For over three decades, Latinos in the U.S and Latin America have known Erwin Higueros’ voice.
“Que tal amigos, muy buenas tardes,” said Higueros into the microphone.
Now you will get to see his face and hear his story.
“Welcome, this is our Spanish broadcast booth,” said Higueros as we walked into his announcing booth at Oracle Park.
His walls are adorned with memories that remind him of how far he has come.
ABC7 News reporter Luz Pena asks, “What does it mean to you to sit right there and announce these games?”
Higueros responds, “Well, it’s a responsibility to my mom, right? I mean, she made a sacrifice to bring us here, right? My dad made a sacrifice to let me come here, knowing very well that I was probably never going to see him again. So, I owe it to them to become somebody.”
Higueros moved to the U.S. from Guatemala when he was 12 years old — a moment that shaped his life.
“My mother came here first, and my brothers and I stayed back home with Grandma. Great Grandma. I lived with my biological dad for two years. Then 1976 came, an earthquake happened in Guatemala and then, obviously, my mom couldn’t get a hold of anybody to find out. You know, my kids. OK so then she and her husband and one of my sisters, the little one that was born here, they went to Guatemala got us all together. And through my little sister, we got the papers, and it was decided that we were going to come to the United States. And we came, took a bus, came all the way across Mexico, got to San Ysidro, got our papers, came here to California. I’m like, they say, the rest is history,” said Higueros.
Making his family proud propelled him to keep chasing his dreams.
“I was doing a job in a sheet metal company, and I kind of thought, this is not what I want to do for the rest of my life. So I went back to school and took an announcing course, went to work at a radio station in San Jose as a deejay. And then I guess the manager at the radio station liked me so much that he said, “Would you like to do play-by-play baseball?” said Higueros.
Higueros knows his voice goes beyond the Bay, with some of the players’ parents thanking him for his work. He unites two worlds.
“The important part for me is to make sure that I convey what I see in their native language and try to make it as exciting as possible,” said Higueros and added, “José Butto. His middle name is Alejandro, and they like to use the middle names, right? Because, you know, they put their name there for a reason.”
Pena responds, “First and middle names. The last name is important in the Latino community.”
Higueros continued, “So I think it was in Denver or San Luis. I asked him, ‘You know, are you OK with me using your middle name?’ And before he could say yes or no, he says ‘My mom likes it.’ And I started laughing.”
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“The Giants are committed to the Hispanic community. We have had Spanish radio for a long time, but this year, the Giants made that leap to finally do 162. And it’s not just 162 games, but it’s actually sending the announcers to the different cities, like travelling with the team. So not only is that an additional investment economical investment, but it’s also telling the community that you deserve this and we’re going to continue doing it,” said Higueros.
When asked what he thinks about when he looks out there, he responded, “That I’m in heaven. I mean, you look at the stadium. You look at the guys taking batting practice, you look at the batting, you look at the big scoreboard. You know, I’ve been here when this stadium was full of fans celebrating the World Series. I mean, if there is heaven, I’m already in it.”
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