Schemmel returns to Rockies’ broadcasts
Longtime Colorado broadcaster Jerry Schemmel returned to the radio booth to call Rockies games on 850 KOA after a twoyear absence.
Schemmel replaces Mike Rice, who teamed with veteran Rockies broadcaster Jack Corrigan for the past two seasons. KOA made the announcement about Schemmel’s return Friday morning.
“I’m back in the saddle, back to baseball, and I’m incredibly excited,” Schemmel said. “I wasn’t able to sleep last night, knowing today was coming.
“I missed baseball more than I thought I would. I missed the people a lot. And I missed the challenge of painting a picture, with my words, for Rockies fans.”
According to sources, Rice has not been vaccinated for COVID19, and that played a part in KOA’S decision to rehire Schemmel.
Rice did not respond to The Denver Post’s request for a reaction to his being taken off the Rockies’ broadcast team.
Major League Baseball and the Rockies require that media who interact with players, coaches, and staff be vaccinated.
KOA, along with members of the TV crew from AT&T Sports
Net Rocky Mountain, fly to games on the Rockies’ team plane.
In addition, part of a KOA broadcaster’s duties is to interview players, before and after games. Because Rice is not vaccinated, he would not be able to fulfill those duties or enter the clubhouse.
Because of the pandemic, many media outlets, including KOA, did not travel on the road to cover MLB games over the past two seasons. Restrictions have been lifted this season and clubhouses are once again open to media members.
Schemmel will once again be teamed with Corrigan, who’s entering his 20th season calling Rockies games and his 37th season calling MLB games.
In January 2020, Schemmel, who had called Rockies games for 10 seasons, lost his job as part iheartmedia’s massive job cuts around the country. KOA is part of iheartmedia, the largest radio conglomerate in the United States.
Schemmel has been a voice of Colorado’s sports landscape for more than two decades. He was the radio play-by-play voice for the Denver Nuggets for 18 seasons, as well as the radio voice for Colorado State football and basketball during the 2009-10 season.