Marlins mourn loss of longtime Spanish-language radio voice 'Felo' Ramirez
MIAMI (AP) -- Rafael "Felo" Ramirez, a Hall of Fame baseball radio broadcaster who was the signature voice for millions of Spanish-speaking sports fans over three decades, has died. He was 94.
The Miami Marlins announced Ramirez's death in a statement on Tuesday morning. The organization says he died Monday night.
"The entire Marlins organization is deeply saddened by the loss of a great friend, Hall-of-Fame broadcaster and community icon, Felo Ramirez," the Marlins said in the statement. "Since our inaugural season, he brought home practically every magical moment in franchise history to generations of fans. A true broadcast legend, Felo lent his voice to over 30 World Series and All-Star Games and his extensive contributions to our game will never be forgotten."
Ramirez fell and struck his head while getting off the Marlins team bus April 26, during a series in Philadelphia. He spent two months in a Delaware hospital before he was brought to Miami where he continued his recovery.
He began his broadcasting career in Cuba in 1945 before calling 31 All-Star games and World Series in Spanish. He had been the Florida Marlins' Spanish-language announcer since 1993 and was inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame in 2001.
Ramirez was not the tallest of men, but his size belied his strong voice and stature in the broadcasting community. He was known for an expressive, yet low-key style and his signature strike call of "Essstrike."
Several Spanish-language broadcasters, including Amury Pi-Gonzalez of the Seattle Mariners and San Francisco Giants, have admitted to emulating his style.
Cookie Rojas, a former player and manager in Cuba and the major leagues, once said Ramirez was admired by sports fans who listened to Spanish-language broadcasts. "When you hear Felo Ramirez announce a game, you instantly know its Felo Ramirez," said Rojas, a former Spanish-language television announcer for the Marlins. "His voice is one of the most acceptable and distinguishable around. Felo's influence on Latin Americans in the United States is undoubtable."
Ramirez's big break came when he landed a job in 1950 with the Gillette Cavalcade of Sports, which introduced him to major league baseball.
The Cavalcade broadcast in English and Spanish the baseball game of the week and boxing matches. While Americans were listening to Mel Allen and Red Barber, more than 200 Latin American radio stations carried Ramirez and his partner, future Hall of Famer Buck Canel.
Ramirez left Cuba in the early 1960s, after Fidel Castro's revolution.
Tony Perez, a Cuban-born Hall of Fame first and third baseman, said he remembers listening with his father as Ramirez called games in Cuba. Perez is now a special assistant with the Marlins.
"He was a great man and we all loved him," Perez said, adding that Ramirez was always talking about baseball. "He never wanted to quit. He wanted to keep doing games and traveling."
When the Yankees' Don Larsen pitched his perfect game in the World Series in 1956, Ramirez called the emotional last four innings, describing in Spanish how catcher Yogi Berra jumped into his pitcher's arms.
Ramirez was also there the day Roberto Clemente got his 3,000th and final hit.
When Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run in 1974, Ramirez and Canel were broadcasting from the roof of Atlanta Fulton County Stadium. That call is enshrined in Cooperstown.
Between October and February, Ramirez would broadcast games in the Puerto Rican and Venezuelan professional leagues, a commitment that lasted for more than 30 years.
When the Florida Marlins emerged in 1993, Ramirez quickly landed the job. Four years later, Ramirez was calling the Marlins' first World Series win. "That's a lasting memory in my mind," Ramirez recalled in a 2001 interview with The Associated Press. In that interview, Ramirez recognized he was nearing the end of an accomplished career. "But every time I sit down to describe the game, I can still see everything that happens and it still comes naturally for me," he said.
