Diamondbacks’ Schulte set for final stage of radio career
When baseball season rolls around next year, Greg Schulte does not know where he will be or what he will be doing. He is looking forward to it.
Schulte has been the radio voice for the Diamondbacks since the beginning of the franchise. He has been on the air for just about every big moment in club history. But after 26 years, Schulte, 71, will call his final regular-season games this weekend.
“It comes time for everyone,” Schulte said. “And this was the time for me.”
Schulte is known for his signature home run call — “Warning track, wall, you can touch ‘em all!” — and his call of Luis Gonzalez’s walkoff hit in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series still resonates with Diamondbacks fans.
“Honks your horns, stomp your feet, celebrate in Arizona!” Schulte shouted. “The Diamondbacks have won the World Series!”
He said that moment — and the entire series, really — goes down as his career highlight. But he seemed to have a hard time settling on what ranks second. He rattled off a list of memories, everything from Randy Johnson’s perfect game in Atlanta to J.D. Martinez’s four-homer night in Los Angeles. He mentioned no-hitters, cycles, triple plays, and on and on.
“Maybe my second-most memorable,” he finally said, “was the Tony Womack base hit against the Cardinals that won Game 5 in the division series (in 2001). After the failed bunt attempt, he got the base hit down and scored Danny Bautista from second base.
“I’m just blessed with a ton of highlights. I’ve got to thank the players for
that. They’re the ones that made the highlights for me to broadcast.”
When he signed his last long-term contract, Schulte initially thought he would walk away after the 2022 season. But when chemotherapy treatments cut into his time on the job last year, he opted to come back for one more season. He said this week his health is good again, and he is looking forward to the chance to spend more time with his wife, Nancy, and possibly to take vacations over the summer, something he has never been able to do.
Schulte, who grew up in the small town of Silvis in Western Illinois, has been a Valley sports staple since he moved to Phoenix in 1979. He was at KTAR and had covered nearly every sport in town when Jerry Colangelo approached him about being the lead radio
voice of the as-yet-unnamed expansion team.
The Diamondbacks, who have not yet determined who his successor will be, will honor Schulte with a pregame ceremony on Friday before he calls what could be his final three home games. He has not been on the road the past two years due to his health, but he said he plans to travel next week should the Diamondbacks advance to the postseason.
“I think I’m kind of going out on top for me in the sense that I feel like I do a decent enough job that the ballclub has wanted me to be there,” Schulte said. “I’ve been there for them; they’ve been there for me. I’m very happy going out on that. I want to give somebody else an opportunity to do what I’ve enjoyed doing the past 26 years.”