Jaime Jarrn developed from a young person with a “microphonic voice” to one of history’s finest broadcasters. hide caption – Carlos Jaramillo for NPR
switch to caption NPR’s Carlos Jaramillo Jaime Jarrn developed from a young person with a “microphonic voice” to one of history’s finest broadcasters.
NPR’s Carlos Jaramillo For the past 64 years, Jaime Jarrn has worked at the same company, doing the same job.
The 86-year-old Jarrn has been the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Spanish-language radio play-by-play announcer since 1959, so it’s not as monotonous as I may have made it sound.
Se va, se va — and despdale con un beso! is his signature home run yell.
It translates to “It’s gone, it’s going — kiss it farewell!” in English.
Trust me, hearing him say it in Spanish makes it seem so much prettier.
He won’t be saying it for very long, though. That’s because Jarrn will end his career after the Dodgers’ postseason run is over. What a career it’s been as well.
Jarrn and the Dodgers were inseparable for many years. hide caption – Carlos Jaramillo for NPR
switch to caption NPR’s Carlos Jaramillo Jarrn and the Dodgers were inseparable for many years.
“I NEVER SAW A BASEBALL IN MY LIFE,” says Carlos Jaramillo for NPR. Spanish-speaking baseball fans in the city of Los Angeles have been able to connect across generations and through history thanks to Jarrn. He mentioned the Dodgers’ first World Series victory in Los Angeles in 1959, the next two in the 1960s, the two in the 1980s, and all the way up to their most recent triumph in 2020.
In 1998, he was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the highest distinction a baseball broadcaster could possibly hope for thanks to his voice and talent.
When looking back on Jarrn’s career, it appears as though his connection to Los Angeles baseball has always existed. But that wasn’t exactly the situation when he originally began that aspect of his job.
Jarrn informed me, “I never saw a baseball, a bat, or anything in my life until I got to this nation. The explanation for this is that Jarrn was reared in Ecuador, a country where soccer is extremely popular. Kids there grew up dreaming of competing in the World Cup rather than the World Series.
His cousin Alfredo, a rising radio host creating a name for himself in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, introduced him to the world of radio, which became his first love. Alfredo, according to Jarrn, unlocked the door to the globe that would one day become his home.
In 1998, Jarrn was the game announcer. Right: During his last year behind the booth. via Getty Images, Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News hidden caption Carlos Jaramillo for NPR
switch to caption via Getty Images, Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News Carlos Jaramillo for NPR, left: in 1998, Jarrn was the game announcer. Right: During his last year behind the booth.
via Getty Images, Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News
NPR’s Carlos Jaramillo When Jarrn was ten years old, “He used to take me to attend the performances on Saturday nights, and I fall in love with radio,” Jarrn recounted. Then, a few years later, he informs Jaime that he believes her voice to be microphonic.
Alfredo then took Jarrn’s emerging 10-year-old “microphonic voice” and worked with him to hone it by ensuring that he read frequently and in an assured manner while conversing.
He assigned me to read the newspaper El Commercio Quito for about 30 minutes every day in a corner of a room. I’m putting you in a corner so that you can hear yourself the way we can hear you, he added. Reading the newspaper for 30 minutes a day was thus my first lesson.
All that reading was worthwhile because Jarrn began to resemble his cousin after only a few years. He had a two-hour show on Saturdays and Sundays when he was still a teenager, and he was starting to establish himself as a rising radio star in Ecuador.
A CHUNKY MOVE, THEN A MAJOR BREAK Let’s say you’re Jaime Jarrn, it’s the middle of the 1950s, and you’ve already made some significant strides in Ecuadorian radio. Next, what?
This is the point at which many Americans will start to recognize Jarrn’s narrative. Like countless others before and since, Jarrn left his family behind in quest of a better life for himself. Where he would find it was the only unknown.
Though he gave New York and Chicago some thought, Los Angeles eventually caught his eye. The state of California seemed like the ideal place to be during the post-World War II boom when the nation was suburbanizing and expanding its interstate highway system.
Particularly for a foreigner like Jarrn.
Although it took some time, Jarrn eventually discovered his natural place behind the microphone. hide caption – Carlos Jaramillo for NPR
switch to caption NPR’s Carlos Jaramillo Although it took some time, Jarrn eventually discovered his natural place behind the microphone.
NPR’s Carlos Jaramillo I begin reading about Southern California and Los Angeles, learning about how many Spanish-speaking residents there were. I responded by saying that’s where I need to go,’ Jarrn added.
