Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster Stephen Nelson is making history on the field and making history in the broadcast booth as the first Asian-American play-by-play announcer in Major League Baseball.
The 34-year-old Southern California native is taking on the big role after paying his dues in local sports and then hosting and announcing games for MLB and NHL Networks, Bleacher Report, NBC Sports, YouTube and Apple TV+ .
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“The first major league ballpark I ever stepped foot in was (Dodger Stadium). I would have been 8 years old and it was a celebration of the Japanese community night,” Nelson told KTLA’s Frank Buckley. “Cut to two and a half decades later, this is home.”
The broadcast booth made famous by the late Vin Scully is now home to a new generation of broadcasters led by Joe Davis. Davis and the Dodgers think highly of Stephen Nelson, who will announce 55 games for the Dodgers this season.
“It’s silly to think about that … because you know the history that comes with Dodger Stadium and Los Angeles, and specifically that broadcast booth,” he said.
Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster Stephen Nelson is making history on the field and making history in the broadcast booth as the first Asian-American play-by-play announcer in Major League Baseball. (KTLA)
Nelson is grateful to everyone who has been in his corner, whether he was an intern at KTLA, a student at Chapman University, or earlier at Marina High School.
He joins a ball club already steeped in the history of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier. Now Nelson, whose mother Flo is a third-generation Japanese American, is breaking barriers.
“It’s the greatest honor of my life professionally to have done this,” he shared. “(But) it means less to me that I’m first if I’m last. This isn’t about me, it’s about who’s next.”
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