A Midland RockHounds radio announcer finally got called to the Major Leagues on Tuesday where he called his first game for the Oakland Athletics as they faced off against the Atlanta Braves.
Bob Hards spent over three decades calling games for the RockHounds, going all the way back to when the team was known as the Midland Angels. His debut in Major League Baseball came in the third inning of the Athletics-Braves game, according to the Midland Reporter-Telegram (MRT).
The opportunity to call the game presented itself when regular Athletics radio announcer Ken Korach decided not to come along on the team’s current road trip.
The Athletics then called up Hards, who is responsible for calling games for the organization’s Double-A teams, just like they have done for many of the players once took the field for Midland, MRT reported. (RELATED: Less Than 3,000 Fans Attend Oakland A’s Game)
What made the radio announcer a highlight of the night was when NBC Sports Bay Area’s television broadcast panned over to Hards who was in the radio booth. Dallas Braden, who is the color analyst for the Athletics and pitched for the RockHounds between 2005-2007, had something special to say about Hards as the third inning of the game unfolded, MRT stated in their report.
31 years in the making, Bob Hards got the call.@RockHounds | #DrumTogether pic.twitter.com/CxvLtBArYa
— Oakland A’s (@Athletics) June 8, 2022
“I legitimately have goose bumps right now after you introducing Mr. Hards because this man has dedicated his life to the craft, to the game of baseball,” Braden reportedly said on air. “He has been a community pillar and a mainstay in Midland and for the RockHounds organization. Bob Hards was there in Double-A the day I showed up in Double-A and days long before I was ever a thought in Double-A and days long after.”
Unfortunately for Hards and fans of the Athletics all across the country, Ronald Acuna Jr. managed to belt out two big home runs to clinch a victory for the Braves, with a score of 3-2, MRT reported.
Hards let loose with a zinger about Acuna, employing some of his trademark wit that RockHounds fans have come to adore over the years, during the seventh inning.
“Boy, he’s wearing yellow shoes that you can probably spot from a satellite somewhere,” Hards said, according to MRT. “It’s probably disrupting a weather channel system. But when you hit it like he does, you can wear any shoes you want.”