More than four million people lived in Los Angeles County in 1950, an increase of more than 48% from 1940 and 1950. And with that expansion came chances. Just, at least initially, not the chance Jarrn was looking for.
He claimed, “I took a job making metal fences in East Los Angeles.”
The only Spanish-language radio station in Los Angeles at the time didn’t have any openings. But more than that, Jarrn’s Spanish pronunciation rankled the station staff. They believed that the sizable Mexican community in Southern California would find his Ecuadorian Spanish odd-sounding.
You might be thinking that because it was the 1950s, the era was different. Well, forty years later, when I began my radio career in Los Angeles providing traffic reports in Spanish, I too was advised that the Mexican population of Southern California would find my Ecuadorian Spanish odd. So, as instructed, Jarrn sought to tone down his Ecuadorian accent.
Jarrn served as many Latinos’ introduction to baseball. hide caption – Carlos Jaramillo for NPR
switch to caption NPR’s Carlos Jaramillo Jarrn served as many Latinos’ introduction to baseball.
NPR’s Carlos Jaramillo He stated, “I went to the Cambias School Los Angeles to study Spanish.” “I was there from 7 until 11 in the morning. I continue working till I am finally given a weekend job,” he stated.
The position of news and sports director for KWKW ultimately went to Jarrn. But in 1957, everything in baseball was turned upside down. The Brooklyn Dodgers, the franchise where Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier a decade earlier, were thinking about leaving New York. The Dodgers tried to find a new stadium to take the place of tiny Ebbets Field, but nothing worked out, so they relocated to Los Angeles in 1958.
When William Beaton, the owner of KWKW, acquired the broadcast rights, he made a choice that would forever alter Jarrn’s life.
Jarrn made every effort to learn the rules of the game. hide caption – Carlos Jaramillo for NPR
switch to caption NPR’s Carlos Jaramillo Jarrn made every effort to learn the rules of the game.
NPR’s Carlos Jaramillo In order to inform us that they had signed the contract to conduct the games in Spanish, Mr. William Beaton summoned all the broadcasters to his office, Jarrn said. I want you to be one of the two announcers, he continued, looking at me.
As a result, Jarrn, who was fluent in both languages but hardly literate in baseball, joined the first crew to ever announce Dodger baseball games in Spanish.
So, Jarrn once more schooled himself by learning the game, much like he did when he first learned how to be a broadcaster in his teens. He went to minor league baseball games in the Los Angeles area, devoured any newspaper he could get his hands on to keep up with the league, and fully immersed himself in America’s pastime.
In 1958, I would tune in to every radio program. I declared that I was prepared in 1959. I therefore began very slowly, going from one inning to two innings to three innings.
In a short period of time, Jarrn made a name for himself as a notable announcer. Around this time, other teams began to understand how lucrative appealing to Spanish-speaking viewers could be.
Actor Edward James Olmos is greeted by Jarrn at Dodger Stadium earlier this month. hide caption – Carlos Jaramillo for NPR
switch to caption Actor Edward James Olmos is greeted by Carlos Jaramillo for NPR Jarrn earlier this month at Dodger Stadium.
NPR’s Carlos Jaramillo When they observed the Dodgers’ success with Latino fans, Jarrn claimed, “they began to question if that’s a great source of income also for the ballclub.” The best way to make money, according to the salesman, is to hire a few announcers and send them out into the community to promote Spanish broadcast.
A short while later, Jarrn found himself at the epicenter of Fernandomania, the baseball craze that is currently taking over the sport. Jarrn found himself pioneering what we may now refer to as “diversity marketing.”
Fernando Valenzuela, a pitcher for the Dodgers who was born in Sonora, Mexico, was added toward the end of the 1980 campaign. He helped the Dodgers win the World Series the next year and went on to earn the National League Cy Young and Rookie of the Year awards. But more than that, according to Jarrn, he contributed to furthering Spanish speakers’ access to the world of American baseball.
Jarrn’s journey from Ecuador to the radio booth wasn’t straightforward. hide caption – Carlos Jaramillo for NPR
switch to caption NPR’s Carlos Jaramillo Jarrn’s journey from Ecuador to the radio booth wasn’t straightforward.
NPR’s Carlos Jaramillo It was incredible how many new baseball enthusiasts he brought into the game. We had to teach people baseball because they had no prior knowledge. Soccer and boxing were the only sports they were interested in, according to Jarrn.
