victor’s broadcasts.  Here they are, the 5 things I’ve grown to like about Victor “The Red.”

5)  I think it’s hilarious calling him Victor “The Red.”

4) He doesn’t look like his voice.

3)  He tells it like it is.  He isn’t afraid to say things like, “That was a terrible at-bat!” or “That was just horrible base-running by the Rangers.  You gotta do better than that.”

2)  No middle inning jimmy jack would be complete without Victor screeching “BIG FLY” into his microphone.

1)  His dry wit and commentary on the Rangers pathetic season thus far keeps the games listenable.  He’s made me smile  this season.  And that’s an accomplishment, considering how little there has been for fans to smile about.

So, I guess I’ll admit, he’s grown on me.  Now if I could just say the same thing for tv announcer Josh Lewin….