Biography
He grew up in Brooklyn, New York, as a fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers, and decided at a young age that he wanted to be a sports broadcaster. He developed his skills at Brown University (class of 1972) announcing hockey and football games on the college radio station (WBRU). He had minor league hockey play-by-play stints in Muskegon, Oklahoma City, and Dallas and was also the radio voice of the Dallas Diamonds of the Women's Professional Basketball League.
The Rangers hired Nadel in 1979, and he called games on television and radio in his first three seasons. Beginning in 1982, he began a 13-year run with Mark Holtz as the radio team on WBAP, returning to the television booth for one year in 1984. Nadel became the team's lead radio voice when Holtz moved to television in 1995. Since then, he has broadcast on KRLD radio. Among his most memorable calls was the 5000th strikeout of Nolan Ryan's career on August 22, 1989. Since becoming the primary play-by-play voice for the Rangers he has worked alongside Brad Sham, Vince Cotroneo, and Victor Rojas. Beginning in 2009, he is partnered with long time ESPN and former Dallas Mavericks, and San Antonio Spurs announcer Dave Barnett; who also did Rangers games on television with Brad Sham in the late-80s/early 90s. Dave Barnett moved to the TV broadcast in 2011 to fill the vacated play-by-play role, and now Nadel works with former pitcher Steve Busby in the radio booth.
His main home run call is "That ball is history!"
The arrival of Rubén Sierra in Texas motivated Nadel to learn Spanish. Nadel is now a fluent Spanish speaker, having taken part in Spanish-language game broadcasts in a number of Latin American countries. He is also the author of several books (see Bibliography). Since 1985, Nadel has also produced and recorded A Page From Baseball's Past radio features that run on the Rangers radio network.
He appeared as the Rangers' radio announcer in the film The Rookie in 2002.
In May 2006 Nadel announced that he has signed a "lifetime contract" with the Rangers, allowing him to continue on their broadcast team until he chooses to retire. At the conclusion of the 2008 season, Nadel joined a handful of broadcasters to call Major League Baseball games for 30 years, with the added distinction of calling all of them for one franchise.
Eric is active in animal causes and was one of the founders of the first leash free dog park in the DFW Metroplex at White Rock Lake in Dallas.
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