Additionally, learning did not end there. Jarrn not only aired in Spanish, but also assisted Valenzuela with media appearances by serving as an interpreter. This not only helped expand baseball’s appeal to Spanish-speaking audiences, but it also enhanced Jarrn’s reputation.
I was primarily renowned in Southern California up until that point. Nobody in New York, Chicago, or San Luis knew who Jaime Jarrn was (St. Louis). They knew who Jaime Jarrn was when I had to travel with Fernando and stand with him in front of the media.
A spark of inspiration in a period of change The significance and influence of Latinos in baseball have only increased over the years that Jarrn has been playing in the league. Around 6.5% of all MLB players were Latino when he first began his announcing career in 1959. That percentage increased to 11% when Valenzuela signed with the Dodgers. Additionally, more than 25% of all MLB players were Latino on Opening Day 2022.
That expansion is also visible in the stands. When Fernando Valenzuela made his breakthrough, I was just 11 years old, but I do recall seeing a lot more Spanish speakers at Dodger games. To hear Jarrn’s broadcast, they would be holding transistor radios in their hands.
One of them was Alex Padilla. He was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles and is currently the first Latino senator from California. Despite his parents speaking only Spanish, Padilla was raised multilingual. So they would all listen to Jarrn’s voice narrate the events and enjoy Dodger games as a family. According to Padilla, Jarrn was an inspiration.
On Jaime Jarrn Night at Dodger Stadium earlier this month, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla presented Jarrn with a congressional certificate of appreciation. hide caption – Carlos Jaramillo for NPR
switch to caption Congressional recognition is given to Jarrn on Jaime Jarrn Night at Dodger Stadium earlier this month. Photo by Carlos Jaramillo for NPR.
NPR’s Carlos Jaramillo “It was easy.” He said, “It was so descriptive. Because of how descriptive his voice sounded, you could actually close your eyes and listen to him to know exactly what was going on the field. But it’s fantastic to sort of be seen by his voice as a Latino, especially a multilingual Latino.
Padilla was inspired by Jarrn’s voice to be proud of his Latinidad and the cultural identity that helped him grow into the man he is today. And it was also beneficial that Jarrn was aware that many eyes were observing him in addition to the many ears that were listening to him.
Whether on purpose or not, Padilla remarked, “I think he carried himself as a role model.” I believe he was aware of the responsibility that came with serving as a symbol and an icon for so many Latinos in Southern California and beyond, in addition to his duties as a broadcaster in the booth.
He was aware that this obligation extended to your interactions both at work and outside of it. I’ve made an effort to imitate it in my own professional endeavors.
Padilla admires how Jarrn looked out for the Latino community in addition to establishing a good example for other Latinos to follow.
“It was evident that he was also listening to us and that he had intelligent dialogues about advocacy for our community, justice for the Latino community,” he said of his interactions with him and his views about life in Los Angeles and the Latino community generally. It was evident that he was keeping tabs on population changes throughout the board, not just in the seats of Dodger Stadium.
After working in radio for more than 60 years, Jarrn claims that his priorities have changed. With the Jaime and Blanca Jarrn Foundation, which he founded with his late wife, he is less concerned with the day-to-day work and more concerned with bigger, loftier matters, such as effect and legacy, and with generating chances for a new generation.
Everyone on the team, especially Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, is supportive of Jarrn. hide caption – Carlos Jaramillo for NPR
switch to caption The club, led by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, is supportive of Carlos Jaramillo for NPR Jarrn.
NPR’s Carlos Jaramillo Jarrn’s resume pretty much speaks for itself.
He holds a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, is a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and has even been awarded an honorary doctorate by Cal State University, Los Angeles. He is also included in the Museum of American History and the Smithsonian Institution.
But he claims that no institute, committee, or museum has ever bestowed upon him with the highest award.
The fact that people approach me when he is out shopping or doing other things, he remarked, “Really fills my heart.” “Mr. Jarrn, we simply wanted to thank you very much because thanks to you, I spend more time with my grandfather,” they say as they halt me. My father used to spend more time with me because of you. We just wanted to express our gratitude for that. And I truly appreciate the compliment more than anything else.
When the Los Angeles Dodgers play their final game in 2022, regardless of whether they win the World Series or lose, it will be the conclusion of a more than seven decade odyssey. When he was 10 years old, one who finally went from reading the newspaper for 30 minutes a day in Quito, Ecuador, to becoming one of the best broadcasters of all time.
